Guitaripedia · Vol. I · 275 guitars
Every guitar
has a story.
Who built it, who played it, what went wrong, and why people still line up for it. The specs are here too, in the back, where specs belong.
Run your cursor across the stringsTap the strings
Jimmy Page, 1977 · public domain
Now playing
Pull up a stool. These ones take about five minutes each, and they’re worth it.
All stories →
Red SpecialA teenager and his dad built it from a fireplace mantel, a knitting needle, and motorcycle parts. It played every Queen show.Read the story 4 min
StratocasterThe guitar most people mean when they say “electric guitar.” Designed by a man who didn’t play one.Read the story 4 min
Flying V (1958–59 korina)Gibson drew the future in 1958, and almost nobody bought it. Ninety-eight guitars later, it was finished. Then the future caught up.Read the story 4 min
Les Paul StandardGibson made about 1,500 sunburst Les Pauls, decided nobody wanted them, and stopped. Then the British blues boom happened.Read the story 4 min
JazzmasterFender built it for jazz players. Jazz players said no thanks. Surfers, punks, and noise bands said yes.Read the story 4 min
Res-O-GlasA fiberglass guitar from a mail-order catalog. Jack White called it a hollow piece of plastic, and meant it kindly.Read the story 4 min
Pick a decade
A century and change of guitars, one decade at a time.
Fender and Gibson invent the electric guitar as you know it, mostly by trying to beat each other.
44 guitars from the 1950s →
Browse the wall
Every shop hangs them by shape. So do we.
Help wanted
118 guitars still need a photograph.
Own one? Shot one at a show? If you took the picture and you’re happy to license it freely, it can be the one that goes on the page, with your name on it.
Send a picture