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108 Rock Star Guitars

Photographer Lisa S. Johnson captures the story behind rock’s most iconic axes owned by Page, Beck, Gibbons, and others—with commentary from the guitarists themselves.

Billy Gibbons: "The Fur" Gibson Explorer

"Known as the 'fur guitars' for obvious reasons. Made by luthier/furrier Matthew Klein at the Gibson Custom Shop in Nashville. In concert, Billy and Dusty strap on these fuzzy monsters when ZZ Top kicks into the song 'Legs.' Don't let their soft appearance fool you; these guitars rock hard." -Lisa S. Johnson, 108 Rock Star Guitars


About fifteen years ago, Lisa S. Johnson was working as a technical sales representative for Kodak. In order to gain a greater knowledge of Kodak's product line, she bought her own professional grade camera equipment and began shooting still images in her spare time. As fate would have it, one night she found herself at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York, the Monday night court of one, Les Paul. The always-gracious Paul allowed Johnson to photograph his guitars, which, unbeknownst to either of them, sent Johnson on a quest that would span years and send her far and wide in search of guitar players old and new.

The culmination of that journey is available now. 108 Rock Star Guitars is a 396-page, leather-bound behemoth brimming with beautiful, elegant images of some of the most iconic and recognized instruments the world has ever known. The subjects who allowed their most prized possessions to be photographed by Johnson reads like a veritable who's who of rock guitar royalty. More than that though, Johnson's work is threaded with personal stories detailing her own epic adventure to discover and celebrate these wondrous instruments. It wasn't always easy, but it came out looking oh, so good.

We’re giving away more gear! Enter Stompboxtober Day 24 for your chance to win today’s pedal from Maxon!

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Fender’s Greasebucket system is part of Cory Wong’s sonic strategy.

Courtesy of singlecoil.com

Here’s part two of our look under the hood of the funky rhythm guitar master’s signature 6-string.

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The Keeley ZOMA combines two of iconic amp effects—tremolo and reverb—into one pedal.

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Your 100 Guitarists hosts are too young to have experienced SRV live. We’ve spent decades with the records, live bootlegs, and videos, but we’ll never know quite how it felt to be in the room with SRV’s guitar sound.

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