The 28 Most Recognizable Guitars

4. Artist: Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin
Instrument: Gibson SG Double Neck
Description: Page’s rock relic contains both 12- and six-string rosewood fret boards held together with a cherry-stained mahogany body.
Factoid: Since the 1976 release of Zep's comically bloated The Song Remains the Same (Spinal Tap moments include Page's violin-bowed solo), the double-neck SG has been one of the most sought-after guitars on the market, prized equally for its look and its ironic nod to '70s excess (Band of Horses's Ben Bridwell tours with one in white). Retailing around $8,000, the price is also appropriately overboard.
Shining Moment: Teamed with Page, the double neck gets the assist for his rock-guitar opus “Stairway to Heaven.”

3. Artist: Elvis Presley
Instrument: Martin D-28 Acoustic
Description: Presley’s primary guitar was a 1955 Martin D-28 acoustic featuring a mahogany neck and black and white panel inlays, lightweight for extra hip-swiveling.
Factoid: Presley was known for strumming his guitar brutally hard during live shows. To combat this, his road crew brought multiple sets of strings to all gigs.
Shining Moment: Looking to accommodate a "larger" sound (a guitarist's lament that persists to this day), Presley upgraded from the Martin D-18 to a D-28 just in time for his historic 1956 tour of American venues and popular prime-time television shows.

2. Artist: Eddie Van Halen, Van Halen
Instrument: Frankenstrat
Description: The neck and body were donated from the workshop of Wayne Charvel and were assembled with a tremolo from a ’58 strat and three Gibson P.A.F. pickups. Originally, Eddie decked it out with black and white stripes, but later added the rock & roll red for some shredding flare. Worn out from the constant touring, brutal stage antics and Van Halen's rigorous practice regimen, Frankenstrat practically broke in two after a 1980 VH tour, only to be repaired with Super Glue, a few quarters and the neck of a Danelectro guitar.
Factoid: One of Eddie's guitars is buried in ex-Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell's grave.
Shining Moment: 1984's "Hot for Teacher" solo, performed while "adult" Eddie walks all over everyone's homework.

1. Artist: Jimi Hendrix
Instrument: Fender Stratocaster
Description: Hendrix played his white standard (right-handed) Fender Stratocaster strung upside down to accommodate being a southpaw. Personalized body modifications include dousing it in lighter fluid and setting it on fire at 1968's Monterey Pop Festival.
Factoid: While grinding it out on the so-called "Chitlin Circuit" of the South early in his career, Hendrix frustrated bandleaders with his scene-stealing solos. One such headliner, Harry Womack, was annoyed enough to throw Jimi's guitar out of a tour bus window.
Shining Moment: On August 18, 1969, Hendrix headlined the Woodstock music festival, where he launched into a distortion-filled, feedback-charged version of “Star Spangled Banner.”