The “Blues” originated from the American South and it underlies most popular music today due to it’s highly expressive nature. When I think of the blues, I think of Stevie Ray Vaughan mostly due to the fact that he was popular in my generation. However, there’s a rich history of great blues guitarists and their guitar of choice varies as widely as their music. Look to some of the great blues guitarists for an answer to the question of “what is the best electric guitar for playing the blues?” Like music itself … it’s subjective. But if it’s a great bluesy tone that your after, I think that it’s helpful to look at some of the greats to look at the type of electric guitar they used for playing the blues.
Some of the greats and their electric guitars include:
1. Buddy Guy – Fender Stratocaster
Born in 1936, Buddy Guy was raised on a plantation near the small town of Lettsworth, located 140 miles northwest of New Orleans. When he was seven years old, he said he put together his first makeshift “guitar”, a two-string contraption attached to a piece of wood and held together with his mother’s hairpins. It wasn’t until nearly 10 years later that he owned his first real guitar. Buddy Guy’s guitar of choice is the Fender Stratocaster.
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Listen to audio clips from Buddy Guy’s … Buddy’s Baddest: The Best of Buddy Guy
2. B.B. King – Gibson ArchTop
Born Riley B. King in Itta Bena, Mississippi in 1925. He bought his first guitar at age 12 for $15. His famous guitar “Lucille” was $30 Gibson ArchTop he saved from a club fire in 1949. A fight led to the fire and the guitar was named after the woman that two men were fighting over. B.B. King plays an archtop.
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Listen to audio clips from B.B. King’s .. Live in Cook County Jail
3. Albert King – Gibson Flying V
Born Albert Nelson in Indianola, Mississippi in 1923, he learned guitar by playing a cigar box with strings he put on it. He also played a one-string barn door guitar in his early days. Completely self-taught, it’s no wonder why he played the guitar completely different than all other guitarists: he played left-handed, but used a standard right-handed guitar without restringing it, just upside down, so the high E-string was on top. His guitar was the Gibson Flying V.
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Listen to audio clips from Albert King’s King of the Blues Guitar
4. Eric Clapton – Fender Stratocaster
Born Eric Patrick Clapton in Ripley, Surrey, England in 1945. When he was 13 years old, he received a German made Hoyer Guitar and nearly gave up because he found it frustrating to play. He eventually joined his first band “The Roosters” when he was 17. Slowhand blues emanated from his 1977 album “Slowhand”. Clapton is as close to synonymous with the Stratocaster as you can get.
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Listen to audio clips from Eric Clapton’s … Crossroads 2: Live In The Seventies
5. Stevie Ray Vaughan – Fender Stratocaster
Born Stephan Ray Vaughan in Dallas, Texas in 1954, was inspired to play guitar by his brother Jimmie. He received his first guitar in 1963 … a toy guitar from Sears. Besides his brother, a great influence on SRV was Albert King. Fender produces a Signature Series line of Fender Stratocaster guitars made after his guitar named “Lenny”.
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Listen to audio clips from Stevie Ray Vaughan’s … Live at Carnegie Hall
Do you play the blues? What’s your guitar? Please share your thoughts and comment.
If you’re a beginner … check out What is a good guitar for a beginner?
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