Guitar Gods: Play It Loud

Hendrix is thought to have used this Gibson Flying V on his 1967 BBC Radio 1 sessions and 1968's Electric Ladyland, notably for his solo on "All Along the Watchtower." Hendrix modified the nut and strap button and painted the instrument himself using nail polish.

Hendrix gave the guitar to Mick Cox of Eire Apparent in 1969, who refinished it in black, removing the original design. Session musician Dave Brewis acquired the guitar and restored Hendrix's original paint job.

Ravi Shankar's performances of Hindustani classical sitar music in the West had a profound influence on musicians from John and Alice Coltrane to violinist Yehudi Menuhin to George Harrison and the Beatles.

Shankar's appearances at Monterey Pop in 1967 and Woodstock in 1969 added fuel to the craze for sitar sounds in psychedelic rock.

Beck used this Esquire in his brief but influential work with the Yardbirds in 1965 and 1966. While the Yardbirds were on tour with the Walker Brothers in 1965, Beck purchased it from their guitarist, John Maus.

Among other modifications, the Esquire's body was sanded down to imitate the ergonomics of the Fender Stratocaster. On "Heart Full of Soul," a key song in the development of psychedelic rock, Beck played this guitar with a fuzz pedal to simulate the buzzing harmonics of a sitar.

Virtuoso guitarist, songwriter and producer Steve Vai ordered this guitar in the late 1980s. "Bones" has a sharpened Stratocaster-style body, humbucking pickups and a locking vibrato, solidifying the "Superstrat" style that began with Eddie Van Halen's "Frankenstein" guitar.

Vai introduced a pronounced cutaway that allows access to all 24 frets on the fingerboard and a floating vibrato design.

One of the most important singer-songwriters of her generation, Joni Mitchell is also an inventive guitar player who utilizes a variety of alternate tunings and has influenced rock musicians Bob Dylan, Prince, Bonnie Raitt and Neil Young.

She began her career performing on acoustic guitar, and in the 1970s she began to explore the electric guitar sounds of rock, pop and jazz. 

Hailed by Guitar World magazine as possibly the first true twenty-first century guitar hero, Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, is redefining the music and personae of the electric guitarist through her blend of experimental rock, electro-pop and jazz. 

In 2015, Clark designed this guitar in collaboration with Ernie Ball Music Man to suit her highly visual performances and ergonomic needs. It was made for her 2017 solo tour in support of Masseducation and is one of only four in this color scheme.