This is an alphabetized list of musicians who have made notable use of Gibson Guitar models in live performances or studio recordings. Because of the great popularity of these models, musicians are listed here only if their use of these instruments was especially significant—that is, if: they are musicians with long careers who have a history of faithful Gibson use. the particular instrument they used was unique or of historical importance. their use of the Gibson model contributed significantly to the popularization of that particular instrument.

A

Johnny A uses a Johnny A Signature model designed to his specifications.Gibson Introduces the Johnny A Signature model Jan Akkerman has used a Gibson L5, Les Paul Custom and a modified Les Paul Personal. The Custom is the guitar he is generally associated with. Duane Allman (The Allman Brothers Band) used a 1957 Les Paul Goldtop with PAF pickups, a 1959 cherry sunburst Les Paul, a 1958 tobacco sunburst Les Paul and a 1968 cherry SG which he used for slide guitar. Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) uses several vintage 1950s single and double cutaway Les Paul Junior models. Gibson has also produced two Billie Joe Armstrong Signature Les Paul Junior models (one double cutaway, and one single cutaway) as well as a very limited run of signature acoustic guitars.Gibson.com Billie Joe Armstrong Signature Model homepage Chet Atkins switched from Gretsch to Gibson in the mid-1980s and brought with him the popular Country Gentleman and Tennessean model designs. Atkins also helped to design several innovative acoustic/electric models including the SST, the CE, and the C.E.C. Since his death, Gibson has discontinued all Chet Atkins models and Gretsch has resumed the manufacturing and distribution of the Chet Atkins line.

B

Martin Barre (Jethro Tull) has used numerous Gibson models over the course of his career including a sunburst ES-330, a 1958 Les Paul Special and a 1959 Les Paul Standard.Equipment history from martinbarre.com Jeff Beck (The Yardbirds/solo) purchased his first Les Paul, a 1959 model, for £150 while a member of The Yardbirds. Beck's fascination with the guitar sprang as much from his interest in Les Paul, the man, as from his love of the guitar itself. Beck told an interviewer: "It had a deep powerful sound and you could use it to imitate just about anything - violin, sax, cello, even a sitar." Beck also used an "oxblood" coloured 1954 Les Paul Standard, with PAF pickups, from 1972 to 1976 and is pictured with the guitar on the cover artwork of his Blow by Blow album.

Franny Beecher played a black 1956 Les Paul Custom throughout his career with Bill Haley and the Comets in the 1950s and early 1960s. Anthony Duster Bennett (British blues singer, harmonica player and musician) played a 1952 Les Paul Goldtop throughout his career. The guitar was given to him in 1968 by Peter Green. After Bennett's death the guitar was given to musician Anthony Top Topham. Wayne Bennett (Bobby Bland) used a white Byrdland George Benson played a Gibson L5 until he entered into an endorsement deal with Ibanez. Chuck Berry used an ES-350T early in his career, later switching to ES-345s and ES-355s. Dickey Betts (The Allman Brothers Band) uses a variety of Gibson models including a 1961 SG and a 1957 Les Paul. Matt Bigland (Dinosaur Pile-Up) uses a black Explorer. Ritchie Blackmore used a 1961 ES335 from 1962 until 1970. Blackmore can be seen for example using the guitar in Deep Purple's official live video of "Child in Time" Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Mike Bloomfield (The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Electric Flag) During his tenure with the Butterfield Blues Band he used a 1954 Gibson Les Paul, which he used for some of the East-West sessions. In due course, according to biographers Jan Mark Wolkin and Bill Keenom, Bloomfield swapped that guitar for a 1959 Les Paul Standard and $100. This was the guitar Bloomfield used as a member of the Electric Flag, and on the Super Session album and concerts. He later veered between the Les Paul and the Fender Telecaster, but Bloomfield's use of the Les Paul, as did Keith Richards' with the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton's with John Mayall influenced many others to use the model. Bloomfield eventually lost the guitar in Canada; Wolkin and Keenom's biography revealed a club owner kept the guitar as partial compensation after Bloomfield cut short a round of appearances. Its whereabouts today are unknown. Marc Bolan (T.Rex) used Les Paul Standards, Customs and Flying Vs. His main Les Paul model was refinished in an opaque orange to resemble the Gretsch guitars played by his hero Eddie Cochran. Mick Box (Uriah Heep) uses a Les Paul Custom, a 1958 double-cutaway Les Paul Junior, a Flying V and a 1968 SG with a Maestro tailpiece. Chuck Brown who was "The Godfather of Go-Go music", played a blonde Gibson ES-335. Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown used various Gibsons including ES-335s and L5s. His main guitar was a late-60s non-reverse Firebird. Jack Bruce (Cream/solo) used several EB-3 basses during the late 1960s and early 1970s; during the 2005 Cream reunion concerts he used a 1950s EB bass. Buckethead (real name: Brian Carroll) uses several Les Pauls custom-made by Gibson which feature oversized bodies, 24-fret necks, DiMarzio pickups and his trademark kill switch. They are usually all white. He is also known to own a modified Les Paul custom in Alpine White with gold hardware. Sam Bush, noted bluegrass mandolin player, plays and endorses the Gibson Sam Bush Signature model mandolin. Billy Byrd (Nashville guitarist who worked with Ernest Tubb among others) worked with Gibson and fellow Nashville player Hank Garland to design the Byrdland guitar, which was named for them (Byrd + Garland. Earlier in his career, Byrd also played an electrified L-7C and later, a custom Byrdland with double cutaways and full size/normal scale length.

C

Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) has used several Gibson models throughout his career, most notably an Ivory White Les Paul with torch burn marks that Cantrell made on the guitar's top. Cantrell used this guitar on all of the Alice in Chains albums and on his solo record Degradation Trip. Other models Cantrell has used include a '52 Goldtop, a Les Paul Studio, a Les Paul Classic Custom, and a Gibson Custom Shop Jerry Cantrell SG. Larry Carlton favours a sunburst 1968 ES-335, also occasionally using a 1956 Les Paul Special and a 1963 L5. A Larry Carlton Signature model has been produced by Gibson for the man they call "Mr 335". Maybelle Carter, matriarch of the Carter Family and one of the earliest country recording stars, played a 1928 L-5 archtop almost exclusively. "I consider this to be the most important single guitar in the entire history of country music" said George Gruhn.

Charlie Christian used an ES-150. The model was Gibson's first archtop electric guitar and was, as described by author Tony Bacon, "used with devastating effect by Christian throughout his short career." The "blade" style pickup installed on early ES-150 models has since become known as the "Charlie Christian pickup" in honor of the legendary jazzman. John Cipollina (Quicksilver Messenger Service) used two heavily customized SGs with bat-shaped plastic embellishments cut from pickguard material, extensive bindings, older Les Paul pickups (with the neck pickup mounted in reverse), Grover Imperial tuning machines, and mercury dimes glued to the tops of the volume and tone controls. He also added Bigsby B5 vibrato assemblies to both guitars.Guitar Player, Jan-Feb 1973 Eric Clapton has used a variety of Gibsons throughout his career. The second electric guitar Clapton owned was a red 1964 ES-335 that he used with The Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith and as a solo artist. In 2004 Clapton donated the guitar to an auction to benefit the Crossroads Centre, where it sold for $750,000 – a world-record auction price for a Gibson. In 1965 Clapton bought a 1960 sunburst Les Paul that he used while a member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Cream. This was the first of several 1958-60 Les Pauls that Clapton has used, contributing significantly to these models' popularity. Clapton also owned a 1957 goldtop Les Paul Custom that was refinished in deep cherry. He later gave this guitar to his friend George Harrison, who dubbed the guitar with the nickname "Lucy".The Eric Clapton "Lucy" Gibson Les Paul | Guitar Center In 1967 Clapton acquired a 1964 SG painted by the Dutch artists collectively known as The Fool; he used this guitar on the Cream albums Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire. Other models Clapton has used extensively include a Firebird I and a 1958 Explorer that he used on his 461 Ocean Boulevard and EC Was Here albums. Steve Clark (Def Leppard) Throughout his career, Clark used various Les Pauls, including a rare Les Paul XR-1 as his main instrument during his Pyromania years, as well as various Firebirds and EDS-1275 double-necksMutt Tracks: What Do AC/DC, Def Leppard, Foreigner, The Cars, Bryan Adams and Nickelback Have in Common? Ted Drozdowski, 8 March 2010 Allen Collins (Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Rossington-Collins Band, Allen Collins Band) used a Firebird, and later switched to an Explorer. Starting in late 1977, he also occasionally used a double-cutaway Les Paul Junior. Stompin' Tom Connors used an SJ-200 (purchased from a furniture store for $80) from 1956 to 1972; he owned it until his death on March 6, 2013. Laura Cox has used a Gibson Les Paul Classic and a Gibson Firebird Standard. Sheryl Crow uses a Country Western model, Hummingbird, L-00 Blues King, J-200 Western Classic, 96 Advanced Jumbo, 96 Southern Jumbo, J45, ES-120, ES-125, ES-335 and various Les Pauls. Her original 1962 Country Western model was exactly measured and reproduced as the "Sheryl Crow Signature" in a limited edition with autographed label on the inside.Acoustic Guitars/Gibson Acoustic Guitars/Signature Artist Series/Sheryl Crow Signature Gibson.com

D

Dave Davies (The Kinks) has used numerous Gibson models over the years, including a 1958 Flying V (prototype model), a 1960 Goldtop Les Paul and a 1978 Artisan.Davies' guitar history from his official website Reverend Gary Davis used a Gibson SJ-200 and a slope-shouldered Gibson B-45-12 twelve-string guitar. Buck Dharma (Blue Öyster Cult) played a 1969 SG and used an ES 175 for the guitar riff in "Don't Fear The Reaper". He also used a 1974 Les Paul. Al Di Meola joined Chick Corea's Return to Forever in 1974 (at age 19), and became an influential jazz-rock fusion guitarist thereafter. He used a black '71 Les Paul model almost exclusively for his electric guitar work, both during his tenure with Return to Forever and on his early solo albums.Reviews and Recommendations - Al DiMeola, at Chris Daughtry of Daughtry (band) plays a Gibson Explorer. Bob Dylan has his own signature Gibson SJ-200.

E

Elliot Easton (The Cars) used several Gibson SG models and a Les Paul Custom in the "Since You're Gone" video. Gibson currently produces an Elliot Easton signature model SG as part of their "Inspired By" series manufactured by the Gibson Custom Shop. Duane Eddy - "The King of Twang Guitar" - has used many different Gibson models throughout his career. Gibson produces a Duane Eddy Signature model.Details on Duane Eddy's Signature Gibson model The Edge (U2) uses several Gibson models including a 1976 Gibson Explorer Limited Edition, a Les Paul Custom, a 1983 30th Anniversary Goldtop, an ES-335, an SG and a J-200. Herb Ellis Played a 1953 ES-175. Gibson released the Herb Ellis ES-165 as a signature-model reissue of his instrument. John Entwistle (The Who) used several Thunderbird IV basses during the early 1970s and later used custom-made "Fenderbird" models with Fender Precision Bass necks. Entwistle also used an EB-2 bass during the early days of The Who.