Once again it’s time for a special guest to take the reigns of the B List. This week, guitar-maker Andrew Olson of AO Guitars discusses his favorite axes of all-time. AO Guitars makes high-quality instruments for the discerning musician…

This article first ran on January 10, but we liked it so much we’re running it again while we get up to speed this morning after seein’ Wilco last night.

I am a full-on guitar addict — there’s no denying it, and I’m okay with that. It’s cool, however, because my job is guitars. By that rationale, if your work is also your addiction, you win as far as I’m concerned. So when I got the call from Master Scotty B to do this killer column on my top 10 Favorite Guitars, I thought it was going to be a piece o’ cake. The problem is, I’ve been in love with so many guitars over the years that picking 10 is damn near impossible.

I tried to compile actual players’ guitars for this list, as opposed to off-the-wall axes, because they have that certain mojo that gets you fired up and ready to do the power-slide across the stage, ala Pete Townshend or Jables. The ordering is also debatable — depending on what I’m currently listening to, any of these guitars cold be at the top of the list, but the top four (being handmade, one-of-a-kind guitars) really stand out to me due to their inspirations on me and the building of my guitars. Enjoy, and go hug a guitar. Read on for Andrew’s Top 10…

10. Trigger - Willie Nelson’s 1969 Martin N-20

This easily could have been #1 on my list, but I wanted you all to see it first. Named Trigger after Roy Roger’s horse, this is the Workhorse of Workhorses. How does a guitar this battered with a second hole in the top and the strap attached to the inside of the guitar still sound this damn good? Oh, if this guitar could talk…

9. Gibson EDS-1275: Jimmy Page’s Double Neck


Nothing says ‘badass’ more than this guitar, especially in the way that Jimmy would strut around wielding this behemoth. This one was originally acquired for live performances of Stairway to Heaven, so Page could go from the 12-string for the intro section to the face melting solos on the 6-string neck.

8. AO Guitars’ Venus: Built for Ryan Montbleau by Andrew Olson

Okay, insert the shameless plug here (thanks, Scotty B). I brought this one down to Ryan Montbleau before one of the RMB’s New Year’s Run shows with AOD here in Portland a few years ago, and I never get tired of seeing it on stage and hearing it live in such capable hands. It’s made primarily out of Bubinga and Wenge and is used on certain tunes where Ryan wants more “oomph” than his trusty Telecaster.

7. Duane Allman’s 1959 Sunburst Gibson Les Paul: Duane Allman’s axe

I think of two people when I think of the Les Paul (well, three, if you count ol’ Les himself…which you should): Jimmy Page, and the great Skydog, Duane Allman. With a Coricidin Medicine Bottle on his finger, he could sing on this guitar like no other before him, and his countless solos on everything by the Allmans, to Aretha’s cover of The Weight, to Boz Scaggs’ Loan Me a Dime, to probably his most famously recognizable coda to Layla with the Derek and the Dominoes are the testament of one of the greatest talents ever, cut way too short.

6. 1935 Martin D-28 #58957: Tony Rice’s acoustic


There’s really no reason that this guitar should even still be in one piece, yet it is considered by many to be The One, the best sounding acoustic guitar on the planet. It was originally Clarence White’s guitar and procured by Tony after Clarence’s death. There’s too many stories to get into here, but it’s got everything from a bullet hole in the top, to scars from being run over by Bill Monroe’s tour bus; a previous owner cut the soundhole larger; and the headstock doesn’t even say Martin anymore. Yet in Tony’s hands, it is pure magic.

5. #1 - Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Fender Stratocaster

It’s hard to pick just one Strat, but this is the ultimate for me. So battered and oh so cool…few people were ever able to play with more intensity and soul than Stevie Ray, and this guitar shows how physical a player he was. His huge hands demanded this fat neck, which allegedly was coated in superglue to make it fatter. It had jumbo frets, and he had super heavy strings on it, tuned down a half-step. He also put a left-handed tremolo on it to make it easier to hold on to the arm while playing. In my opinion, the Holy Grail of Strats.

4. Red Special - Brian May’s Guitar


Built 40 years ago with his father out of pieces of an old fireplace and other unorthodox materials, and costing under 10 pounds, the Red Special is one crazy axe. Brian is able to get an unbelievable range of tones out of this guitar due to a wiring scheme that was completely unprecedented when it was created (note the six tiny white switches next the knobs). He also plays with a sixpence as a pick, which gives him some serious grit in his tone. Listen to the solo from Killer Queen (Shear Heart Attack) to get the full effect of what this guitar can do in his hands.

3. Wolf - Built for Jerry Garcia by Doug Irwin


Delivered to Jerry in 1973, the Wolf gets its name from the inlay on the bottom of the guitar, behind the bridge. As the story goes, it was originally a sticker that Jerry had thrown on there, which was later inlaid in brass and wood after being refinished by Doug. The Quilted Maple on the top will melt your face, as it did mine when I was able to play and spec this guitar out 5 years ago.

2. Tiger - Built for Jerry Garcia by Doug Irwin


Jerry received Tiger in 1979, and played it almost exclusively until 1990. After playing the Wolf for a few years, Jerry is said to have commissioned this guitar from Doug, and basically said “Go nuts,” resulting in this 13 ½ pound monster. Tiger took 6-7 years to build, and is one of the most intricate electric guitars out there—full of pearl inlays, brass bindings and a carved Cocobolo top. This was, as I recall, the first guitar I knew of that was handmade, which later set the tone for my getting into building.

1. The Languedoc - Built for Trey Anastasio by Paul Languedoc


There’s no question that is the coolest fucking guitar out there, and I say that not only because I’ve been known to be a rabid Phish fan. The design is flawless and damn sexy, and the range of tones is out of this world. That, coupled with the fact that it’s in the hands of one of the world’s most talented guitarists, Chuck Norris, puts this guitar at the top of my list.

Honorable Mentions: (its damn near impossible for me to only pick 10)

Wes Montgomery’s Gibson L-5, Frank Zappa’s Gibson SG, Mark Knopfler’s National Style O Steel Body and Roy Buchanan’s 1953 Telecaster