“Every working player knows a day will come when something goes wrong with their financial affairs. They’ll need an instrument for that day”: Robert Fripp on the guitars he’s kept, and the one he bought with no intention of playing

Robert Fripp is primarily known for playing his beloved 1959 Gibson Les Paul Custom. Earlier in his career he often used a 1962 Gibson ES-345, then later he transitioned to Fernandes, brandishing a custom Gold Top – or as Fripp calls it, a facsimile of a Gibson.

But there have been other guitars, which he deems his “honorable mentions.” The first is the Roland G-303 synthesizer guitar, which he first came upon in 1980 and utilized with The League of Gentlemen. Then, with King Crimson, Fripp, and Adrian Belew both played G-303s.

“I used it with Crimson from ’81 to ’84,” Fripp tells Guitar World. “In the ‘90s, Adrian had no more use for his and he very generously gave it to me. So downstairs I have the two G-303 synth guitars used on the ’81 to ’84 Crimson albums.”

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After the band’s second act ended in the mid-80s, he got himself reacquainted with single cuts.

“I was given a Tokai Les Paul copy in about 1986 by the man who imported all Tokais into England.

“He said it was the only Tokai copy in England – all the others had had to be sent back. I don’t play it much at the moment, but it remains one of my favorite instruments. It’s sitting there next to the Rolands. It’s a very honorable mention.”

It might seem that he’s a bit of a six-string accumulator, but he insists he’s “not a collector” – instead, he keeps guitars around with intent.

“The guitar must be right for the music you're playing,” he explains. “All my good instruments have been Gibsons or facsimiles. The question is, why?”

He says it comes down to the proper fit when the guitar rests against his body, and that it must feel suitable for both hands. It’s usually been Gibson – although there’s another honorable mention.

“In 1975 at the Reading Festival, Robin Trower said to me, ‘Do you have a Fender?’

“I said, ‘No.’ Robin opened up his case, and there was a 1957 Fender Stratocaster. He said, ‘Do you like it?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Take it!’ Remarkably generous, isn’t it?”

Lovely as the ’57 Strat was, Fripp remains a Gibson and Fernandes devotee, and the gifted guitar just didn’t fit.

“With an instrument, we put it on, we move inside the instrument, and the instrument becomes an extension of the body.

“One day, probably in the ‘00s, Robin said, ‘Do you still have that Fender?’ I said, ‘Yes. It’s lovely, but I don’t play it.’ So I took it to Robin and gave it back to him. He’s such a generous player and man – and still, may I say, playing very well!”

There’s one last guitar Fripp remembers, for a very different reason.

“I’ll throw in my D’Angelico 17-inch Excel, which I bought in early 1978 in New York. I never intended to use it as a working instrument.

“But every working player knows that a day will come when something goes terribly wrong with their financial affairs – and they’ll need an instrument for that rainy day.”

He continues: “What happened was the dishonesty of our management at the time. He diverted two years of my royalties into his own personal cashflow, which led to financial disaster.

“And I sold the D’Angelico to buy a PA so that legal crafty guitarists could go touring in Europe! Working musicians know that some days are rainy.”