Head to Jason Isbell’s barn for a tour of his stable of vintage Les Pauls, Strats, Teles and more
“What I consider a special guitar is one that fulfills its purpose in design,” Isbell says
Just yesterday we were treated to a quick slide lesson from Jason Isbell and some of his vintage electric guitars.
Now Isbell is back with another video, courtesy of GQ, that reveals just how deep his vintage collection goes.
In a new video tour shot at his Tennessee barn, he dives deep into his stable of rare instruments, which he estimates at “somewhere around 50 or 60.”
And while his collection started out rather humbly – he says his first-ever guitar, which he displays here, was an Electra MPC Les Paul copy given to him by his uncle – it has blossomed since.
From there, Isbell presents a slew of drool-worthy instruments, including a ’53 Les Paul gold top, a ’59 'burst dubbed “Red Eye” that had belonged to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Ed King, a ’65 Tele, a ’60 Strat, a ’61 ES-335, a Gretsch White Falcon given to him by John Prine, a mid-50s Martin D-18 and more.
It’s an impressive collection, to be sure. But as for what makes the guitars exceptional?
“What I consider a special guitar,” Isbell says, “is one that fulfills its purpose in design.”
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Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
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