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Johnny Cash, Photo: CBS Television (Wikimedia Commons)

Photo: CBS Television (Wikimedia Commons)

Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Johnny Cash. Every item links to its public source.
11 items · Last checked

What guitar does Johnny Cash play?

Johnny Cash, who died in 2003, played Martins for most of his career: a custom all-black D-35 was his main stage guitar for about two decades, alongside D-28s, D-18s, a 00-18 at Folsom Prison and a D-42 prototype in the American Recordings era. In the 1950s he ordered two custom Gibson SJ-200s.

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What guitars Johnny Cash uses: a sourced gear guide

Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.

Guitars

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Questions

About Johnny Cash's gear.

What guitar does Johnny Cash play?

Mostly Martins. Martin built him a custom all-black D-35 in the early 1970s that was his main performance guitar for about two decades, and he also played D-28s, D-18s and a 00-18 at Folsom Prison in 1968. He told Martin, I feel safe with a Martin.

What was Johnny Cash's black guitar?

A custom all-black Martin D-35 built for him in the early 1970s. Martin says it is now at the Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville, and it is the guitar he plays in the Hurt video. Martin's later D-35 Johnny Cash and DX Johnny Cash models are based on it.

Did Johnny Cash play a Gibson?

Yes. In the 1950s he ordered two custom Gibson SJ-200s with his name inlaid in the fretboard and a pickguard he designed himself. Gibson Custom recreated them in 2024.

What microphone was used on Johnny Cash's voice?

Engineer David R Ferguson said he recorded Cash's 2003 vocals for American V and VI mostly with a Neumann U67, sometimes a U87 and occasionally an AKG 414, through a Urei 6176 preamp straight into Pro Tools.

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Johnny Cash
About this guide · Last checked

Johnny Cash was the Man in Black, the singer and songwriter behind I Walk the Line, Folsom Prison Blues and the American Recordings albums. He died on September 12, 2003. This legacy guide covers the Martin and Gibson guitars he played and the microphones used on his final vocal sessions.

truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Johnny Cash didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.

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