Photo: Raph_PH · CC BY 2.0
Keith Richards uses his black 1960 Gibson ES-355, now a Gibson Custom signature model, for standard tuning. He has said the Stones sound is a five-string with a six-string on top: his open G Telecaster Micawber. He has said he used Fender Twins, with Fender Champs.
“I used Fender Twins most of the time, with the occasional Fender Champ when I was looking for something different.”
“You can put it through just about any amp, and it will sound the way you want it”
“As a guitar player, I'm incredibly honored that Gibson would do this.”
“It's the sound of the Stones: a five-string with a six-string on top.”
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“You can put it through just about any amp, and it will sound the way you want it”
“As a guitar player, I'm incredibly honored that Gibson would do this.”
“It's the sound of the Stones: a five-string with a six-string on top.”
“I've been getting know this '59 Gibson ES-355 lately, and I really enjoy playing it.”
“It was perfectly archaic and, I must confess, pretty difficult to play.”
“I used Fender Twins most of the time, with the occasional Fender Champ when I was looking for something different.”
“His guitar playing is just so sublime.”
For standard-tuned parts, a black 1960 Gibson ES-355 he has played on every Stones tour since 1997, now a Gibson Custom signature model. For open G riffs, his five-string Telecaster Micawber, a birthday gift from Eric Clapton.
Micawber, a Butterscotch Blonde Telecaster with the low E string removed and tuned to open G, fitted with a Gibson PAF humbucker in the neck, per Gearnews. He told Guitar Player it's the sound of the Stones.
He has said he used Fender Twins most of the time, with the occasional Fender Champ. Gearnews notes he is often pictured with a pair of small Champs, and Vintage Guitar documents his 1977 Mesa/Boogie Mark I from the El Mocambo shows.
A Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone, then brand new, used for the riff of (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, according to Gearnews and Premier Guitar's Rolling Stones Gear excerpt.
A Gibson Hummingbird, the acoustic Gearnews says Street Fighting Man, Angie and Wild Horses were written and recorded on. On Hackney Diamonds he played a 1920s Gibson L-4 on Rolling Stone Blues.
A heavy silver skull ring made by London jewellers David Courts and Bill Hackett as a 1978 birthday gift, per Mental Floss.
Keith Richards is the Rolling Stones' guitarist and co-songwriter. This guide covers his black 1960 Gibson ES-355 and its signature replica, his five-string open G Telecaster Micawber, the Les Pauls, Twins, Champs and fuzz behind classic Stones records, and the records he says he loves.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Keith Richards didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
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