The Real Guitars in 8 Classic Movies | Reverb 

The goofy goober peanut guitar is top tier.

A good reason for "La Bamba" to have used a reissue '50s-style Strat instead of a real vintage instrument: Since the whole movie took place in the 1950s, the guitar was supposed to look NEW. If they'd used a real one, it would've had more of an aged and worn vibe after nearly 30 years. As for the Harmony guitars? Hey, those things looked old and road worn even WHEN they were still new!

That hateful eight scene is a travesty

where is school of rock with Jack black’s SG.

This provided me with information I didn't realise I needed to know. Brilliant.

I always thought it was hilarious when Tia Carerra just listed off standard Strat features as if they were a big deal. “It has a whammy bar!!” 😆

With a title like "guitars in classic movies", the absence of Nigel Tufnel's guitars from Spinal Tap seems like a blasphemy

Next time, would love to hear about all the instruments in 'That Thing You Do' and if they were historically accurate to 1964.

The Les Paul Jr. Jimmy plays in “That Thing You Do” always caught my eye, years before I even picked up a guitar! Same with the Silvertone Lenny plays...

The rooftop scene in The Crow, got me hooked back in 93.

I cringe every time I see Kurt Russell destroy that guitar.

My personal favorite growing up would be Gary Busey’s Oscar nominated performance in the Buddy Holly Story. The movie opens with Gary playing a Fender Bronco and he plays a rosewood neck telecaster through the duration of the movie set in the the 1950’s. All songs were performed live by the actors as well. Such a fun and wonderfully inaccurate movie.

I will happily watch ANY Reverb video with Joe as the host - talking or playing - he effin' RULES!

As many times as I've seen Back to the Future, I never noticed the Gibson looks like it was once a stop tail? You can still see the posts between the bridge and Bigsby.

Norman from Norman’s rare guitars is such a cool guy.

What about the guitars in Tenacious D. the pick of destiny? 0/10 IGN

The Hateful Eight scene always breaks my heart.

I KNEW even before I clicked the thumbnail that the smashed vintage Martin from the Hateful 8 would be mentioned. ;____ ;

You didn't point out that Marty McFly was told he wasn't what the talent show was looking for by Huey Lewis.

I didnt watch Purple Rain in 84, but I had the chance to watch it in a theater in 2016 and I understood why the impact it had back then.

I really enjoyed this, as the movies came out when I was too young to know anything about guitar brands and specs, but old enough to want to be a guitar hero, and that was a great time in life, to only be concerned about rocking out. Ah, the good old days...

The scene Marty plays Jonny be good is the moment I wanted to play guitar. Still playing to this day and have learned to play many instruments since 😁🤘

The Buddy Holly Story, Rock N Roll High School, FM, Almost Famous, Blues Brothers.

Amazing! Waiting for part 2.

6:15 Correction - Mark Erlewine created the Chiquita (unless cousin Dan, Dan Erlewine, called Mark on the phone and said, "Mark, this is that GUITAR you've been looking for!!!"

Huey Lewis tells Marty McFly hes afraid they're "just too darn loud." Always loved that.

Wyld Stallyns rule!!! Be excellent to each other.

The 70's film Buddy Holly. They use the wrong guitar for 95% of the film. A White with Black pg Telecaster. Then on the phone call home to his wife. A Sunburst Maple Fretboard Strat. But mins later during his last concert. It has Rosewood.

Brian Setzer’s Gretsch in La Bamba was a great one too. An original 1959 Gretsch 6120 that was a gift from Steve Miller

The guitar that Brandon Lee uses in The Crow is a Hohner Rockwood Lx100g .

School of Rock has loads of fun guitars - can we have that in the sequel?

Way better than I thought it was going be. Good job guys

The sustain is amazing .You can still hear it .THE LES PAUL

I knew Purple Rain was on here. How could it not be?

Love it. Was waiting till the end to see if Crossroads was mentioned-and was happy to see it was. That movie was a huge inspiration for me, loved to see it here. Also, I love the look of Prince's Mad cat tele.

Make this an ongoing series! This video was great and there's dozens more movie guitars I want to know about!

The Charvel in the Vai scene has a whole other story of it's own.

An inspired upload, great viewing 👏🏻

I believe that the Chiquita travel guitar was made by Mark Erlewine of Austin, TX not Dan Erlewine of Stew/Mac fame.

Crossroads is the single reason why I still and WILL own a legit fender Telecaster!! Gotta have the glass bottle slide as well! Maybe even the Pig Nose amp.

I am obsessed with this video.

They Amos flying V in Spinal Tap should most definitely be on this list

I loved this recently posted video. Along with the outstanding comments. Posts reminding me of F. Fairlane, Spinal Tap etc, was a treat. The tears over the Kurt Russel/Martin debacle show the love for such an instrument. I don't think it was an accidental smashing of the vintage guitar. If it was the vintage, any actor in that movie could've bought it several times over, and smash it at their whim. Last 2 cents; I read all the comments and was surprise there was no mention of "August Rush"

That was great

Crossroads has one of the best endings of any movie ever. A must watch for any guitar player.

7:07 that bass deserves a mention too: Gibson Victory Artist, seriously pricey today. John Wetton used to rock one with Asia. Want.

That’s awesome that keanu and alex played bill and ted again

Michael J. Fox also played a cool Strat in "Light of Day" while Joan Jett played a Las Paul junior.

Nice try sneaking the Hofner mini in while discussing the Chiquita.;)

fascinating!

That Thing You Do guitars before and after their record charted

I hope you're preparing a second edition of this since there's so many music films left out. Blues Brothers, Walk The Line, That Thing You Do, The Commitments, School Of Rock, Almost Famous, Light Of Day, CrazyHeart, Honkytonk Man, Rock Star, The Runaways.... Also, I'd like to see a separate one featuring TV's The Monkees and The Partridge Family. (I believe all the Partridge guitars/basses were provided by Ovation).

Good job, Kurt.

The Luthier who made the cloud guitar for Prince was also commissioned by Prince to make him a Purple bass one and it is GORGEOUS!! Sadly, prince died before the guitar was finished. There is a guy here on You Tube whose channel is " Scotts Bass Lessons" - go to his channel and search his videos and you will find the one about the bass. I also saw where the Prince estate is trying to stop the Luthier from doing anything with the guitar.

The Marty's Gibson from Back To The Future at some point came to Brazil and is in a personal collection. The owner shows in TV shows a couple of times and the guitar is always mentioned.

Thank you so much for this fantastic video! I loved it. I was hoping to hear about Bradley Cooper's olive green Gibson ES-345 from A Star Is Born, as it's one of the coolest guitars I've ever seen and really helped me reconnect with my roots in a story about musical expression and identity. I felt all of Cooper's story and soul in that guitar and I'd love to hear more about it. Hopefully Gibson will make a few for sale to the public. I'd love to own one.

Andrew Dice Clay in Ford Fairlain. The supposed Jimi Hendrix owned Stratocaster.

If you want to hear what a Steinberger can do in the right hands, look up some Tin Machine videos to hear Reeves Gabrels shredding the wallpaper with one. Gnarly.

As a kid watching the Buddy Holly story, I knew that I wanted a sunburst strat. It took me a while, but I finally got one. Too bad I had to sell it. Oh, well. Such is life. Speaking of Buddy Holly, I'm surprised Marshall Crenshaw didn't use one of his guitars in La Bamba. And speaking of La Bamba, Brian Setzer's Eddie Cochran Gretsch guitar was pretty awesome. Honorable mention to the guitars used in That Thing You Do.

I always thought the Jack Butler was a Carvin, awesome facts.

Not quite on topic, but Jeff Beck's appearance (with Strat) in "Twins" is fantastic

I don’t know man, but Jack Black’s SG on School of Rock is just beautiful.

Eric Draven playing guitar on a rooftop in The Crow Movie is why I bought my first guitar!

Excellent

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! That was the real thing!"

very cool

Good list. Gary Clark JR's Guitar in the Honey Dripper is one of my fav. Made by Ted Crocker

Blues Brothers.... the Band! the BAND! THE BAND!!!!

The opening scene of Only Lovers Left Alive is shockingly packed with guitars...

For tv shows MY vote is for jed clampett playing a danelectro double neck.Jed was all decked out in a silver suit and guessing the guitar was picked because it looked outrageous.You also have to admire the mosquitos on don't bug the mosquitoes episode of gilligan's island, they were so good they played their guitar without any amps or electricity or even guitar cables.

Try to make the same type of video for synthesizers.

Steinberger GP a joke? Ha! Incredible instruments. Still, more for me!

When I have a coffee cup next to me, the handle points toward me, not away from me...

This was a really fun series, presented by Jim from the Office, with curly hair. I think you guys majorly forgot That Thing You Do - awesome guitars in that movie. Crazyheart would be another one. Even The Rock, Nicholas Cage is seen twanging around on an Epiphone Casino I believe, Stranger Than Fiction - Will Ferrell's blue Stratocaster. And in Back To The Future II, future Marty is seen playing the "Power Of Love" riff on a more modern looking blue PRS before he gets TERMINATED! Also, in Adventures In Babysitting you've gotta talk about Albert Collins' favorite natural finish Tele with hum bucker in the neck.

Back to the future: you totally missed the 80's blue PRS guitar that Marty McFly plays when he's older in the future right before he's fired from his job.

Yoo I just realised for the first time ever that at 6:26 the closeup amp shot that they used in BTTF was actually a tiny Gibson GA-5T, yet the attached giant speaker blew Marty away despite only 5 watts of tube power lol

crossroad (1985) truly inspire me learning and playing blues in 2000s ... after I watch it on TV in 98... Really cult classic movie. I need to wait till 2010 to get the DVD. Need to import from US amazon, because no movie distributors make the dvd for local market...

The movie Honeydripper starring Danny Glover and Gary Clark Jr. The guitar Gary plays is real and functional. It was built by Ted Crocker. He built two for the movie, Gary kept one and the other was returned to Ted. Another was built later for the owner of juke joint it was filmed in. And, oddly enough, Keith Urban commissioned one.

This is an awesomely informative video. I would of figured that the guitar wayne played in wayne's world was a washburn.

If no one has ever seen crossroads, you are missing out on a great movie.

Definitely going to build Ritchie's Harmony Stratotone now!

Nice piece. You could do an entire other episode on the instruments in A Mighty Wind

In Ashland, Wisconsin, an enterprise called Underwater Lumber rescues old growth trees that sank to the bottom of Lake Superior during the lumber rush of the 1800s. Because of the lake's odd anaerobic properties, the wood is pristine and once dried out, makes great lumber. Big names wanted this wood -- Bill Gates had his house floored with it. Johnny Cash ordered a guitar made from it (this was about 20 years ago), but he fell ill and the guitar sat in the showroom. A movie called "A Simple Plan," starring Billy Bob Thornton and Bill Paxton, was filming nearby and the cast had a party at Underwater Lumber and (I was told on a visit) one of the cast broke the guitar, put a hole right in the top. I got to play the guitar and it still sounded nice to me. This was still 5 years before Cash died; I wonder if he ever got his guitar. Most of all, I wonder if it was Thornton who broke it!

Vai's sparkly red guitar in Crossroads is a Jackson AND a Charvel!! I settled this argument, long ago on the Jackson Charvel Forums. I went frame by frame, and took pics of the guitar. You can clearly see the 'Jackson' logo, covered up with black gaffer's tape. Presumably because Jackson didn't want to be associated with the devil? Or Jackson didn't want to pay for the product placement lol. You can also clearly see, that this guitar has a 'Charvel' neck plate, bolting the neck to the guitar. This was a transitional guitar, (1986) when Jackson was phasing out the USA Charvel production, to a Japanese made line of guitars - the Model Series. There were a handful of guitars produced, with Jackson logos, that used up the last of the USA Charvel neck plates. This is indisputable. If you don't believe it, go frame by frame, for yourself!!!

I'm missing the PRS Dragon from Airheads in this lineup

That Gibson victory is gorgeous js :) bass :)

Some of my favourites are the Rickenbacker 360/12 and Gretsch Tennessean George Harrison played in _A Hard Day's Night_ and _Help!_ (I know those are movies based around The Beatles but Harrison was the first guitarist (along with Eddie Van Halen) that made me pick up the instrument) and the BC Rich Bich Bass double-neck and Les Paul from _This Is Spinal Tap_

Neat video

I have a good one... Jeff Beck appeared in the movie Twins, playing country music with a sick surf green Stratocaster.

How about some of the guitars from Rich Girl, Eddie & The Cruisers 2, Thunder Alley, He's My Girl, or some others like that? Maybe even the movie Still Crazy?

Okay but what was the model of the Harmony arch top in La Bamba?

cool vid

Here's some funking trivia. The Blackguard Telecaster used by Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the line , Is now owned By Suze Demarchi of Aussie rock band The Baby Animals, She was married to Nuno Bettencourt . She had a friend who worked in the art department on the film and was given the opportunity to buy it after filming ... she has used it live ever since .... Rock On

The Chaquita guitar was made by MARK Erlewine of Erlewine guitars of Texas. He is Dan's cousin. Mark is also the the conservator of WIllie Nelson's "Trigger" and maker of the Lazer guitars favored by the late Johnny Winter. DAN Erlewine is the famous Athens Ohio based luthier builder who works with the Stewart Macdonald luthier tool company and is famous for building the final "Lucy" Flying V for Albert King and the Numbers strat for Jerry Garcia. Mark apprenticed under Dan. Just clearin' up the info

Nice Guessumentary

'Crossroads' is an insanely underrated film. I had to search quite a bit to find a copy on DVD.

PUUURPLE RAAIN! PUUUURPLE RAIN!

What about the Harley Davidson Telecaster in Cheech & Chong's Next Movie? That thing was brilliant!

Wow no mention of the fact Steve Vai played both guitar parts for Crossroads guitar duel scene.

Spinal Tap and THE '59 Les Paul