Billy Strings

In this instragram post, Billy shows his double pick guard 1948 Martin D-28 as he purchases it from Bryan Sutton.

Well, my grandpa literally built it in prison. He was incarcerated from 1960 to 1962 at the Michigan State Penitentiary. He was a nonviolent offender, so he had access to the woodshop and he came out of there with this electric guitar he’d built. He made it out of a cedar table [laughs]. The tabletop became the body and a leg became the neck with a Gibson acoustic fretboard. It might’ve been a functional guitar at some point, but it didn’t have a truss rod, so when he put steel strings on it, the neck bowed and that was it. I first saw it when I was five or six, snooping around my grandma’s closet. A few years ago I remembered it, so I called my mom and she told me my uncle Bill had the guitar. It was in pieces, so we had to do a complete restoration. Dave Johnson, who works at Carter Vintage and has his own brand, Scale Model Guitars, did the work. (Read about the restoration process done by Dave Johnson who now owns and operates Scale Model Guitars in Nashville.)

Before becoming an endorser of Preston Thompson Guitars, Billy played a 2009 Roy Noble Dreadnought with mahogany back and sides. This guitar features in many of his earliest videos online, including the video linked here.

In this video, Billy can be seen with his mahogany Preston Thompson dreadnaught. The following article from Bluegrass Today details how he acquired the guitar as part of an endoresment deal: https://bluegrasstoday.com/billy-strings-endorses-thompson-guitars/

In this video Billy talks about locating (and eventually re-purchasing) the Martin D-93 that his dad, Terry Barber, owned during Billy's childhood but was forced to sell during tough financial times.

Billy does not currenlty tour or record with this guitar, as he gave it back to his dad after purchasing it. Terry can be seen playing it alongside Billy in several videos (check out here and here).

The origional For Sale thread on the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum can be found here; you can even see Billy's replies to the listing and discussion with the guitar's seller. This guitar is also discussed by Strings in his Premier Guitar interview.

When I was 10 or 11, money got really tough for the family. We lost our power and hot water, and paying bills was a real struggle, and the only thing left in the house worth anything was that D-93. So, my dad decided to take the guitar back to Elderly so we could eat and turn the utilities back on. I wanted the guitar to stay in the family longer than he or I would be around. The day he sold it was a tragedy at our home. Years went by and even though I had no cash, I started looking around on the internet for an acoustic to pick with my dad again. I was window-shopping on this unofficial Martin forum and I saw my dad’s guitar! My jaw hit the floor. It had my dad’s wear down by the pickguard, the exact wear on the fretboard—I knew those markings like a roadmap of my childhood. I sent its current owners, Joe and Marla Singleton—bless their hearts—a really long email. As I was writing it, I was crying on the keyboard. I pleaded to Joe not to sell the guitar to anybody but me because it was my dad’s guitar, and we sold it out of hardship seven or eight years ago. He responded that he had three interested buyers on eBay, and he was skeptical that I wasn’t just some punk 17-year-old talking shit on the internet. Thankfully, his wife Marla stepped in and said, “If this kid is telling the truth, you gotta give him a shot.” He relented and we agreed on $700 for three consecutive months. I was living in Michigan, so I was taking back beer cans and pop bottles for 10 cents. I was selling weed, I was cutting grass—I did anything I could to make money. I took the original case to my parents’ house and set it on the table. My dad thought it was a prank—he told me “to get that fucking thing out of the house.” He eventually worked up the nerve to pull the guitar out and he started playing “John Deere Tractor” by Larry Sparks. His mom loved that song. My mom, my brother, and I all cried our eyes out while he played it. It was really special—that was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done.

In this video, Billy can be seen playing his Brazilian Rosewood dreadnaught from Preston Thompson Guitars. At 0:43 you can see that his guitar has heringbone inlays around the body (as opposed to abalone, which would be found on the Delux Rosewood model). Billy's guitar sports an upgraded sunburst finish and headstock inlay from the base model.

In another video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghx9UqKYI18) you can see Billy picking up his guitar from the Preston Thompson shop in Sisters, Oregon. At about 4:15 you can see Billy point out the customization that was done for the guitar's headstock inlay.

In this video, Billy strings is seen playing a Fender American Acoustasonic Stratocaster.

In this video, Billy Strings can be seen at the Preston Thompson guitar shop discussing and playing his signature model guitar.

In this video with Molly Tuttle, Billy Strings plays the Acoustasonic Telecaster from Fender.

In the Relix video of Billy Strings performing live at Red Rocks on July 12, 2021, he is seen playing a Gibson Custom Shop 1959 Les Paul Standard R9 in Cherry Teaburst.

Billy Strings can be seen playin Casio DG-20 in this video.(Athens, GA, 3/7/23)

Gifted to Billy Strings by Jack White, following Ringo Starr's Jan 16 show at the Ryman Auditorium. In a post on Jack White's Instagram, he says; "I had to give my Triplesonic guitar I used at the Ringo Ryman event to the great Billy Strings after the show. It couldn't be in better hands. Great to play on the same stage with him and so many other incredible players." -JWIII

Billy Strings is confirmed to use the Martin D-28 Billy Strings, a signature guitar inspired by his 1940 D-28, as demonstrated in a video by Martin Guitar. In this video, Billy Strings discusses the creation of the guitar, highlighting its features such as premium East Indian rosewood and a shorter 25-inch scale, which enhance playability while paying homage to its pre-war roots.

Billy Strings uses the Martin D-X2E Billy Strings, a more accessibly priced signature guitar inspired by his 1940 D-28, as confirmed by Martin Guitar in their YouTube video where Billy introduces this model.