Elvin Bishop

In an interview with Bishop done in 2009, this amplifier was listed among the gear he used.

In this picture you can see Elvin with his ES-345.

In an interview with Bishop done in 2009, this amplifier was listed among the gear he used.

He came by my gig one time, I’d say about ’63 or so, and I had a Fender Telecaster and I used to break the strings on it all the time. There was something wrong with the neck, and down around the bridge there’s something sharp there, and it kept breaking strings. And I said “Oh, man, this is a drag. I’m breaking too many strings on this guitar.” He said “There’s nothing wrong with that guitar, you’re just square as a pool table and twice as green. You don’t know what you’re doing, that why you break strings.”

Bishop’s very worn ’61 Martin 0-16NY has cracks in its top and sides, and a Dean Markley Woodie Pro Mag pickup. “It’s got a nice sound,” he says of it. “I’ve used it on a couple of records for country blues stuff.”

Bishop admits this Airline is not a very good guitar, but says, “I bought it because it looked like something I’d seen Earl Hooker play.”

This is probably the much less common, 2-pickup version of Airline Town & Country.

In an interview with Bishop done in 2009, this amplifier was listed among the gear he used.

In an interview with Bishop done in 2009, this amplifier was listed among the gear he used.

In the 2009 Vintage Guitar interview done with Bishop, this guitar was listed as one of the guitars he owned.

“I think I was playing a Gibson Les Paul Junior to start off with, but when I got together with [Paul] Butterfield, we were given Fender guitars and amplifiers. I kept the amp, but sold the guitar right away – a Telecaster doesn’t suit me, it just feels like a piece of wood with some strings, and the neck is too slick.