James Dean Bradfield

“Bought during the worst hangover of my life, from Fat Rick’s Vintage Guitar Emporium in London. Sweat was dripping off my nose and I don’t imagine even Richard Burton ever felt so terrible. But I wanted an acoustic with a bit of midrange.

"It’s my ‘songwriting guitar’. If You Tolerate This..., Masses Against The Classes, The Everlasting, Show Me The Wonder, some of Your Love Alone... were all written on this" "I met up at Rick’s with my tech then, ‘Deptford John’, I bought it, went home, and passed out. Woke up the next day and was like... ‘What the f**k have I bought?’ But I don't regret it.

"If I’ve been struggling for a while, I go back to this. I hate falling into the traps of saying ‘there’s magic in the wood’, or ‘there must be a Ley line running through this guitar’, but it’s got something. I always keep it close to me. It’s my most versatile acoustic. A lucky guitar.”

– James Dean Bradfield on his 1973 Gibson J-45 via Music Radar

This is arguably James' main guitar, used on every MSP album and tour.

“I've always loved this guitar. It has such amazing resonance, you can practise without an amp. But as I said before, me and Richey swapped this and the Gordon-Smith, so he got this one. We only had these two decent guitars at the time, everything else was taped-together rubbish. It’s been on pretty much every album.

“And here’s the dirty secret. The main riff on Motorcycle Emptiness is not my Les Paul, it’s this Tele. Me and (Generation Terrorists producer) Steve Brown were A/B-ing both and he insisted the Tele’s sound won out. He was EQ-ing a lot, scooping all the top out and compressing, and putting ‘top’ back in on mixing. I was part-thinking, ‘No! It should be a Les Paul’ - but the Tele just worked.”

James Dean Bradfield used the white Gibson Flying V during the Lifeblood era. It can also be seen in the video for "Empty Souls".

Bradfield can be seen playing the John 5 Signature Telecaster for "Tsunami" in the video linked above.

In this photo gallery interview, James Dean Bradfield says, “It just looked lovely, and I had no concerns about the action, pickups or anything. But it really helped Everything Must Go - the title track, Enola Alone, quite a few other songs. It’s got a really range-y sound."

In this photo gallery interview James Dean Bradfield says, “There’s a lot of this on Lifeblood. Those songs weren’t asking for my Chuck Berry-isms or my soft-metal-isms. Jazzmasters are great studio guitars, but I just can’t get on with them live."

In this photo gallery interview, James Dean Bradfield says, “I won this in a bet with [record producer] Mike Hedges. During one session in his Normandy studio for This Is My Truth... we were ragging each other over a rugby score. So we had a bet!

I used it on, among other songs, If You Tolerate This... for the solo. My Les Paul Custom and the Thinline weren’t quite working. Quite an interesting solo - it went through both my Marshall and Vox and then got returned through a Moog synth. It’s a simple solo, but I like to think it’s elegant."

In this photo gallery interview, James Dean Bradfield says, “I first played one in 1996 - what an amazing guitar. Sean (Moore, Manics drummer) found my first second-hand and it’s all over Futurology. I also have a recent reissue, too.

"Starcasters have one of the best fretboards, Fender or otherwise, I’ve ever played, and a great sound. On Futurology, I was really trying to find riffs on this, not so much chords. Effect pedals chime out on this, too.

"They’re an anomaly of a guitar, aren’t they? They probably should have sold better than they did. I’ve only ever seen (Radiohead’s) Jonny Greenwood, (Morrissey’s) Boz Boorer and (The Killers’) Dave Keuning play them otherwise.”

In this photo gallery interview, James Dean Bradfield says, “I don’t know what year it is, but I do know it’s a pig of a guitar! It must have the smallest fretboard of all time. I’ve got small hands anyway, but f***ing hell!

"And I can’t stop it feeding-back for some reason, so I need to find a spot for recording. I tend to use Line 6’s Amp Farm with this one. I do that quite a lot to be honest, to get the best tone.

“I like the Mosrite’s sound, yet it’s horrible to play [laughs]. But it’s cool, it’s interesting; it’s old, but not original 1960s Mosrite I don’t think. I used this lots on Lifeblood and Journal For Plague Lovers.”

In this photo gallery interview, James Dean Bradfield says, “Bought in a car boot sale by Sean [Moore, Manics drummer] for £400. This is all over the Rewind The Film album. It’s got a beautiful, snub-nosed, woody sound, used especially on Running Out Of Fantasy and Manorbier.”

In this September 2014 interview with JDB, in Guitarist Magazine, it is revealed that Bradfield has a Fret-king Ventura 60. Of it he says, "I really like those guitars, great necks." He can be seen using it in this photo

One of the guitars listed in this September 2014 interview with JDB, in Guitarist magazine, is Bradfield's Burns Brian May.

Of his Fender F-5 12-string, Bradfield says, "My Mum and Dad bought me the Fender as an 18th birthday present," in this interview with Acoustic Magazine.

In the final paragraph on this page of an interview with James Bradfield in Acoustic Magazine, his Lakewood D12 is mentioned.

Bradfield's Guild acoustic is mentioned in the last paragraph on this page of his interview with Acoustic Magazine.

Bradfield's Fylde Orsino is listed among his acoustic guitars in the last paragraph on this page of his interview with Acoustic Magazine, and on this page, he talks about it, saying, "It's a very clear sounding guitar, which is why I chose it for that job."

On this page of Bradfield's interview with Acoustic Magazine, it says that he uses a Taylor 414ce. The article says he uses Taylors and Cole Clarks for his live performances, because of their pickup systems.

At the end of this page of James Dean Bradfield's interview with Acoustic Magazine, it lists a Taylor 614ce among his acoustic guitars. The article says he uses Taylors and Cole Clarks during his live performances for their pickup systems.

In this issue of Guitarist magazine, they mention a 1982 black Gibson Les Paul with Angus Young pickups as one of James' many guitars.

James mentions in the last paragraph of this article from Acoustic Magazine that he played a Cole Clark Fat Lady.

In the final paragraph in this article from an August 2014 edition of Acoustic Magazine James mentions that he played a Cole Clark Angel.

In this performance of Slash N Burn The Manics frontman can be seen using a gibson LP junior.

This photo-article from MusicRadar/Guitarist magazine details all of the gear Bradfield used during the making of the Manic Street Preacher's 2010 album Postcards From a Young Man. The White Falcon is depicted in James' guitar collection.

This photo-article from MusicRadar/Guitarist magazine details all of the gear Bradfield used during the making of the Manic Street Preacher's 2010 album Postcards From a Young Man. A 1962 Stratocaster is depicted in James' guitar collection.

This photo-article from MusicRadar/Guitarist magazine details all of the gear Bradfield used during the making of the Manic Street Preacher's 2010 album Postcards From a Young Man. A 1969 ES-330 is depicted in James' guitar collection.

In this video clip of a live performance by the Manic Street Preachers in 2016, we can see Bradfield playing an S2 Vela (visible from the 0:10 second-mark onward).