John Martyn

Guitar – Initially a Yamaha FG (solid wood with the lacquered finish rubbed off). The FG series are still great guitars and relatively cheap! Pickups – Initially no pickups and miked off the front of the guitar. Then he used a DeArmond sound hole pickup and Barcus Berry (type) contact pickup positioned behind and slightly below the bridge. Both gaffa taped onto the guitar.

Around 72/73 he swapped the Yamaha acoustic for a Martin D28 and appeared on the Old Grey Whistle Test with Danny. The DeArmond sound-hole pickup up not stuck down by gaffa tape. The acoustic pickup was stuck just below and behind the bridge and cable taped down. DeArmond cable was routed sometimes below the sound hole and occasionally taped up and over the guitar. To fit a De Armond you use the integral wire clamp on the rear of the back plate of the pickup and a locking slide latch on the bottom, under the volume control. This latch clamps the pickup against the sound board from inside. These fixing can work loose, the sliding clamp damages the underside of the sound board and looses contact pressure with use and then the pickup can move around and will get displaced if you hit it when playing. Hence the practical useof gaffa tape to keep it in place which he deployed on his Guild D55NT and Martin D28.

In the late 70’s he started to use a Guild D55NT acoustic guitar and toured with this for a few years. Not sure why he would switch from his Martin’s but it is a glorious sounding guitar Small Hours was recorded using a D28 but from then on when Outside In was toured he used the Guild.

The Guild D55NT was still in use but he introduced the Gibson SG with P90 pickups, no pick guard and a traditional stop Gibson bridge. He told me after the Rock Goes to College gig at Reading Uni in 1978, that both the amp and the guitar were given to him by Eric Clapton.

John had two early Gold Top P90 loaded Gibson Les Paul electric guitars. One was a 1954 and the other similar in age, this I am not sure of.

Both of Martyn's Les Paul Goldtops were auctioned off in 2024, according to BBC.

He stopped using the Stats (hooray!) and from then on played a Gibson Les Paul. These were retired, stolen, sold off and he eventually used Epiphone Les Pauls in his come-back gigs and it seemed he had quite a few LP’s when he played Solid Air live.

In a photo, John Martyn is seen playing his red Peavey Falcon on stage. This guitar was later auctioned by Omega Auctions in July 2024.