Muddy Waters

In this performance of “Mannish Boy,” Muddy Waters plays his famed Telecaster, nicknamed “The Hoss” (serial no. 026176). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which once displayed the guitar, records that it was Waters’s primary instrument from 1958 until his death in 1983.

Specifications: • Ash body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard • 25½-inch scale length • Candy-apple-red refinish over the original blonde finish • Bolt-on neck with clay dot inlays • Gold “spaghetti” Fender logo decal on the headstock • Two single-coil pickups, three-way selector switch, single volume and tone controls • Brass bridge, nickel tuners, chrome control plate • Replaced neck, knobs, and bridge

In 2:17, at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival in '68, Muddy can be seen using this type of guitar.

In this picture, Muddy is using a Gibson SG type guitar in a recording session.

In this photo you can see a fender deluxe right behind muddy while he is playing.

In a photo taken at Newport, Muddy Waters is shown holding a Harmony Monterey semi-hollowbody electric guitar.

In this photo you can see muddy waters with an early gibson les paul.

In this image you can see muddy waters' martin guitar exposed in the hall of fame.

In this video you can see muddy while playing with his glass slide

Muddy Waters is noted for using the Guild Starfire II, as highlighted in an article by Myrna Cazessus on Guild Guitars' website.

In this performance of Mannish Boy, Muddy Waters is seen using an Electro-Voice RE20 as part of his vocal mic setup.

According to an article by Dan Formosa in Guitar Buyer, Muddy Waters used a DeArmond 601 Tremolo Control. The article states, "One notable recording is 'Flood' by Muddy Waters from 1953, also recorded at Chess, with Muddy wielding a nice tremolo tone for the track's duration."

Muddy Waters is seen using a Fender Jaguar in a photograph, though the year the photo was taken and the specific year of the Jaguar model remain unknown. This visual evidence provides confirmation of his use of the instrument.