Paul Simon's Guitars

Martin D-18 was used during the 1960's, as seen in this photo. While some say this guitar was used to record "The Boxer", there is no source for so.

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Paul can be seen playing his Yamaha at the Gorge in George in 1999 here; https://images.app.goo.gl/mQ79coPPsXVMkxwP6

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Paul Simon is seen using a Martin OM-42 acoustic guitar, notable for its use in C# tuning, in a 2011 photograph.

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Paul Simon uses the Guild Songbird S4CE-NT Acoustic Guitar as his main instrument for playing in half-step down tuning with a capo on the 4th fret, as shown in a photo from GuitarToneTalk.

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Played in the concert in Central Park and documented in this Forbes article.

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Bizarre guitar choice to play a very clean acoustic sound Paul Simon is playing a Parker Fly guitar when guesting at a gig with Bob Dylan.

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During his late career, Simon uses the cherry red Epiphone Riviera, the 12-string version. Although it looks new, this Epiphone article says that this is a vintage Riviera. He also performed "So Beautiful or So What" on this guitar during the Saturday Night Live performance.

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Paul used this guitar during the 1980, most notable for The Tower Theater concert, where he can be seen with it at around 3:11 minute mark.

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Through the entire appearance with Sting on February 16, 2014 Paul can be seen using his Fender Classic Esquire Telecaster in Butterscotch with a rosewood neck.

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From ACOUSTIC GUITAR [July / August 1993] No. 19, "Gearbox", p. 94:

"His favorite acouistic guitar is a Gurian. 'In a way, this should be the guitar that I build the microphones in and bring out to play on the stage," he says. But this is the guitar that I record with, so I don't want to fool with it because I don't want to take a chance that I'll alter the sound."


From FRETBOARD JOURNAL [May 2011] - "Paul Simon Stays Cool" by Jason Verlinde:

"A month or so ago, Paul Simon played an extra show while stopping through Seattle. He could have packed another full-sized arena but, after playing at the cavernous, arena-esque WaMu Theater, he did a show at the much smaller Showbox at the Market. This is the kind of venue he hasn’t played for years… a place that only holds a few thousand folks and has amazing sightlines no matter where you stand. And he seemed to have a great time playing this club; it almost felt like a thank you gift to his fans for supporting him over the years.'

"Then, a couple of weeks back, there was a nice Rolling Stone feature on Simon and his new album. As a guitar geek, the most impressive thing for me was the guitar of choice in the opening photograph of the article: it’s Simon holding his old Size 3 Gurian. Sure, Simon has a signature model Martin but the axe he grabbed when the photographer from RS came by was his “old friend,” the Gurian. What a cool gesture."

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Paul Simon is associated with a Sadowsky Custom Guitar, styled like a white Strat, as detailed on Biglobe's "Paul Simon's Gear" page.

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This is a community-built gear list for Paul Simon.

  • Find relevant music gear like Microphones, Guitars, Amplifiers, Effects Pedals, Software Plugins and VSTs, Keyboards and Synthesizers, Instruments, and other instruments and add it to Paul Simon.
  • The best places to look for gear usage are typically on the artist's social media, YouTube, live performance images, and interviews.
  • To receive email updates when Paul Simon is seen with new gear, follow the artist.

Discography

Album Credits

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