Steve Howe

As is shown on his website, Steve Howe used this fancy guitar on a couple of his well known masterpieces, such as "Close to the Edge" (with Yes) and "Dream River".

When Martin produced the 00-18SH Limited Edition a decade ago all 250 instruments sold out. Now Steve has once again collaborated with Martin to produce the MC-38 Steve Howe Limited Edition guitar. The instrument is based on the MC-28, an acoustic Martin that has been a constant on his guitar rack in recent years. As noted on the Martin site, only about 1100 of this unusual model between 1981 and 1996, but its grand auditorium cutaway body, oval soundhole, 22 fret fingerboard and superb "live" tone so won over Steve that he suggested it be the starting point for a new Steve Howe Special Edition. With the addition of some personal touches and a bit of abalone pearl to give it stage presence, the MC-38 Steve Howe Special Edition - the first Martin to have an oval soundhole in more than a decade - was born.

Howe uses a Coral Sitar in this video performance of "Close to the Edge" by Yes. It can be seen clearly at 3:28.

"Steve Howe’s main guitar for the current Yes tour—on which the band is playing The Yes Album, Close to the Edge, and Going for the One albums in their entirety—is his No. 2 1964 Gibson ES-175 (which he only uses in the U.S.)," states this article.

This article states that Howe uses a Line 6 Variax 600.

This article states that Howe uses a 1970 Gibson ES-345.

Howe can be seen at the beginning of this video playing a Gibson EDS-1275 in this live performance of "And You and I" by Yes.

"This guitar is an original '56 Black Beauty, which is of course a marvelous guitar and full of warmth and character," says Howe. Howe can be seen talking about and displaying his 1956 Gibson Les Paul at 20:32 in this video.

Howe starts talking about his Steinberger GM 12-String at 22:51 in this video.

According to Steve Howe, in this interview: "There are also some rich-sounding, acoustic overdubs that I mostly did on my Steve Howe Special Edition Martin MC-38 6-string and a Martin J12-16 12-string."

Steve Howe states, in this article: "I also play a Ramirez 1a Spanish guitar for 16 bars on 'Sad Night at the Airfield,' during which I follow the vocal melody quite closely."

Howe states in this interview: "You’ll hear me on a Gibson Les Paul Junior in the intro to “We Can Fly” when Benoît first comes in."

Howe can be seen in a photo on this site playing a Rickenbacker 360/12.

Halfway down this page, there is a shot of the gatefold of Howe's debut album, showing his gear; among his gear is a Gibson Les Paul Recording Model.

Howe can be seen playing a Gretsch Chet Atkins guitar in this image in a studio.

At 1:39 of this video, Howe can be seen picking up and playing a Gibson EMS-1235.

A photo of Howe playing a National Resophonic Student Model 1133 can be found on this blog.

At 1:01:39 of Yes' "Going for the One Sessions" tapes, Howe can be seen playing a Gibson Les Paul Junior Special Double Cut.

Howe states in this article in Premier Guitar: "And, of course, I play a Martin in my solo spot, usually my own model called an MC-38 Steve Howe. Back in the ‘80s I use to play a 00-18 Steve Howe model. That was the first one. I converted to a MC guitar, which is a slimmer guitar with a cutaway. Martin kindly said, “Why don’t we do a Steve Howe model of that?” So that became the MC-38 Steve Howe Limited Edition model. "

Howe states in this interview: "Then I went to America after making The Yes Album and bought a Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster, which is absolutely stunning."

In this interview, Howe talks about his use of the martin MC-28 in his song "Steam Age": "“Steam Age” is the only substantial Martin appearance. I play that on a Martin MC-28."

The interviewer, Anil Prasad, asks: "What guitars did you use across the “Fly from Here” suite?"

Steve Howe replies: "At the start and throughout the suite, I’m playing my red mid-’80s Fender Stratocaster."

You can see Steve's famous Les Paul in wine red, he used this guitar a lot during the 70's and later on his career. You can also see more of this guitar at Troglys Guitar Show, on youtube. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La2u66QNt5E)

Steve playing a Burns Nu-Sonic Prototype.

Here is a Custom Gibson ES175 made for Steve Howe which was meant to be a mix of two of his favorite guitars the ES175, and the Switchmaster ES5. It also took the place of his 1964 ES175 on Yes's 1980 Drama Tour.

Howe beings talking about his Line 6 DT 50 amplifier at 30:22 in this video. He says, "I think it's a terrific amp...I'm very very impressed. If you put a good guitar in here it winds up very loud if you want to play loud. It's a very rich sound if you want to play at the kind of levels that I do."

Towards the middle of this interview, Howe talks about his Line 6 Vetta II amp.