Frank Zappa
modified-guitarsexperimentalsg-specialmarshall-jmpguitar-laboratory
Frank Zappa treated his guitars like laboratory equipment. His Roxy-era Gibson SG Special — heavily modified with a mirrored top, phase switches, active filter circuits, and an onboard preamp delivering up to 18dB of boost — was effectively a custom instrument that happened to start life as a production guitar. He acquired Jimi Hendrix's burned Miami Pop Festival Stratocaster and had luthier Rex Bogue rebuild it with a Dan Armstrong Green Ringer circuit. His Les Paul Custom featured an XLR output and nine-position rotary switch for pickup combinations. Every guitar Zappa owned ended up rewired and modified beyond recognition. He ran Marshall JMP 2203 heads from 1974 onward and used Pignose 7-100 miniature amps for specific studio textures on Apostrophe and Over-Nite Sensation.