Keith Richards: A Life in Guitars

Micawber, Malcolm, Sonny – in the world of Keith Richards, even his guitars are characters. But there's more to his collection than these famous Teles. Thousands more...

- JONATHAN HORSLEY

WHEN CONSIDERING “KEITH Richards the guitar player,” what's the first guitar you think of? For many of us, it might just be a Fender Telecaster, perhaps “Micawber,” Richards' Number 1, the 1953 Blackguard with five strings and a Frankenstein spec, a battered Butterscotch Blonde forever slung at a 45-degree angle from Richards' hip. Or perhaps it's “Malcolm,” a '54 model in natural finish that has similarly been augmented, five-strings, left in open tunings. Then there's the black 1975 Fender Telecaster Custom, which made its debut – as did Keith's latest foil, the Faces' Ronnie Wood – on the Stones' Tour of the Americas '75, or Sonny, his '67 Sunburst Tele. But let's dial it back to the beginning because these Teles tell only a small part of the Keith Richards story.

EARLY DAYS: 1960-'64

The population of Richards' guitar collection is estimated to range between 1,000 and 3,000, but – just like the rest of us – he had to start somewhere. His mother got him a Rosetti acoustic when he was around 13. 10 pounds was a good amount of money in 1959, but it proved a shrewd investment.

Richards was confronted with traditional Spanish number “Malagueña” early on; taught by his grandfather, it was the first song Richards learned. Thus the acoustic would become key, not only to Richards' playing style but his entire guitar philosophy. He often speaks of the acoustic's purity. Learn to work it, and only then can you appreciate what it takes to use the electric.

As Richards says, “The electric guitar? All they did was put a phone in it. But it was the right phone at the right time.” For a band with an electric pulse, it is remarkable that so many occasions have called for the acoustic guitar.