Rock and roll may be good for your soul, but it sure wouldn’t have its own soul without the shredding goodness of the electric guitar. Because April is National Guitar Month and because we love bizarre creations, we’ve decided to celebrate this important rock and roll tool with a collection of the wackiest, wildest and just plain wild guitars seen around the internet.
When you think about it, it’s not all too surprising that killer rock is sometimes performed on gun-shaped guitars --after all, many guitarists love to take on a tough guy persona. This gun guitar seems a little fantastical with the crazy sight piece at the top, but it would certainly make an excellent souvenir for anyone visiting Japan with an extra 80,000 yen in their pockets.
With its shotgun design, this designer guitar by Doc George Oates is decidedly more all-American. Is it just me, or does it seem like Ted Nugent needs this thing?
When you need a gun guitar that could actually harm someone though, it’s all about the flame-thrower guitar that was used by Kane Robert while he played with Alice Cooper. This bad boy was shaped like an M-60 machine gun and at one point, it even hit Alice Cooper with a ball of flames while on stage.
Images via Gizmodo, Doc George Oats, and FoundryMusic
It’s admittedly cheesy to constantly refer to your guitar as an “axe,” but what about when your guitar actually is an axe? The Gizmodo writer who discovered the Japanese gun guitar also found this glorious Gundam axe guitar.
If you prefer realism though, there’s no beating Gene Simmons’ classic axe guitar. These signed collector items fetch quite a sum these days because less than 500 are said to be in existence.
Images via Gizmodo and Ed Roman Guitars
On the complete opposite end of the cool spectrum lie these guitars that look like they would be bigger amongst the Devo crowd than the Slash fans. Whether you prefer Sega or Nintendo is a matter of personal preference, but both of these geek guitars are pretty gosh-darn great.
Images via Kotaku and Cool Buzz
When it comes to geeky guitars though, videogame consoles are by no means the end-all-be-all of this specific genre. In fact, both this steampunk guitar and this Lego guitar are sure to strike a chord with any futuristic voyagers.
Images via BoingBoing and Geektastic
If those guitars aren’t outlandish enough for you, then maybe the Teenar girl guitar is enough for you. Inventor Lou Reimuller created this creepy monstrosity that can be played with only a tiny tilt.
Image by Lou Reimuller
This two string bass is possibly even more visually striking than the creepy girl guitar only because it’s the exact opposite of what you would expect to see in a bass. It’s played by Stig Pederson in the Danish band D-A-D.
Image by Guitarz
Sometimes though, the coolest guitars are those that aren’t technically guitars, like this amazingly rocktastic shirt actually plays cords and strums.
Image via ThinkGeek
The guitar shape is cool enough that sometimes just the icon is enough to provide for a rocking design. Take, for example, this awesome motorized guitar boat by Australian musician Josh Pyke.
Neatorama readers though will probably appreciate this nanoguitar that’s only 10 microns long and is made with one single crystal of silicon.
For those that think bigger is better though, why not enjoy the 43 and a half feet long World’s Largest Guitar that’s still playable –if you live up a beanstalk. It was made by school students and set a Guinness Book of World Records in 2000.
Images via Daily Mail, Lutherie and Gizmodo
Shoot Me With Some Sweet Tunes
When you think about it, it’s not all too surprising that killer rock is sometimes performed on gun-shaped guitars --after all, many guitarists love to take on a tough guy persona. This gun guitar seems a little fantastical with the crazy sight piece at the top, but it would certainly make an excellent souvenir for anyone visiting Japan with an extra 80,000 yen in their pockets.
With its shotgun design, this designer guitar by Doc George Oates is decidedly more all-American. Is it just me, or does it seem like Ted Nugent needs this thing?
When you need a gun guitar that could actually harm someone though, it’s all about the flame-thrower guitar that was used by Kane Robert while he played with Alice Cooper. This bad boy was shaped like an M-60 machine gun and at one point, it even hit Alice Cooper with a ball of flames while on stage.
Images via Gizmodo, Doc George Oats, and FoundryMusic
Let Me Ax You’re a Question About These Axes
It’s admittedly cheesy to constantly refer to your guitar as an “axe,” but what about when your guitar actually is an axe? The Gizmodo writer who discovered the Japanese gun guitar also found this glorious Gundam axe guitar.
If you prefer realism though, there’s no beating Gene Simmons’ classic axe guitar. These signed collector items fetch quite a sum these days because less than 500 are said to be in existence.
Images via Gizmodo and Ed Roman Guitars
How Many Ways Can You “Play” A Guitar?
On the complete opposite end of the cool spectrum lie these guitars that look like they would be bigger amongst the Devo crowd than the Slash fans. Whether you prefer Sega or Nintendo is a matter of personal preference, but both of these geek guitars are pretty gosh-darn great.
Images via Kotaku and Cool Buzz
More Geektastic Guitars
When it comes to geeky guitars though, videogame consoles are by no means the end-all-be-all of this specific genre. In fact, both this steampunk guitar and this Lego guitar are sure to strike a chord with any futuristic voyagers.
Images via BoingBoing and Geektastic
The Not So Tiny Little Teenar
If those guitars aren’t outlandish enough for you, then maybe the Teenar girl guitar is enough for you. Inventor Lou Reimuller created this creepy monstrosity that can be played with only a tiny tilt.
Image by Lou Reimuller
Beautifully Backwards Bass
This two string bass is possibly even more visually striking than the creepy girl guitar only because it’s the exact opposite of what you would expect to see in a bass. It’s played by Stig Pederson in the Danish band D-A-D.
Image by Guitarz
Dressing Up Your Inner Rocker
Sometimes though, the coolest guitars are those that aren’t technically guitars, like this amazingly rocktastic shirt actually plays cords and strums.
Image via ThinkGeek
Unusable Unusual Guitars
The guitar shape is cool enough that sometimes just the icon is enough to provide for a rocking design. Take, for example, this awesome motorized guitar boat by Australian musician Josh Pyke.
Neatorama readers though will probably appreciate this nanoguitar that’s only 10 microns long and is made with one single crystal of silicon.
For those that think bigger is better though, why not enjoy the 43 and a half feet long World’s Largest Guitar that’s still playable –if you live up a beanstalk. It was made by school students and set a Guinness Book of World Records in 2000.
Images via Daily Mail, Lutherie and Gizmodo
Newest 5 Comments
Nice post! I'm almost inspired to turn my xBox Rockband controller into a real guitar ;P
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Lol, Lou Reimuller's guitar wasn't made out of a retail mqnnequin without arms, was it ? Wicked one, never seen something like that before!
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Haha, the backwards bass looks like something out of Spinal Tap.
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Actually you shouldn't give Ted Nugent one of the gun guitars (guntars?) because he is a bowhunter...
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I saw some pretty cool jury-rigged prison guitars on Lockup, trying to remember exactly what made them, I think boat models and modified radio guts, but they worked, and have a headphone jack. An entirely different kind of cool
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