Expecting Rain

The acoustic guitar Dylan played at the White House looks like an old battered Martin D-18. Dylan hasn't played Martins regularly since the mid 90s where he switched to Gibson J-45 - and he hasn't even played acoustic regularly for several years.

Does anyone know of the brand of the electric guitar he has used live the last few years? From the shape of it it looks like a Gibson or Gretch, but it has kind of a "D" logo - it may be some custom brand. Anyone familiar with it?

can help with the electric - its by a brand called duesenberg, theyre really good

Is it possible that it's the exact same guitar that he played in the march on Washington in '63? It's the same model, I think and the scratched surface indicates it's quite old. We need help from the guitarheads here

I wondered the same thing, sort of. I noticed the scratched surface of the guitar and thought "man, that's an old guitar." I wonder if he did play it back then.
After looking at the two photos I am not sure.

I compared those two photos, too. The lighting is completely different in both shots which makes it hard to identify the instrument. The scratched spot on the '63 guitar is never clearly visible in the White House film. The best you get is the screen grab you attached. The scratches could be the same (with additional ones accumulated over the last 40+ years). Maybe it's a guitar that Bob uses regularly in the studio.

Hmmm I'm not sure. The 63 guitar clearly has a white trim on it. I see no hint of a white trim on the shot at the white house. But it might be the lighting. However, I think there would be some trace of a lighter huge on the trim even if the light was dim. If anything, it looks black.

Yes, the rim in '63 seems to be white and the rim on the White House guitar is metallic. Or so it seems. But, man, it's an old guitar!

Its not the original Bob Dylan that performed in '63, so I doubt its the same guitar.

Ahh and the older the guitar gets the better the sound. I can only imagine how that baby plays. I feel very sad that Mr.Dylan seemed to have been having a hard time playing. At least that's the way I perceived it. I hope I am wrong. I wish him the best. God bless Bob Dylan!

I'm pretty sure the one he used in '63 was a Gibson (it looks slope-shouldered like a J-50); the one he used in the White House looks like an old Martin D-18.

sixties is Gibson , White House is Martin, Do not ever confuse

Listen the recording, Times is played in D sharp. Another poster here say that the guitar is tunning open, perhaps, I'm not sure, until now. May be D open but BOBBY FORGOT PUT THE CAPO IN THE 1ST FRET

correct me if I'm wrong, please

Thanks for the info!

Oops, my guitar is wrong tunning (half tone down) . Times is played in E.

Upon seeing the post before mine, I did think that Times was in E, Just had a brain failure. Havent tried to play along with it yet.

Great vocal. Best vocal since 2003 for me.

Bob?. I don't know. If you referred to me, I just have fu**ing old string, man

First one is J50 which Dylan then used almost exlusively.

Latter looks like Martin but I couldn't see any "Martin est 1833" label on the headstock.
Are there Martins with no such label?

It's a Martin, no doubt

In the pictures posted in the Visions Of Bob thread you can clearly see it's an old Martin D18. Definitely not the same guitar from the March on Washington (which would be interesting to know whatever happened to that warhorse).

Times from the WH is in Eb by the way, guitar is flat standard tuning. Bob does a lot of stuff in flat keys, almost the entire Love & Theft record for example. Probably for vocal reasons.

I was thinking about the guitar as well while watching it, it certainly is a different choice than the acoustic waiting for him on stage on the tours. He must've brought that one along for a reason of some kind. May not be Bob's guitar either, perhaps someone else's that he played for more significance?

Times may well have been lowered for vocal reasons, but I'm reminded of D saying in the early 90's that when he wrote on piano he liked "the black keys"...

The Examiner page briefly mentions that "some" (not cited) are saying the guitar was borrowed from Neil Young and is the guitar Neil picked up that used to be owned by Hank Williams. Not sure why Bob would choose that to play at the Civil Rights celebration, but none the less that might be a lead to look into.

@smoke - yes, I do recall reading that, but I think he's also adjusted several keys to suit changes in his voice over the years. And he's been adjusting material to flat keys with regularity for the past 10 -15 years. But you could be right as well.

Even though there have been reports that Dylan in past concerts has borrowed Neil Young's "Hank Williams" prewar D-28, it is certainly not the axe he played at the White House: there are no zig-zag binding on the White House guitar, and the wear looks quite different - it could hardly be anything but a D-18. But this one could still be borrowed from Young. For acoustic concerts Neil usually prefers his trusty D-45 and Hank's D-28, but he has often brought in an aged D-18 as well for alternate tuning - this could very well be the one Dylan used.

Neil, Bob, Martin & Hank.
The story
http://www.thrasherswheat.org/2005/10/prairie-wind-companion-cd.html

Probably was used as a sort of security blanket.

will slavery end in america, old boss new boss...goats milk feeds your wife and nourishes your slaves...
I think he picked the guitar for some reasons the link will explain if you need it to.

"Sex and Gasoline is a collection of songs about women –- lovers, daughters, friends, Madonnas and whores -- often told from an imagined female point of view. His craftsmanship is so fine-tuned that he manages to pull off a song like "The Rise and Fall of Intelligent Design" that begins: "If I could have just one wish, maybe for an hour, I'd want to be a woman, and feel that phantom power…." Sex and gasoline is a record about feminine power, too much and too little.

In a size zero culture where heroin chic starvation and the teenage archetypal whore – a la a certain pop singer unraveling before the media's watchful eye -is the measure by which young women are forced to assess their sexual relevance, I've been witness to the toll Bulimia, Anorexia and other abuses can take on a good many would-be Goddesses. You can't be too famous and too skinny has replaced the old adage sit tight and the boys will catch up with you at around age thirty-six. As far as the gasoline part, one needs only to turn on the news. You might say the record is about modern society strip- mining the feminine mystique . . . that and how good I sang and played. - Rodney Crowell"


http://www.rodneycrowell.com/index.php?content=bio
if i was gonna buy a next catalogue I'd have to have my steelworkers job back.