Derek Trucks’ Gibson SG (Jonny Jenkins)

Derek owns a Gibson SG that was used by Jonny Jenkins on the Otis Redding song “These Arms of Mine”. Derek lists Jenkins as one of the two people that got him interested in playing SGs, the first one obviously being Duane Allman.

And then later on, I found out that Johnny Jenkins was playing an SG on all of those early Otis Redding records, where it sounds like a cross between a Stratocaster and a Les Paul.

Derek Trucks on tone secrets, first records and keeping it real, Music Radar

Unfortunately, the photos of the guitar seem impossible to find. There are a lot of SGs in Derek’s studio, seen throughout various videos, but none seem to match the description of this one. According to Derek, this one has Jonny’s signatures inscribed with a soldering iron on the face of the guitar, so it shouldn’t be different to spot.

Not too long ago I got Johnny Jenkins’ old SG, the one he played on Otis Redding’s “These Arms of Mine.” He broke its headstock at the Atlanta Pop Festival, and I think Capricorn Records bought the guitar from him, had it fixed, and it was in Savannah, Georgia, for years. It’s a pretty amazing guitar. He took a soldering iron and wrote his name in cursive on the front – really beautiful script. It’s part of the Allman Brothers/Capricorn/Duane/Otis Redding lore. It lives in the studio.

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Minds Made Up, Vintage Guitar Magazine

If you stumble upon any photos of this guitar, be it with Derek or with Jenkins, please be sure to leave a comment below.