Duane Allman’s Fender Rock N’ Roll 150 Strings

Based on Johnny Sandlin’s recollection, these are likely strings that Duane used on his guitars, except for those he used for slide (he had flat-wounds on them). [Anathalee G. “BigAnn” Sandlin, Allman Brothers Band forums]

He liked to leave the strings uncut and curl them up at the tuning pegs. Proof of this can be found in many photos, as well as from the recollection of people close to him.

Well, he broke a string that first night [December 01, 1970 at Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, Florida], and I [Tuffy Phillips] took his guitar from him, and then Eric’s tech took it from me. He replaced the string and quick, cut the tops of the strings off at the headstock, and you know that’s not what Duane liked. He liked to leave his strings long and curled up.

Galadrielle Allman, Please Be With Me, p. 272

The Fender 150 referred to a complete set sold at the time (late sixties early seventies). In Fender Catalogs From 1953 to 1979 (specifically from 1968) you’ll find the information that Fender branded the set as “Spanish Guitar light gauge Rock ‘N’ Roll”, and that the set included the following strings:

• 151 E-1st, Plain .010”
• 152 B-2nd, Plain .013”
• 153 G-3rd, Plain .015”
• 154 D-4th, Wound .026”
• 155 A-5th, Wound .032”
• 156 E-6th, Wound .038”

Where to buy Duane Allman strings today

For some time, Fender used to sell a modern version of this set – Fender 150TR, but as of now, that set has been discontinued. At this moment, Fender sells 10-38 sets branded as Jimi Hendrix Signature strings, but in reality, the original Fender 150s were used by many popular guitarists at the time, including of course Allman, Clapton, and Rory Gallagher (who himself preferred to use a .018 for G-3rd on his Fender Esquire, which was set-up for slide).