Duane Allman’s 1960s Gibson J-45

This guitar didn’t actually belong to Duane but to his brother Gregg. But due to the historical importance, it’s probably for the best for it to be included in this list.

As the story goes, Duane gave this Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar to Gregg after trading it for his Telecaster that he played at the time. To learn more about the Telecaster, please visit the page about Duane Allman’s 1950s Fender Telecaster.

He [Duane] traded his main road-ax – a ’56 Telecaster body with a ’53 hogback Stratocaster neck, with some kind of crazy booster on the side – for a Gibson J-45. I couldn’t believe he did that for me because he loved that guitar, but he had seen legitimate signs of a successful songwriter in me, and he knew I needed a boost.

Gregg Allman: Organic Acoustic, Guitar World Acoustic, p.84; Alan Paul, One Way Out, p. 78

Since it would be interesting to see Gregg with the guitar that his brother bought him, we’ve looked around for photos of him with anything that would resemble a vintage J-45, but unfortunately couldn’t find any. If you happen to find anything yourself, please be sure to leave a comment.