Roger Daltrey’s guitar timeline
By popular demand, here is a work-in-progress timeline of Roger’s occasional onstage use of guitars with The Who. This page is under construction.
Although primarily a microphone twirler, Roger did in fact start out as the lead guitarist in the Detours. He would revisit the guitar onstage in 1982 as accompaniment to Pete. Then, as the group began touring again in earnest in the 1990s, was featured in each set for a few numbers playing acoustic guitar.
First guitars
Click to view larger version. Ca. 1960, as the Detours. Photo courtesy SoundCityChris
- Home-built guitars:
- First one made out of plywood, based on an acoustic.
- “I made several that were quite good except that the necks used to fold up. The last one I made was actually a good guitar because my uncle, who was a carpenter, made the neck for me. I used that on stage up until about 1962 and then my dad bought me an Epiphone.”
From December 2007 interview in the Sun:
- You played guitar in your first band?
- The skiffle thing was taking off. I just had to get a guitar. We couldn’t afford to buy one so I bought some wood and some guitar strings and made one. It wasn’t very good, like playing a cheesewire, but it taught me. It made the noise of a guitar and I could play, relatively in tune, the first three chords that anyone needed for most skiffle songs.
- How did your band progress?
- We got our skiffle group together but my first guitar folded up within three to four months. It literally couldn’t stand the strain on the strings. The second one was quite reasonable. Someone at my dad’s work had a guitar and we copied it. It was a big step up and allowed me to go on playing.
- I was still playing every night at the boys’ club in the Goldhawk Road. I went from acoustic material into electric. My Fender was copied from a guitar shop window. They were more than £100 then. You could buy a house for £100. That’s how much money they were. My dad had to get the equivalent of a mortgage to buy my first factory-made guitar.
Epiphone, “professional” guitar, purchased by his father in 1959.
Before I Get Old:
By 1959, Roger was serious enough about his music to convince his father to buy him a professional’s guitar, an Epiphone. Perhaps Harry Daltrey thought that this could also help keep his son on the straight and narrow for a time.
1962–63
Ca. 1962 or 1963, as the Detours. Pete playing a Levin Goliath LM-26 sunburst acoustic with pickup in soundhole, and to the right of Roger, who is playing the Epiphone Wilshire that he would eventually give to Pete, what appears to be a TV-front Vox AC-15, with cabinet corners.
Roger is lead guitarist of the Detours, until Townshend joins the group as rhythm guitarist and eventually takes over all guitar duties. He “built the band’s guitars out of plywood.”
Guitars used:
- Home-built guitars
- Hofner solid body
- 1961 Epiphone Wilshire solidbody electric, with a “small body and little black pick-ups,” eventually sold to Pete on “easy payments.”
Plus, a Vox AC-15 amp that both Roger and Pete played through (acquired from former Detour Roy East).
Click to view larger version. Ca. 1962 or 1963, as the Detours. Roger with homemade “Stratocaster” guitar?
Ca. 1962 or 1963, as the Detours. Pete playing a Levin Goliath LM-26 sunburst acoustic with pickup in soundhole, and to the right of Roger, who is playing an Epiphone Wilshire that he would eventually give to Pete, what appears to be a TV-front Vox AC-15, with cabinet corners.
Ca. 1963 as the Detours, Pete playing a Levin Goliath LM-26 sunburst acoustic with pickup in soundhole, John with Fender P-bass, and Roger playing an Epiphone Wilshire that he would eventually give to Pete.
Related
Vintage Guitar info: Epiphone Wilshire.
1982
Ca. 1982, with black Schecter.
Ca. 1982, with Fender Esquire.
Roger played guitar for It’s Hard, Eminence Front. Amplifier was a Hiwatt CP103 through one Mesa-Boogie 4×12 cabinet.
- Spare Schecter telecaster-style guitars
- Fender Esquire
Related
1989
Ca. 1989, with Gibson Chet Atkins SST.
- Gibson Chet Atkins SST steel string “solid body” acoustic/electric, in antique natural finish.
- Solid spruce, mahogany back and sides.
- Mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, 25½″ scale.
- Bridge-mounted piezo transducer.
- Active volume, bass and treble controls.
- Gold-plated hardware, mini-Schaller tuners.
- Spare Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster.
Amps were one or two Mesa-Boogie Simuclass, each through one Mesa-Boogie 4×12 cabinet.
1989
Ca. 1989, with Gibson Chet Atkins SST.
Ca. 1989, with Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster.
Related
Gibson discontinued models info (archived)
1996–97
Ca. 1997, with Gretsch Rancher.
- Gretsch Rancher 6022 flat top acoustic, unknown vintage. Likely fitted with Fishman electronics.
- Gibson J-200, sunburst
Ca. 1997, with Gibson J-200, sunburst.
Related
- Vintage Guitars info: Gretsch Rancher 6022
1999–2002
Gibson J-200 acoustic (with attached tuner), blonde
2002
July 2002, with Versoul Buxom 6 acoustic guitar.
Versoul Buxom 6 jumbo flat top acoustic guitar. Purchased from Westwood Music, LA, in spring 2002.
“What I loved about this guitar when I was first given it is that it makes me want to play — it is got an incredible bell-like quality that makes me sound like a much better player than I actually am.”
“And there is something about the quality of the sound that makes me discover more and more the chords and progressions and things I was previously unaware of. It just made me want to play a lot more than I used to. That is the sign of a good guitar.”
Features
- Red cedar top, East Indian Rosewood back and sides, and bridge
- Gotoh nickel-plated tuners
- 13/19 frets, 25¾″, bolted-on neck joint
- Schertler Bluestick transducer and preamp
Related:
- Versoul Buxom 6
- Finnish news article on Versoul’s Kari Nieminen – Guitar Maker to the Stars – Hand-made instruments from Pitäjänmäki workshop find favour with The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, and The Who
2002–present
Ca. 2007, with Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop.
- Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop J-180 jumbo acoustic guitars
- Roger has used at least three of these guitars of unknown vintage:
- The main instrument (1962–67 model), often with “FeedBack Buster” feedback inhibitor insert in soundhole.
- One used ca. 2006 with all black pick guard (post-1968) and no “Everly” on truss rod cover.
- One with signatures on the tortoise shell pick guard.
- Features:
- Thin J-185-style ebony body, adjustable pinless bridge
- Double tortoise shell pick guards (1962-67 models)
- Five-point star-shaped inlays on rosewood fretboard
- “Everly” on truss rod cover
- Roger has used at least three of these guitars of unknown vintage:
- Taylor, unknown model.
- Fender Esquire (same as 1982)
- Spare Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster.
- Ashbury ukelele with Fishman pickup
Various amplifiers, including SWR Strawberry Blonde and Fishman Loudbox combo amplifiers for acoustic; electric: Fender Twin Reverb 2×12 combo or Fender Pro Jr. 1×12.
Ca. 1987, performing Mystery Train for Elvis tribute, with Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop J-180 acoustic guitar.
29 Oct. 2006, at The Roundhouse, with Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop with black pick guard.
25 June 2009, Cannes, France, with Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop with signatures on pick guard.
Ca. 2015, Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop J-180 acoustic guitar with sound hole insert.
Ca. 2009, Ashbury ukelele with Fishman pickup.
Ca. 2006, with Fender Esquire.
Ca. 2006, Roger’s amps setup.
Ca. 2019, Roger’s amps setup.
Related:
Harmonicas
Roger also played harmonica on stage and in the studio.
- 1970s
- Hohner
- 1990s–present
- Lee Oskar
Tambourines
Premier, Percussion Plus
2006 Percussion Plus 10″ tambourines courtesy Rock Stars Guitars. Includes a tambourine signed by Roger in May 2010 for Rock Stars Guitars, who donated the item to the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Click to view larger version. Percussion Plus tambourine, from 2006, courtesy Rock Stars Guitars.
Click to view larger version. Percussion Plus tambourine, from 2006, courtesy Rock Stars Guitars.
Click to view larger version. Percussion Plus tambourine, from 2006, courtesy Rock Stars Guitars.
Click to view larger version. Percussion Plus tambourine, from 2006, courtesy Rock Stars Guitars.
Auction profiles
All auction information, including quotes and references are copyright their original owners and are included for reference only. Whotabs makes no claim that these auctions represent authentic Who-used items.
Roger Daltrey Tour Used Harmonica
Click to view larger versions. Roger Daltrey Tour Used Harmonica.
Julien’s Auctions “Music Icons 2018” on 19 May 2018
A Hohner Echo Super Vamper harmonica in E used by Roger Daltrey while performing with The Who on The Who Tour 1971 in the United Kingdom. Accompanied by a copy of a letter of authenticity from Bill Holdsworth, a roadie on the tour, and a certificate of authenticity from Tracks Ltd.
4 by 1 inches
Estimate: $500–$700
Realised: U.S.$1,600
The Who: Roger Daltrey’s broken tambourine, 1967
Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia auction, 12 Jun 2019, London, Knightsbridge:
The Who: Roger Daltrey’s broken tambourine, 1967, the half wooden tambourine wooden frame and ten zills used by Daltrey during their concert at the Cleveland Public Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, 31st August 1967, accompanied by a letter concerning the provenance.
Sold for £ 1,912
Provenance:
From the collection of Walt Tiburski, who was given this broken tambourine by The Who’s band manager at the concert in 1967. See footnote to Lot 55.
This broken tambourine has been on permanent loan to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum from 1994 to 2019.
Resources
Acknowledgments
- h/t to Rodney G. for requesting this page.
- Phil H.