Skip to Content

Waylon Jennings’ Guitar (A Fender Telecaster)

Throughout his career, famed country music singer-songwriter Waylon Jennings played a variety of guitars. The “Black Beauty,” a black Fender Telecaster coated in leather, was one of his most famous instruments. Fans see this guitar as a representation of Waylon Jennings’ outlaw country persona and have come to associate it with him.

Waylon Arnold Jennings is popular as an American vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and actor. Jennings, born in 1937, was claimed to be the influencer of the country’s outlaw movement in the music industry.

The American native singer was born in Texas to Lorene Beatrice and William Albert Jennings. From his ancestry, Jennings was from Black Dutch and Irish decadency.

From an early age, he started playing different musical instruments such as guitar, banjo, and piano. Right after finishing high school, he launched his music band The Texas Longhorn. Becoming a professional music artist was his passion and love, and for the sake of his passion, he started work on multiple radio stations.

Let’s explore more about Jennings’ work and the guitars he used.

His Efforts in the Field of Music

Waylon Jennings and the guitar
Waylon Jennings and the guitar

Jennings released his debut after working with RCA Records, he also introduced outlaw country during the 70s with many other artists including Tompall Glaser and Willie Nelson.

In his fifty years career, he threw his greatest hits including Lone’ Some, I Have Always Been Crazy, Honky Tonk Heroes, Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up, and A Good-Hearted Woman.

However, his efforts are countless. For his hard work, he received several awards. Why do his guitars have a special place in the field? Now, let’s read about his guitars.  

What is a Guitar?

The most profound instrument used to create a sense of tune and theme in the means of music. An instrument that is played by one hand commonly has six strings.

If we glance at our past, there is a sign that indicates the use of guitars in ancient times. However, its origin is not known.

The guitar produces the sound from the vibration of strings that are tied from top to bottom. It is typically made of wood but the strings can be varied according to the type of the guitar. Some strings are of steel, some are of nylon and catgut.

As time passed, guitars also varied in different designs and types. The most common types are:

  • Acoustic guitar
  • Classical guitar
  • Hawaiian guitar
  • Archtop guitar

Traditionally, the guitar is a music-playing instrument that can create different tunes at a time. On the other hand, in the new era, there are different kinds of guitars that can be used differently to create multiple songs and tunes.

A guitar is a musical instrument
A guitar is a musical instrument

Jennings Guitars

He was passionate about music and a big celebrity. His musical instruments always got a special place among other artists and his fans. He used instruments auctioned in the museum for the charity children’s hospital, including guitars, keyboards, plates, drums, and others.

Some of his valuable collection is described below.

  • 1943 Martin & Co. Guitar 0021

A guitar which he used often while creating a new theme or writing a song. Its shape includes the mahogany neck, Sitka spruce top, and ebony fretboard; published in 1943 but listed in 1948 as having serial number 89206.

  • 1946 Martin & Co. D28

The specific guitar, commonly known as the Jennings personal guitar, he used while creating themes and songs on the road, in the park, or at home. The credit goes to C. F Martin and Company Pennsylvania. It is acoustic in shape with a dreadnought top.

  • Gibson 1987, CE Chet Atkins Guitar

A gift from his friend Chet Atkins, with a signature on the side. A uniquely shaped nylon string guitar with classical piezo handy pickup. They both were friends, and Chet his producer assigned Jennings to his starting projects. The guitar has the serial number 82956570.

  • Roger Miller 1976 Yamaha Acoustic Guitar

Yamaha Roger Miller acoustic guitar with six steel strings and a wooden body. The guitar is specifically ascribed to the singer Roger Miller.

  • Telecaster Guitar

A small thick wooden body-style guitar of Jennings, used for stage performances also seen in the auction. It was decorated with glass pieces at the bottom and was black in color. There was not a single label mentioned on the guitar, so we cannot clearly say where he got it.

  • Jennings Telecaster Guitar Fender shop

Telecaster guitar used by Jennings while playing and performing on the stage. The guitar with small light body and consists of six nylon strings to produce country rock, pop, and blues styles. It was the electric guitar with a short neck made by John Birch marked at the top.

  • Jimmy Dicken’s Gift to Jennings

A beautiful present was given by Jimmy to Jennings with the name on the top of the guitar. It was the dobro resonator guitar with medium weight and six nylon strings. The guitar is used for classical music and blues as well. It is specifically used to make other instruments louder.

  • Martin Mandolin Model A

The Mandolin guitar is counted as the personal collection of the singer. The body with four double sets of strings typically used for bluegrass and country rock. However, it’s uncommon in the field of music.

  • Roger’s Present to Jennings, a Violin

A fiddle violin was present from Roger, it was made of wood and based on a hollow body chordophone. With four nylon or steel strings usually small in size and light in weight.

Waylon Jennings used multiple instruments to make his work more unique and amazing. Besides all of the above guitars he used, some of them were Jennings’s favorite. Let me explain why.

Violin, a basic instrument
Violin, a basic instrument
Subscribe to Nash Gab on Facebook!
Subscribe so you don't miss a thing.

The Guitar He Used the Most While Performing on the Stage

We know Jennings was the biggest celebrity, visited several tours, and attended many stage performances and festivals. He used multiple guitars during performance but his favorite guitars were Fender Telecaster and 1950 Fender Broad caster. Most of the time he used them on the stage during live performances.

The Fender Telecaster and the 1950 Fender Broadcaster were lightweight, wooden guitars. The Fender Telecaster was black and white in color, with a handy grip and leather cover. Jennings always kept the guitar while performing on the stage from the 70s to the 90s.

A Present from Jennings to Reggie Young

It was the year 1972, when Reggie Young, a guitarist and member of the band The Memphis Boys was working on the project with Waylon and other members of the band. On the contrary, Reggie also remained a member of Highway Man, in which the biggest names included such as Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Jennings.

Jennings gifted a guitar Fender Telecaster to Reggie Young at his home in Nashville when he visited him.

Waylon’s Son: Shooter Jennings

A guitar with a logo
A guitar with a logo

Jennings worked for fifty years in the field; however, the country music industry lost its legend in 2002. His hard work and accomplishments are memorable.

Additionally, Waylon’s son Shooter Jennings remained alive in his father’s name and won two Grammy awards. He released eleven albums so far.

Waylon Shop

Here is the list of things that mentioned Waylon’s name as the tattoo.

Item NamePrice
Fender Telecaster Pickguard White$149.99
Fender Telecaster Guitar Case$249.99
Fender Telecaster Leather Guitar Starp$149.99
Fender Telecaster Waylon Jennings Phaser Pedal$129.99
Waylon Jennings Brown Telecaster Picture Flying W Border$24.99
Waylon Jennings Plush Doll$17.99
Waylon Jennings Telecaster Silkscreened Poster$29.99
Waylon Jennings Replica Mini Fender Telecaster Guitar$44.99
Waylon Jennings Telecaster Kid’s T-Shirt$22.99
Waylon Shop
Let’s watch this video about the limited edition Waylon Jennings Telecaster.

Final Words

  • Waylon Jennings is an American country singer, actor, and songwriter. He started playing guitar when he was eight years old.
  • As a musician, he used multiple instruments during his peak career.
  • Some of the used guitars by Jennings are the 1943 Martin & Co. Guitar 0021, 1946 Martin & Co. D28, Telecaster Guitar, and Martin Mandolin Model A.
  • He also received some guitars as presents from his friends and other artists.

Click Here to View the Visual Story Version Of this Article

Related Articles

Skip to content