What Kind of Guitar Does KT Tunstall Play?
Ever since Scottish-born singer-songwriter Kate Victoria “KT” Tunstall performed her catchy little tune “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” on the British music television show Later . . . with Jools Holland in 2004, fans have been anxiously waiting to hear what the bluesy singer will produce next, and with aspiring guitarists anxious to know what acoustic guitar the musical phenom uses to produce her rich, “retro-hillbilly” sound.
In an interview published in Acoustic Guitar inMay of 2008, the Grammy-nominated performer gave readers and fans the inside scoop on upcoming projects as well as what instruments she favors.
For acoustic guitars, KT prefers Gibson Doves. On her acclaimed 2006 CD DVD combo, KT Tunstall’s Acoustic Extravaganza, she used a blonde Dove (the one she was seen playing at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts in 2005), and also has a black custom “Elvis Presley” model with stars on the fretboard and a white pickguard (that she used to perform at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle, Washington in November of 2010). When not playing a Dove, her favorite backup acoustic is another classic-among-classics, a Gibson guitar, Hummingbird.
As KT explained, she also plays a hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind acoustic guitar gifted to her by Shinichi Arimitsu, a skilled Japanese guitar crafter who’s become an avid fan of her music. To commemorate her first big hit from Eye to the Telescope, this signature guitar was thoughtfully designed with a black horse and a cherry blossom.
For electric guitars, KT favors Gretsches, owning a 1962 G6128 (Duo-Jet) semi-hollow body Double Cutaway, a 1963 Silver Jet, and a beautiful white 1975 Falcon. She has also been seen performing with a red wine-colored Gibson Chet Atkin’s Country Gentleman and a candy-apple red standard Fender Strat (which she has discovered actually has a Jazzmaster neck).


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