News
06/03/2025
The Yardburst: a mythical guitar written in rock mythology and legend now in Paris at Matt's Guitar Shop
While the Jeff Beck collection was dispersed by Christie's last January, the legend of this virtuoso and inexplicably brilliant guitarist continues to grow stronger. Even with an eternity spent in the world's finest clubs, it would be quite impossible to find a musician as spectacular as Jeff Beck. He produced inimitable and incomparable sounds, some going so far as to consider that he made his guitar sing. His use of vibrato made him one of a select group of legendary musicians capable of constantly reinventing the standards of the electric guitar.
If Jeff Beck's career is as dense as the range of sounds he was capable of producing, it's worth going back to his genesis with the Yarbirds. In early 1966, the English band found itself with two of the greatest English guitarists of their day: Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Both were at the start of a career that was to leave an indelible mark on the history of rock music. It was around this time that Jeff Beck bought his first Les Paul in a London store, shortly before taking it into the studio and on tour. Played by Jimmy Page in the summer of 1966 during a Yardbirds tour of the USA, then by Jimmy Hendrix in New York in 1968, this 1959 Gibson Les Paul has gradually become a major instrument in music history. Played by three of the greatest guitarists in history, and gradually dubbed the “Yardburst”, it has been through all the twists and turns of touring life to become one of the most emblematic pieces of Jeff Beck's career, and of rock music in general.
Matt's Guitar Shop is proud to announce the arrival of the Yardburst in Paris. Aware of the immense heritage carried by this guitar, we'll be doing our utmost over the coming weeks to bring it to life on stage and in the studio, so that it can return to its original function: to inspire dreams and provide emotion. Some of you will see it on our social networks, others in our showroom, while a lucky few will be able to hear it played live by today's finest musicians inspired by their illustrious elder, Jeff Beck.
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