Guild Thunderbird S-200 Electric Guitar Formerly Owned by Muddy Waters

In 1968, Muddy Waters (1913 – 1983) signed an endorsement deal with Guild Guitars and was given this circa 1966 Guild S-200 Thunderbird with a unique guitar stand, built into the back of the body. Waters played it on tour in the late 1960s, including at the Newport Folk Festival on July 18, 1969, and was pictured holding it on his 1968 album Electric Mud.  

Muddy Waters, born McKinley Morganfield, holds a unique place in American music as both the last great player of Mississippi Delta Blues and the first great Chicago Electric Bluesman. He was a gifted songwriter and singer; an imposing, dignified performer and bandleader; and an inspired bottleneck guitarist – musician Jimi Hendrix once said he was “scared to death” hearing Waters’ spine-chilling slide playing as a boy. Waters’ legacy and influence extends far beyond the Blues and deep into Rock’n’Roll: he brought pioneering Rock’n’Roll artist Chuck Berry to the influential label Chess Records, his compositions have been recorded or borrowed by countless artists, and the Rolling Stones even took their name from one of his songs.