Keith Richards
Perhaps the most iconic guitarist of all time, Keith Richards is one of the greatest rhythm guitarists to ever strap on a 6-string—or more accurately, a 5-string, as he typically discards his sixth string and plays in open-G tuning. In the Stones’ true heyday, the period that spanned Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street, Richards relied heavily on ES-335s and a three-pickup Les Paul Custom Black Beauty. But when it came time to record (and re-record, and re-record, and re-record, as the song’s slinky grooves proved difficult to capture) the Exile single “Tumbling Dice,” Richards turned to a battered, TV yellow double-cutaway Junior that was forever after christened “Dice.” In the cramped, stiflingly humid basement studio of Villa Nellcotte, Richard’s tax-exile estate in the South of France, Richards tuned his Junior to open-G, slapped a capo on the fourth fret and let the slippery doublestops of the song’s intro spill out into rock ’n’ roll history. Often heralded as the greatest rock record ever made, Exile is a sprawling masterpiece, and “Tumbling Dice” is one of its highlights. The song’s chunky rhythm and stinging slide runs are classic examples of both Keith’s musical swagger and the Junior’s nasty mix of growl and chime.