Taylor Swift’s Custom Guitar and Piano Collection, as Shown on the Eras Tour

Taylor Swift is the most famous musician in the world, and the recent release of The Tortured Poets Department has pushed her further up on the charts and rankings. This past week, the groundbreaking Eras tour headliner smashed record after record, the 31 tracks of TTPD and The Anthology dominating music charts across countries and cultures. As European Swifties gear up for the next leg of the Eras tour, which is set to kick off in Paris on May 9, 2024, we look at Taylor Swift’s enchanting custom guitar and piano collection. 

Whether or not you’re a fan of Taylor Swift’s music, one thing is difficult to dispute: She has always aced the fashion Game. Her penchant for rocking numerous different looks has taken her through an incredible style and beauty evolution throughout the years. If there’s one thing you can expect Swift to be, it is in vogue — after all, what else would you expect of the person who wrote Style? 

Swift’s iconic fashion sense extends beyond her outfits, whether in terms of quiet luxury streetwear or high fashion red carPet looks. In the Eras tour, Swift’s extraordinary wardrobe is a combination of glitter and glitz, recalling the key aesthetics of each era in emotive fashion. Of equal importance to Taylor Swift’s on-stage aesthetics, her guitar and piano collection is, quite literally, instrumental to her success. Reports suggest that Swift currently owns over 100 guitars, including those from renowned brands beloved by rock and country stars like Taylor, Gibson, and Fender. 

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A love story for the ages 

Whether acoustic or electric, guitars have long enjoyed the spotlight in Taylor Swift’s songs and performances. At the tender young age of 8, a young Swift received her first guitar from her parents for Christmas. Little did they know that the guitar would be more than a Christmas gift to their daughter — less than a decade later, their thoughtful gift would impact the musical industry in a way the world had never seen. 

26 years ago today, taylor swift got her FIRST guitar ever at christmas.

december 25, 1997pic.twitter.com/CWYuhbKOp4

— Taylor Throwbacks (@ThrowbackTaylor) December 25, 2023

Swift embarked on personalised guitar lessons at the age of 12, when she picked up a 12-string guitar, resolute in her desire to master it. Speaking to EW in 2008, Swift’s mother Andrea shared that she had had some initial misgivings. “She saw a 12-string guitar and thought it was the coolest thing. And of course, we immediately said, ‘Oh no, absolutely not, your fingers are too small — not till you’re much older will you be able to play the 12-string guitar.” Unfortunately for Andrea, the perceived lack of faith only set fire to Swift’s determination to succeed. “Well, that was all it took. Don’t ever say never, or can’t do, to Taylor. She started playing it four hours a day — six on the weekends.” 

While Swift would eventually master the 12-string guitar, her road to success was not without its painful roadblocks. Her fingers cracked and bled from the strain, and yet Swift remained undeterred, instead taping up the injuries before continuing to play and practise. “That’s all she played, till a couple of years later, which was the first time she ever picked up a six-string guitar,” Andrea said. “And when she did, it was like, wow, this is really easy!” 

Today, Swift’s prowess with the instrument has become an integral part of her career, with stunning pieces from her collection featuring prominently across her music videos and tour performances. Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2017 of her love for the instrument, Swift shared that she was inspired by rock musician Tom Petty. “He motivated thousands of guitarists to learn to play just because they wanted to be able to play ‘Free Fallin.’ Count me as one of them.” 

Almost three decades since she received her first guitar, Taylor Swift’s enchanting collection has only grown. Within Swift’s collection are iconic acoustic favourites like the Taylor 614ce, Gibson J-180, and the ‘Living Jewels’ Taylor Guitar. But that’s not all. Swift has also been known to switch things up, and is no stranger to electric guitars, which she has been seen rocking from time to time at live performances. Standouts within her collection include a Les Paul Studio with a red diamante finish, a Taylor T5, and a Fender Johnny Marr Signature Jaguar, which accompanied the songstress on her 1989 World Tour.

While Swift has certainly displayed love and loyalty for her incredible collection of guitars, she isn’t above parting with one for a good reason. In 2020, Swift performed her Folklore song, Betty, at the American Country Music Awards. The performance, which featured a simple set up of only Swift on a high stool accompanied by the acoustic hum of a signed black Gibson J-180, was Swift’s first on the Country Music Awards stage in seven years. She later marked the occasion by putting up the guitar for auction with Christie’s, where it fetched USD 40,000 for Covid relief funds.  

With Swift set to resume touring on May 9, here’s a look at the iconic guitar and piano collection of Taylor Swift, as featured on the Eras tour. 

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Taylor Swift and her iconic guitar and piano collection 

The Gibson J-180 

One of the most iconic guitars to feature on the Eras tour is the Gibson J-180, which accompanies Swift in different iterations during the Lover and Fearless sets. The guitar features in both powder blue and pale pink for the former set, evoking the pastel bubblegum bliss of the Lover era.

For the Fearless era, however, Swift swapped the pastels out for an iteration adorned in 5,400 sparkling Swarovski crystals. Hand-attached with silicone epoxy by Swift and her family just days before the Eras tour, the guitar boasts an eye-catching, glittery shine courtesy of its diamante ornamentations. It also features a rhinestone pattern that reflects Swift’s iconic favourite number 13 just behind the bridge. 

As a guitar, the acoustic Gibson J-180 is a solid choice, proffering a strong yet balanced sound favoured by artists like Billie Joe Armstrong, Paul McCartney, and the man who inspired Swift’s love of the instrument: Tom Petty.  

The Taylor Presentation Series PS-24ce Grand Auditorium 

During the acoustic set of the Eras tour, in which she performs her surprise songs, Swift uses a Taylor Presentation Series PS-24ce Grand Auditorium guitar. For the uninitiated, take note: The Taylor brand of guitars is in no way associated with Swift, though the singer has quite a few favoured Taylors in her collection. 

A stunning and distinctive piece that reflects the singer’s storied career thus far, the custom-made guitar features a flamed body of koa wood, a “Byzantine inlay” that spells ‘Taylor’ on its fretboard, an ebony peghead and bridge, Gotoh turners, and ivoroid binding.  

The guitar differs from conventional Grand Auditorium pieces by way of its unique ‘Florentine’ cutaway, which presents a sharp point that proffers a distinctive silhouette. While Swift was first spotted using the guitar in 2007, it has evidently garnered a special place in her heart and now accompanies her as a mainstay of the Eras tour. 

The Taylor Grand Symphony “Living Jewels” Series 

One of the most beautiful and instantly-recognisable guitars to be used by Taylor Swift in the Eras tour, the Taylor Grand Symphony “Living Jewels” Series is a masterpiece deserving of praise and admiration. First appearing during the Speak Now tour between 2011 to 2012, the ‘Koi Guitar’, as it is known, is a limited-edition acoustic guitar designed by Pete Davies Jr that was released around 2000. 

Three variations of these guitars were made, with each set featuring a different creature: grey whales, sea turtles, and koi. Only 100 guitars were produced for each variation, making them an incredibly rare commodity in the world of acoustic guitars. While the whale and turtle variations feature a natural finish on the body, Swift’s koi variation was finished with an aqua-blue transparent finish. Crafted of Big Leaf Maple on the back with a Bearclaw Spruce top, this guitar boasts quality, as well as beauty, making it the perfect addition to any collection.  

Swift’s stunning guitar has appeared in the music video for Midnights’ Anti Hero; it was also put on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022, where it remained until it was retrieved for the Eras tour in 2023. Today, it is an Eras tour mainstay, and Swift plays it during the Speak Now set. 

The Gibson J-45 

For the Red set of the Eras tour, Taylor Swift plays the Gibson J-45 guitar in two custom variations: One in a deep red, and the other in a black sparkling finish. This model is known to produce a mature and well-balanced sound, with a comfortable neck combination. These are qualities that that Swift leverages in her heartrending performances, and the guitar serves as a particularly steadfast companion for the 10-minute version of All Too Well.

Standard versions of the Gibson K-45 feature mahogany backs and sides, as well as spruce tops. While these feature pick guards, they are noticeably absent on Swift’s custom-decorated versions, which also feature standard dot inlays on the fretboards. Beyond Swift, other celebrated musicians who have been known to use the J-45 or its variants are Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, Bruce Springsteen, and the king of pop Elvis Presley himself. 

The Gibson Hummingbird 

Yet another stunning guitar that has featured prominently on Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, the Gibson Hummingbird is a stock piece that can be purchased at any Gibson store today. Available in two variations, Antique Natural and Heritage Cherry Sunburst, of which Swift owns the latter, this guitar is an excellent addition to the Folklore set, which benefits from its deep bass and full, rounded-out sound. 

The guitar features a mahogany back and side, with a top of Sitka spruce. Its iconic pickguard details a hummingbird amidst flowers, which fits in perfectly with the theme of Folklore. Its fretboard, which is made of rosewood, features mother-of-pearl Parallelogram inlays to add an additional layer of understated elegance. 

The Eras tour pianos 

Very little information exists as to the make and models of Taylor Swift’s piano collection on the Eras tour, but one thing is for certain: They are in fact electric keyboards masquerading as pianos. In a hilarious malfunction video captured by fans during the Sydney leg of The Eras tour, a laughing Swift appeared confused as her keyboard goes rogue during the acoustic segment. “What? Do you hear that?” Swift said, repeatedly pressing a key, emitting synth notes reminiscent of her synth-pop albums. “My damn keyboard is playing a synth sound. I wonder if it’ll work though, I don’t think it will…”

📹 | Full video of Taylor’s piano malfunction where it was playing synth sounds #SydneyTStheErasTour

pic.twitter.com/XG6o54nbOy

— Taylor Swift News 🤍 (@TSwiftNZ) February 24, 2024

Thankfully, the night was saved when a technician arrived on-stage to switch the keyboard back to piano mode, and the Errors Tour resumed its sparkling journey. 

While Swift’s Eras tour pianos are not actual pianos, they are nonetheless beautifully adorned for the sake of aesthetics. The ‘piano’ featured during the acoustic segment of the Eras tour is adorned in what appear to be hand painted flowers in abundant springtime hues.

In contrast, the Folklore ‘grand piano’ is adorned in moss and greenery, reflecting the sombre and yet mythical mood of the album and era. And as Swift belts out Champagne Problems, her delicate fingers dancing along the keyboard, one thing is made abundantly clear: Real pianos or no, Taylor Swift can sure put on a show.  

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(Main image: Taylor Swift/Instagram, John Shearer/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management; featured image: Taylor Swift/Instagram)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

– Which guitar does Taylor Swift use? 

Taylor Swift has an incredible guitar and piano collection featuring over 100 different models. The guitars that she uses during the Eras tour include a Gibson J-180, a Gibson J-45, a Gibson Hummingbird, a Taylor Grand Symphony “Living Jewels” Series, and a custom Taylor Presentation Series PS-24ce Grand Auditorium. 

– Does Taylor Swift use a pick? 

Yes, Taylor Swift uses guitar picks. During the Eras tour, Swift has been known to throw her picks into the crowd for lucky Swifties to collect. 

– Does Taylor Swift have her own guitar line? 

No, Taylor Swift does not have her own guitar line. While she does own and uses many guitars from Taylor Guitars, the brand, which was founded in 1974, has nothing to do with Swift. 

– How many instruments does Taylor Swift play? 

Taylor Swift can play four instruments: The guitar, piano, banjo, and ukelele.