GUILD A-20 MARLEY

Bob Marley’s songwriting tool reinvented

- Jonny Scaramanga

Signature models are usually recreations of an artist’s most famous instrument, but Guild and the Marley estate here pay tribute to Bob Marley’s favourite bedroom strummer. Marley wrote many hits on his Madeira A-20 which he kept to hand around the house. Madeira was Guild’s 70s budget brand. Guild based this model on surviving originals, slightly tweaked for modern tastes.

The signature accoutrements are subtle: a neatly-installed 12th fret ‘Marley’ inlay and a pickguard signature. Marley’s original was adorned with a picture of the Rastafari Messiah, Haile Selassie, and a map of Africa beside the words “Africa must be free by 1983.” Marley diehards will have to supply their own decals though, since Guild omitted them. The included gig bag contains a booklet featuring photos of Bob with his Madeira and a chord sheet for Three Little Birds.