Brittany Howard's guitar: the Gibson SG behind Alabama Shakes' tone

Brittany Howard, Alabama Shakes' singer and guitarist, plays a Gibson SG, an early '80s Custom in Inverness Green is her on-record favorite. Documented gauge: .010 to .046, per her own account in a 2019 Premier Guitar interview.

Alabama Shakes · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team · 2026-07-10

Brittany Howard is the singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of Alabama Shakes, the Athens, Alabama, band whose 2015 album Sound & Color debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Rolling Stone named her to its 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list in 2023.

Guitars

Howard is an avowed Gibson SG player, per Guitar World. Her favorite is an early '80s SG Custom in Inverness Green, valued partly because she's never let a tech clean its pickups. She also plays a 1961 SG Custom, one of roughly five SGs she owned by 2019, and has said she was never much around Fenders and finds Les Pauls too heavy.

Strings

"I use .010s on all of my guitars," Howard told Premier Guitar in 2019, alongside Dunlop Tortex .73mm picks. No strings brand is publicly documented, so we don't invent one. The exact-gauge catalog match for a .010 to .046 electric set is D'Addario's EXL110.

D'Addario

EXL110 XL Nickel Wound (.010–.046)

.010 – .046

Why this one: The exact-gauge catalog match to Howard's own documented .010 to .046, a standard nickel-wound rock and blues set.

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This is a starter profile. Documented rig detail will expand as sourced specs are confirmed.

Frequently asked questions

What guitar does Brittany Howard play?

A Gibson SG. She's named an early '80s SG Custom in Inverness Green as her favorite, prized partly for its worn, ungroomed pickups, and a 1961 SG Custom among her main guitars. She started on SGs after borrowing bandmate Heath Fogg's, and by 2019 told Premier Guitar she owned around five of them.

What strings does Brittany Howard use?

A .010 to .046 gauge on all her guitars, in her own words to Premier Guitar in 2019: 'I use .010s on all of my guitars.' No strings brand is publicly documented, so we recommend the exact-gauge catalog match rather than guessing a brand.

Why does Brittany Howard prefer dirty pickups?

She told The Guardian, quoted by Guitar World, that her number one instruction to guitar techs is: never clean the pickups. She likes the sound of pickups that are worn down and degraded, which she calls more interesting sounding, and it's part of what makes her go-to SG unique.

Is Brittany Howard endorsed by Gibson?

Not a documented, formal endorsement that we could source. Her SG use is extensively verified through her own interviews and press, but no Gibson artist-roster page or signature model confirms a paid partnership, so we list this as verified use, not endorsement.

What band is Brittany Howard in?

Alabama Shakes, as lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary songwriter, alongside guitarist Heath Fogg and bassist Zac Cockrell. She's also released solo albums (Jaime, What Now) and fronted side projects Thunderbitch and Bermuda Triangle.