"In guitar smashing days, the Fender would last two or three shows and ten minutes if I wanted to smash it up." ~ Pete; 1972 Guitar Player interview
The Fender Electric XII... Tommy 1969
A 12 string guitar with a "hockey stick" head design. Although some have said this guitar was one of Leo Fender's best designs of the 60's, Pete doesn't look all that impressed. He did use it for Tommy in 1969. An impeccable accomplishment, must have been a good guitar!
The Jazzmaster Fender guitar was used during 1967 and 1969 during the making of The Who Sell Out and Tommy albums.
Fender Stratocaster... used in the making of The Who Sell Out, Who's Next, Quadrophenia, Face Dances, It's Hard, and White City albums, also appeared during The Kids Are Alright tour of 1989.
The Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster was used by Pete several times in the recent concerts, such as various solo shows in 1996 through 1999, the Quadrophenia tour in 1996 and 1997, The Who world tour and solo shows during 2001, and the Who tour in 2001 to the present.
And then there's the Fender Telecaster. Personally, I can't say it's one of my favorite guitars. It shouldn't be allowed outside the recording studio... to be only heard and not to be seen. Be that as it may, it has served Pete well. He's used the Telecaster during his years with the High Number and into the early years with The Who. It was used during the making of Face Dances, You Better You Bet, Eminence Front, It's Hard, Who's Last, Live Aid, White City and later during Psychoderelict.
I don't know if you've ever had the misfortune to pick up some of the guitars that are made today, but they are hardly what we call "fine instruments." They kind of look cool, and they sound cool, but sometimes you think, "How does anybody play this?" But sometimes I'm standing up there at the shows and I'm carrying this '52 Telecaster. It's a California guitar, it's a masterpiece. Thank God for America. Thank God for Leo. It's a beautiful guitar. I play it like a chainsaw, and it's still beautiful. This is a perfectly good guitar. Somebody said to me the other night, "Smash it!" I never would. You have to realize that most of the guitars I've smashed have not been perfectly good guitars. They've been junk. (~ Pete; Guitar.com interview)