The influence of Bo Diddley is so great on modern music that he has a beat named after him. Every rocker knows The Bo Diddley Beat. And almost every guitarist is familiar with Bo’s cigar box guitars that helped blend the blues into the electric sound that’s dominated popular music ever since—from the British invasion to hip hop.

AXE HEAVEN® is honored to release, with the BO DIDDLEY ESTATE, two officially licensed Bo Diddley Mini Guitars:

Bo Diddley Firebird Red Gretsch G6138 Box Mini Guitar

Our new Bo Diddley Signature Firebird Red Gretsch G6138 Box Mini Guitar Model is a handmade replica collectible that celebrates the real rectangular guitar that Gretsch custom built for Bo in 1958. This eye-catching guitar features gold hardware including the classic G-cutout tailpiece.

Bo Diddley Turbo 5-Speed Kinman Mini Guitar

Our new Bo Diddley Signature Turbo 5-speed Kinman Custom Mini Guitar Model replicates one of several custom guitars built for Bo by Tom Holmes, who also made custom pickups and guitars for Billy Gibbons and many others. The original version of this famous guitar featured built-in envelope filter, flanger and delay. Of course, our mini replica collectible is not playable, so those sound-enhancing features are not included—but it does include our adjustable A-frame stand and our custom Guitar Case Gift Box with Stamped Silver Foil.

Check out the video below of Bo Diddley playing his Turbo 5-speed guitar while performing his classic “Who Do You Love” on The Tonight Show in 1987.

Bo Diddley Set the Stage

Bo Diddley was the stage name of Ellas Otha Bates, who was born in Mississippi in 1928. He died in 2008. His musical originality was built upon a foundation of classical music training—his first instrument was the violin.

According to a Vintage Guitar Magazine conversation with Bo Diddley, he was a teenager when he created his famous beat by simply banging on his guitar while “trying to come up with something that I wanted to hear on drums.” His first hit record in 1955, titled “Bo Diddley,” was his first use of the beat that became a standard rhythm in the musical genre he helped launch. The very long list of famous songs that borrow Bo’s beat includes Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” the Who’s “Magic Bus,” and U2’s “Desire.”

More About Bo Diddley

For more info about this one-of-a-kind entertainer, the two links that follow offer a comprehensive collection of Bo Diddley photographs that document this legendary showman’s historic career and a conversation that highlights his gunslinger personality: Bo Diddley Interview: “I’m The Son-Of-A-Bitch That Did It!”.