Essential track: Queens of the Stone Age, 'Keep Your Eyes Peeled'

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The guitars of famed rock ‘n’ roll stars often have as much personality as the musicians behind them. Here’s a look at guitars that defined not only the musician but the genre.

Update: We’ve added some key guitars and their owners to the gallery. Discuss your favorite guitars in the comments. (From left, Keith Richards (Jose Jordan / AFP/Getty Images), Joan Jett (Los Angeles Times), Prince ( Los Angeles Times))

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Legendary rocker Joan Jett, a founding member of the Runaways and leader of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, is known for shredding with the Gibson Melody Maker guitar. She became so identified with the guitar that Gibson released a special “Joan Jett” edition of the guitar in 2008. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

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Willie Nelson’s guitar Trigger, a Martin N-20, has developed a deep, whole sound after 30-plus years of use. He got the guitar in a honky-tonk in 1969 and has vowed to quit playing if it’s ever beyond repair. (Kathy Willens / Associated Press)

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Prince has been known for his mix of jazz, funk, rock and new wave and his flamboyant stage presence. But his guitars have been equally far out. In 1993, Prince changed his name to a hybrid of the male and female gender symbols and had a guitar made in the same shape. (Patrick Pagnano / Associated Press / CBS )

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Rolling Stone guitarist Keith Richards is known for performing with his Fender Telecaster that he named Micawber. The 1950s Telecaster is missing the sixth string and was named after a character from Charles Dickens’ 1850 novel “David Copperfield.”

Correction: The slide originally said “David Copperfield” was written in 1935. The actual date was 1850. Also, the photo has changed to show Richards with Micawber in hand. (Joerg Koch / AFP / Getty Images)

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Above: Wolfgang Van Halen playing his father’s iconic Frankenstrat guitar as they perform together at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. in 2004.

Frakenstrat is the name classic rocker Eddie Van Halen gave his guitar after he attempted to build a guitar with a Gibson sound and a Fender Stratocaster frame. Van Halen described his lipstick red and white stripped brainchild to Guitar Player Magazine in 2004. “It is a copy of a Fender Stratocaster,” he told the magazine. “I bought the body for $50 and the neck for $80, and put in an old Gibson PAF pickup that was rewound to my specifications. I like the one-pickup sound, and I’ve experimented with it a lot...I see so many people who have these space-age guitars with a lot of switches and equalizers and treble boosters -- give me one knob, that’s it. It’s simple and it sounds cool.” (Kevin Mazur / WireImage.com)

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B.B. King explained the origin of his legendary Gibson ES-355 in the liner notes of his 1968 album “Lucille.” While playing a gig in Twist, Ark.. in 1949, a kerosene barrel was lit to keep the space warm. During the course of the night, two men began fighting and knocked over the barrel, lighting the space on fire in the process. King ran out only to notice he left his guitar in the burning building. He ran back to retrieve his guitar, almost losing his life in the process. The day after, King discovered the two men were fighting over a woman named Lucille and bestowed the name on his guitar, and every Gibson he owned afterward, as reminder to never do anything stupid like that again. (Juan Carlos Equihua / Associated Press)

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Above: Queen guitarist Brian May and Jessie perform “We Will Rock You,” at the London 2012 Olympics closing ceremony at Olympic Stadium.

Queens guitarist Brian May built “Red Special” 40 years ago with his father, according to his personal website. May set out to make sure the guitar provided sound feedback by design rather than by accident. This guitar and the sound it provided May would define him as a guitarist and Queen as a band. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

By Randall Roberts

May 16, 2013 7 AM PT

Los Angeles Times Pop Music Critic

The just-released Queens of the Stone Age animated video for its new song, “Keep Your Eyes Peeled,” begins with the caption, “A man walks into a bar,” and things turn way bad, way quick. If there’s a punch line in the three minutes that follow, it involves blood, fists and violence.

But then, the Palm Desert-born Queens of the Stone Age’s metallic, barbed rock music has long addressed sour times, with heavy but bouncy notes and pounding, distorted chords, all propelled by a rolling vibe that’s smooth and well-lubed. The band has been teasing the highly anticipated new album, called “... Like Clockwork” for the last year, and finally dropped a new track.

“Peeled” crawls along slowly: It’s got none of the fast-paced momentum of classic jams such as “No One Knows.” Rather, it feels like an omen, and a little mean. The clip reflects this. Shortly after our hero enters the establishment in the Boneface-directed video, in fact, he is involved in fisticuffs with a cartoon skull, which he blows up with his fist. Animated blood spews as he lays waste to the ugly patrons -- until some red-skulled freaks start beating our hero.

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His response? His face bloodied, he lights a cigarette. We won’t spoil the ending, except to say that it involves an evil man-pig -- and will probably give young children nightmares.

The new song is early hype for the band’s sixth album, “…Like Clockwork,” which comes out in June. The record will feature Elton John, Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, drummer Dave Grohl, and James Lavelle of U.N.K.L.E. and others.

The newest missive is part of a building campaign. On Monday evening, the band founded by desert dweller Josh Homme performed on the BBC show “Later ... With Jools Holland,” where they played new songs “I Sat by the Ocean” and “My God Is the Sun.”

But “Keep Your Eyes Peeled” is the most simmering and toughest of the tracks teased thus far. Listen below.