Guitarists have been personalizing their instruments since time immemorial, whether with an embossed leather guitar strap, pearly fretboard inlay that spells out the performer\u2019s name, or a guitar with plenty of body and electronic modifications that make the ax completely distinct. But far fewer musicians can boast a personalized guitar that spells out their name in Morse code. Eagles guitarist and prolific solo artist Joe Walsh is one of them, though.<\/p>\n
In addition to being one of the most well-known guitarists of 20th-century rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, Walsh is also a lifelong ham radio operator. Even today, his amateur license with the Federal Communications Commission<\/a> is active through 2031 under the call sign WB6ACU. The \u201cRocky Mountain Way\u201d singer\u2019s signature Alliance series with Duesenberg guitars pays tribute to this decades-long passion by spelling out Walsh\u2019s name in Morse code along the fretboard.<\/p>\n And although it\u2019s Walsh\u2019s name that appears on his signature guitar, it\u2019s also inadvertently paying homage to a different man named Jim.<\/p>\n The Man Who Helped \u201cSave\u201d Joe Walsh One Lonely Summer<\/p>\n When Joe Walsh<\/a> was around 11 years old, he experienced something no kid ever wants to experience: his family moved him from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, to the bustling metropolis of New York City, hundreds of miles away from his friends and all that was familiar to him, at the start of summer break. While this might seem like the logical move from an adult perspective, it\u2019s practically torturous for a kid who, without school being in session, has far fewer opportunities to make friends. Unsurprisingly, Walsh spent most of the summer alone.<\/p>\n But all that alone time gave him plenty of time to observe his apartment building, which he noticed had a massive antenna on the roof. \u201cEvery time I looked up at it, it was pointing a different direction,\u201d Walsh said in a 2014 interview on the This Week in Tech podcast<\/a>. \u201cSo, after a while, I followed the wires down to a window, traced that to a door, and knocked on the door. It was K2IEY. His name was Jim, and he was a ham. He invited me in and sat me down in his little shack, and he had a KWM1 transceiver, and he talked to the world on it. I was amazed. That was my first real friend in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJim kind of saved me that summer,\u201d Walsh continued, \u201cand became a lifelong friend.\u201d Thanks to Jim, ham radio also became a lifelong passion Walsh would pursue between, you know, being an internationally renowned rock star.<\/p>\n You Can Get Your Hands On The Original Morse Code Guitar<\/p>\n In December 2025, Julien\u2019s Auctions<\/a> announced they were hosting the first-ever auction from Joe Walsh, which includes the prototype of his signature guitar<\/a>, complete with Morse code inlays. And while Walsh might be parting with his first ax that harkens back to his ham radio operator roots, he\u2019s certainly not signing off the air. In fact, Walsh has made a point to continue the tradition that Jim taught him all those years ago in New York City.<\/p>\n