My first guitar was a nasty, cheap acoustic with steel strings and an action higher than a guillotine. My parents had clearly bought it with the object of putting me off. Despite it cutting my finger tips to shreds, I remained intent on becoming a rock star.
In 1973, for my 18th birthday, they generously bought me my first respectable guitar: a cream-white Hohner Telecaster copy, made in Japan. Dad made a huge speaker cabinet out of chipboard (3′ x 3′ x 1′), which I covered with blackboard paint. I borrowed the amp from my stereo; it would emit smoke after a while because it was attempting to drive a 15″ speaker.
It was a well-made guitar, but I sold it in 1974 shortly after going to university, because at the end of my first term I bought a black Antoria Les Paul Custom, made by Fuji Gengakki Seizō, from my neighbour. I stuck with it for six or seven years, from band to band, and was playing it when I joined One for the Wall.
At around the same time as I acquired the Antoria, I went over to Rushworth’s in Liverpool and bought a Japanese-made Fender F-55 12-string acoustic, which I still have, though I never play it. This is another guitar, with a pick-up in the sound-hole, that I used in OftW’s early days.
Probably under the influence of Fairport Convention, I bought a mandolin (which my Dad insisted on calling a lute). I managed to learn two folk tunes. Eventually I gave it away.
I was living in northern Spain from October 1975 to June 1976. I managed to hold out without an axe until January, when I bought a nice Suzuki jumbo acoustic. I tried to sell it when I left, eventually leaving it with an acquaintance and never receiving any cash in exchange.
In 1980 I was awarded a lucrative academic scholarship, most of which I blew on a Shergold Custom Double, a sexy black double-neck made in England. (It was John McLaughlin rather than Jimmy Page who turned my head.) It is extremely heavy and awkward to hold but plays well and sounds great. I still have it, and recorded with it recently. (I reluctantly sold the Antoria for what I paid for it.)
After I started playing again in the 90s I bought an Applause AE-128 (i.e. a made-in-Korea Ovation) which, again, I still have and occasionally record with, even if it’s slightly warped (no comment necessary).
I have always had a love of Telecasters. When the band reformed I accepted that I wasn’t strong enough to haul the Shergold around, so I bought a black Fender Telecaster 72 Custom (made in Mexico). Naturally I had to have a new acoustic 12-string (a black Faith, made God knows where).
Now I was all set. But then a Chinese-manufactured Epiphone ES-339 caught my eye… a birthday present from myself, if nominally from The Wife. You always need a back-up (guitar that it), and it’s a hollow-bodied electric, which is completely different. Soon after that, I bought a Yamaha 6-string acoustic, just to have around.
One ukulele led to another, then I felt an inexplicable and unjustifiable urge to own a hand-made guitar: a Flame, made in Sutton. I feel rather ashamed of myself.
The question: “have you nothing better to spend your money on?” may well be posed at this juncture. My answer being: “no, not really”. “But when will it all end?” I hear you cry. Surely eight (I’ve lost count) is enough? Sadly, it probably is… but only because arthritis has kicked in.
I ought to sell the Shergold, but I quite can’t get round to it. So there it sits, behind a bookcase in the bedroom, a piece of British guitar history. And part of mine.
More guitar twaddle at https://oneforthewall.club/gear
One for the Wall 