What was the first serious guitar you bought with your own money
"I was in a metal band [when I was a teenager] and I had this Kramer Focus, which was a one-pickup, slopey headstock thing with a Floyd Rose and a locking nut - but I never really liked it, I never really felt a connection with it. But it was my metal guitar because the bass player of the band didn't like the idea of me playing a Westone Spectrum before that! So he bought this guitar for me and wanted me to pay him back, though I never really responded to it.
"When that band was over, I suppose I was moving away from metal and I loved the idea of having a 335 or something like that I was really into hollowbodies. I found another Westone - a Westone Rainbow - which is a beautiful kind of birdseye maple guitar like a 335, although the horns are slightly pointier. It's a really beautiful guitar and it was secondhand in this music shop but I had no way of affording it because I was on the dole. So with the aid of a friend of mine, who was working for the Prince's Trust, I said I was going to need one of these guitars because I was going to start a new life as a guitar teacher. I put in the proposal and I got the funding for it. And so I got this beautiful Westone Rainbow, which I still have, and played that for about the next 10 years."
What was the last guitar that you bought (or acquired) and why?
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Denne historien er fra September 2023-utgaven av Guitarist.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Sonic Shaper
Electro-Harmonix revisits the effect that launched the company with the LPB-3 Linear Power Booster and EQ
Platinum Blonde
PRS has updated its Texas-voiced David Grissom signature amp with more features, lower wattage and a more approachable price tag
TAN LINES
Many of us regard straps as a bit of an afterthought, but to find one that matches the quality of a custom or vintage guitar, Rod Boyes of Pinegrove Leather can help
ELECTRIC STRINGS
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DIFFERENT WINDS
While there's no end to repros of all the classic pickup styles, more and more pickup makers are mixing things up to move forward - Cream T is a good example
Long termers
A few months' gigging, recording and everything that goes with it - welcome to Guitarist's longterm test report
Top Guns
Chapman's new factory move coincides with a bit of a rethink. We track down the key players all around the world
the Wishlist
Dream gear to beg, borrow and steal for...
Reach For The Star
Earlier this year Guild reorganised its 70s-era Polara range. We spent some time with this mid-range 2024 model: a modern pawn-shop prize or a copy too far?
HIGH FLYER
Adrian Thorpe of ThorpyFX remembers the flight path - and turbulence behind Chris Buck's Electric Lightning overdrive/boost, named after a fighter jet and packing a bona fide valve
