MICK BOX

The Uriah Heep guitarist mourns the loss of a Telecaster and champions his signature Carparelli guitars

What was the first serious guitar you bought with your own money?

"My first guitar was a Telston semi-acoustic that my mother bought me when I was 14, and which I've still got hanging on my office wall. It was from a pawnbroker and it cost £12 and 10 shillings in old money. Then I got a hire purchase agreement for a Telecaster, which is one of those that I wish I still had, but I had to exchange it for a Les Paul Black Beauty, which I had flown over from Kalamazoo to a shop in Bournemouth called Eddie Moors Music.

And, really, that's the first one that I actually bought with my money because I took a job for a year in an export company up in the City of London. I said to my mother, 'Look, once I've paid off the HP agreement I'm going to be a professional musician for life. And that's exactly what I did - paid it off in a year and on the last payment I went, 'Bye!' and never looked back."

What was the last guitar you bought?

"I'm in a very fortunate position where they give them to me! I don't think I've bought anything for ages. I mean, I've got sponsorship with guitar makers. At the moment I'm playing Carparelli guitars made by Mike Carparelli in Toronto, Canada. I take them on the road because I got fed up with taking out all my old Gibsons and things like that because they were getting battered. But these Carparellis are good - roadworthy, sound great, play great - so I use them and Furch acoustic guitars. They're beautiful guitars."

What's the most incredible find or bargain you've ever had when buying guitars?