Early Conventions
"There are many things in favour of the guitar. When you're a young chap it's portability, the fact you can have it around when you're at the beginning of the learning curve. Somebody can show you exactly what they're doing and you can try it yourself just by passing it over. That doesn't work with a piano. When you're a young lad growing up in the 60s, the guitar was kind of a token. You were part of some social experiment, but it seemed like a young person's instrument in the way that the violin or so forth couldn't possibly be. It was a cool thing to have."
Connecting Up
"A number of my peer group had guitars and we would play Beatles songs and the hits from the Mersey bands, and it was all done by ear. I didn't form a band or join a band until I got my way into Ashley Hutchings' little black book. I knew Ashley because he's about five years older than me and I came across him initially at the youth club in Muswell Hill, where he would occasionally turn up on a Friday night with a band. And he was clearly the leader as well as the bass player as he'd frequently be there with a different set of musicians playing a different kind of music the next week."
Summertime Dues
"I'd saved up enough money from a summer job to buy myself an acoustic 12-string guitar because I just really liked the look of it. I thought it was a cool thing to have. I couldn't play it in anything more than a basic rudimentary fashion. But I took it with me to the youth club, some nights, and so forth, and Ashley noticed it and he didn't have anybody in his circle with a 12-string. So that was my USP. His little black book was legendary and I found myself in it, and before long I found myself alongside him playing jug band music."
Humble Beginnings
Denne historien er fra September 2022-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.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 2022-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.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
BASIC INSTINCTS
The sophisticated range of Swedish-designed guitars made by .strandberg* has lured thousands of players over to the headless side. But the company's new stripped-back Boden Essential model is its strongest play yet for the hearts and minds of mainstream players
Second String
As PRS's more affordable USA-made S2 line moves into its second decade, the series gets a revamp with - at last - USA-made pickups and electronics. What took so long?
PABLO VAN DE POEL
When a band from The Netherlands describes themselves as 'raw, psychedelic Southern rock', it may take a little cognitive processing to work out what that might mean. One listen to DeWolff, however, and you will be duly transported to the 60s for some fuzzed-out rock 'n' roll
THE BERNIE MARSDEN COLLECTION
With a fabulous collection of the late Bernie Marsden's guitars, amps and other highly collectable music gear going under the auctioneer's hammer on 11 June, we were thrilled to have the chance of a sneak preview
LENNY KRAVITZ
Some 35 years since the release of his debut LP, for his 12th record, Blue Electric Light, Lenny Kravitz is back again with equal doses of vigour and vibes, using vintage guitars and the purest valve amps
GEORGE VJESTICA
You may not know him at first glance, but the work of Stoke-on-Trent native George Vjestica has probably impacted some of your favourite albums and movies
DICKEY BETTS
Emerging from the shadow of Duane to write signature hit Ramblin' Man, the Allman Brothers guitarist was a hard-living pioneer of Southern rock
NICK GUPPY
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our highly valued amplifier guru, who died suddenly in April
Lucky Break
Alex Bishop blends old wood with new in an attempt to fix a severely damaged guitar headstock
Tones Behind The Tracks
Cedric Burnside learnt at the knee of his fabled grandfather, but his latest album is a hill country blues masterclass on his own terms