Nev picks his way through another editorial.

IF YOU’RE LIKE me you’ll own a few guitars. It just happens, really: a desire is awakened for, say, a Tele when really you’re a Les Paul kind of guy and, before you know it, there’s another case vying for space in the house, studio, bedroom, etc. Jason Sidwell, Stuart Ryan and I call it ‘getting the worm’ – like an ear worm of a song you can’t get out of your head, only with guitars.

I mention this purely because I dug out my ES-335 the other day (the one in this picture) as I simply fancied playing something different to my P90 Goldtop or maple-necked Strat that have been my main squeezes lately. Everything changed: amp settings, pedal controls, gain structure and whatnot that I’d set up for these other guitars, all went out of the window. But I had a ball playing it, and in some ways it made me sound rather better.

That then got me wondering: suppose GT readers put away their favourite practice guitar – the one they play best on – and pulled out something a little off the wall to go through this month’s issue?

For instance, do you still have the instrument you learnt on? Or is there something lurking under the bed that hasn’t seen the light of day for yonks, that could do with a restring and a bit of TLC? If not a guitar, how about revisiting an old pedal (I also did this with an old Japanese Boss Blues Driver that I’d not even set eyes on for 15 years. It sounded brilliant!).

The point behind this seemingly mindless waffle is that the different sound, or the feel of an unfamiliar neck, can get the head in a different space, and perhaps inspire one to push on; you know, knuckle down to the sound of a new you. Try it, and let me know how you get on! See you next time...