Here I GO Again Now You’re Gone
As Bernie bids farewell to Guitarist he takes us back to one iconic guitar that got away
This will be my last monthly column in the magazine, and I’ve really enjoyed writing these words over the last year. I have a hugely exciting project that is almost ready for the end of this year. I have put together a very luxurious book full of my entire guitar collection. It’s the ultimate book for guitar lovers and the photography is truly outstanding. I’ve never seen photos of guitars like it – they are exceptional. I will be adding anecdotes and stories about each instrument: how I acquired them, traded them, recovered the ones I sold and regretted… that isn’t easy! I have also recorded a special CD to include in the book, with 10 of the guitars you can read about inside. You’ll get the sound of guitar and the image of it in one.
It’s been a lot of work, but worth every minute. I have a lot of guitar books, believe me, and I was determined to make mine the best. Tales of Tone and Volume will be available in three editions later in the year. As you can tell I’m very excited and I’m sure the guys at the magazine will keep you informed when the release is closer. I’m still collecting guitars, of course, in fact only recently I seem to have acquired a few more! That’s the thing with guitar collecting, it’s a sickness that you don’t recover from. I was with Joe Bonamassa recently in Birmingham and Brighton, he will definitely never get over the addiction, and he had bought a cracking Gibson 335 the very day we played together in Brighton. He played it that night as if he had owned it for years instead of hours.
Come An’ Get It
So, this takes me to a final tale of guitar collecting. Many years ago, I used to hang out in Denmark Street in London at the Top Gear Music Store. Top Gear was a truly great shop, a place to be seen in, for sure.
Around 1974 a guitar appeared on the wall at Top Gear. It was an original 1958 Gibson Flying V in excellent condition. Even in 1974, it was still very much a curio amongst guitar players. We all knew that Dave Davies of The Kinks played one, but our great heroes Clapton, Green, Hendrix and all the other top guys were playing anything else. Except Jimi, of course, but that’s another story.
So, one afternoon, not thinking very much about it at all, I played the V. I plugged it into a small amp, the sound was decent, but without a strap it kept slipping off my knee. I found it very inconvenient and so after a few minutes it was back on the wall. A few days later, I found myself back in the store, trying it again, with the same outcome. This continued for a few weeks, but the guitar stayed on the wall. A month later it was still on the wall, and by this time my great friend Mick Ralphs of Mott the Hoople was putting together the very early days of Bad Company. He also tried the V, and he pretty soon put it back on the wall, too. The ‘Guitar of the Month’ was then reduced from £550 to £500 and still no takers – but bear in mind that at the point in time you could buy an original Les Paul Standard for less money than that. Another month went buy, it lost its ‘Guitar
of the Month’ accolade, and the lonely V was reduced again to £450. I had an internal debate: I could get it as a spare guitar, maybe try and knock another £50 from the price. It turned out that Mick and I were the only people to show any kind of serious interest in the V. Top Gear telephoned me soon after, and told me that Mick was going to buy the guitar. The bugger! I knew Mick well, we had shared a house just before I moved to Paddington, so I didn’t want him to get the guitar before me. I said I would be in the shop ASAP.
I was with Wild Turkey at the time and I had to go to my management, Chrysalis Records, to get an advance on my wages. They agreed, but I had to go to the office and then to a bank in Oxford Street to get the needed cash. Mick, being a more affluent musician at the time, had the money at home and a car! I walked to Denmark Street with the cash burning a hole in my pocket, and sauntered into Top Gear smiling and waving the cash. The guys were in hysterics: Mick had already been in, paid for the guitar, and left for a Bad Company rehearsal. The guys in Top Gear had phoned both me and Mick saying the other was going to buy it!
Mean Business
Herein lies the moral of the story: if you want a guitar, don’t think too long about it, just make sure that you go out and get it! Mick used that guitar all through Bad Company, there are many pictures of him playing it. I was at his house in the early 1980s and took pictures of his guitars – one of them was the ’58 V. As if all of this is not traumatic enough, there is a postscript. Mick later sold the guitar for a great sum, as he had the right to do. A respected guitar collector called Armand Serra bought it, and through extensive research discovered through old Gibson shipping numbers that the guitar was the very first Gibson Flying V ever made. First. Ever. Made. Probably around late 1957, and it was shipped to a dealer in 1958. Oh dear… Never mind, some you win and some you definitely lose, but I’m not complaining. I’m informed that an original case for a Flying V can cost £10,000 these days, and it’s harder to find a case than a guitar! Take note future collectors.
So, here I am at the end of my final column. I should mention that the inaugural ‘Bernie Marsden Guitar Mojo Experience’ will be held at Stowe House in Buckinghamshire from July 11th until July 13th this summer. Head to po.st/ Guitar-Mojo for more details. Numbers will be limited so call early if you want to improve your guitar playing, pick up performance tips and even getting to record with me in the on-site studio.
I am proud to have Jim Kirkpatrick and Chris Buck as my mentoring colleagues for the week. Yours truly will, of course, be there too. Jim has worked with me for a while now, plays with FM, and is a very fine slide player. Slide guitar will be included in the course. Chris Buck is a rising force in the guitar world, still in his 20s, a very tasteful and exciting player. Stowe is a place of exceptional beauty, the grounds have been voted the best in the UK, and if you will be joining me there, don’t think you are going the wrong way when you drive a half mile to the venue, it’s quite magical. We’ll start each day with a Q&A session before morning and afternoon tutorials. I’m very much looking forward to it and I hope to see you there. Please contact thearts@stowe.co.uk or Deborah Howe on 01280 818012 for more info.
So, that’s it folks! I hope you have found the column helpful and entertaining. I’ve really enjoyed contributing each month. As ever, thanks for all the support. If you’ve enjoyed my column, you’ll enjoy my book
Where’s My Guitar? (www.berniemarsden.com). Many thanks for all the emails, Facebook and Twitter posts, I really do appreciate your thoughts. Stay in touch!
“The moral of the story is if you want a guitar, don’t think too long about it…”