IT AIN’T WHAT YOU OWN
I bought my first good guitar, a pink Stratocaster, in 1970 from Jack Brand at Sound City in Shaftesbury Avenue in London for £80 (the going rate for a 1964 Strat back then). He and I were in a band called The Factory and he later went on to join Meal Ticket. When I got the guitar, the first thing Jack said was,“Of course, we’ll strip the paint off to natural as it’s currently a very uncool Hank Marvin [Fiesta] red.”
Fast-forward to 1983 and life in Cornwall as a semi-retired musician (I ended up doing eight gigs a week) and the car engine blows up. The only thing we have to sell to get some cash for the car is the guitar, so it was sold for its then-value of £450.
I am now the proud owner of a 1980s Fender Bullet bought at a guitar sale in 1990 for £100 and I have to say, it plays better than the Strat ever did. My guitar students keep telling me to upgrade, but it’s not the make or model, it’s what you do with it.
Pete Flaskett, via email Thanks for sharing that valuable perspective, Pete. It’s so easy to get caught up in an ‘arms race’ of getting better and better gear – but really the final arbiter of what’s the ‘best’ guitar should be ‘whatever you enjoy playing the most’. It’s so easy to get seduced by snobbery and while there’s no denying that high-end and sought-after vintage guitars often do have a special magic about them, we all need to be able to recognise when a cheaper guitar does everything we need and sounds great – and embrace that with a happy heart (and a healthier wallet). They’re called ‘instruments’ for a reason: it’s about what we do with them not what they are that matters.