STAR LETTER

KAY TO SUCCESS

Late last year I was clearing my late mum’s house when I came across my first guitar. It’s a cheap Kay, which my parents bought for me secondhand for about £16 in 1976. I never really got on with it, although it inspired me to set up my first band in 1977. I didn’t know what to do with my old guitar, so I took it home and decided to test it out.

The action was still poor and it was difficult to keep in tune. The pickup also had a fault, so I decided to pimp it up with a few adjustments and modifications. I searched online and bought some hardware from Northwest Guitars, including a new set of strings, Fender-style inline tuners, a Wilkinson soapbar pickup and a new Stratocaster-style hardtail bridge. I also had a go at shimming the neck and had to repair the scratchplate, as it had become brittle and broken at the jack socket. Believe it or not, I used a spare piece of rectangular roof guttering to replace the broken piece of the scratchplate!

It now plays a lot better and I recorded an instrumental track with it, which I’m quite proud of. It hangs on the wall of my office and I play it most days. Moral of the story: have a go at getting the best from your guitar! Congratulations for resurrecting a guitar rather than just taking it to the tip – and we bet you learned a few things along the way, too. Your finished creation is very on trend at the moment, with Teisco, Harmony and other quirky brands from the 60s and 70s gaining popularity for their retro looks and original sounds. Even better, you didn’t just consign it to the cupboard as a curio, you went out and made some music with it. Bravo, sir – we wish you much happy music-making with it. To reward your initiative, you win this month’s Star Letter prize of a brilliant Korg tuner.