Author Archives: 43guitarsandcounting

37. Korean Epiphone Flying V I DON’T think it ever occurred to me I might one day end up playing a Flying V. I grew up in a musical world where Vs were pretty much the province of the metal end of rock – TOTALLY Nigel Tufnel! Only later did I start to appreciate themContinue reading “A Surprising V”

36. 1991 Gibson Firebird V I’VE always been a Fender man. Something to do with having been serially obsessed with a succession of Fender players, I think…Richie Blackmore, Wilko Johnson, Gypie Mayo, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sonny Landreth.It didn’t hurt, either, that the guitarist I’ve spent most time standing alongside on stages near and far- myContinue reading “A Fancy for a Firebird…”

35. The Tim Aves Twincaster WARNING: Just the one guitar in this entry, but this tale is something of a saga!It seemed such a good idea. I spotted this amazing-looking Warmoth twin-neck body on eBay about 15 years ago. This was back in the days when Warmoth was at the zenith of the American guitarContinue reading “The Twincaster”

34. Casio DG 20 synth guitar THERE’S only one person to blame for the appearance of this, the oddest of all guitar-shaped things in this blog. I name Dr Ika – Georgian neuro-surgeon-cum-guitar player, technical genius and all-round good bloke! Ika’s been a regular at the Hot Hob Jam in Brentwood where we have goneContinue reading “An Even Odder One…”

33. Squier Vista Series Super-Sonic THIS distinctly odd bird came into our household as a consequence of two singular obsessions, both of which I’ve touched upon before.On the one hand, there was Owen’s desire for a Lake Placid Blue Strat. On the other was my growing fascination with Strats with left-handed headstocks (See No 24).Continue reading “An Odd One”

31. Blue Ibanez AS73 SEMI-ACOUSTICS have never really been my bag. Not sure why. Probably something to do with the way I long preferred Fenders to Gibsons, plus the fact they never quite sit right on my tummy! However. no true nerd’s guitar journey would be complete without at least one semi – and thisContinue reading “A Pair of Semis”

32. Mazeti Mosrite Ventures Copy ANOTHER relative cheapie, but I make no excuses for buying this stunning guitar. I’d long had a fascination for the oddball instruments produced by the American company foudned by Semie Mosley – it probably started the first time I saw Johnny Ramone playing one as The Ramones stormed through somethingContinue reading “My Fake Mosrite”

31. Wesley Tele with P90s I TOOK a lot of stick over this guitar…a LOT of stick! It cost me £46 brand new (including shipping) from a dealer on eBay who was marketing a whole range of Far Eastern Wesley-brand instruments with idiotically low starting prices on the auctions. Since then, the likes of TankContinue reading “A Charming Cheapie…”

31. Line 6 Variax 30 AN odd one, you might think, to find lumped in after three acoustic guitars, but believe it or not, I bought this bright red digital guitar, primarily to use as an acoustic guitar.It’s a modelling guitar and doesn’t have any conventional pickups. Instead, rather a transducer under the bridge picksContinue reading “A good idea at the time…”

30. Simon & Patrick SP6 acoustic THE Tanglewood acoustic was OK, but there came a time when I decided I needed a more serious acoustic. That was where this delightful cedar-bodied Canadian beauty came in. At one stage in the early 2000s, a dear friend even offered me the long-term almost-permanent load of a beautiful,Continue reading “Canadian Cedar…”

28. Tanglewood acoustic I’VE never been much of an acoustic player, but all the same, I’m sure most people who play guitar would tell you there was the odd time when it’s really, seriously handy to have an acoustic guitar knocking about. Solo and duo blues gigs, for instance, where an electric guitar sometimes doesn’tContinue reading “Unplugged… but not really”

26. Black Modded Squier 51 ANOTHER of my creations, this dates from the time when Squier 51s were dirt-cheap and plentiful and I belonged an unbelievably nerdy specialist forum on the web, dedicated to modding Squier 51s. Much as I adored the simplicity of the original Indonesian Squier 51 design, there were a few thingsContinue reading “Sundry Strats and Similar part 2”

24. Reverse headstock Bitsa Strat FOR ages, I’ve had a bit of a passion for tinkering with, upgrading and modifying guitars. In fact, you may already have noticed very few of mine ever remain completely original for long. I’ve put the odd one together from bits, too.Apart from the Strat I built for Owen inContinue reading “Sundry Strats and Similar part 1”

17. Danelectro U2 reissue I CAN’T honestly remember how much I paid for it, or where it came from, but this rather nice maroon Danelectro U2 reissue was a bargain. After they they were re-released in the early 90s, just about every guitar player I knew had one of these cheap, cheerful, but funky guitars.Continue reading “Two more slide machines”

16. Blonde 2003 Squier 51 FOR almost as long as I’ve attempted to play guitar, I’ve also attempted to play slide guitar, with varying degrees of success. It started, of course, with Automatic Slim. My hero, Dr Feelgood’s frontman, Lee Brilleaux played very effective, but rough-and-ready slide, tuned to open D. However, the regular slideContinue reading “My Slide Supremo”

13. Cherry Red Gibson Les Paul Special double-cutaway OH for the days when a pound bought you almost two US dollars! We’re not talking all that long ago even – the late 90s, in fact, when I made several visits to Austin, Texas, in search of good music, great food and, yes, guitars!I’ve not visitedContinue reading “Easy come, easy go…”

11. Chandler Custom Tele with Joe Barden Pickups AFTER going Strat-crazy for a while, the pendulum was swinging back to the Tele. Not sure why. I think it had something to do with the hour I had to kill one Saturday, sitting in Automatic Slim’s van outside Langford Village Hall, waiting to collect one ofContinue reading “A Brace of Teles”

10. Mid-80s Surf Green Fender USA ’62 Reissue Strat – aka “Hubert” EVERY now and again, you pick up a guitar which is just so right you don’t want to put it down. For years, this was THE ONE, my go-to guitar bar none. I don’t usually give my guitars names, but have been knownContinue reading “The Story of “Hubert””

I BLAME Gypie Mayo – no doubt about it. I was obsessed with Telecasters for ages, but then I had one, and the more I watched Gypie wailing so impressively on his Fiesta Red 62 Strat with Dr Feelgood, the more powerful became the jones for a Strat. I really fell in a big wayContinue reading “Stratocasters: The Romance Begins”

5. Westone Thunder 1A I STRUGGLED a fair bit to make the transition from four strings to six – much as I love playing guitar, I still struggle! The main reason back in the early days, though, was that I didn’t actually have a six-string guitar to play. I borrowed a nice little Yamaha SG200Continue reading “My First two Six-Strings”

3. 1975 Fender Precision bass How many bass players, I wonder, have never owned a P-Bass? My rosewood-board Precision was my pride and joy for a good couple of years – including the Vieux Chapeau years, when inexplicably, I was pictured with the bass and a vaguely Ramones-ish haircut. I wish I still had itContinue reading “The Bass Years Part 2”

1. Commodore short-scale two-pickup bass MY very first guitar – a Japanese short-scale, vaguely Jazz-ish atrocity of a bass, with a plastic Commodore badge on the black headstock. I bought it (cost about £20 from a small ad placed by a bloke in Braintree, I think, complete with fancy strap, which I still have somewhere,Continue reading “The Bass Years Part 1”