Ahh . . . The good old days - instruments we once had

[thelostboss]

The conversation around Blind Willie Johnson prompted me to think about the guitars I had back in the day, so 1969 to 1972.

One was a Stella of the same vintage as BWJ's. I paid AUD$1.50 for it from Mick Lewis Music, in Melbourne, as it had been standing in someone's damp shed and the soundboard had started to sprout some roots. I restored that one to a barely playable condition and then I passed it on to Merv Cargill to see what he could do with it, but then lost touch, although my daughter still is in contact with Merv's son.

Another was a Gibson Kalamazoo Mastertone Special as shown here - Mastertone Special Square Neck - Made in Kalamazoo by Gibson late 1930
– A&B Musical Instruments - that I paid fifteen dollars for but which was stolen in the mid 1980's.

A few years before this I had an ES-175, but it did not fit since most of what I was doing then was acoustic and so it got passed on.

I imagine that many of us here would have similar stories.

[Bob_Ross]

I imagine that many of us here would have similar stories.

The closest thing to an "instruments we once had" story of mine that's worth telling I already told in this thread.

[Doctor Jeff]

I still have my very first guitar from the 1960s, well my sister has it in storage for me. It was a 3/4 size Japanese electric. Barely playable even at the time.

Around age 11 or 12 I got a real electric, either a Teisco or Silvertone, like this one:



I actually don’t think it would have been a bad guitar, if it had been set up properly. Which it wasn’t, so I suffered of course. I also had a Silvertone acoustic that was similarly challenging to play.

I wish I still had them. My late mom kept a lot of my stuff, like the old starter guitar, but I don’t know what happened to the one above. Gone like a lot of old stuff from my childhood.

In college I got a very nice 1970 Goya G30 classical, like the one that Mason Williams used to record Classical Gas. That started my jazz journey.



It was a great guitar—I paid $300 for it, a lot of money in 1980 or so, but it played well and sounded good. Over time it developed a bad neck and needed a reset. For some reason my ex-wife wanted it when we divorced, so I gave it to her. If I still had it I would have made it more playable.

In 1982 or so I got a Gibson ES175. I saved up my summer earnings for that one. Paid about $900 or so. I loved it, but when I had started having kids and was in medical training I didn’t have time for it, and needed the money for, among other things, diapers, so I sold it to a kid for $500. Dumb move on my part, and I waited 40 years to rectify it and get another 175–this time an ‘88. It is a much more playable guitar, and I won’t be parting with it anytime soon.

Fast forward to the early 2000s and the kids were older and I got the jazz bug again, and got an Epiphone Dot. It was fine, but eventually I traded it for one Alvarez nylon string A/E and then another. And then after the divorce in ‘07 I treated myself to an Epiphone Joe Pass, even though after lawyer’s fees I was about $500 away from bankruptcy. Great guitar that rekindled my guitar playing and enjoyment. I also liked modding it with new hardware and pickups.

And then…I moved on from there. About 20 guitars later I have more than I need, but I enjoy having them around. I have given a few to my daughter’s fiancé, as I think it’s nice to keep them in the family.

The ones I play the most are my ‘88 ES175 and Gretsch 6117 “Double Anni” reissue, as well as my Cordoba Stage nylon string. I also have a Voyage Air OM style guitar I take with me when traveling.

Life is short, and I don’t want the regret of “I wish I had bought that guitar.”

[Palomorado]

Ahhh...this could be a lengthy thread for me! I'll start with my 1963 Gibson ES-330 I had all through college. Why did I ever get rid of this???

[DawgBone]

Ahhh...this could be a lengthy thread for me! I'll start with my 1963 Gibson ES-330 I had all through college. Why did I ever get rid of this???

If you went to college in the late 80's or early 90's then at the time those were just a used guitar, not "vintage" like they became. Should've held on to it all the same.

A dude who wanted a black Takamine sold me a 1963 LG-1 for $150 in the mid 90's. It had a couple slightly bent tuners but the tone was pure, raw blues and the resonance of that particular instrument grew in phenomenal ways in the decade or so I had it. Sympathetic resonances and harmonics. I used it as a beach guitar, a travel axe, with little concern for keeping it immaculate in any way. At a party it somehow got a crack above the soundhole but the tone was still stellar. I sold it in the mid 2000's to afford a Tricone, which I later sold to afford to survive the winter of 2009. That Gibson is the one single guitar I wish I had held onto, one of a small handful of guitar related pieces of equipment that I wish I still had, so I feel your pain on a personal level. 1963 must've been a good year at Gibson....

[MiniMerckx.22]

That's not the kind of smarts they teach in college.

Ahhh...this could be a lengthy thread for me! I'll start with my 1963 Gibson ES-330 I had all through college. Why did I ever get rid of this???

[TF]

A thread for regrets. Several really nice full-size and semi-hollow archtop electrics have come and gone over the years.

The process was:

1) Wow, that guitar is beautiful and it sounds great - I'll take it
2) Several hours of practice, maybe a few gigs
3) Why did I ever buy this - I can't like archtop guitars - they don't work for me - back to a Tele

Over and over again.

[joe2758]

The closest thing to an "instruments we once had" story of mine that's worth telling I already told in this thread.

I love this picture because it looks like it could have been taken anytime in the last 50 years

[GuyBoden]

The first decent guitar after the Woolworth specials I'd had was a 1960's Burn's Tri-Sonic. It had the "Wild Dog" setting.

It looked like this:

[gvurrdon]

My first guitar was a Hohner flying V, second hand. It looked just like this: Just a moment...

[TF]

It had the "Wild Dog" setting.

The problem with modern guitars is that they don’t have a Wild Dog setting.

[joe2758]

I don't know what a wild dog setting does but I do know I never want another guitar without one

[benhatchins]

The first decent guitar after the Woolworth specials I'd had was a 1960's Burn's Tri-Sonic. It had the "Wild Dog" setting.

It looked like this:

Nice one! It's funny how certain instruments stay in your memory long after they're gone. Sometimes I regret selling gear more than I regret buying it. There are guitars I let go years ago that would probably never leave my hands today. The other day I was helping someone with a TV issue and ended up searching for the onn electronics customer service phone number , which somehow led me down a nostalgia rabbit hole about old equipment. I guess we all get sentimental about the things that shaped our hobbies.

[garybaldy]

I would like to have kept two only because of the nostalgia.
My first guitar - a Futurama II with which I played my first gig (and got paid!).
My 'College' guitar - an L6S which I played on a 7" single released by Virgin in 1979.