First Guitar

[Shawn Lutz]

my first electric was a a hardtail Hondo Explorer just like this one


It was a great guitar with the exception of the pots, switch and tuners. I wisk I would have kept it...one drunkin New Years Eve after running outta firewood I came down with the guitar...did a Pete Townsend and smashed it in half and threw it in the fireplace I wish I still had the guitar just for sentimental reasons

[markD]

first guitar was an aria diamond 335 copy i bought for 35.00 at a pawnshop. i was 10. i cut grass for the summer to buy it. i was so thrilled to get it. my mom took me to the pawnshop so i could buy it. i was inspired to play the guitar after seeing iron maiden!!!! i wanted to play like dave murray SO bad...instead i ended up playing like adrian smith!!!!

[m2pmd70]

My '68 Holiday Jaguar-ish thing... same as a Harmony H15.

Looks kinda like this, except mine has 3 pickups and a triple rocker switch.



I'm in the middle of redoing it. I'm thinking about making it a string-through and getting rid of the rosewood bridge and ugly tailpiece. I love those pickups tho. I traded a broken mountain bike frame for it in like '88. LOL

I don't suppose I was really ever "inspired", might be why I still suck 20 years later heh. Marty Friedman's Megadeth stuff really blew my mind tho, I recall drooling over his MF sig back in the day.

[StukaJU87]

My first guitar was my mother's Silvertone.
My second was a Tele Star = uber crappy hollowbody


My first "real" guitar was a brand new 1979, I think, "The SG". I wanted an SG like Blair Thornton, from BTO. But I was a paperboy and could not afford an SG Standard.

[jcm800x]

my first electric was a a hardtail Hondo Explorer just like this one


It was a great guitar with the exception of the pots, switch and tuners. I wisk I would have kept it...one drunkin New Years Eve after running outta firewood I came down with the guitar...did a Pete Townsend and smashed it in half and threw it in the fireplace I wish I still had the guitar just for sentimental reasons

I like how this thread is going so far! By the way, my second guitar was the same Hondo explorer with the tele controls! Mine was white!

[Acidhouse]

My first guitar that I actually bought is one that I still have, (though it doesn't get pulled out that much). It's a Squier HM3. It was 1991, I had no clue about guitars. I knew I had been fooling around with them enough to know it was time to buy one and not play with a hand-me-down. I went to a place that I was taking lessons at in Orlando called "The Music Shack". I didn't know what I was looking for but I wanted two things, a guitar that didn't go out of tune and one with a rosewood fretboard. To solve the tuning issue, I went with a Floyd Rose system, (I told you I knew nothing of guitars). Of course there were plenty with rosewood fretboards. I saw Squier and that it was made by Fender. That impressed me. (Could I have been any more green?). I actually hated the look of Stratocasters, they were way to 1950s. I wanted something modern. I paid $450 for my brand new, made in Korea Squier HM Strat. Looking back on it, I lucked out in that it was a great guitar. I think having a FR system definitely inhibited me but other than that, it was a great little guitar.

[charvelguy]

Actually, the very first was a 17.00 Sears acoustic. That was about 69-70 about the time of the first Apollo moonwalk. Still have that guitar.
My first elec was a Kingston. I bought it from a place which was a log cabin and later a local landmark. I still have it as well as the receipt...altho I puttied all its finish cracks and spray painted it in white a long long time ago. Its in been in dismembered pieces waiting to be put back together like alot of my guitars are. Its not at my current residence like alot of my guitars are also.
I had a small Kay SS amp, then a slightly larger Tesico SS amp with a jap distortion/Muff clone.. and short while later a Gibson Skylark tubed job with home plywood casing and a ripped 10". I think it was Gibsons version of a Champ. 5-8 watts.
Then a Univox Les Paul bolt-on for 100.00, a '62 Fender Musicmaster (in white w/ original case), a Univox SS 2x10 combo, and a Univox tubed stack. I unloaded the Musicmaster due to its single coil and short scale, got a '73 SG which was the first 'quality' guitar.
The Univox tube stack started to have problems and was blowing fuses. (probably a bad tube) Serviced it at radio place..(significant bill-6550s). I dumped it in favor of a silverface Fender Twin that I bought from a guy on my paper-route who played accordian through it. I was a Nuge fan but I found the Twin was not my type of distortion, overall was too clean and loud.
I even tried a couple resistor/cap mods in the inputs.

I traded it in favor of a '74 Marshall 50 JMP head (w/ cover) and some cash (this amp was once owned by the same guy who owned the '73 SG). That amp was my fav, killer tone but was stolen about a year later.
I got some money from homeowners insurance (about 250.00) and put that towards a Marshall '73 100w Superlead; a full stack w/ all the covers that was sitting in a local guys basement. I bought the whole stack for 750.00 cash deal.. knocking the guys price down from 800.00. That was in about 1979-80 and I immediately sold the bottom cab for 250.00 to a neighbor guitarist a couple blocks over to pay back a loan I took from my parents. (he still plays, we're still good friends even tho he sold the cab to someone else and broke our agreement) I still have the angled cab. Its in sad shape but it sounds great.
I sold the head for pitiful dirt cheap consignment (freakin robbery) to pay rent. Old Marshalls were not selling much in mid 80's.. they were in abundance and most everyone turned to JCM's.
Shortly later I bought a '73 black strat from another local guitarist who was Clapton fan and a '64 SG because of a guy in a area band called 'Judd'.. who played old SG's and Mesa combos. (like Santana)

Initially, local guys in bands playing at school dances inspired me to play. It looked like a fun way to make money.. hey.. little did I know eh?
Chicago, Zep, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Rush, Jan Akkerman and Kiss, BTO, Hendrix inspired me in the very early years.

I've always been kind of a gear bug swapping this for that.

[MikeE]

Man, am I the only one on a JCF board who's first guitar is a JCF?

My 1st was a Charvel 475 Deluxe in blue sparkle. I still have it but it's beat to shit. I used that guitar for all sorts of rock star wannabe stage antics when jamming with friends in high school. I got it in 1990 I think. I'm pretty sure it was $550 back then. I mowed a lot of lawns to get that one.

At the time my influences were probably Mick Mars (I almost got a Kramer Focus instead of the Charvel b/c of Mick) and the typical Randy, Lynch, EVH, Vai.

[Tashtego]

Ibanez Blazer was my first. The only pic I have available is fairly recent. It's the one on the left. Guitar is in pieces currently. There wasn't any one inspiration. Going by the first songs I learned I'd say VH, Angus, Hendrix, Page, Iommi were favorites at the time.

I have a dismantled Harmony that was a friend's still kicking around just like the one posted previously. I practiced wood burning designs on it. The neck is bolted on with 3 bolts right?

[TrendkillDBD]

my first was my mom's 35 year old tempo short scale classical acoustic which she played for about 5 days then threw into her attic... I STILL GOT IT!! my first electric was an LTD KH-202, and of course, to buy that, I was inspired by Kirk Hammett. I've heard some negative things said about it, and although I think that it should've cost a little less, it is still a pretty good guitar. I like it.

[sonofspy]

1st acoustic was an Aria steel string. First electric was a
1966 Guild Starfire IV with a Bigsby vibrato, which I bought in
1977.

Finally sold it last fall.


Guitar heroes Jeff Beck, Joe Walsh, Duane Allman, Gary Green
(of Gentle Giant)

Son Of Spy

[TrendkillDBD]

my friends got an old Gretsch that his grandfather gave him just like that one.

[Chasbo]

Mine was a Hondo Les Paul copy. It had a tobacco burst finish and a bolt on neck. It didn't play half bad and was a great learning guitar. I think I paid 100 dollars for it if memory serves me right.

chuck

[m2pmd70]

... The neck is bolted on with 3 bolts right?

Yep three bolts all right. Wanna sell for parts?

[Drake S.]

Mine was out of the Sears X-mas catalog for 100 bucks lets just say I don't miss it at all! LoL