Your First Respected Name Brand guitar. Any residual effects?

[t-ray]

In 1978 or 79, I bought a 1966 Fender Mustang, my first electric. Still have it. It is a decent guitar, and with the right pedals sounds quite nice. The short scale takes a bit getting used to.

 

[Sparky2]

The first two guitars I bought with my own money from working at Hardee's, in the mid-late 1970's.

1976 Epiphone FT120, brand new then, made in Japan.

1971 to 1973 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, used, made in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The Epiphone I carried around the world for well over 40 years, and then eventually gave it to the local drug & alcohol rehab center.

The Gibson I foolishly sold when I went off into the Army to Basic Training in January of 1978.
Dummy me.

 

[Fat Daddy Sambo]

Hmmm. I was gigging during the early 90s blues resurgence in Atlanta in the early 90s. There was a period where street cred for cheap guitar was outweighing buying solid gear from known companies. As a result I had a string of very good guitars that were hard to unload later because they were not Fender or Gibson. I had three Epiphones (two U.S. and one MIK), two U.S. Guilds, an Alvarez that saw more stage time than anything else, a Yamaha classical that oddly enough got a lot of use for acoustic blues gigs. It wasn’t until my last year of gigging that I got a a 1952 Gibson ES 125 (sounded great, but played like heck) and then my main guitar, a Fender Strat plus. The Strat got traded for a dobro, the Gibson for repairs on a truck I had.

Today it’s a Zager Acoustic, and US Fender Tele, and the only gigs are work breaks, when I serenade my dog.

 

[Supertwang]

Early on I bought a very big used but not abused Yamaha acoustic that was at least the size of a dreadnaught with a factory magnetic pickup mounted at the fretboard end from the mid 70s. I can’t remember the model # and have only ever seen 1 other exactly the same. I think it was @ 1/2 way up the Yamaha acoustic model range. Acoustically is was quite nice, electrically it was horrendous, and I think I sold it on after finding a Guild D35 dreadnaught which I wish I woulda kept to this day

 

[Trenchant63]

My parents gave me an Epiphone FT-133 bolt on neck acoustic for Christmas when I was 13. It changed my life. Now it’s on the wall with fret divots almost to the wood. I played the hell out of that thing.

 

[Bob Womack]

My first was a Gibson Les Paul. As a student, I started saving for a used LP in the grossly inflationary period starting in 1974. When I started, you could get a used '70s LP for $200. I'd save the last cost I knew of, take it in, and the price would have gone up by fifty bucks in all the stores. Finally, three and a half years later, a dealer who had seen me coming in for the same model all that time had mercy on me and took what I had, $425. In exchange I got a -1974- Kalamazoo Small-Script Standard in Dark Wineburst. It was my only electric for nearly twenty years.

What residual effect? Firstly, I treated it like gold. That's a long time for a teenager to save. Secondly, physically speaking, of all my guitars, the Les Paul "fits" me best. I've branched out but the LP snuggles into the space beneath my sternum and just fits.

(ten years ago in the studio)

When my little family ran into financial difficulties back in the '80s I repeatedly offered to sell it but my lovely wife refused to entertain the notion. As a result, it has become dear to me. The T-top pickups are surprisingly low in gain but quite sweet so they offer a sound that I can't get anywhere else. As I have matured it has "begun to grow heavier" so I've picked up a more recent LP that is two pounds lighter to supplement it.

It gets compliments every time it goes into the studio.

Bob

 

[drmordo]

Ibanez roadster for me. Started a lifetime bonding with the brand.

This is an interesting point.

My first guitar was a Roadstar Strat copy.

I still have it.

I never liked Strats and still don't, really.

But I do hold Ibanez in a pretty high regard.

 

[memorex]

My first electric guitar was a Gretsch Astrojet. I really wanted a '62 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, but they were twice the money and I couldn't swing it. It was so ugly, my bandmates called it the Disastrojet. The only Gretsch I've owned. By 1969, my tastes had changed to Hendrix and Cream, and this guitar didn't cut it soundwise, so I bought a Gibson.

 

[brookdalebill]

My first electric guitar was a Gretsch Astrojet. I really wanted a '62 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, but they were twice the money and I couldn't swing it. It was so ugly, my bandmates called it the Disastrojet. The only Gretsch I've owned. By 1969, my tastes had changed to Hendrix and Cream, and this guitar didn't cut it soundwise, so I bought a Gibson.

View attachment 1403329

A truly quirky guitar, with fantastic sounding pickups!

 

[Fiesta Red]

I started playing in 1989.
I was pretty spoiled.

My first acoustic didn’t have a fabulous pedigree—a MIK 1986 Fender F250 dreadnought—but it played and sounded great.

My first electric was a very high-quality instrument as well—a 1980 G&L F-100.

Somehow, I still have both of them!

Thread 'My First Acoustic, Electric and Amplifier'
https://www.tdpri.com/threads/my-first-acoustic-electric-and-amplifier.1160025/

My next few electrics were all good pedigrees, or at least good instruments, even if some of them were “lesser” student models…

1983 G&L SC-2
1983 G&L Nighthawk
1964 Fender Mustang
1972 Fender Musicmaster Bass
1992 Fender US Vintage ‘62 Stratocaster

Of this list, I still have the Strat, the infamous Fiesta Red.

 

[SixStringSlinger]

Mine wasn't even a "respected, name-brand guitar".

For my first electric guitar, I wanted a Les Paul. For whatever reason (perhaps subconsciously buying into whatever I'd been reading in guitar magazines at the time) I thought of Gibsons and LP's as "superior", though I'll be damned if I can tell you what that word means even now, let alone then. I also remember being on a Slash/Guns N' Roses kick at the time.

For Christmas I'd told my parents I wanted one of those Epiphone starter kits with a black Les Paul (ironically enough, virtually in no way identical to the LP's I thought of as "superior") and a little amp, cable etc.

For some reason I still don't know to this day (and my mom, who did the shopping, doesn't remember), they got me the same kind of starter pack from Squier, with a black Strat. I don't think there was a price difference. I doubt the Epiphone was unavailable. And I'm pretty sure I'd even cut out the one I wanted from a catalog and given it to my parents. And in my family, guitars are like dinosaurs; my parents were aware of them but only ever knew anything about them through me, so it's not like they had any opinions about one vs another. I can't think of any other reason why they'd get me the "wrong" one.

But they did, and I sure noticed, but I finally had an electric guitar so I didn't really care.

I don't know which is the chicken and which is the egg, or which came first either way, or if the two are even related, but over time Strat players became my bread and butter. I got on a huge SRV kick. Through him I "discovered" Hendrix, and I eventually became a big John Frusciante fan. I've since discovered and learned and loved lots of other music (non-Strat and non-guitar), but those three are still a big part of my DNA as a listener and a player.

When it came time to save up for my first big boy guitar it was only ever going to be a "nice" Strat, and I eventually got an American Deluxe that I still have 20 years on.

Now I have a lot of different guitars, and there have been a few more that came and went. I even eventually got (and dug! so kept) a nice LP Studio, but nothing holds a candle to Strats for me.

 

[Lawdawg]

My first good guitar was a '91 Fender Strat Plus, still have it still love it. It was a monumental upgrade from my Squier II Strat which was sketchy at best.

No real residual effects since it's still my one and only Strat, but I have no need or interest in getting another Stat -- the one I have is perfect!

 

[memorex]

A truly quirky guitar, with fantastic sounding pickups!

It sounded great for British Invasion and country style music. But when I started to go high gain with it, the pickups would squeal and hum a little. So I switched to Gibsons because you could crank the gain up with PAFs.

 

[robt57]

For me @ 15-16 it was a Guild Thunderbird and a Jumbo Bodied F-48 soon after... Have neither today...

 

[Gene O.]

A '66 Strat that I bought in '69 was my first name brand guitar, purchased for $150 (that I saved from my paper route earnings) plus my Kent hollow body electric as a trade-in. I still have the Strat.

 

[schmee]

I think I went from a Duo Sonic to a Jazzmaster about 1962 by working summer on a farm.

 

[Jakedog]

My first electric was a 60’s Gibson ES225. Thinline hollow thing with a pair of P90’s. My dad bought it at a garage sale along with a 2x10 Marlboro amp. He paid $40 for the pair. I hated that guitar so much. HATED it. It was 1987. It was an old, stupid looking, old man guitar. With no whammy bar. It would not make any sound that sounded like Metallica, and any attempt to do so just resulted in crazy howling feedback. Did I mention I hated it?

The guys at the local guitar shop were all too happy to take it off my hands. For that Gibson and $300 cash I walked away with a brand new Ibanez RG.

Ended up hating that, too. It was shiny, and it looked cool, and it had a whammy bar, and handled loads of distortion like it was made for it. The whammy bar killed it for me. I took that guitar back to the shop several days in a row because I could not get it to play in tune to save my life. It had a Floyd, it was supposed to stay in tune, dammit! I’d watch the shop guy play it and it was fine, I’d play it and it was hopelessly out of tune instantly. WTH?

One of the guys finally realized I play with my palm anchored on the corner of the bridge. That doesn’t work with a Floyd, but 15 year old me hadn’t figured that out. They took the Ibanez back and I ended up with an American Standard Strat. With the bridge decked. I still love Strats, but once I discovered the Tele everything changed. That non-contoured body and the strap position that happens with the short upper bout is perfect for me. I love all my guitars but nothing fits me like a Tele.

 

[Chiogtr4x]

My 2nd guitar, and my 1st electric was my new 1976 Gibson Les Paul Signature I got for $250 ( yes!), just before College.
I loved it, and used it in my 2 crappy college R&R bands ( we were OK, just having fun, learning to play)
Guitar got stolen in 1980, during the day ( party house basement) after a crazy Halloween Party jam...folks knew about Party, broke in while students were in class...

The residual effects were really, (since I was recently married & broke), I was never able to get this guitar ( or similar) back, and became a Fender guitar player,

- based on my 2nd electric being a Stratocaster copy, and #3 a Fernandes Tele! Eventually real Fenders...
Such is life, now Im a happy Epi and Squier guy- all good!

* but miss the Les Paul Signature!
Not mine here, plus original Guitar Player magazine back cover ad

 

[badinfinities]

I started playing guitar in September 1985 on a Lys acoustic. Every Saturday, I went to a music shop for lessons. It wasn't long before I started looking at the electrics hanging on the wall.

A 1968 refinished ES-335 showed up and I went crazy for it. My dad sprung for it. He lived vicariously through my guitar playing from day one. He was an awesome dad.

The 335 was under $500 - it might have been as low as $400. I had it for a couple of years before I traded it on.
I'm still looking for a 335 just to honour that first guitar nostalgia.

 

[badinfinities]

It was 1987. It was an old, stupid looking, old man guitar. With no whammy bar. It would not make any sound that sounded like Metallica, and any attempt to do so just resulted in crazy howling feedback. Did I mention I hated it?

I spent about two years with the exact same attitude. WHERE'S THE CHUG AND THE MOLTEN LAVA HOT PICKUPS???