guitars

My favourite gigging guitars are an Epiphone Casino and a Fender Stratocaster. Both made in 1961 (no I didn’t buy them new!).

I bought the Epi in 1976 for £175 and the Strat belonged to Steve Hillage for many years. By strange coincidence I have an interview with him published in an old Melody Maker where he says he?ll never part with it. Moral: you never know?.
I bought it in 1985 for £500.

I also own an amazing nylon strung guitar an Avalon by Paradis (Swiss guitar builder Rolf Spuler) and a Heritage Super Eagle, handbuilt in Kalamazoo by former Gibson guitar builders and similar to a Gibson Super 400C.

I’m hoping to use all these guitars when I record my next studio album.

amps

I’ve always been fond of a valve amp and I own 3 Vox AC30’s and a stereo Mesa Boogie set up. However I used a little solid state Sessionette (which I bought S/H in 1982/3) ’til very recently for all my smaller gigs. That has now been superceded by a 1970’s Fender Princeton Reverb. Only 12 watts amp all original but has been fitted with a replacement 12″ Celestion speaker.

How can a 12W amp be loud enough at a gig? Well it is for me at most jazz gigs. Buster the drummer in my group calls it 12 EH WHATS? (Sound of people shouting over guitar).