Let's hear about your first guitar story

[FemmeParallell]

I used to ask for a guitar for Christmas since i was around 4yrs old, my parents wouldnt let me take classes because it wasnt "lady like" so i got into piano lessons that i really disliked but at least i was near the guitar class rooms, i was 7 at the time...later on my brother got a cheap nylon string guitar that he just ditched (he later became a drummer, very good one!) and i got to keep the guitar and finally got into classes, i was 13... i got my first electric until i turned 16, my dad gave it to me as a kind of sweet 16 gift, it was a Samick les paul special type of guitar, sunburst, i called her Reeses, he also got me a Crate 12-15watt amp that sounded TERRIBLE but i thought it was the neatest thing ever and it sounded bada$$ hahaha..anyways years later i ended up doing a raffle for the Samick to get a Rickebacker 330 after saving up my paycheck and not going out for a whole year..i have none of that now haha but i still remember and get a big smile

[darling67]

Great thread idea!

 

My story has similar elements to yours. The details are a bit murky at this point—after 40 years from the time I first got into the guitar. But, here goes...

 

So, I must have been like 9 or 10 years old. I was already turned-on to The Beatles by my aunt—having heard "Jet" by Paul McCartney on the radio some time before, and being told who it was, and what band he used to be in, etc., etc. So the "Rock 'n' Roll" dream had already been planted prior to turning 10 years old or whatever. My aunt also had a Classical nylon string guitar that I would mess around with while listing to her Beatles records. However, things took a massive turn the year Queen's "News Of The World" came out. I'd heard, "We Will Rock You", and Brian May's "solo" at the end just blew me away. I wanted to play electric guitar like that!

 

So thus began my search for my first guitar. Of course, I started by taking lessons. This meant an acoustic guitar would be my first actual guitar. Can't recall what it was—I think it was just a cheap no-name guitar (although it had an "Alvarez" label inside the sound hole, there was no logo on the headstock). I soon grew tired of the acoustic not being able to play the Rock music I'd wanted to start playing. So...

 

Like you, enter the Sears Wish Book! Must have been the 1977 Christmas edition—maybe, it was the 1978 edition. Can't be sure. But I remember the "electric guitars" spread in that catalog. There was a sunburst "Les Paul" knock-off with all sorts of switches and buttons on it. Apparently, there were built-in effects(?!). I also recall what looked like Brian May's cherry red model. Would make sense, considering what I'd mentioned above. Pretty sure there was also an "SG" style guitar in their electric guitar offerings. Anyway, I was always leaving that Wish Book open to that spread—hoping if my parents saw it enough, I'd score one for Christmas. But, in retrospect, that was around the time my dad was out of work, and there was a lot of belt-tightening going on. An electric guitar—which would have cost a small fortune back in the late '70s—was simply not in the budget. Not even for Christmas gifts.

 

Not sure of the "timeline" following this disappointment. But sometime soon thereafter, my aunt—who I mentioned above, and who was always my biggest source of musical encouragement and support— saw how much I was longing for an electric guitar, and took me to the music shop one day to by one for me. I can't recall the options, but I am sure the a Gibson or a Fender was not one of them! LOL! But I saw this dark, "tobacco burst" Les Paul copy (only in general shape—was much slimmer and light-weight). It was another "no-name" brand, but it fit the bill for my needs and I took it home that day. It was the guitar I learned Beatles and Paul McCartney songs on, etc. It was a great first electric.

 

As far as I know, the guitar still exists...? Not sure, actually. Back in the late '80s, I gave it to a friend who wanted to learn. I'd upgraded to a much better guitar years before, so I no longer had any real use for it. He's a lefty, so he had it "converted" to lefty. This was so long ago... the neck might be totally warped by now—if it's even still around. I last saw it when I was over his parents' house… must have been like around 1990-1991.

Edited December 11, 2018 by darling67

[MichaelT]

In or around 1971 or 1972, I was taking piano lessons. I wasn't really taking to it as much as my parents would have liked and grew up watching Hee Haw on TV and listening to Johnny Cash, Roy Clark, Buck Owens, Glen Campbell and others play guitar. My parents didn't listen to rock at the time and much of my exposure to guitar was country. I mentioned that I wanted to play guitar but after spending all that money on a piano and paying for piano lessons from second grade to fifth grade, they didn't want to hear it. They weren't going to buy me a guitar and weren't going to let me take lessons. The music store was across the square from my dad's clothing store, and I'd often walk over there. They had a student guitar there for $19.95 and I saved my allowance, did extra chores and gathered money for a while. I walked over there one day, handed the man $19.95 and told him I wanted to buy the guitar. I can't remember what price he told me, because I didn't know about sales tax. He saw what I had, saw that it was a combination of coins and paper money and sold it to me for exactly $19.95. This was spring of 1977. He threw in a book to learn from and I had guitar classes in our Jr. High music course. It was only a few weeks but it was chords and notes. I learned the basics of "I Walk The Line" by Johnny Cash.

 

Christmas of 1978, my Grandma bought me a nylon string guitar and I played it a bit more than the other one, since the strings hurt my fingers less.

 

Christmas of 1979, my aunt bought me an electric guitar and amp. It was a Sears or Service Merchandise SG copy guitar and a little amp. I played it loudly and poorly for some time.

 

Fast forward to summer of 1981 and my parents finally decided that they were tired of hearing me not play as well as I could and figured out I wasn't going to give up after four years. They chose to let me take lessons. I got a better guitar for Christmas of 1981, because the strings were at least a mile and a half off the fretboard and my teacher told my parents that it was necessary to upgrade if I was going to get any better.

 

1982, I started playing in a band, upgrading my amp to a 70's Fender Twin Reverb, then upgrading guitars, pickups, etc. In 1983 I started teaching guitar at the same store where I was taking lessons, taking over for two guitar teachers at 17 years old. I got my first Gibson (1981 Gibson "The V") in 1984 and a few more guitars, more amps, bands, teaching, gigging, touring, Musicians Institute and a few decades later, I'm still playing guitar.

 

My parents stressed to me that if they were going to pay for lessons, that I'd learn how to play everything, not just rock. And, although I'm more proficient in rock, metal and blues, I did learn to play many different styles, including some country, classical and a little jazz. Country, blues, southern rock, classic rock, hard rock/metal were all early influences. My parents would be glad to know their money wasn't wasted and I'm still playing 41 years later. The old guitars and amps are long gone, except an old Dixon V I got in 1983 and my Gibson V I got in 1984.

[MadisonJames]

That's so cool.  It was interesting to read this thread.

[Retired]

1 hour ago, MadisonJames said:

That's so cool.  It was interesting to read this thread.

Yes, I read it through again also. Interesting that most were young learning.  Played 'Smoke On Water' on the E string. I think I also played it on the E string back then. My first guitar was a POS like I mentioned. The Ventures were my inspiration and my cousin taught me some of their songs. Of course at the time, the tv show, Hawaii 5 -O'  was a big hit and I played that song a lot. I eventually had many guitars as teen but forgot the brand names on most. Interesting on the reading. Thanks to all here. 

[paddybrown]

When I was in Mr Potter's P6 class (Northern Irish primary schools in my day went from P1 at 4-5 to P7 at 10-11. I was in P6 in 1978-79) I got it into my head that I wanted to learn the guitar. My dad bought me a small nylon-string guitar - I remember breaking a string by overtightening in the car on the way home from buying it - and enrolled me in classes in the evenings in the back room of a local music shop. We learned from The Complete Guitar Player, strumming along to songs by John Denver and Ralph McTell that I didn't know. I didn't stick at it. No idea what happened to the guitar.

Fast forward ten years. I'm 17, during my misspent youth as an evangelical Christian. My school's Scripture Union runs what they call a "house party", where the eleven-year-olds are taken away to a house in the country under the supervision of the 17-year-olds and a couple of teachers, to do outdoor pursuits during the daytime and be terrified with the prospect of going to hell in the evening. There is, as is customary at such events, singing, accompanied by a couple of the 17-year-olds on the guitar. One of them shows me some chords and teaches me to play some of the songs. At some point after that, I get hold of a cheap acoustic and start accompanying the singing at church youth groups and Scripture Union meetings. The songs were terrible - I cringe at some of the stuff I played back then - but they were a very good way of learning the basics, so even though I've long since run off to join the cult of Dawkins, that period in my life did teach me some useful skills.

My first electric guitar was a really cheap black plywood strat copy I bought off a kid at school. I dismantled it, repainted it, and never got round to putting it back together.

Then, when I was at university, I bought myself the first guitar I can actually identify: a red Westone Thunder I T. Not actually this one, but it looked just like it.

I also borrowed enough money to buy a Marshall JCM 800 amp - figuring a cheap guitar through a decent amp would be better than a decent guitar through a cheap amp, but it was too loud to play at home so I didn't get much practice. I made my first tentative attempt at forming a band, but I didn't really have the confidence or organisational skills to make it happen beyond a couple of rehearsals. Eventually sold the guitar, but still have the amp.

The first acoustic I owned that I can identify was a Takamine G-series EG10, which I got in my mid 20s. It did me proud for a good 20 years until I upgraded to a Taylor a few years ago, and I still have it. I've just dug it out, cleaned it up and restrung it. It may be covered in dings and scratches, but it plays pretty good. I think I'll look for someone to pass it on to.

[Retired]

Paddy Brown, Lol. I still have that book.  The Complete Guitar Player. It still looks new except a couple pages are loose.  Really not that bad for 64 years ago. I also have my other 2 books from 1966,  Mel Bay's Guitar Chords and Teach Yourself Guitar. Both in excellent condition. 

[Lord Summerisle]

I'm British and started playing in 1994 (relatively late, really - I was 16).

But being British and picking up an electric guitar for the first time in the 1990s, of course I bought a Yamaha Pacifica 112 with the natural finish. Didn't everyone in that demographic?

I've still got it. Currently moving house, and it's been locked away in its case for a couple of years, but I have a place planned on the wall of my new office/studio/ for it.

Looks just like this one. Amusing to see ads from the UK now selling these things as "vintage." I guess if it's vintage, so am I, alas.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by Lord Summerisle

[fortyearspickn]

SummerIsle -  if you're 'vintage',  I guess I'm 'antique'. !   My first guitar was $25 in the early '60s - Stella.  First song I taught myself was the Theme from the Ponderosa tv show.  Using only one string, I realized I would soon be great if I could tap into the other 5.   My interest for that guitar was whetted years earlier when  my parents got me a ukulele. It had a molded plastic fretboard.  I wore the frets down flat.  But, I at least learned how to tune it by ear -  fortunately, since that's how I tuned guitars for the next few decades.  Wore the stain off the fretboard of that Stella, but the frets were still good when I fave it away.  Good Times.  

[zigzag]

When I was 11 y/o back in 19 & 64, I asked my parents for a guitar after seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Their idea of good music was Percy Faith and Mitch Miller. They heard about a local luthier whose daughter, an 18 y/o hot hippie chick, was giving lessons to kids teaching Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul and Mary tunes (whom they'd never heard of). They bought me one of his cheap, experimental flamenco guitars, and I was off and running.

They bought me my first electric a couple of years later, a POS, single pickup, Strat body type, Kent from a pawn shop. Since it had no truss rod, the neck bowed to a point where it couldn't be played in just a couple of years. And since I had no amp, I had to rig up an adapter to the RCA console hi-fi. 

I think if I'd had some decent equipment back then, I might have continued playing through the 25 years that I put it down. 

Edited June 3, 2020 by zigzag

[saturn]

I can't believe I didn't post in this thread back in 2018.  Must have been a busy week. 

My first guitar was a no-name LP copy. Black Beauty with a bolt-on neck. It was OK. Wouldn't say POS, but nothing great. Had the Mel Bay whatever book with 33 vinyl record to play along with. Probably 1982 or 83?? 

 

[Twang Gang]

Well since this thread got revived somehow, I'll now show a picture of my Roy Rogers guitar: 

This of course is not mine, but a photo I found on the web (I kept mine in much better condition).  Chip board body, wooden neck, plastic fingerboard, nylon strings and twine string strap.  Not great tone, but it did actually play once I figured out how to tune it.  Very humble beginings.  This was the only guitar that was ever given to me.  Every one since then I had to work, earn the money, and pay for myself.  Maybe it's a generation thing but I'm surprised by how many threads say "my parents bought me".  

Edited June 4, 2020 by Twang Gang

[SteveFord]

My parents had a Yamaha nylon string guitar which I discovered down in the basement one day.  

Not quite Chuck Berry's ES-355 but it was a start.

From there it was some Japanese No Name-O brand Fender looking thing I picked out at a local music store.  The three pick ups and vast assortment of knobs, sliding switches and whammy bar were just too futuristic to resist.  As I recall, the sound did not live up to my expectations but it sure looked cool to a pudgy 13 year old kid.

Edited June 6, 2020 by SteveFord

[merciful-evans]

Mum: 'What would you like for Xmas?'

Me (at 7 or 8 ): 'Can I have a guitar?'

the next day

Mum: 'Dad says you cant have a guitar because you wont stick at it'