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Hallo Mary, my story with the guitar is also special. As a boy, in the 70s, the Stratocaster electric guitar was my dream, but my parents saw the rock music as the plague...so the dream stopped. a few years later I bought a guitar for little money but fate reserved another surprise for me: a problem with the left wrist with which I could not hold the fretbord... I Had to play left-handed but at that time it was an excessive difficulty for me, and there wasn’t. so it ended there. Two years ago, in the covid time and a new retired era, I decided to restart, and today there are left-handed guitars (!). Now I'm a guitarist little more than a beginner, but I started, and with a master musician and friend of me, in my age, who has WITH A LOT OF PATIENCE! :-) My first guitar is a PRS SE Ccustom 24 Lefty. It was what at this time was passible to find and not to expensive because all others possibilties were exausted in covid era. I’m been lucky! But you know, starting playing guitar guitar after 65 is not the same as a young man, and play left hanfed if you are not is also not simple for the strumming hand, but today I am very happy!🎸. I founded your channel by chance… and I returned because of you enthusiasm on your playing and your spontaneity. 🙏
OMG!! Mary you were ADORABLE .. Please show us more of your old videos...😍😍😍😍. My first guitar was a Fender Performer. I no longer have it.. Needed money...her name was Jennifer...it was Blonde.. Broke up with girl friend at the time. Was really depressed...walked in to a pawn shop bought the guitar to get my mind off of the break up. Didn't know how to play at the time..started taking lessons.😊 and never looked back. Now its been over 20 plus year 💖❤
I have my dad's 50's Silvertone guitar that he bought after returning from WWII and started his family. It was the first guitar I ever played, and I have kept it in shape. I played my first song in front of my 6th grade class with it, then got interested in folk, then rock, started my first band in 1965(high school). I eventually got my degrees in music, sang opera a few years in NYC, taught math/technology. Now I am 72, and nothing gives me more joy than to tinker with a guitar, and learning new songs. I did a little repair work on my Dad's guitar and now it sounds great; I also have bought some other old guitars and fixed them(Harmony H22 bass, Stella classical 1969). I am currently modding out an Epiphone Melody Maker E1 with Lindy Fralin p90's and a better wiring harness(I call it my Po'Boy 50's Les Paul). I have a pic of my dad from 1938-9 with his resonator guitar, the same time he met my mom. His Silvertone guitar has a neck(no truss rod) like a railroad tie and doesn't sound that good, but the intrinsic value is priceless. Keep the Yamaha forever, you won't regret it.
My first electric was an old squier tele, blonde with a white guard, that belonged to my uncle, who sadly passed away half an hour before I was born, and he left it to my dad, and when I decided to start a band, my dad gave it to me. It always sounds awesome, whether it's into an ac30, a fender, or selmer, or whatever, it's a great guitar, and I am most comfortable when I'm playing that guitar, because it's what I've learnt and developed on.
My first 6 string was a fender telecoustic back in high school. My little brother still has it. After a bad experience in a band I stopped playing for about 10 years. Just bought my second first guitar a couple of months ago, a used, wine red, epiphone dot studio. I wake up in shock that it's there every day. I'm so glad to be back
I was given a Stella Harmony kind of downsized dreadnaught acoustic guitar - as was my older brother by 3 years - both the same gift, that is each of us received one of these guitars on Christmas Eve one year. The most memorable part of this for me was my dad's words as he walked up the hall to the living room where we were gathered around the Christmas tree. Holding one guitar case in each hand he announced, "If they can do it in Nashville we can do it here." My brother and I pretty much freaked out as we looked at these instruments with the possibilities flooding our thoughts. It was of course a beginner student guitar but I was thrilled to have it. It was 1967. I very much wish I still had it but the memory above and an endless litany of little things like that remark dad made - help me remember him. He was a kind and gentle man, mirthful in his unique way and a tear is welling up so I'll consider my comment complete. Thank you for gifting me with the opportunity to recall this - and it is a clear as well as cherished memory.
Great story Mary. My first was a beat up small Goya classical nylon strings. I carried it with me when I went into the navy and it went with me to Taiwan, Vietnam,east coast of US and finally fell apart from so much humidity and temp change. My next was A D16M Martin which I still have, along with 30 other guitars, including a Vigier I got from my French representative in 1991when I had my business. He got for me and sent to in the US. Still have it and am now playing again because of your inspiration. Best quality guitar I ever had.
Mine was, and still is my Blue Squire Strat, I bought 17 years ago. I still have and play it, with its teenage-inspired stickers. Thank you for sharing your first guitar and it's stickers. A very fun story/video, and keep the pick guard even if you modify it. I plan on doing the same with mine.
My first guitar. I gave a friend a deposit on a Hondo 2 Strat copy in 1978. It was sunburst with a maple neck. I fitted some heavy gauge Fender Rock'n'Roll strings which were impossible to play and bent the neck. I spent 2 weeks with a massively aching wrist learning barre chords. After several cheapo guitars I bought a brand new Fender Strat hardtail in 1980 it was a 1979 model. I went into the store to buy a Telecaster. Memories. Now I have more guitars than I should.....
I learned to play the guitar on borrowed guitars from friends and relatives when I was ten. I even auditioned for my high school's jazz band with a borrowed Gibson Les Paul and 2x12 Marshal and got the guitar position on the jazz band. But I needed my own guitar and amp now. Coming from a single parent family, my mom couldn't afford to buy me a new guitar and amp. But some how she came up with the money and in 1980 she bought me a used 1970 Hohner Gibson Les Paul copy and a brand new Peavey Backstage Plus 1x8 amp. These was the first guitar that was mine. I still have the Hohner. The Peavey was stolen a long time ago. Thank you for sharing this with us Mary!
I made my first guitar when I was 14. Played it for 11years, bought an ibanez, and after 2 years I completely abandoned guitar playing. I've made a career as a sound engineer, so that's kept me close to the music world. But a couple of months ago I had to pull out my homemade "marcelocaster" to record some sound cues for a theater play I was sound designing. And OMG did the guitar player in me wake up! I'm going nuts happy playing this guitar every chance I get. Did a major update/fix after watching hundreds of youTube luthier videos, and made this guitar super nice to play. And in this re-awoken addiction, I found your youTube channel, which I've become a fan of. So it's awesome to see your first guitar now! And your new St.Vincent guitar too!
First guitar was a Series 10, a late 80s edition. Strat design with the pointy head. Black with yellow lightning body. Same pickup set up as your Yamaha. Got it and a pretty nice Crate amp for $100.00. After watching your vid, I'll now go and pull it from the closet that has kept it for so many years.
Last year, at age 50, i started to pick the guitar up in earnest. For my birthday, I decided to get a nice electric. After some online shopping and hours of demoing at GC and Chicago Music Exchange, I picked out a nice Fender American Standard Telecaster. I bought it online and went down to CME to pick it up. When they opened up the case, I just gazed at it - I thought I'd never seen anything so beautiful. And when I picked it up and sat down to play, it felt exactly right. It's got a nice harmonic feel through the body, and it sometimes feels like a harp. I still can't play for shit, but sometimes I just look at the beautiful maple neck, and the chunky fretwork and that deep-grain ash body and just smile and smile. I could buy pretty much anything I want, but I try to hold out and wait as my skills SLOWLY improve. I'll next get a Firebird or SG or a nice acoustic. Thanks for sharing your stories. You are charming and adorable and I thank The Captain for helping me find you!
Great first guitar story. Love it. See the pic next to my comments to you. Its my first electric guitar in 1964 I was 14 at the time. its a Harmony Stratatone. I still have it and it plays very well yet. Its 54 years old. Thanks for the memories.
When I was 13, my Dad pulled an old Epiphone jazz box out of the attic when I said I wanted to learn how to play guitar. It was set up with high action for playing slide but I didn’t know that. Learning to play was extremely painful on old strings, but I persevered, even bringing it along to Girl Scout overnights. No case, so I used a pillow case. 3 years later, I bought a $30 nylon string guitar with birthday money. My fingers appreciated the nylon strings. I’ve been playing now for 60yrs on a succession of beautiful guitars, Godin, PRS, Martin, Fender, Gibson, Ovation, but I wish I still had that Epiphone.
My first guitar was a squire mini start. I knew nothing about guitar at the time (I think I was seven) and didn't know what to do with it. It wasn't until later that I got my first lesson and I pretty quickly outgrew the mini guitar. I still have it today and it still works, I like to keep it as a reminder of the growth I've made
I agree with keeping the stickers. Replace the guard if you like but keep the old guard stickers n all. Frame it & hang it even! Got me all emotional with that one. Thank you for sharing Mary.
First guitar was a black leftie Westfield strat copy. The neck was pencil thin and the action was so so high but I played the **** out of it. Left it at my parents house when I left home and donated it to a music school after coming home one Christmas to find it unloved and covered in dust in my old room!
Mom bought me a secondhand Hohner Strat copy for my 15th b-day. For a copy, it has beautiful tone. Best part of the story, she also grabbed up a little Fender combo from the pawn shop that has turned out to be worth 10 times what she paid :-) Never getting rid of either of them.
My first guitar was a black ovation acoustic. My mom bought it for me after I had to leave Berklee due to my dad’s terminal illness. I intended to be a jazz pianist. I was so heartbroken that I had to leave that I still don’t play piano very much, even all these years later. I’m self-taught fingerstyle and my current fave guitar is my Breedlove concerto acoustic. My bucket list guitar? A ST VINCENT OF COURSE!!!!! Even a Sterling version. She is a huge inspiration to me as well as Jack White (who plays one as well). When I saw you playing one too I was like...omg!!!!!!! You should seriously cover her! You’d be amazing! All the best!!!!
My first guitar was a black Fender Strat, which my uncle brought over from America in 1988. I was about 17 and I'll never forget the first time I opened the case and saw it. It was for my 17th birthday and I've still got it. Love that axe lol
Mary - my first guitar (1972) was a Takemine resonator for which I paid $150 AUD. 20 years later I found another identical retailing at $200AUD. When I was 15 my fingers could play chords on the very narrow neck but as I grew it became a picking only machine. I gave it away about 15 years ago to a friend who uses it for his meagre attempts at Slide playing ;-) I have long threatened to replace this with a steel body resonator made by Greg Beeton of Beeton guitars dot com.
My first guitar was a Peavey T-27 that I bought along with a Peavey Bandit amp in spring 1983. Sold it later that year to help fund a long trek through the Middle East. I learned to play in the mid-'70s on a neighbor's polystyrene Maccaferri acoustic. Really nice playing instrument…got one of my own now. :) One of my fav guitars is an '81 Ibanez Strat-y thing with a natural finish like your Yamaha. IMO it's a better guitar than my actual Strat.
My first guitar was giving to me by my aunt because they just had it in their house and my mom told her that I wanted to start playing. We took it on the plain in bubble rap and tape and it’s been with me ever since
Touching. I hope you restore it and use it again. My first guitar was/is a Guild SD (SG looking). A guy who knew I was interested in playing but had no means for a guitar gave it to me. I insisted I give him something for it and he would only take $20. Told me payment would be for me to play it. That was over 30 years ago. It is sitting in a case in need of restoration (I played it to death). I think maybe it's time to dig it out and bring it back to life. Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Mary. My first guitar was a Galanti Grand Prix. I bought it from my cousin for $80 back in the late 1970s. It couldn't hold a tune but it was mine and it started it all for me. Due to the horrible wiring job done by my cousin, when my hands had any moisture on them, I would get a shock if I touched any part of the pickups while playing.
My first guitar I bought was a used Fender Telecaster Std, Made in Mexico, satin finish on the back Maple neck, Alder body, jumbo frets, all 21 of them, with Alnico 2 pickups, in Midnight Wine, a perfect wine to go with Tipsy Chewsday Tawks.
Mine was a Squier California, and it happened exactly as you described it. I dreamt of having an electric guitar and it was the most beautiful thing I could ever have.
My first guitar was a Kay LP copy with built in effects. I saved up for about a year and I remember going into Liverpool city centre to Hessys music store,that shop had a smell all it’s own. They gave me a gig bag and I remember sitting on the top deck of the bus home holding on to it like my life depended on it. One of the best days of a 15 year old lads life I’m now 55. The effects the Kay had were chorus fuzz and something called “whirlwind”? Was looking through a book on vintage guitars and there in the strange section was low and behold the Kay guitar
My first "proper" guitar was a Wilson Rapier 44, and I still have it and I still play it. I gigged with it from '73 until '76, and by then I'd saved enough to buy a white Fender Strat with Maple neck & board. Still got that one as well!
That guitar looks awesome......stickers and relic are what makes it yours and personal ....I have a 95 studio lite that barely has paint left.... rock on!
I know this video is like a year and a half old, but I had to comment. First, I wouldn't change thing about that Pacifica. If you want to change the pick guard, go right ahead, but keep that one just as it is and hang it on your friggin' wall! My first guitar, the one I learned on, was the prototype of the La Baye 2x4. Seriously, THE prototype. My dad invented the thing, and we had it around the house, and I wanted to make some Rock 'N Roll. Over the next few years, I beat the crap out of that thing, and it will bear those scars forever. I didn't own it then, but I do now, and it'll always be a very special reminder of the beginning of my Rock 'N Roll journey.
My first guitar was in 1972, at which time I had been a singer in a band which had broken up. I lived in a block of flats, and a guy from a few floors up, who knew I was a singer asked if I knew anyone who wanted to buy this guitar and I said I'd have it. This coincided with the start of a BBC TV series called "Hold Down A Chord" with John Pearce and that's how I learned my first chords. A friend of mine stripped down the red finish and gave it a psychedelic paint job, while another friend of mine - who had worked in a senior capacity at Burns Guitars - set it up.
That's a great story behind your first guitar, and it's the same as my first one (no stickers for me though, the one's on your have to stay, they're part of your story). Got it purely due to me finding the neck more comfy than any other guitar in that price range as there was no other criteria for me to judge it on as I couldn't even strum a chord when I got it. That was less than a year ago, at the age of 36, and now I'm wondering, why not earlier. It has brought me so much joy and I hope it'll keep doing that for many, many more years to come. The world of music is beautiful and fascinating.
I started playing in third grade (40 long years ago) because I saw the jazz band from what would eventually be my high school perform at my grade school. I just knew that I wanted to be in that band and that I wanted to play guitar! My first guitar was a cheap-o plywood acoustic from Sears (IIRC) that self destructed not long after I got it. We took it to a real music store to see if they could repair it. They couldn't, but gave my parents more for it in trade than what they paid for it originally. We traded it for a 3/4 size Takamine (Martin lawsuit era) that I still have. That guitar got passed through a lot of hands but eventually made it's way back to me. It still sounds and plays great.
a mexican Fender Strat.. it was hard to get as I am from a small town and left handed player. I worked summers, saved up and refused any birthday gifts for 2/3 years. My mum still had to help and put some money in. some 16 years later, still have it and love it to bits!
Mary, first of all, I love your music and songwriting! My first guitars were given to me by my Dad and Uncle (a DiGiorgio classical and an early 70s Teisco Del Rey, respectively). My first store-bought (not previously owned) was a Yamaha...a Yamaha SE150...one humbucker, candy red, rosewood board..all mine! I still own and play it. to me, it's worth it to keep your first guitar in rotation as it can stir early memories and, for me at least, I play a little differently because of the history and memories associated with it.
My first guitar was also a Pacifica 112, bought for me by my dad on my 18th birthday. I saw it at a music store in Windsor. Got marked by a spring loaded door shortly after receiving it. I changed the pickups to Seymour Duncans. Part exchanged it for an Ibanez Sabre. Why? Regret it to this day. To be fair, the Pacifica kept a Gibson Les Paul Standard under my bed for years. True story! Definitely keep the guitar.
I watched your video about your first guitar. I loved it. I am 46 yr old and several family members play. I wanted to learn and my sister in law told me, "You aren't dead." So I have decided to give it a shot I bought a Fender Squire starter pack and I also bought a Fender Acoustic Electric. So I will take my time and learn.
Dear Mary, My first guitar was a Yamaha FG 300 or 400. Acoustic that I got back maybe the 70's??? maybe early 80's???. I played it enough to start to wear through the finish around the bottom of the sound hole. Over the years (and there have been many) I have had more guitars go through my hands than I can count. Over the last few years I have sifted through maybe 15 guitars trying to find a certain sound. A couple of weeks ago I had a surprise visit from a friend and in order to get me out of the house took me down to Guitar Center. The acoustic room was only about 1/3 full. As you know the pandemic has killed the guitar market. As I was looking through the sparse stock I saw a Guitar that caught my eye. I asked my friend what it was. I was only looking at it from the side. He was in front of it. He told me it was a Yamaha. I looked in the sound hole. It was a Yamaha FG800. The Grandchild of my old guitar. I didn't even play it. I took it off the wall. Walked out of the acoustic room and to the front counter. I asked the manager to put a set of Elixir Strings on it (Which he happily did). I took the guitar home tuned it up and started to play, and there it was the sound I had been looking for. All for $200.00. I guess the sound I was looking for was "Cheap!!!" LOL After all of these years I am right back where I started and I could not be happier. God Bless you Mary. I Love you work and your passion. Keep playing!!!
My first guitar was a black Takamine acoustic that my Dad bought for me. I still have it and recently picked it back up. Man, it's no wonder I actually stuck with my lessons! I realize now how hard it was to play. Being a young kid, you don't really think about those things, I just wanted the cool black guitar. It still has a special place in my heart though and I can't bare to part with it.
The first guitar I actually bought, a Tanglewood TW9 ,was shamefully only Sept 2018. Followed in November by a 2nd hand Epi SG G400 Pro. Not that flash, but when your on benefits, both were quite an investment. Background: Played on a borrowed budget classical throughout my teenage years [now 54] - literally for absolute hours on end in my room, given a Washburn Woodstock at age 20. Sold that at age 27 after it was not being used...... About four years ago I started messing about with a friends guitar, another budget, then was lent a Fender acoustic, but a 'branded' one from the East. Then came a time I got tired of boring open chords.....Then the bug bit, and HARD! Enter the Tanglewood. With time on my hands I spend hours on yoootooob, downloading music theory from any source I can find. I go to sleep picturing the circle of fifths, reciting chord note sequences. Its got to the stage I've had to slow down on the theory side because my muscle memory in my fingers is not keeping up, my fingers are now tough but my left forearm gives in with repeated barre chords....... etc, etc. So the first guitar I planned, researched, and dreamed about, is presently putting up with very late re-entry into the world of music. [Oh, and various amps - FX box and so on] Clips like yours are an absolute Godsend. Thank you for your time and effort.
Thanks for this episode. It made my almost cry..(emotional cry). I had the same first el. guitar. Bought in 1998. I still have it and despite of using other guitars i still love it.:) Greetings!
My first guitar was a Peavey Raptor in bright red with a ibanez 15w practice amp. The guitar had a major gash in the bottom near the input jack that was from the time i dropped it while in jazz band in school. I cut some small holes in the speaker of the amp when i was first learning guitar because i heard that's how the kinks got their crunchy guitar sound. I have sold both recently to upgrade my rig.
I had a white Harmony Stratocaster copy. It was probably like 1987. I remember a Jimi Hendrix photo of him burning a Stratocaster at Woodstock and also him playing a Stratocaster that was white. I was born in 1974, so he passed before my time. But still 60s music and Zeppelin and Pink Floyd were major influences. I grew up in Atlanta, GA.
My first guitar... my daughter is medically fragile, and profoundly physically impaired. She has always loved music... even when she was a little baby and I would take her to music together classes. Well she no longer gets music class at school... so 2 Christmases ago there was a guitar under the tree for her....she can't play, she has no use of her arms, but it came with a promise that I would learn to play so we could sing ( She also can no longer speak.....or sing....but she bops to the beat with the best of them) her favorite songs together.... they tend to be goofy like 'How Much Is that Doggy in the Window' ...and truthfully I think she knows we could both use a little levity in our often stressful lives. I had played and still on occasion would take out my flute, but had no experience with the guitar at all. Got some books and began to learn. Didn't take too long to be able to strum the chords we needed. And what I realized along the way ....though I thought this was a gift for her.....it was an amazing present for me. Time with that wood, strings, tuners..... was time away from the constant worry and stress that is her illness. Respite that I cannot seek elsewhere. And even if you only have 5-10 min here and there (and that's all the discretionary time I do ever have)several times a day...you can learn and progress. I fell in love...not just with what it gave my daughter and our time together, not just the beauty of the instrument, or the sounds....but the life it breathed back in me. I hadn't felt like I existed as an independent entity for as long as the illness had been in our lives.Guitar in hand was...IS... the only time I am free of constant worry and concern for her... and I'd gladly take the 5 or 10 minutes of that feeling whenever I can get it!!!. Well I started looking at guitars (hers was just an inexpensive Fender kit dreadnaught)....and there was one I thought was just beautiful. My mom and MIL still give me $ on my birthday (yes even at my age) and low and behold that beautiful guitar went on sale and I bought it. It's a Luna Oracle Rose (not the Flora rose) solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides, perfect neck for female players and stunning flower inlays, folk sized.... and not just pretty, or perfect sounding.... but peace....almost salvation...My first guitar.
Thanks for the great guitar story. Here's mine: My parents bought me an old El Degas Les Paul copy when I was 12. It had seen a lot of use, chipped headstock, a few cracks in the body, buzzing frets here and there, and a match stick in place of where one of the tuner bushings should have been. How do you lose a tuner bushing anyways? I was thrilled to have a guitar in my room, even though it wasn't very good I loved it so much that I would not put it down, I even played it in bed until I fell asleep. I played this guitar through university, then inexplicably/regretfully at one point put it in its case for about 20 years. Then two years ago, I took that guitar out of its case - it was like opening a time capsule, right down the the matchstick that was there since the day I got it. I found my favourite picks, the beer bottle caps, and a few other bits of my past. I can't really explain how that made me feel, kind of like meeting an old friend. I took the guitar to a luthier, got it all fixed up, good as new. I put way more into the guitar than it is worth to anyone else, but it is worth it to me. Thanks for the memory!
Keep the pick guard, change the strings, BUT replace the nut with a TUSQ nut, get a Wilkinson bridge, change the pickups -Iron Gear are cheap and quality. I've recently done this to my old Pacifica and it absolutely sings now. Great fun modding an old guitar. Might get some locking tuners as well. That's the final step.
I had a Yamaha Acoustic '78 I think, and my dad played it strung lefty. I restrung it righty and bashed out as much nirvana and Pearl Jam as I could manage. When I was 15 I got a Squire Strat (black and white like Clapton!!) and a Fender Princeton Chorus amp (solid state) and just woodshedded power chords... ahhh the memories! Great Story Mary!
My first guitar was a Takamine acoustic, received ca. 1996 as a Christmas gift from my parents. My dad had an old Yamaha acoustic for years (I think he was like the third owner maybe?) but he never learned to play and sold it to my best friend about 4 or 5 years earlier. Anyhow that Takamine wasn't anything special, it was budget-priced at around $200 or so, no electronics, etc. but I cut my teeth playing old country songs...Merle, Waylon, Hank Sr., and others. I moved on to a Mexi-Standard Telecaster and a 15W Fender Bullet amp about a year later. I've bought and sold other guitars over the years, but those two will never leave my collection.
My 1st was a used Lotus Les Paul clone with a Peter Green out of phase switch..bought it in 85, I still have it..I still suck at playing but I keep plugging away....love your playing...greetings from usa
My first guitar was my older sisters acoustic that I used to just twang around on when I was about 7 or 8 years old (74-75). Then a friend lent me his Satellite thingy and I was hooked. First guitar that was mine was a Kimbara Strat copy with a maple neck and ash body.... I loved that thing for years... But let it go! Been looking to find another for years but can't! NEVER SELL IT!!!!!!!!!!!
Very cool story! My first guitar was also a Yamaha: an RGX guitar (i believe it was a 612) in candy-red (that was 32 years ago). I don't have it anymore as I needed to upgrade and had no money to get a second one... so I sold it, added a little of my savings and and got a black Jackson Dinky with a Floyd Rose (it was all about a whammy bar in the 80's). Now I play mostly Gibson Les Pauls and Paul Reed Smith Custom 24's - Love your music and your very natural approach to music... Very refreshing channel you've got.... and you have a beautiful smile too! Cheers from Costa Rica
I got my first guitar for my 8th birthday. My parents got me a Kay 7/8ths size acoustic from an ad in the paper. It took Dad a year to get round to staring to teach me, but then there was no stopping me. I then got a Crafter acoustic when I was 12, and it's still my main guitar over 9 years later, with a Shadow pickup installed and plenty of battle scars! Still beats most other guitars I've played for feel and tone, and has been all over the place with me and done numerous gigs. I've since bought a 70s Yamaha classical, and a Squier Jazz bass. Still hunting for my first electric - I like the Pacificas, but my local shop also stocks some nice cheap Tele copies... watch this space!
My first and only guitar is a Seagull S6 I saw it second hand in Guitar Mania in Poole, they said no-one wanted it but it played all 3 chords! I liberated it.
This was my first guitar as well. My cousin had a Black squire Strat and he used to play Million Miles Away by Offspring. We were always really competitive as kids so I decided I wanted a guitar but I didn't want the same one that he had. I was lucky that my parents bought me my first guitar for my 15th birthday and ever since I have been in love with playing the guitar. Over the years I have had many different guitars but my Yamaha has always been in my rack. Wouldn't be the man I am now without it. Love the videos keep up the good work.
Mine was a Dean VX when I was 17. I had been playing on my older brother's Mexican Strat and Epiphone '56 Goldtop for a couple of years prior and I was ready for my real first guitar. I saw the Dean hanging up in our town's local music store, Tom's Music (which is sadly no longer there). I thought it was the coolest guitar I ever saw. I had been eyeballing Gibson Flying V's for a while, but I was never able to get my hands on one for a while, but the Dean was there. I tried it out and I wanted it. Sadly, I didn't have a job yet because getting a job as a high schooler where I lived was a little difficult unless you knew people. But, Christmas was approaching and my parents knew how awesome I thought it was, and to my surprise, they got it for me. It was about ~$300. I didn't modify it too much other than put on straplocks. I went through a terrible garage/punk/metal phase and I wanted to be the next Dimebag Darrell and then moved on to eventually buying my first guitar, which was a Highway One Tele, which is my baby that I have modified a few times. I still have the Dean, though. Pretty sure I'll keep it forever alongside my Tele.
I didn't get my first job until I was 19. Once the money started rolling in, I was set on buying a Fender. My friend who worked at Tom's convinced me to buy this honey blonde Hwy One Tele, and I put it on layaway. I felt so proud when I was finally able to bring it home.
A new pickguard will allow you to try out different pickups and wiring schemes. I convert HSS to SSS and match the wiring to the Dan Armstrong Blender Mod (second tone pot blends from SSS to HSH) -- a very useful mod that gives classic Strat tones that can thicken into humbucker tones or provide a noise reduction backup for problematic venues. Put a new loaded pickguard with a full Tele set of pickups and controls, a LP HH setup, and/or a dual P90 rig.
My first (and so far only ELECTRIC guitar) came about when I went to look for an amp for my ovation acoustic. The seller said to try it out and handed me a USA Stratocaster which he had bought new (cellophane on the scratch plate). It sounded brilliant and was also for sale but I did not have the money for that and the amp. That eve I went to my usual watering hole and was discussing this with friends and, as I was just leaving, my brother in law gave me an envelope and said "go and get it - pay me when you can". I still have it (since 1990 ish) and love the sound although I play mostly acoustic.
Great video, Mary! My first guitar was an olympic aged-white 1991 Fender Strat. I bought it second hand off of my local classified ad website. It was only $350. It's my favorite guitar. It is the best sounding and best-playing guitar that I've ever played. It looks amazing, too. White with a maple neck.
Oh my... Memories. My first guitar in 2007 was also a Pacifica 112, a black one. Incredible guitar for the price, not only for beginners, and a great mod platform. Mine also went through a lot of different looks. Stickers, Stripes, painting on the pickguard. It also took a lot of scratches. One day as a stupid 16 year old I drilled a hole in the back of the body because I wondered what the wood under the paint looks like... A few years ago I put a red DIY pickguard on it, blocked the trem because I never used it, changed all the pickups and rewired everything. I still play it in this configuration to this day. Looking at old photos of that guitar I get very nostalgic too...wow. I may need to replace the neck at some point because the frets are worn down, but I will never ever sell this baby. Your Pacifica is badass, I'd leave the stickers on (okay probably not the one on the back haha), every one of them is a piece of a memory, and honestly as a punk rock fan I love the look.
My first guitar was a child size acoustic which I got for Christmas when I was about 10. I never really got to grips with it - the strings hurt my fingers too much! Later I was the drummer in my first band and my girlfriend taught me to play guitar. I took to it this time and bought an acoustic from the brother of the singer in our band. I still have that acoustic. Thanks for bringing back those memories and sharing yours.
My first guitar was a hot pink First Act guitar with yellow butterflies on it. My parents got it for me for Christmas when I was 8. Before that, I had been learning to play a little on my mom's acoustic guitar.
My first guitar was an Encore strat copy which I bought new for around £80. I bought it, and a tiny cheap amp and a "How to Play the Guitar" DVD. I learnt three chords and then lost interest. The guitar sat around the flat gathering dust for about eight years. In that time UA-cam took off, and I discovered all the excellent lessons and content for aspiring guitar players. This renewed my interest so I picked up the guitar again, and now around five years later I can actually play it, even if not very well. Thirteen years after I bought it I've still sort of got my original guitar, although only the body, the output jack and the back trem cover are original. I still play it regularly even though I've since owned a Epiphone Les Paul and have now got a lovely Fender American Strat. When I bought the Fender I put humbuckers in the Encore so that I had an excuse to keep it.
My first guitar was also a Yamaha. The SC-400. The story goes like this. The guitarist in the band that played my high school prom had one, so I asked him about it, and then I bought one. I really bought it because of the way it looked. It was a 3 single coil setup like a strat, but my plan was to turn it into a Super strat (even though I didnt know what those were then) like the Jacksons and Charvels with 2 humbuckers, and a single in the middle. Over the next year or two I made the mods. They were never quite right though, because the single coils were longer that the double coils I put in, so there were little gaps showing around the humbucking rings, something that I didn't remedy til about 6 weeks ago when I had some custom bezels CNC machined out of aluminum (black anodized finish) and now, more than 30 years later, the guitar is finally done. It's one of my favorite things, even though it is only a thing. But the recent mods have inspired me to play more.
I got my first guitar from a friend at work, we got talking about it and he said I could borrow one of I wanted then fast forward to Easter weekend he told me I could just have it if I wanted it so of course I was super happy and from that time I started my guitar journey. It is a hard road for me especially because I'm trying to teach myself but it's going to be well worth it
My first guitar was a fender Squier and my father gave it to me in my very favorite guitar I promised my dad before he died . one day I will learn how to play and I’m trying to learn. but my inspiration for Guitar’s came from Mary spender. If I could be a good as Mary spender at playing guitar
Great story, and with some footage to boot. Started out on a Cort 45 travel guitar that I had saved up for a while. I didn't have an amp, so I rigged something together using a Radio Shack/Tandy electronics kit (as a preamp) into old Phillips valve radio that used to be my grandmother's. It was quite a jazzy, vintage sound.
A little late getting here... but here's my story: My first guitar ever was an Alvarez 12-string acoustic that my folks got me in 1974. (I'd been learning on a friend's Epiphone 12-string.) Played it all the time... to the point that it needed some repair two years later. It was one of the biggest surprises of my life when I opened up the hard shell case my folks got me for Christmas only to find they'd stuffed a brand-new Alvarez-Yairi 12-string inside that I still have and play today. My first electric came nine years later - I wound up being the rhythm guitarist for a band with some church mates and found a Gibson "The Paul" that filled the bill for that, and most of my electric guitar needs from 1985 to last month. Two weeks ago I finally "pulled the trigger" on a Nashville Telecaster (the one with the middle Strat pickup and the 5-way switch) that works perfectly for the Filipino church groups that I currently gig with. I've also played electric bass for some 30 years... have a 4-string jazz copy, a fretted 5-string (BEADG) and a fretless 5-string (EADGC). I used those mainly for musical theatre shows before moving house 4 years ago; still looking for a place to use those once again.
Encore Strat (red) bought for my 16th birthday from Fret Music in Southampton. I still have it now nearly 24 years later! I had a friend paint the scratchplate in a slightly psychedelic way, and have in the last year or two replaced some hardware that needed it, and yes it's still very special to me :) thanks for sharing your story
![Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing [Cover by Mary Spender and Josh Turner]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PcVJrul4sOA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing [Cover by Mary Spender and Josh Turner]](/img/tr.png)
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Hallo Mary, my story with the guitar is also special. As a boy, in the 70s, the Stratocaster electric guitar was my dream, but my parents saw the rock music as the plague...so the dream stopped. a few years later I bought a guitar for little money but fate reserved another surprise for me: a problem with the left wrist with which I could not hold the fretbord... I Had to play left-handed but at that time it was an excessive difficulty for me, and there wasn’t. so it ended there. Two years ago, in the covid time and a new retired era, I decided to restart, and today there are left-handed guitars (!). Now I'm a guitarist little more than a beginner, but I started, and with a master musician and friend of me, in my age, who has WITH A LOT OF PATIENCE! :-) My first guitar is a PRS SE Ccustom 24 Lefty. It was what at this time was passible to find and not to expensive because all others possibilties were exausted in covid era. I’m been lucky!
But you know, starting playing guitar guitar after 65 is not the same as a young man, and play left hanfed if you are not is also not simple for the strumming hand, but today I am very happy!🎸.
I founded your channel by chance… and I returned because of you enthusiasm on your playing and your spontaneity. 🙏
OMG!! Mary you were ADORABLE .. Please show us more of your old videos...😍😍😍😍. My first guitar was a Fender Performer. I no longer have it.. Needed money...her name was Jennifer...it was Blonde.. Broke up with girl friend at the time. Was really depressed...walked in to a pawn shop bought the guitar to get my mind off of the break up. Didn't know how to play at the time..started taking lessons.😊 and never looked back. Now its been over 20 plus year 💖❤
I have my dad's 50's Silvertone guitar that he bought after returning from WWII and started his family. It was the first guitar I ever played, and I have kept it in shape. I played my first song in front of my 6th grade class with it, then got interested in folk, then rock, started my first band in 1965(high school). I eventually got my degrees in music, sang opera a few years in NYC, taught math/technology. Now I am 72, and nothing gives me more joy than to tinker with a guitar, and learning new songs. I did a little repair work on my Dad's guitar and now it sounds great; I also have bought some other old guitars and fixed them(Harmony H22 bass, Stella classical 1969). I am currently modding out an Epiphone Melody Maker E1 with Lindy Fralin p90's and a better wiring harness(I call it my Po'Boy 50's Les Paul). I have a pic of my dad from 1938-9 with his resonator guitar, the same time he met my mom. His Silvertone guitar has a neck(no truss rod) like a railroad tie and doesn't sound that good, but the intrinsic value is priceless. Keep the Yamaha forever, you won't regret it.
My first electric was an old squier tele, blonde with a white guard, that belonged to my uncle, who sadly passed away half an hour before I was born, and he left it to my dad, and when I decided to start a band, my dad gave it to me. It always sounds awesome, whether it's into an ac30, a fender, or selmer, or whatever, it's a great guitar, and I am most comfortable when I'm playing that guitar, because it's what I've learnt and developed on.
Wow :)
My first 6 string was a fender telecoustic back in high school. My little brother still has it. After a bad experience in a band I stopped playing for about 10 years. Just bought my second first guitar a couple of months ago, a used, wine red, epiphone dot studio. I wake up in shock that it's there every day. I'm so glad to be back
I was given a Stella Harmony kind of downsized dreadnaught acoustic guitar - as was my older brother by 3 years - both the same gift, that is each of us received one of these guitars on Christmas Eve one year. The most memorable part of this for me was my dad's words as he walked up the hall to the living room where we were gathered around the Christmas tree. Holding one guitar case in each hand he announced, "If they can do it in Nashville we can do it here." My brother and I pretty much freaked out as we looked at these instruments with the possibilities flooding our thoughts. It was of course a beginner student guitar but I was thrilled to have it. It was 1967. I very much wish I still had it but the memory above and an endless litany of little things like that remark dad made - help me remember him. He was a kind and gentle man, mirthful in his unique way and a tear is welling up so I'll consider my comment complete. Thank you for gifting me with the opportunity to recall this - and it is a clear as well as cherished memory.
Great story Mary. My first was a beat up small Goya classical nylon strings. I carried it with me when I went into the navy and it went with me to Taiwan, Vietnam,east coast of US and finally fell apart from so much humidity and temp change. My next was A D16M Martin which I still have, along with 30 other guitars, including a Vigier I got from my French representative in 1991when I had my business. He got for me and sent to in the US. Still have it and am now playing again because of your inspiration. Best quality guitar I ever had.
Mine was, and still is my Blue Squire Strat, I bought 17 years ago. I still have and play it, with its teenage-inspired stickers. Thank you for sharing your first guitar and it's stickers. A very fun story/video, and keep the pick guard even if you modify it. I plan on doing the same with mine.
My first guitar. I gave a friend a deposit on a Hondo 2 Strat copy in 1978. It was sunburst with a maple neck. I fitted some heavy gauge Fender Rock'n'Roll strings which were impossible to play and bent the neck. I spent 2 weeks with a massively aching wrist learning barre chords. After several cheapo guitars I bought a brand new Fender Strat hardtail in 1980 it was a 1979 model. I went into the store to buy a Telecaster. Memories. Now I have more guitars than I should.....
I learned to play the guitar on borrowed guitars from friends and relatives when I was ten. I even auditioned for my high school's jazz band with a borrowed Gibson Les Paul and 2x12 Marshal and got the guitar position on the jazz band. But I needed my own guitar and amp now. Coming from a single parent family, my mom couldn't afford to buy me a new guitar and amp. But some how she came up with the money and in 1980 she bought me a used 1970 Hohner Gibson Les Paul copy and a brand new Peavey Backstage Plus 1x8 amp. These was the first guitar that was mine. I still have the Hohner. The Peavey was stolen a long time ago. Thank you for sharing this with us Mary!
I made my first guitar when I was 14. Played it for 11years, bought an ibanez, and after 2 years I completely abandoned guitar playing. I've made a career as a sound engineer, so that's kept me close to the music world. But a couple of months ago I had to pull out my homemade "marcelocaster" to record some sound cues for a theater play I was sound designing. And OMG did the guitar player in me wake up! I'm going nuts happy playing this guitar every chance I get. Did a major update/fix after watching hundreds of youTube luthier videos, and made this guitar super nice to play. And in this re-awoken addiction, I found your youTube channel, which I've become a fan of. So it's awesome to see your first guitar now! And your new St.Vincent guitar too!
Such a beautiful city!!!!! You are a beautiful soul
First guitar was a Series 10, a late 80s edition. Strat design with the pointy head. Black with yellow lightning body. Same pickup set up as your Yamaha. Got it and a pretty nice Crate amp for $100.00. After watching your vid, I'll now go and pull it from the closet that has kept it for so many years.
oh please do!
Last year, at age 50, i started to pick the guitar up in earnest. For my birthday, I decided to get a nice electric. After some online shopping and hours of demoing at GC and Chicago Music Exchange, I picked out a nice Fender American Standard Telecaster. I bought it online and went down to CME to pick it up. When they opened up the case, I just gazed at it - I thought I'd never seen anything so beautiful. And when I picked it up and sat down to play, it felt exactly right. It's got a nice harmonic feel through the body, and it sometimes feels like a harp. I still can't play for shit, but sometimes I just look at the beautiful maple neck, and the chunky fretwork and that deep-grain ash body and just smile and smile. I could buy pretty much anything I want, but I try to hold out and wait as my skills SLOWLY improve. I'll next get a Firebird or SG or a nice acoustic. Thanks for sharing your stories. You are charming and adorable and I thank The Captain for helping me find you!
Great story Curtis! New gear is always so tempting!
Great first guitar story. Love it. See the pic next to my comments to you. Its my first electric guitar in 1964 I was 14 at the time. its a Harmony Stratatone. I still have it and it plays very well yet. Its 54 years old. Thanks for the memories.
When I was 13, my Dad pulled an old Epiphone jazz box out of the attic when I said I wanted to learn how to play guitar. It was set up with high action for playing slide but I didn’t know that. Learning to play was extremely painful on old strings, but I persevered, even bringing it along to Girl Scout overnights. No case, so I used a pillow case. 3 years later, I bought a $30 nylon string guitar with birthday money. My fingers appreciated the nylon strings. I’ve been playing now for 60yrs on a succession of beautiful guitars, Godin, PRS, Martin, Fender, Gibson, Ovation, but I wish I still had that Epiphone.
My first guitar was a squire mini start. I knew nothing about guitar at the time (I think I was seven) and didn't know what to do with it. It wasn't until later that I got my first lesson and I pretty quickly outgrew the mini guitar. I still have it today and it still works, I like to keep it as a reminder of the growth I've made
Love this
I agree with keeping the stickers. Replace the guard if you like but keep the old guard stickers n all. Frame it & hang it even! Got me all emotional with that one. Thank you for sharing Mary.
First guitar was a black leftie Westfield strat copy. The neck was pencil thin and the action was so so high but I played the **** out of it. Left it at my parents house when I left home and donated it to a music school after coming home one Christmas to find it unloved and covered in dust in my old room!
:)
A GENUINE relic at last !!!!!!!!
Don't change the pickgaurd at all! The memories are awesome!
Mom bought me a secondhand Hohner Strat copy for my 15th b-day. For a copy, it has beautiful tone. Best part of the story, she also grabbed up a little Fender combo from the pawn shop that has turned out to be worth 10 times what she paid :-) Never getting rid of either of them.
Never do! :)
My first guitar was a black ovation acoustic. My mom bought it for me after I had to leave Berklee due to my dad’s terminal illness. I intended to be a jazz pianist. I was so heartbroken that I had to leave that I still don’t play piano very much, even all these years later. I’m self-taught fingerstyle and my current fave guitar is my Breedlove concerto acoustic. My bucket list guitar? A ST VINCENT OF COURSE!!!!! Even a Sterling version. She is a huge inspiration to me as well as Jack White (who plays one as well). When I saw you playing one too I was like...omg!!!!!!! You should seriously cover her! You’d be amazing! All the best!!!!
My first guitar was a black Fender Strat, which my uncle brought over from America in 1988. I was about 17 and I'll never forget the first time I opened the case and saw it. It was for my 17th birthday and I've still got it. Love that axe lol
Mary - my first guitar (1972) was a Takemine resonator for which I paid $150 AUD. 20 years later I found another identical retailing at $200AUD. When I was 15 my fingers could play chords on the very narrow neck but as I grew it became a picking only machine. I gave it away about 15 years ago to a friend who uses it for his meagre attempts at Slide playing ;-) I have long threatened to replace this with a steel body resonator made by Greg Beeton of Beeton guitars dot com.
haha wow!
My first guitar was a Peavey T-27 that I bought along with a Peavey Bandit amp in spring 1983. Sold it later that year to help fund a long trek through the Middle East.
I learned to play in the mid-'70s on a neighbor's polystyrene Maccaferri acoustic. Really nice playing instrument…got one of my own now. :)
One of my fav guitars is an '81 Ibanez Strat-y thing with a natural finish like your Yamaha. IMO it's a better guitar than my actual Strat.
Wow :D bet that trip was awesome
Yep, t'was an adventure. Saw & did some amazing things, got hepatitis & survived, etc. 🤣☺️
My first guitar was giving to me by my aunt because they just had it in their house and my mom told her that I wanted to start playing. We took it on the plain in bubble rap and tape and it’s been with me ever since
My first was also a Pacifica...a 521. Christmas present when I was 14. Still have it 26 years later.
Touching. I hope you restore it and use it again. My first guitar was/is a Guild SD (SG looking). A guy who knew I was interested in playing but had no means for a guitar gave it to me. I insisted I give him something for it and he would only take $20. Told me payment would be for me to play it. That was over 30 years ago. It is sitting in a case in need of restoration (I played it to death). I think maybe it's time to dig it out and bring it back to life. Thanks for the inspiration!
:D my pleasure!
Hi Mary. My first guitar was a Galanti Grand Prix. I bought it from my cousin for $80 back in the late 1970s. It couldn't hold a tune but it was mine and it started it all for me. Due to the horrible wiring job done by my cousin, when my hands had any moisture on them, I would get a shock if I touched any part of the pickups while playing.
oh god hope you were always OK!
Leave it as it is!!!! Don’t erase history!!!!!
My first guitar I bought was a used Fender Telecaster Std, Made in Mexico, satin finish on the back Maple neck, Alder body, jumbo frets, all 21 of them, with Alnico 2 pickups, in Midnight Wine, a perfect wine to go with Tipsy Chewsday Tawks.
Mine was a Squier California, and it happened exactly as you described it. I dreamt of having an electric guitar and it was the most beautiful thing I could ever have.
What a beautiful, touching story.
My first guitar was a Kay LP copy with built in effects. I saved up for about a year and I remember going into Liverpool city centre to Hessys music store,that shop had a smell all it’s own. They gave me a gig bag and I remember sitting on the top deck of the bus home holding on to it like my life depended on it. One of the best days of a 15 year old lads life I’m now 55. The effects the Kay had were chorus fuzz and something called “whirlwind”? Was looking through a book on vintage guitars and there in the strange section was low and behold the Kay guitar
My first "proper" guitar was a Wilson Rapier 44, and I still have it and I still play it. I gigged with it from '73 until '76, and by then I'd saved enough to buy a white Fender Strat with Maple neck & board. Still got that one as well!
Sadly i no longer have my first guitar. An old acoustic from way back in 1974.
That guitar looks awesome......stickers and relic are what makes it yours and personal ....I have a 95 studio lite that barely has paint left.... rock on!
My first guitar I got in 1994. It was a Gretsch Double Anniversary from 1967... I inherited from a passed family member.. I still have it.
Wow!
I know this video is like a year and a half old, but I had to comment. First, I wouldn't change thing about that Pacifica. If you want to change the pick guard, go right ahead, but keep that one just as it is and hang it on your friggin' wall! My first guitar, the one I learned on, was the prototype of the La Baye 2x4. Seriously, THE prototype. My dad invented the thing, and we had it around the house, and I wanted to make some Rock 'N Roll. Over the next few years, I beat the crap out of that thing, and it will bear those scars forever. I didn't own it then, but I do now, and it'll always be a very special reminder of the beginning of my Rock 'N Roll journey.
My first guitar was in 1972, at which time I had been a singer in a band which had broken up. I lived in a block of flats, and a guy from a few floors up, who knew I was a singer asked if I knew anyone who wanted to buy this guitar and I said I'd have it. This coincided with the start of a BBC TV series called "Hold Down A Chord" with John Pearce and that's how I learned my first chords. A friend of mine stripped down the red finish and gave it a psychedelic paint job, while another friend of mine - who had worked in a senior capacity at Burns Guitars - set it up.
I stupidly neglected to mention that it was a red Watkins Rapier 33.
My first guitar was an MIJ squire Strat. People I would play with who were playing 70's Gibson Les Pauls and other classic guitars loved that guitar.
I didn't expect that you would have been into punk and rock like that, given your playing style. I think it's very cool.
That's a great story behind your first guitar, and it's the same as my first one (no stickers for me though, the one's on your have to stay, they're part of your story). Got it purely due to me finding the neck more comfy than any other guitar in that price range as there was no other criteria for me to judge it on as I couldn't even strum a chord when I got it. That was less than a year ago, at the age of 36, and now I'm wondering, why not earlier. It has brought me so much joy and I hope it'll keep doing that for many, many more years to come. The world of music is beautiful and fascinating.
My first guitar was a 1965 Hagstrom Viking. I still have it after 2o plus years!
I started playing in third grade (40 long years ago) because I saw the jazz band from what would eventually be my high school perform at my grade school. I just knew that I wanted to be in that band and that I wanted to play guitar! My first guitar was a cheap-o plywood acoustic from Sears (IIRC) that self destructed not long after I got it.
We took it to a real music store to see if they could repair it. They couldn't, but gave my parents more for it in trade than what they paid for it originally. We traded it for a 3/4 size Takamine (Martin lawsuit era) that I still have. That guitar got passed through a lot of hands but eventually made it's way back to me. It still sounds and plays great.
a mexican Fender Strat.. it was hard to get as I am from a small town and left handed player. I worked summers, saved up and refused any birthday gifts for 2/3 years. My mum still had to help and put some money in. some 16 years later, still have it and love it to bits!
So relatable
:)
Mary, first of all, I love your music and songwriting! My first guitars were given to me by my Dad and Uncle (a DiGiorgio classical and an early 70s Teisco Del Rey, respectively). My first store-bought (not previously owned) was a Yamaha...a Yamaha SE150...one humbucker, candy red, rosewood board..all mine! I still own and play it. to me, it's worth it to keep your first guitar in rotation as it can stir early memories and, for me at least, I play a little differently because of the history and memories associated with it.
Anyone who still had their own 1st guitar are so lucky... mine was missing. It was a 15$ Samick guitar but I had so many memories with it
My first guitar was also a Pacifica 112, bought for me by my dad on my 18th birthday. I saw it at a music store in Windsor. Got marked by a spring loaded door shortly after receiving it. I changed the pickups to Seymour Duncans. Part exchanged it for an Ibanez Sabre. Why? Regret it to this day. To be fair, the Pacifica kept a Gibson Les Paul Standard under my bed for years. True story! Definitely keep the guitar.
I watched your video about your first guitar. I loved it. I am 46 yr old and several family members play. I wanted to learn and my sister in law told me, "You aren't dead." So I have decided to give it a shot I bought a Fender Squire starter pack and I also bought a Fender Acoustic Electric. So I will take my time and learn.
Dear Mary,
My first guitar was a Yamaha FG 300 or 400. Acoustic that I got back maybe the 70's??? maybe early 80's???. I played it enough to start to wear through the finish around the bottom of the sound hole. Over the years (and there have been many) I have had more guitars go through my hands than I can count. Over the last few years I have sifted through maybe 15 guitars trying to find a certain sound.
A couple of weeks ago I had a surprise visit from a friend and in order to get me out of the house took me down to Guitar Center. The acoustic room was only about 1/3 full. As you know the pandemic has killed the guitar market. As I was looking through the sparse stock I saw a Guitar that caught my eye. I asked my friend what it was. I was only looking at it from the side. He was in front of it. He told me it was a Yamaha. I looked in the sound hole. It was a Yamaha FG800. The Grandchild of my old guitar. I didn't even play it. I took it off the wall. Walked out of the acoustic room and to the front counter. I asked the manager to put a set of Elixir Strings on it (Which he happily did). I took the guitar home tuned it up and started to play, and there it was the sound I had been looking for. All for $200.00. I guess the sound I was looking for was "Cheap!!!" LOL
After all of these years I am right back where I started and I could not be happier. God Bless you Mary. I Love you work and your passion. Keep playing!!!
that pickguard looks beautiful
My first guitar was a black Takamine acoustic that my Dad bought for me. I still have it and recently picked it back up. Man, it's no wonder I actually stuck with my lessons! I realize now how hard it was to play. Being a young kid, you don't really think about those things, I just wanted the cool black guitar. It still has a special place in my heart though and I can't bare to part with it.
I like the pick guard
The first guitar I actually bought, a Tanglewood TW9 ,was shamefully only Sept 2018. Followed in November by a 2nd hand Epi SG G400 Pro. Not that flash, but when your on benefits, both were quite an investment.
Background: Played on a borrowed budget classical throughout my teenage years [now 54] - literally for absolute hours on end in my room, given a Washburn Woodstock at age 20. Sold that at age 27 after it was not being used...... About four years ago I started messing about with a friends guitar, another budget, then was lent a Fender acoustic, but a 'branded' one from the East. Then came a time I got tired of boring open chords.....Then the bug bit, and HARD! Enter the Tanglewood.
With time on my hands I spend hours on yoootooob, downloading music theory from any source I can find. I go to sleep picturing the circle of fifths, reciting chord note sequences. Its got to the stage I've had to slow down on the theory side because my muscle memory in my fingers is not keeping up, my fingers are now tough but my left forearm gives in with repeated barre chords....... etc, etc.
So the first guitar I planned, researched, and dreamed about, is presently putting up with very late re-entry into the world of music.
[Oh, and various amps - FX box and so on]
Clips like yours are an absolute Godsend.
Thank you for your time and effort.
Thanks for this episode. It made my almost cry..(emotional cry). I had the same first el. guitar. Bought in 1998. I still have it and despite of using other guitars i still love it.:) Greetings!
That's a nice strat!!
haha funny! It's not a strat!
Mary Spender ohh
My first guitar was a Peavey Raptor in bright red with a ibanez 15w practice amp. The guitar had a major gash in the bottom near the input jack that was from the time i dropped it while in jazz band in school. I cut some small holes in the speaker of the amp when i was first learning guitar because i heard that's how the kinks got their crunchy guitar sound. I have sold both recently to upgrade my rig.
Yeah I've sold bits of kit to upgrade, luckily knew I wouldn't get enough for this guitar.
I had a white Harmony Stratocaster copy. It was probably like 1987. I remember a Jimi Hendrix photo of him burning a Stratocaster at Woodstock and also him playing a Stratocaster that was white. I was born in 1974, so he passed before my time. But still 60s music and Zeppelin and Pink Floyd were major influences. I grew up in Atlanta, GA.
My first guitar... my daughter is medically fragile, and profoundly physically impaired. She has always loved music... even when she was a little baby and I would take her to music together classes. Well she no longer gets music class at school... so 2 Christmases ago there was a guitar under the tree for her....she can't play, she has no use of her arms, but it came with a promise that I would learn to play so we could sing ( She also can no longer speak.....or sing....but she bops to the beat with the best of them) her favorite songs together.... they tend to be goofy like 'How Much Is that Doggy in the Window' ...and truthfully I think she knows we could both use a little levity in our often stressful lives. I had played and still on occasion would take out my flute, but had no experience with the guitar at all. Got some books and began to learn. Didn't take too long to be able to strum the chords we needed. And what I realized along the way ....though I thought this was a gift for her.....it was an amazing present for me. Time with that wood, strings, tuners..... was time away from the constant worry and stress that is her illness. Respite that I cannot seek elsewhere. And even if you only have 5-10 min here and there (and that's all the discretionary time I do ever have)several times a day...you can learn and progress. I fell in love...not just with what it gave my daughter and our time together, not just the beauty of the instrument, or the sounds....but the life it breathed back in me. I hadn't felt like I existed as an independent entity for as long as the illness had been in our lives.Guitar in hand was...IS... the only time I am free of constant worry and concern for her... and I'd gladly take the 5 or 10 minutes of that feeling whenever I can get it!!!. Well I started looking at guitars (hers was just an inexpensive Fender kit dreadnaught)....and there was one I thought was just beautiful. My mom and MIL still give me $ on my birthday (yes even at my age) and low and behold that beautiful guitar went on sale and I bought it. It's a Luna Oracle Rose (not the Flora rose) solid spruce top, mahogany back and sides, perfect neck for female players and stunning flower inlays, folk sized.... and not just pretty, or perfect sounding.... but peace....almost salvation...My first guitar.
Thanks for the great guitar story. Here's mine: My parents bought me an old El Degas Les Paul copy when I was 12. It had seen a lot of use, chipped headstock, a few cracks in the body, buzzing frets here and there, and a match stick in place of where one of the tuner bushings should have been. How do you lose a tuner bushing anyways? I was thrilled to have a guitar in my room, even though it wasn't very good I loved it so much that I would not put it down, I even played it in bed until I fell asleep. I played this guitar through university, then inexplicably/regretfully at one point put it in its case for about 20 years. Then two years ago, I took that guitar out of its case - it was like opening a time capsule, right down the the matchstick that was there since the day I got it. I found my favourite picks, the beer bottle caps, and a few other bits of my past. I can't really explain how that made me feel, kind of like meeting an old friend. I took the guitar to a luthier, got it all fixed up, good as new. I put way more into the guitar than it is worth to anyone else, but it is worth it to me. Thanks for the memory!
Keep the pick guard, change the strings, BUT replace the nut with a TUSQ nut, get a Wilkinson bridge, change the pickups -Iron Gear are cheap and quality. I've recently done this to my old Pacifica and it absolutely sings now. Great fun modding an old guitar. Might get some locking tuners as well. That's the final step.
I had a Yamaha Acoustic '78 I think, and my dad played it strung lefty. I restrung it righty and bashed out as much nirvana and Pearl Jam as I could manage. When I was 15 I got a Squire Strat (black and white like Clapton!!) and a Fender Princeton Chorus amp (solid state) and just woodshedded power chords... ahhh the memories! Great Story Mary!
Memories indeed :D
Leopard pick guard Mary!! Katy Perry is still OK- YOU ROCK MARY!!!
My first guitar was a Takamine acoustic, received ca. 1996 as a Christmas gift from my parents. My dad had an old Yamaha acoustic for years (I think he was like the third owner maybe?) but he never learned to play and sold it to my best friend about 4 or 5 years earlier. Anyhow that Takamine wasn't anything special, it was budget-priced at around $200 or so, no electronics, etc. but I cut my teeth playing old country songs...Merle, Waylon, Hank Sr., and others. I moved on to a Mexi-Standard Telecaster and a 15W Fender Bullet amp about a year later. I've bought and sold other guitars over the years, but those two will never leave my collection.
My 1st was a used Lotus Les Paul clone with a Peter Green out of phase switch..bought it in 85, I still have it..I still suck at playing but I keep plugging away....love your playing...greetings from usa
My first guitar was my older sisters acoustic that I used to just twang around on when I was about 7 or 8 years old (74-75). Then a friend lent me his Satellite thingy and I was hooked. First guitar that was mine was a Kimbara Strat copy with a maple neck and ash body.... I loved that thing for years... But let it go! Been looking to find another for years but can't! NEVER SELL IT!!!!!!!!!!!
Genuine relic-ing. love it.
My first guitar was a 1985 Suzuki Wing DC... still have it :-), going on 33 years
Very cool story! My first guitar was also a Yamaha: an RGX guitar (i believe it was a 612) in candy-red (that was 32 years ago). I don't have it anymore as I needed to upgrade and had no money to get a second one... so I sold it, added a little of my savings and and got a black Jackson Dinky with a Floyd Rose (it was all about a whammy bar in the 80's). Now I play mostly Gibson Les Pauls and Paul Reed Smith Custom 24's - Love your music and your very natural approach to music... Very refreshing channel you've got.... and you have a beautiful smile too! Cheers from Costa Rica
I got my first guitar for my 8th birthday. My parents got me a Kay 7/8ths size acoustic from an ad in the paper. It took Dad a year to get round to staring to teach me, but then there was no stopping me. I then got a Crafter acoustic when I was 12, and it's still my main guitar over 9 years later, with a Shadow pickup installed and plenty of battle scars! Still beats most other guitars I've played for feel and tone, and has been all over the place with me and done numerous gigs. I've since bought a 70s Yamaha classical, and a Squier Jazz bass. Still hunting for my first electric - I like the Pacificas, but my local shop also stocks some nice cheap Tele copies... watch this space!
I would leave the stickers! They're the best!🤘
Very nice ! Beautiful country !
My first and only guitar is a Seagull S6 I saw it second hand in Guitar Mania in Poole, they said no-one wanted it but it played all 3 chords! I liberated it.
This was my first guitar as well. My cousin had a Black squire Strat and he used to play Million Miles Away by Offspring. We were always really competitive as kids so I decided I wanted a guitar but I didn't want the same one that he had. I was lucky that my parents bought me my first guitar for my 15th birthday and ever since I have been in love with playing the guitar. Over the years I have had many different guitars but my Yamaha has always been in my rack. Wouldn't be the man I am now without it. Love the videos keep up the good work.
Mine was a Dean VX when I was 17. I had been playing on my older brother's Mexican Strat and Epiphone '56 Goldtop for a couple of years prior and I was ready for my real first guitar. I saw the Dean hanging up in our town's local music store, Tom's Music (which is sadly no longer there). I thought it was the coolest guitar I ever saw. I had been eyeballing Gibson Flying V's for a while, but I was never able to get my hands on one for a while, but the Dean was there. I tried it out and I wanted it. Sadly, I didn't have a job yet because getting a job as a high schooler where I lived was a little difficult unless you knew people. But, Christmas was approaching and my parents knew how awesome I thought it was, and to my surprise, they got it for me. It was about ~$300. I didn't modify it too much other than put on straplocks. I went through a terrible garage/punk/metal phase and I wanted to be the next Dimebag Darrell and then moved on to eventually buying my first guitar, which was a Highway One Tele, which is my baby that I have modified a few times. I still have the Dean, though. Pretty sure I'll keep it forever alongside my Tele.
Love this! Yes getting a job was tough for me too!
I didn't get my first job until I was 19. Once the money started rolling in, I was set on buying a Fender. My friend who worked at Tom's convinced me to buy this honey blonde Hwy One Tele, and I put it on layaway. I felt so proud when I was finally able to bring it home.
Just bought my first and.. Pacifica 112J (Red) , I love it!
A new pickguard will allow you to try out different pickups and wiring schemes. I convert HSS to SSS and match the wiring to the Dan Armstrong Blender Mod (second tone pot blends from SSS to HSH) -- a very useful mod that gives classic Strat tones that can thicken into humbucker tones or provide a noise reduction backup for problematic venues. Put a new loaded pickguard with a full Tele set of pickups and controls, a LP HH setup, and/or a dual P90 rig.
The drummer at 8:37 is awesome!
My first (and so far only ELECTRIC guitar) came about when I went to look for an amp for my ovation acoustic. The seller said to try it out and handed me a USA Stratocaster which he had bought new (cellophane on the scratch plate). It sounded brilliant and was also for sale but I did not have the money for that and the amp. That eve I went to my usual watering hole and was discussing this with friends and, as I was just leaving, my brother in law gave me an envelope and said "go and get it - pay me when you can". I still have it (since 1990 ish) and love the sound although I play mostly acoustic.
Great video, Mary!
My first guitar was an olympic aged-white 1991 Fender Strat. I bought it second hand off of my local classified ad website. It was only $350.
It's my favorite guitar. It is the best sounding and best-playing guitar that I've ever played. It looks amazing, too. White with a maple neck.
Great guitar. Wonderful video.
Oh my... Memories. My first guitar in 2007 was also a Pacifica 112, a black one. Incredible guitar for the price, not only for beginners, and a great mod platform. Mine also went through a lot of different looks. Stickers, Stripes, painting on the pickguard. It also took a lot of scratches. One day as a stupid 16 year old I drilled a hole in the back of the body because I wondered what the wood under the paint looks like... A few years ago I put a red DIY pickguard on it, blocked the trem because I never used it, changed all the pickups and rewired everything. I still play it in this configuration to this day. Looking at old photos of that guitar I get very nostalgic too...wow. I may need to replace the neck at some point because the frets are worn down, but I will never ever sell this baby. Your Pacifica is badass, I'd leave the stickers on (okay probably not the one on the back haha), every one of them is a piece of a memory, and honestly as a punk rock fan I love the look.
nice video enjoyed watching it and as always can't wait for the next one
:D
You should keep the pick guard it your journey as a musician.
I will do!
My first guitar was a child size acoustic which I got for Christmas when I was about 10. I never really got to grips with it - the strings hurt my fingers too much! Later I was the drummer in my first band and my girlfriend taught me to play guitar. I took to it this time and bought an acoustic from the brother of the singer in our band. I still have that acoustic. Thanks for bringing back those memories and sharing yours.
Wow thanks for sharing your story Kevin :D
My first guitar was a hot pink First Act guitar with yellow butterflies on it. My parents got it for me for Christmas when I was 8. Before that, I had been learning to play a little on my mom's acoustic guitar.
Same first guitar for me ! Great !
My first guitar was an Encore strat copy which I bought new for around £80. I bought it, and a tiny cheap amp and a "How to Play the Guitar" DVD. I learnt three chords and then lost interest. The guitar sat around the flat gathering dust for about eight years. In that time UA-cam took off, and I discovered all the excellent lessons and content for aspiring guitar players. This renewed my interest so I picked up the guitar again, and now around five years later I can actually play it, even if not very well. Thirteen years after I bought it I've still sort of got my original guitar, although only the body, the output jack and the back trem cover are original. I still play it regularly even though I've since owned a Epiphone Les Paul and have now got a lovely Fender American Strat. When I bought the Fender I put humbuckers in the Encore so that I had an excuse to keep it.
No! The pickguard is the coolest part!!!!!
My first guitar was also a Yamaha. The SC-400. The story goes like this. The guitarist in the band that played my high school prom had one, so I asked him about it, and then I bought one. I really bought it because of the way it looked. It was a 3 single coil setup like a strat, but my plan was to turn it into a Super strat (even though I didnt know what those were then) like the Jacksons and Charvels with 2 humbuckers, and a single in the middle. Over the next year or two I made the mods. They were never quite right though, because the single coils were longer that the double coils I put in, so there were little gaps showing around the humbucking rings, something that I didn't remedy til about 6 weeks ago when I had some custom bezels CNC machined out of aluminum (black anodized finish) and now, more than 30 years later, the guitar is finally done. It's one of my favorite things, even though it is only a thing. But the recent mods have inspired me to play more.
I got my first guitar from a friend at work, we got talking about it and he said I could borrow one of I wanted then fast forward to Easter weekend he told me I could just have it if I wanted it so of course I was super happy and from that time I started my guitar journey. It is a hard road for me especially because I'm trying to teach myself but it's going to be well worth it
My first guitar was a fender Squier and my father gave it to me in my very favorite guitar I promised my dad before he died . one day I will learn how to play and I’m trying to learn. but my inspiration for Guitar’s came from Mary spender. If I could be a good as Mary spender at playing guitar
Great story, and with some footage to boot. Started out on a Cort 45 travel guitar that I had saved up for a while. I didn't have an amp, so I rigged something together using a Radio Shack/Tandy electronics kit (as a preamp) into old Phillips valve radio that used to be my grandmother's. It was quite a jazzy, vintage sound.
A little late getting here... but here's my story:
My first guitar ever was an Alvarez 12-string acoustic that my folks got me in 1974. (I'd been learning on a friend's Epiphone 12-string.) Played it all the time... to the point that it needed some repair two years later. It was one of the biggest surprises of my life when I opened up the hard shell case my folks got me for Christmas only to find they'd stuffed a brand-new Alvarez-Yairi 12-string inside that I still have and play today.
My first electric came nine years later - I wound up being the rhythm guitarist for a band with some church mates and found a Gibson "The Paul" that filled the bill for that, and most of my electric guitar needs from 1985 to last month. Two weeks ago I finally "pulled the trigger" on a Nashville Telecaster (the one with the middle Strat pickup and the 5-way switch) that works perfectly for the Filipino church groups that I currently gig with.
I've also played electric bass for some 30 years... have a 4-string jazz copy, a fretted 5-string (BEADG) and a fretless 5-string (EADGC). I used those mainly for musical theatre shows before moving house 4 years ago; still looking for a place to use those once again.
Encore Strat (red) bought for my 16th birthday from Fret Music in Southampton. I still have it now nearly 24 years later! I had a friend paint the scratchplate in a slightly psychedelic way, and have in the last year or two replaced some hardware that needed it, and yes it's still very special to me :) thanks for sharing your story
My first one back in 99 was a Pacifica 112. Which I butchered to hell and back!! Don't have it anymore, sadly..
:)