What was your first guitar?

[Qvart]

Not one that might have been given or handed down to you

Well, my first one was a hand-me-down, and I had it for a good ten years before I got another so I couldn't answer the question well by talking about the first one I bought myself.

Anyway, when I was maybe 15 years old my brother bought a crappy Series 10 guitar and a little '70's Fender Champ and - I don't remember exactly how it went - he lost interest and I became interested, so I sort of inherited it. It had two single coils and a bridge humbucker which made an ungodly amount of feedback whenever a note wasn't being played. Somebody gave me an EMG 81 for my 18th birthday so that went into the Series 10 and actually turned it into a decent guitar. While in college I picked up a cheap Harmony Monterrey to have as a beater acoustic so I had a couple of stellar axes - Series 10 and Harmony! Look out!

I don't have a picture handy but it looked exactly like this one I found online, only mine was covered with punk stickers:

Eventually the Fender amp was on the verge of dying so I picked up a solid state Crate 1X12 that was actually pretty decent.

I had the Series 10 for about ten years then one day I knocked it over and snapped the headstock. I picked up a crappy Dean electric off of a friend just to have something to play (kind of an Explorer shape with yellow and black like Stryper. Ugh). Then another friend gave me a beat up USA-made Washburn with a Floyd Rose (ugh again) that he couldn't get working. I gave it to a friend of mine who put it back together with the EMG 81 from the Series 10 around the same time I was starting a punk band with some friends. I traded in the Dean, Crate, and a Morely wah and picked up a Marshall JCM900 which, together with the Washburn, was my only gear until 2005 (I still have the Marshall). That's when I met my current roommate (although we didn't rent our house together until 2007) who gave me an Ibanez SA-Series-something because he was moving and needed to get rid of some stuff and had a few guitars he had gotten for free from a guy he works with. So I had the Washburn and the Ibanez but didn't play either one a whole lot. Then last year I decided to get my Marshall working again (I traded the Ibanez for a Peavey 4X12 cab) and buy myself a good kicka$$ guitar that I would REALLY WANT TO PLAY instead of just having these crappy hand-me-downs for years to come. So I started looking for an SG '61 reissue with Classic '57's when I remembered seeing a band playing Guild guitars that looked like SG's. Hence, here I am. The first Guild I bought was my '72 S-90 but after I got my '96 reissue S-100 and my '74 S-100C the S-90 didn't get played much, so I sold it. Now...well, just look at my signature!

\m/-_-\m/

 

[JerryR]

The Epiphone Texan I still have. Japanese made, plywood, plastic nut, saddle (in a metal tray) and even a plastic faux wood bridge.

Action was high - but still I persisted :roll: Since I got the D35 the Epiphone has been set up. bone saddle in a proper wooden bridge - sounds reasonable and plays better but not a patch on the D35.

 

[bluesypicky]

An electric sunburst Guerson......
Instead of a pick up selector, it had 2 on/off switches, lamp style :?
I would probably consider it unplayable today if I could put my hands on it again, but I did manage to steal my first licks from Albert King with it some 35 years ago! :mrgreen:

 

[stclrob]

Man, you guys did have seriously nice starters. My parents hate what I listen to, but decided to get me this after months of begging for a guitar. It's a synsonics terminator. Needless to say, I saved my pennies for a Mexican Stratocaster and a real amp. This one wasn't the model I had, but close enough.

 

[6L6]

Some super cheapo nylon string job. Strings were about 3" off the fretboard. It was basically unplayable.

But it only cost me $3.00 and I got three free lessons with it.

It got me going!

6

 

[cjd-player]

1976 Ovation Legend

Bought it when I was a junior in college.

Sold it in 2003 after I had purchased two Taylors.

 

[taabru45]

I guess mine was an old generic, probably silvertone, from Sears. It had a single cutaway, and 2 pickups, also a sunburst finish, kind of red and yellow in those days... My mom bought one for me and my friend, Gord. He was my first 'teacher'...and best friend. Steffan

 

[Dr. Spivey]

A plywood Japanese Hummingbird copy, in '72. Decent playability and tone, but it started falling apart in about a year and a half.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

My first guitar was a Christmas present from my parents in about 1959.
It was a Stella 3/4 size piece of junk.
Painted finish and an action that you could drive a car under.
I took a few lessons from a neighbor but decided that I was not going to be a guitar player.

Move forward to 1970 and once again my parents purchased a guitar for me.
It was my graduation present from high school.
This was a laminated Yamaha that had an action that you could actually play!

I took it with me to my Army Basic Training that summer.[Had it sent to me in week 4]
I learned to play there with some Army buddies that were actually quite good players.

In about 1973, the Yamaha had a brace come loose from knowing nothing about humidifying a guitar. I took it back to the Mom and Pop store that it was purchased from and they gave me full trade in price for a Yamaha solid top guitar.
I never bonded with that guitar and traded it for a used electric.

I was now in need of an acoustic guitar and went back to the Mom and Pop store to get something.
They told me that I was ready to step up to a Martin guitar.
They didn't sell Martins, and I had never even heard of them before.
I bought and sold a few low end 12 strings before I finally got a Martin.
I found my Martin in 1981 and still have it.
It's my D-35, my pride and joy.

 

[Graham]

I bought myself a Cort Earth 200 for my (our) 15th wedding anniversary in '97. :shock:

Played it for about 2 weeks until my fingers hurt more than I can say as I did not purchase the vice grip capo that was required.

Looking back now, if I had a good set up and played more I'd be much more in the league of some of the talent here, although things are meant to be and now I am having more fun that I thought possible, guitar-wise.

 

[GardMan]

...I am having more fun that I thought possible, guitar-wise.

That's all that matters! Enjoy! D

 

[spiderman]

My first guitar is the first one in my signature and the only one I had until the beginning of this year. Never could understand why players were always down on Harmony actions, because the H-173 is a classical. Then my daughter got the bug a few years ago and picked up a steel string Harmony at a garage sale. I then understood, talk about blood on the tracks, her guitar teacher forbade her from using it because she might give up guitar quickly. So he loaned her one of his guitars .......ANOTHER HARMONY :mrgreen: However, the action is much better on this one. Interestingly the vast majority of Harmonys were all solid wood, spruce or cedar tops and often birch sides and backs. The H-173 has a huge crack in the lower bout, but still sounds decent for what it is. Back in the day when you bought a cheap guitar they never told you about humidity, I know better now.


Harmony H-173 bought in 1960 (retired)
Alvarez AC60S
Eastman AC320ce BOOKMATCHING BOOKMATCHING WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING BOOKMATCHING!
http://www.massstreetmusic.com/store/sh ... id-Cutaway
GAD-JF30E(blonde)
JF55 1997

 

[kostask]

Most Harmony acoustics are solid wood, and can sound decent to really good. Problem with most of them is that they were inexpensive guitars in the first place, that were looked down upon by most players, and have therefore suffered. Just about every one I have run into needs a neck reset, and most have one or more cracks. Another issue is that most of them are ladder braced (changed iin the last few years for some models, with archtops being an exception, of course), so they don't always have a traditional sound, but they do really well for things like acoustic blues. The H16X family are pretty good, and the big H126X family of guitars (they have a unique body shape, so some call them Jumbos, others call them Dreads) can be excellent guitars. The H126X, and the H16X families have one piece backs, as Harmony didn't want to take the time to bookmatch the backs. With a proper neck reset, new tuners, and crack repairs, there are a lot of Harmony guitars that can sound really good, and can be solid, everyday guitars. They were put together really fast, so looking inside one, don't be concerned about glue drips running all over the place, they all have that (and it is true in this case). On the other hand, they were also assembled with hide glue, now considered to be a feature of boutique/high end guitars. Just remember that if you are around one that is having a neck reset, as the stink gets pretty bad.

Kostas

 

[fungusyoung]

Much more recent than most others, but... an '03 Martin 000-15 (it's a lifer)

 

[aljoyner]

New member here, first post, be gentle.

My first guitar was an Ayar electric purchased at the Square Deal Pawn Shop in North Little Rock, AR in 1964. Marvin, the owners son, said "This is the finest guitar made (in Japan)". Roughly 6 months and 4 shredded fingertips later I traded it for a Harmony acoustic. In 1966 I finally bought my first quality guitar, a Gibson J-45. Shoulda kept it.

 

[killdeer43]

New member here, first post, be gentle.
I traded it for a Harmony In 1966 I finally bought my first quality guitar, a Gibson J-45. Shoulda kept it.

You'll receive a hardy round of "welcome" here, but there are no guarantees about the "gentle" part....so be strong. :lol:

We seem to have followed similar paths to where we are today, in that I've 'done time' with Harmony and the first guitar I bought for myself was a '69 J-45.

Any way you slice it, welcome to the Guilded fold!

Joe

 

[taabru45]

My brother had a Harmony Soverign, with the Huge headstock and the large writing on it...Nice guitar which he let me play ocassionally...don't know what happened to it....also, My stepfather had bought an old Martin, (New at the time) Mahogony F hole model, probably from the 30s. His wife used it to play Hawaiian style. Thats the one I learned on, eventually one of my brothers friend disappeared with it. :evil: ..His name was Art Gee, if any of you know him. :wink: Steffan

 

[GardMan]

Man, some of ya'll had some nice guitars for your firsts.

My Guild D-35 was the first guitar I bought with MY money... but this is what I started on:

Stella

Plywood, I presume, with mile-high action. A real finger shredder! After ~ a year of lessons, I graduated to one of these... which I rec'd for my 12th birthday:

Harmony Rocket

Mine was cherry red burst, dual PUPs (DeArmonds?), with a vibrato/tremelo instead of the harp tailpiece. Never had an amp... I played it thru my dad's stereo. His speakers were never the same! SOld it when I was in college, and strapped for cash.

Bought my Guild when I was 17...Dave

 

[capnjuan]

... The H16X family are pretty good, and the big H126X family of guitars (they have a unique body shape, so some call them Jumbos, others call them Dreads) can be excellent guitars. The H126X, and the H16X families have one piece backs, as Harmony didn't want to take the time to bookmatch the backs. With a proper neck reset, new tuners, and crack repairs, there are a lot of Harmony guitars that can sound really good, and can be solid, everyday guitars.

Hi Kostas; my first guitar was a Stella ... the 'Popeye' model ... after you'd played it for several months, the left forearm started to get a lot bigger but my first real guitar was a Harmony 'Jumbo' Sovereign H1260 that you mentioned ... like the ones in the pic below (mine like the guitar 4th from the right) with that sort of odd-ball, is-isn't-a-Dred shape and it had tone to burn. Fatdawg's in Berkeley CA sells refurbed Harmonys; re-set necks, fresh tuners, and pin bridges ... depending on model and condition, $400 and up - easily the best dollar-for-dollar value of any American-made guitar:

 

[5thumbs]

I honestly can’t remember what my first guitar was; it was definitely nothing to write home about. My first “real” one was a used 1967 Gibson B25 given to me for my 22nd birthday, right after my return from SEA (my avatar shows the case). My sister gave it to me. Knowing absolutely nothing about guitars, she hoped she had “done OK”.

She had. I still have it. The D40 is (obviously) my “go to”, but I still occasionally use the Gibby for experimenting with different tunings and just messing around. It’s pretty beat up now, and I sometimes track the eBay listings with the thought of selling it, but haven’t been able to make the leap. I think I know deep inside that someday I’d be posting it in the “The one I should never have let go” thread. What’s the going price for mojo?

On the other hand, selling it would give me a chance to look for another Guild (I’m thinking 12-string) that I really need.