These are all still with me. A collection is never static (unless it’s the complete shelf of Hvem Hva Hvor annual editions; what can you do with that?) – but I am working on finding a theme. At first it was “one of each” as in Ibanez, Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, Blade, Gretsch, Yamaha, Burns… and then I realised there were too many wild dogs, and the bunch was just a large number of guitars and not a collection put together with a purpose.
In a way, I settled for the obvious. Fender, as played by Jimi; Gibson as played by my tutor, and Ibanez, as my first serious brand of guitar. It took me some years to see the respective qualities of these three different manufacturers: Gibson the instrument maker, with carved tops and craftsmanship; Fender the practical guy with a bandsaw, and Ibanez representing the Asian willingness to produce quality at low cost. Headstocks being the point of discussion for lawyers, I decided to look for the open book on the G lookalikes putting them in the early seventies – exactly the time when I first roamed the music shops with watering eyes.
And then there are the odds and ends that come with a story or are just too plain cool not to keep.
Tour
Like to go into details? Tour, step 3: