Remembering your first guitar, amp and pedal
Posted by Andrew Backover on
After 20 years or so of trying out different guitars, pedals and amps, I am grateful for how much I have been able to see and learn. I have a long way to go on the continuing education front but it’s fun to look back at the beginning of this odyssey to see where I started.
My first adult guitar was an acoustic Yamaha FG450SA. I think it cost me $250 brand new back in 1992, in Falls Church, Va., when I was a fledgling reporter covering high school sports for $40 a game. It sounded bright and clear then, and it sounds just as good now, and I can’t see myself ever getting rid of it.
In the mid-‘90s, when I was eager to try electric, a neighbor in Dallas sold me his Vantage Spirit 540, which, it turns out, is a pretty cool guitar. Made in Japan at the well-known Matsumoku plant, it is one of the more respected and sought after Les Paul copies from that late '70s-early '80s era. That one languished in the closet for the most part after losing its place in the rotation but it is a very solid and good quality guitar for an affordable price.
...My first electric, a Japan-made Vantage Les Paul copy from the late '70s/early '80s...
My first amp was a little solid-state Fender Bronco in tweed, with chicken head knobs and a chrome finish. I wish I still had it. My first tube amp was a fantastic pawn shop find back in ’97 or so. It was a tweed Peavey Delta Blues, 30-watt amp with a booming-yet-glassy 15-inch speaker. Best $178 I have ever spent, and it continues to hold its own with any of my other amps today. It's a keeper.
...Pawn shop find. First tube amp...a Peavey Delta Blues...
My first pedal that was truly mine (and not borrowed) was a Vox V847 Wah, bought in Dallas about 20 years ago. A great first choice for me and my two-chord jamming. Well-built, good tone, solid underfoot. However, once I was fortunate enough to purchase a Mu-Tron III Envelope Filter in the early '00s, that became my wah of choice. Today, the Vox is going to a good friend in Virginia as he starts his own guitar journey.
...My first wah...a Vox V847, now going to a new home...
...My forever wah...a Mu-Tron III envelope filter. Never leaving my sight...
So, that’s how I got my start on this gear obsession. I would love to hear about your gear journey, how it started and what you have loved, lost and learned along the way. Email me at andy@smallaxemusic.com or comment below, and check out https://smallaxemusic.com/ for cool guitar gear.