"Among the luckier of our just-starting-out readers, Eiring's first electric was this 1964 SG Junior, purchased in 1972 for $100. He says of the guitar, ""It was Polaris White at the time and, as did many of us in the day, we stripped the paint and added those accoutrements we thought would better serve the instrument. I sent it off to Gibson, which was still in Kalamazoo at the time, in 1973 and had them replace the old bridge with a stop tailpiece and the Tune-o-matic bridge that you see (if you look closely you can see where they plugged the holes). The same year, Sho-Bud Guitars in Nashville replaced the original dog-ear P-90 with a Humbucker, and in recent times I've replaced that Humbucker with a Lindy Fralin P-90 (work done by luthier-extraordinaire Mark Kane at Fat Sound Guitars in Cary, NC). The Grover tuners replaced the white knob Klusons in 1974. I could pine for the original set-up, but Junior is a player who will always be in the family."""
"This Les Paul was Vereschagin's first electric, purchased in April 1976. He says, ""She's my baby and has seen me through thick and thin, good and bad and has literally saved me from myself in the darkest days of dread! I am nothing without her and shall never part with her. She is my soulmate, she is my loverŠø."""
"This Garcia classical was actually Hirschler's second guitar, purchased after selling a painful ""lamo 6-string acoustic."" He's had this Garcia model for 30 or so years. ""It happens to be either a true Garcia worth thousands or a good fake from back in the day worth hundreds, can't seem to figure out which,"" he notes. ""In any case, it still sounds really good."""
"Coria, guitarist for the David Grisman Quintet, started his guitar passion at seven months old with this miniature toy acoustic in 1946."
"I must've had it plugged into a (hay) stack in our backyard for this pic, jokes Scarborough of his first guitar, a ""bad axe"" from the Sears catalog. He got his first electric in 1966 or '67."
"Smith's first guitar was an acoustic he got at five years old. After the guitar took a tumble off of a balcony in 1965, devastating the young picker, his father ordered him this Silvertone from Sears. As he was living in Ethiopia at the time, the guitar took six weeks to arrive and he recalls, ""It was like losing an arm at the time."" He adds, ""One of my dad's friends brought me a 1963-64 ES-335 to use, but NO, it was too big and too country looking. Wish I had it now!"" His awesome dad spliced the cable into old phonograph needle wires for an amp."
"Another guitarist who picked up the instrument later in life, Brozowski went a different route and built and modified his first guitar. He explains, ""Starting out on guitar at age 58, I knew I would never gain enough chops to warrant buying a fine instrument. But when I coupled my 35 years of woodworking experience and engineering background with low-end guitars I found in pawn shops, I was able to create my first guitars!"" The very first, pictured, started life as an Ibanez Gio. He routs the bodies, adds wooden pickguards with chambers below, and sets up the necks. ""They play better than they did new, are a lot of fun, and people always take a second look because no two are the same!"""
"It's not hard to see where Bevan's love for guitar came from with this 1949 photo of father and son. His first guitar may have been a toy to match his excellent cowboy outfit, but Bevan is now a proud owner of a Taylor Custom GA."
"After his first bass, a Hofner knock-off, died in just a month, Johnson's parents surprised him with this 1979 Memphis P-bass copy. ""Little did they know what they started!"" he says."
"Like many more recent players, Riddle started on a Squier Strat. This 2000 model in Sherwood Green underwent modifications as he progressed on the instrument, including a neck swap, wiring, pickups, and tremolo. He swapped components a number of times, before hitting the right combination that maintained the guitar's original looks and charm with better tone and playability. ""It's now my go-to guitar, and though it isn't worth a fortune, it's not out of place against its far more expensive brothers and sisters. I wouldn't trade it for anything."""
"Ward rocked hard in the back yard with his first guitar in 1981, a music store brand Les Paul knockoff."
Lee saved up his paper route cash to buy this Egmond 12-string in 1964. The photo was taken in 1966 before he upgraded guitars and very generously gave this one to his best friend.
"Reader Brian Craig sent in a photo of his son's ""first instrument,"" this new Kala Ukulele. While he might not know quite what to do with it yet, little Oliver is lucky to be growing up in a golden age of gear, with fewer questionable department store instruments than most of the readers represented in the gallery."
"Absolute junk, says Lhamon of this guitar he bought from Sears, ""but it was the guitar I owned longer than any other."" He played it for at least 10 years, noting, ""the effects were absolutely useless as they all sounded like tremolo, except the distortion which just sounded like crap."" He eventually split the neck and body and built two other guitars."
"Pepka, presumably working out the changes to ""Let's Twist Again"" (as is stickered on the guitar body) in 1964 with his first acoustic at age 11. ""Yes, the monkey is real,"" he points out."
"Mangus cut his bass teeth on this ""$160 eBay Special"" Standell P/J. He says, ""Since then I have upgraded the tuning machines to Hipshots and added a Hipshot D-Tuner, installed a brass nut, thumb rest, Schaller strap locks, EMG pickups and PA2 Straight Booster, Gotoh 201 bridge, and finally the Ash Tray bridge cover. The only original parts are the neck, body, pickguard and the string tree."""
"Another second guitar (the first, an Old Kraftsman from Spiegals that was ""unplayable""), this 1964 1/2 Fender Mustang was purchased by Gilstrap in 1964. He recalls, ""We had a band called the Inmates, and us three guitar players all ordered matching white Mustangs. Because we lived in a small northern California town, we were ignored, and finally after complaining to our local music store, reportedly an order to Devonshire, England was raided and we received our three Mustangs all on the same day. I'm the only one who still owns his."" The guitar was stolen and stripped before being returned to Gilstrap. ""The white finish is refrigerator paint I applied in 1980, the year I got it back,"" he explains, ""It has Peavey Tuners as the originals were not with the guitar when I got it back. It still has the original case, and still plays beautifully."""
"Young started out on a ""red plastic-covered electric by a company called 'Yakim' from Argentina,"" as pictured in this 1975 gig photo."
"Sylvester's first electric was a ""no-name Japanese guitar"" from the mid-sixties. He's rocking' out among a pile of musical instruments in this 1969 shot."
"Mednick's first guitar was a hand-me-down from his brother: the 1968 Gibson acoustic he's strumming in this 1977 shot. The guitar has since disappeared, lost in a move or stolen. ""Wish I still had it,"" David said."
"This Harmony Archtone H1213 was Jennings' first real guitar, a brand-new Christmas present in 1968. In this 1970 photo, Jennings and the guitar are on their way to winning a talent show!"
"Rowell spent four years woodshedding on this 1964 plywood Silvertone, thanks to lessons from teacher Mr. Stump and the classic Mel Bay books. ""Now,"" he says, ""I'm part of E. Christina Herr & Wild Frontier. My current sound comes from a 1974 Telecaster Custom through a '65 Blackface Deluxe Noverb. I'm also the original owner of a 1974 Martin D18. (My mother could not understand why someone would spend $450 on a guitar.)"""
"Fuchs (of Fuchs Audio) started out on this cowboy-themed Eminee guitar. Well, not this exact one. ""I was lucky enough to find one on eBay exactly like mine a few years ago,"" Fuchs explains. He came across his original as a kid in the basement of his dad's music store. ""It had nylon strings, friction machine heads, and cowboys, horses, and western details on it. I played many Beatles tunes, starting by playing bass lines only and eventually learning the rest,"" he recalls."
"Belflower picked up this flea market prize, an Indiana brand guitar, in 2006. ""Lots of great songs learned on that one,"" he recalls."
"Amati fought this ""very hard to play"" Japanese-made Ibanez Les Paul. He called it Marilyn, before selling it two years ago for a Strat. He notes, ""I didn't really grow up as a guitarist until I bought the Strat."""
"Fleming wasn't sure what kind of guitar he started on, just that this great vintage picture was taken circa 1969. ""I wish I still had it,"" Mike says, ""But sometime in my teen years it vanished."""
"Manny Armijo Jr. sent in a photo of his father and his first guitar in 1968. He says, ""The guitar is a 1965 Holiday Electric Guitar that my mom bought for him. She ordered it from an Aldens Mail Order Catalog in 1965. He recently passed the guitar down to me. It's still in excellent condition."""
"Rockin' the tube socks hard in 1981, Nemphos learned on a kids-level acoustic he got for Christmas in 1977. Note the ""Stairway to Heaven"" sheet music! He recalls, ""Thankfully, I got a larger acoustic that Christmas that my mom worked hard to buyŠø but even that was an off-brand purchased at a Harmony Hut record store in the mall!"""
"This Christmas picture was taken in 1963 or '64 when Burdett received his first guitar at around age 8. His family moved from Helena, Montana to Spokane, Washington a few years later, though, he notes, ""Helena would have never been the same had we not moved!"" Burdett still plays professionally 45 years later."
"We imagine Van Sickle serenaded Ms. Fawcett with this Sears-purchased electric from 1979. Extra points awarded for the ""Disco Sucks"" sign!"
Raymond picked up the instrument in 1959 with this Harmony H46 Statotone.
"Stephan Cappello sent in this photo of his rockin' daughter with her first guitar which she plugs into the mini Marshall stack behind her. ""She has a great ear and also plays violin and keyboards, and continually surprises us with her enthusiasm,"" he says."
"Greene started out with this Arthur Godfrey ukulele, as pictured from Christmas 1960."
"I was practicing my overhand tapping technique, says Iverson of this 1964 shot of the young guitarist and his mother, Ellen, on the beach. Between the guitar and shades, Iverson was destined for coolness."
"Streeter started guitar later in life, picking up his first axe in 2007. He says he wanted to play the guitar since he was in high school and finally got this mid-'70s Epiphone Les Paul off of eBay."
"Williams started his journey on this 1977 Ibanez, which he describes as, ""Very heavy."" He bought the guitar new and has since outfitted it with a Roland pickup."To submit your first guitar photos for a future gallery, send a photo and caption to rebecca@premierguitar.com.
In recent years, Samantha Fishās most often-used guitar was this alpine white Gibson SG, but it ran into some issues last summerāāI ended up having to reglue the neckāāand it is now on hiatus.
If youāre already a fan of Fishās tough Delta-mama singing and high-temperature guitar work, youāll probably think that all this is just as it should be. You gotta reap what you sow eventually, right? And Fish has been sowing for a long time, from her bar-band days in Kansas City 15 years ago through eight rootsy, eclectic albums as a leader (not counting the two early-2010s discs she cut with Dani Wilde and Victoria Smith as Girls with Guitars, or her 2013 outing with Jimmy Hall and Reese Wynans in the Healers, or 2023ās tangy swamp-rock collaboration with Jesse Dayton, Death Wish Blues) to her current tour schedule of about 150 dates per year in North America, the U.K., Europe, and Australia.
Still, even with such a solid career foundation to draw on, mixing and mingling in the flesh with folks youāve known all your life as names on record covers could be a little intimidating. Is it? āYou know, I donāt ever think about it in those terms,ā Fish says on the phone from her home in New Orleans. āSo when you lay it all out there like that, it feels like, āAw shit, thatās crazy.ā I mean, it is crazy. When I think about the goals that Iāve made over the years ā¦ honestly, Iāve crossed off a bunch of things that I thought were even ironic being on the list, because they just seemed so far-fetched. Every interview Iāve ever done, they were like, āIf you could ever open up for somebody, who would it be?ā And I always said the Stones, ironically. Cause when the hellās that gonna happen? Iām a guitar player from Kansas. Thatās nuts.ā
With her Stogie Box Blues 4-string, heavy hitting style, and wide array of blues and rock influences, Fish is an artist of a different stripe.
Photo by Jim Summaria
Fish spits out the sentences above in a fast, excited spray, one word tumbling over another. Then she pauses for a second, and itās clear that wheels are turning in her head. Her voice gets more playful. āIām gonna start speaking some even wilder things into existence just to see what happens,ā she cracks, her grin nearly audible over the line. āA billion dollars!No, moneyās evil, but you know what I mean.ā
āI wanted to lean into superpowers.ā
Given her formidable chops, itās not that daring a leap to suggest that Fish could be capable of playingsome wilder things into existence, too. Sheās certainly off to a good start with the just-released Paper Doll, her ninth solo album overall and third for Rounder Records. Whether your personal taste leans more toward nasty string-snapping riffs (the aptly titled āCan Ya Handle the Heat?ā), sizzling slide escapades (āLose Youā), or high lonesome twang (āOff in the Blueā), you canāt deny that the albumās loaded with prime guitar moments. And its two longest tracks, āSweet Southern Soundsā and āFortune Tellerāāālongestā being a purely relative term (theyāre both under six minutes)āoffer listeners just a taste of the neo-psychedelic fantasias that can occur when Fish stretches out in concert.
āPeople always come up to me and say, āYouāve got to figure out a way to capture the live feeling on a record,āā she reports. āSometimes you go into the studio and itās like, āShit, I gotta make the song work for vinyl, so letās cut it down,ā and you end up hacksawing away some of these parts that are kind of the feeling and heartbeat of the song. This time we set out to make something that felt live.ā
Fish made her recording debut in 2009 as the leader of the Samantha Fish Blues Band, with the punny-titled in-concert indie album Live Bait.
Photo by Curtis Knapp
Thatās one way in which Paper Doll differs dramatically from its predecessor, 2021ās Faster, which delved into a poppier territory of synths, beats, and high-tech production (and, in this writerās opinion, did so with great effectiveness; one of Fasterās highlights, āHypnotic,ā sounds like it could have been recorded at a late-night dance club hang with Prince and the Pointer Sisters). In contrast, obviously electronic sounds are nowhere to be heard on the new disc, and the music referenced stays firmly in the American roots category: soul, rock, country, juke-joint blues. For some artists, a stylistic shift like this could be seen as a retrenchment, but for Fish, itās the result of a major departure. This is the first time sheās ever used her road bandākeyboardist Mickey Finn, bassist Ron Johnson, and drummer Jamie Douglassāto make a studio album.
āEverybodyās scratching their heads about what genre this falls into, but I know where every song startedāwith a blues riff.ā
āUsually,ā Fish explains, āIāve worked in studio situations where thereās been a producer and they want to put the people they know together. So it was cool to bring in the band that Iāve been playing with for the last couple of years instead of session musicians. I feel like the dynamic was differentāthe familiarity, and just kind of knowing where the others were gonna go. It might be a minute difference to a listener, but for the players in the room, it helped breed another sensibility.ā
Also helping in that department was producer Bobby Harlow, late of Detroit garage-rock revivalists the Go. Paper Doll is the second Fish album that Harlowās produced; the first was 2017ās Chills & Fever. But whereas that album was all covers, the focus this time was on original songs, more than half of them co-written by Harlow with Fish before he was even considered to produce the album.
āLast March, Bobby came out to a show we did in Detroit,ā Fish recalls. āWe went out to lunch, and because I was working on writing songs, I asked him to do some co-writing with me, because I love the songs he wrote for the Go. Heās really fun to be in a room with when youāre making something, because heās incredibly devoted to it. So we started writing, and then a few months later the label was like, āWe gotta make this album, whoās gonna produce it?ā Well, weāre on the road all summer, so I donāt know when yāall expect us to do this record. But Bobby was available, and it was like the universe bringing us back together. He was passionate about the kind of songs I was writing, and he understood where I wanted to go with it.ā
Samantha Fish's Gear
Before finding her SG, Fishās main guitar was her Delaney signature model thinline style, with a fish-shaped f-hole.
Photo by Frank White
Guitars
- Alpine white Gibson SG
- Gibson Custom Shop ES-335
- Delaney 512
- Stogie Box Blues 4-string
- Danelectro baritone
Amps
- Category 5 Andrew 2x12
- Fender Hot Rod DeVille
Effects
- Dunlop volume pedal
- Analog Man King of Tone
- JHS Mini Foot Fuzz
- Electro-Harmonix Micro POG
- MXR Carbon Copy
- Boss PS-5 Super Shifter
- Voodoo Lab Pedal Power ISO-5
Strings, Picks, & Slides
- Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (.010-.046)
- 1.0 mm picks (any brand)
- Various brass and ceramic slides
And where was that? āI wanted to lean into superpowers,ā Fish quickly answers. āWhat are my strengths, what are the things that people know me for and recognize me for, and what can I amplify to make this a real statement record? Itās funny, because everybodyās scratching their heads about what genre this falls into, but I know where every song startedāwith a blues riff.ā
Born out of the blues it may have been, but when the Paper Doll material reached the studio (actually, two studios: the Orb in Austin and Savannah Studios in L.A.), it went through some changes, partly due to the bandās contributions, partly due to Harlowās conceptual leaps. āBobbyās like a musicologist,ā Fish says approvingly. āHeās deep. He pulls from so many different spaces, and heās definitely introduced me to some things that I wasnāt hip to over the years. Thatās done a lot to shape my musical tastes.ā If youāve had the significant pleasure of attending one of the many gigs in which Fish breaks out proto-punk nuggets like the MC5ās āKick Out the Jamsā and Loveās ā7 and 7 Is,ā well, now you know the guy to thank.
āThis time we set out to make something that felt live.ā
Perhaps not surprisingly, one of Paper Dollās best tracks, āRusty Tazor,ā is a similar romp through the garage. In a rare case (for this album) of the producer bringing in someone he knows, Harlow tapped Mick Collins of cult faves the Gories and the Dirtbombs for backing vocals. āHe adds such a personality to that song,ā Fish says. āAnd Iām a punk rock fan. I love that whole era. I just love this raw, uninhibited way of playing. Thereās nothing precious about it. Leaning into the edgesāthatās where the real shit lies.ā
Because the Paper Doll sessions took place in between periods of touring, Fish only brought her road instruments, including a new white Gibson SG and Stogie Box Blues 4-string cigar box guitar (see sidebar for more on her personal collection). But both the Austin and L.A. studios presented plenty of other options. āA ton of guitars,ā Fish remembers with a laugh, āin varying degrees of disrepair. I used a rather unruly [Gibson ES-] 335 in Savannah for āSweet Southern Sounds.ā You know how some guitars fight you when you play them? Well, I like a little bit of fight, but not so much that Iām pulling the strings out of the saddle, and it was fighting me like that. It was hard to push the strings down, I could only bend in certain places. But that just made the performance more intense, and it sounded good. There was also a Tele and a Strat that they had at the Orb. We had so many tools at our disposal, it was like, āLetās go nuts and play with everything we can.āāThat choice of m.o. also sounds like a positive way to respond to a career moment that Fish calls āan incredible ride. Especially in the last year-and-a-half, two years, itās just upped the ante even more. Thereās nothing more to do, really. I went out, I played to the best of my ability and I did the thing that Iāve been working hard to do for the last 15 years or so. And itās awesome to be able to show up in that capacity and perform alongside people that Iāve really looked up to. I just feel grateful. I know Iām lucky.ā
Fishās Favorites
Fish has a brawling style of playing slide, often on her cigar box. āLose You,ā on her new album, is especially representative of her approach to the classic blues technique.
Photo by Jim Summaria
For nearly a decade, Samantha Fishās primary stage axe has been a 2015 alpine white Gibson SG that she bought new online. Sheās still got it, but last year it ran into some trouble. āI ended up having to reglue the neck over the summer,ā she says, āand itās been having tuning issues. So Gibson sent me another white SG thatās just beautiful, in great shape. The neckās a bit fatter, which is cool, different from mine. Iāve been using that one a lotāāindeed, the new SG is all over Paper Doll. āIāve hung onto it, and I feel bad about that. I donāt want to be the person who borrows a guitar and keeps it. But it just played so great, and it was like, āI need this thing. What can I do to keep it?ā Luckily, the people at Gibson have been so good to me over the years.ā
An even more recent addition to Fishās electric arsenal is a Custom Shop Gibson ES-335 in silver sparkle finish, purchased in the fall at Eddieās Guitars in St. Louis. āBecause I played a 335 on āSweet Southern Soundsā in the studio, I was like, āWell, Iām gonna need one live, so of course I have to get this one!ā Iāve always wanted a silver sparkle, and this one is pristine. Iām so scared of the first scratch I get on it, or buckle rash. Iām probably gonna cry!ā
Fish hasnāt been playing her Delaney SF1 Tele-style āFish-o-casterā so much recently, but another Delaney model, the hollowbody 512, is still getting lots of action (often tuned to open D for slide use), as is her Stogie Box Blues 4-string, equipped with a P-Bass pickup. Her Danelectro baritone, Bohemian oil-can guitar, and clutch of Fender Jaguars are also safe at home, along with her current acoustic main squeeze, a new Martin D-45.
YouTube It
Samantha plays Jimi in this September 2024 performance from the most recent Experience Hendrix tour. The selection: āFire.ā
Versatile guitarist Nathaniel Murphy can be seen and heard on YouTube and Instagram, where he has over 450,000 followers, and demos for Chicago Music Exchange.
Guest Picker - Nathaniel Murphy
A: My signature pedal wouldnāt even really be my sound. It would have all of The Edgeās exact sounds and settings in one pedal as presets. No messing with switches or dialing in tones, just cycle through presets and it sounds exactly like āPride (In the Name of Love),ā āMysterious Ways,ā or āWhere the Streets Have no Name.ā It would be purely just for fun to jam at home. My own pedal would probably just be a reverb!
While recovering from a hand injury, Nathaniel Murphy āreally got into picado technique and would watch Paco De Lucia and in particular Matteo Mancuso (above) vids and lessons.
Obsession: Well, Iāve just spent six weeks in a cast after a wrist fractureāvery scary. During that time I couldnāt use my fretting hand so I worked on my picking hand. I really got into picado technique and would watch Paco De Lucia and in particular Matteo Mancuso vids and lessons. Itās been really refreshing and also fun working on a new technique for me, even though itās incredibly tricky and progress is slow. But I love the challenge of it.
Reader of the Month - Steve Eisenberg
A: My signature pedal would be simple to use, have the capability of being shaped with iPhone-app based effects, and expand features as my guitar adventure grows in scope. Iām very much in the experimentation stage with my pedal work, and having direction and guidance available on an iPhone has helped me navigate in a way that ensures Iām meeting some of my guitar-adventure goals.
Obsession: Through the guidance of my instructor, I am exploring fingerstyle guitar, as it has motivated me away from just chord shapes and scale work. I was feeling a little stuck, and using the fingers of the right hand has allowed me to increase my dexterity and coordination, and motivated me to practice more often.
Gear Editor - Charles Saufley
Mr. Saufley, represented by a mallard.
A: The foundation of my signature pedal is the guts of a 1968 Vox Starstream guitar, which is made up of a Vox Distortion Booster fuzz, a Vox Repeat Percussion tremolo, and Vox Treble Booster. Sonically speaking, this is like donning a psych-punk freakbeat cape. Just before the Distortion Booster there is a Grampian 636 reverb preamp circuit to fatten up and color the works. After the freakbeat section, there will be a de- and re-constructed Roland RE-201 Space Echo. Most of the pedal enclosure will be made up of clear Lucite (illuminated by alternating-color lamps), so I can observe the tape swirling within. The RE-201ās spring reverb, meanwhile, will be suspended in its own flip-up Lucite case which will sit on dampers to insulate it from floor vibration. Hopefully, it will sound like Lee āScratchā Perry producing Loveās ā7 and 7 Isā.
Obsession: The first sounds and green and gold flashes of early springāand the wakeful energy, ideas, and inspiration it brings.
Giving some love to Love!
Art Director - Naomi Rose
A: The enclosure would be hex color #00b4c1ābranded as NAOMI blueācheckerboarded with alternating boxes of NAOMI blue glitter flock and matte NAOMI blue. The footswitch would be a bulbous orange rubber material so itād feel squishy when stepping on it whilst playing barefoot. It would have a kick-out stand in the back like a picture frame, so when it's not in use, it could stand angled on a shelf to be admired. It would be called Ruckus because that's my middle name. What would it DO? That's a secret I will not be sharing at this time.
Our graphic designerās dream pedal brought to life.
Obsession: Silence. I hardly listen to music or podcasts these days. When I donāt have outside noise, I tend to self-narrate in my head, which leads to making ridiculous little made-up songs throughout the day. These will oftentimes spark cool ideas and manifest into actual songs that I end up recording and producing. Even in the mundane, inspiration is everywhere. Sometimes getting rid of distractions helps you notice it more.
