Our columnist considers why we love to accumulate so much gear.
I’ve got stuff. Lots of stuff. It fills up my home and my shop. One of the many things that I’ve collected over the years are backstage passes. My occupation has taken me to a lot of shows—sometimes two or three a night. I’d come home and throw the evening’s pass into a box on a shelf in my coat closet. When the box got full, instead of tossing it, I’d put it away and start another one. This went on for decades. I probably just saved those passes for the same reason I’ve wound up with a lot of things—I like stuff. But not just any stuff. I like good stuff, quality stuff, interesting stuff. As a consequence, I have a lot of it. I’m betting a lot of you do too. Maybe you started young, by collecting trading cards. Maybe you came to it later in life. Maybe you’re thinking of tossing off the anchor and sailing away free.
In my dreams, I have a grand garage sale. I see table after table of NOS tubes, capos, cords, pedals, and straps, all laid out neatly and tagged with reasonable prices. There would be cabinets full of tools and electronic gizmos from ages past. I imagine a spread of guitars on stands and amplifiers lined up neatly like buildings on a boulevard—all plugged in and ready to demo. I’d say goodbye to all those years of guitar and automobile magazines organized neatly on my bookshelves, along with books about those two subjects. There would be a section for microphone and music stands, photo lights, cameras, and microphones. It would be a picker’s dream come true. Somehow this exercise gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, and I’m not sure why, because I love my stuff.
So, why do we cling to these artifacts? You might say it’s your hobby, or if you are a pro, they are work tools. But that’s not the whole story. When I started playing, guitarists didn’t have collections. Professionals had one or two main guitars and maybe a 12-string. If you broke a string onstage, you’d either change it while talking to the audience or grab your one backup guitar. Studio cats might have accumulated a small array of stringed instruments (like banjos or mandolins) that they could deploy as needed in order to secure more work, but even some of the legends would borrow when the situation called for something different. Running parallel with the normalization of mass consumerism, it has become acceptable to own more than one or two guitars—maybe even 20.
"When I started playing, guitarists didn’t have collections. Professionals had one or two main guitars and maybe a 12-string."
That’s probably why when you think of the classic acts, you naturally picture those players with a certain guitar. John Lennon had his black Rickenbacker and George Harrison had his Gretsch. Paul McCartney is forever associated with Höfner. Clapton you have to define by era, but a few, like his “Fool” SG and his Bluesbreaker Les Paul—superseded by his now ubiquitous Stratocaster—were and are touchstones. When you think David Gilmour, you see a Strat. Likewise Rick Nielsen with his Hamer “Explorer” and Randy Rhoads on a white Les Paul. As different as they are stylistically, Elvis Costello, Thurston Moore, and J Mascis converge on the Jazzmaster. I could go on. For the first 40 years of its existence, the electric guitar wasn’t much of a collectible. But as we stand here today, most of us have a gaggle of guitars that may or may not be a collection.
So, do we or don’t we have collections? When I use a good piece of gear, whether it’s a guitar or a chisel, I feel joy. It’s a feeling that goes beyond mere possession, and it’s not just that the widget works. It’s recognizing that years of experience have led me to the point of knowing what quality is and why it’s important. I’ve read that holding on to physical things is hanging on to the past when we should be living in the present. I’m not going to dispute that, but my stuff and I have a grip on each other that’s more like a friendship than a psychological hardship. I’m not a working pro, but music has been my life since I was 12, and I don’t apologize for that.
Should I pare down my tools? Would I be happier without a selection of fine instruments? Perhaps purging the tonnage of stuff that anchors me down would open up a whole new take on life, but I’m not ready. Maybe you’ve thought about this too, but I wouldn’t worry too much. Chalk it up to whatever you like, but I’m fine with it for now, and I adore finding new things that make my life a little easier, and maybe a little more joyous.
The New Custom Shop Model Includes Charlie Christian Pickup Made Famous by the Legendary Musician
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 16, 2007) - Gibson has announced the new Custom Shop John Lennon Inspired ByLes Paul guitar. The guitar features a Charlie Christian pickup in the neck position, just like Lennon’s modified 1950s Gibson single-cutaway Junior. Only 300 of these special limited-edition guitars will be produced.
Lennon owned many equally well known guitars during his lifetime, including a Gibson J-160E and Epiphone Casino. The guitars Lennon chose to play often seemed to reflect his ideas, beliefs, and lifestyle. The image of Lennon playing his modded ‘50s Junior during his famous live performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden on August 30, 1972 is an unforgettable one – one that guitar luthier Ron DeMarino helped to shape through the assistance he provided to Lennon in modifying the guitar in the early 1970s.
The Gibson Custom Shop has worked with Yoko Ono in the recreation of this famous modified Les Paul Junior guitar, with Yoko Approving a complete hands-on review of the original for the design team to use as a reference point. The Inspired By Les Paul guitar is aged to look just like Lennon’s original once it was sanded down to the solid mahogany body and includes the famous Charlie Christian neck pickup as well as aged chrome hardware. Each of the 300 limited-edition guitars will be accompanied by a Custom Shop guitar case and a certificate of authenticity in a special army green cloth folder with John’s autograph embroidered on the cover. Additionally, the Lennon fans who purchase this guitar will receive an article that includes an interview with DeMarino by Andy Babiuk, author of “The Beatles Gear,” a signed Lennon print by famed artist Allison Lefcort, and Lennon’s famous “New York City” T-shirt – sans sleeves, of course.
“It is an honor to work with Yoko Ono on a guitar inspired by one of the world’s most passionate and prolific musicians of our time, John Lennon,” said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. “The Gibson Custom Shop has produced a guitar which expresses Lennon’s legend and is inspired by his very own 1950s Les Paul junior guitar. It is a model designed with Lennon’s own spirit, genius and creative works in mind.”
Today, the original guitar is on permanent display at the John Lennon Museum in Japan and will also be unveiled at a special event at the Gibson Japan Showroom in Tokyo , Japan in early August 2007.
Gibson’s John Lennon Inspired By Les Paul specifications:
- Model: John Lennon Les Paul
- Pickups: P-90 Single Coil in the bridge position & Charlie Christian in the neck position
- Hardware: Aged Chrome
- Fingerboard: Rosewood Scale: 24 ¾”
- Nut Width: 1.689”
- Nut: Corian
- Bridge: Chrome ABR-1 with stopbar tailpiece (holes from original wrap tailpiece are plugged)
- Neck Material: One-Piece Mahogany with Long Neck Tenon
- Body Material: Solid Mahogany
- Controls: Single volume, single tone, 3-way pickup switch
- Color: Faded Cherry
- Date Available: July 12th, 2007
- MSRP: $7,527
For more information, please visit gibsoncustom.com/Lennon.