I got my first very first guitar when I was 9 or 10. It was my cousin’s hand me down, a shorter scale, steel string “Harmony” brand, blonde top.
I can remember finding the guitar one afternoon in my Aunt’s garage. She let me play it a bit, I had no idea how to tune or even form a simple “E” chord, it was just fun.
I was thrilled that Christmas to find that guitar under the tree, along with a “Mel Bay” book of Guitar chords. Luckily, it also explained how to tune the guitar. It was probably around that time I also started guitar lessons.
I eventually outgrew that guitar and moved on to my next guitar, purchased in Mexico. We had family down near McAllen, TX and across the border was Reynosa, MX and a large Mercado. We would go every year, and this year I found a guitar and bought it. Looking back, it was more of a “Classical” type guitar. Nylon string, The tuning machines were installed rotated back, like on violins and cellos. But, I didn’t know the difference, so I slapped some steel string on it and was good to go. It was cheap guitar and it eventually warped and the relief became so much you just couldn’t play it and I had no idea what a truss rod was, or if it even had one.
About this time I got my first electric guitar, a Royal Artist hollow body.
Had tons of fun learning and playing on it. But when I started in a band, it’s intonation and playability started to become an issue. Had I even some rudimentary setup skills I might not have had these issues.
I didn’t, so my solution was to buy a new, better guitar. I selected the Fender Stratocaster because the players I listened to played it: Hendrix, Gilmore, Clapton, Vaughan1.. I bought my Stratocaster from a local dealership, “Arnold & Morgan”. I could seriously write an entire article about this place.
Back in the early 70’s it was one of the few places you could see, touch and play things like Kustom, Peavy amps, Mellotrons, Moogs, ARPs and other Synthesizers, and guitars… lot’s of guitars. That is where I first played an ARP 2600 and had been fascinated by it ever since. Side note, I eventually got one of the Behringer 2600 clones and have had a great time actually spending time with a 2600 and other Eurorack modules. But, that’s another story.
Playiing this strat was like falling in love with the guitar all over again. It played SO smooth. People would think I had improved as a player when they heard me play it. No. I improved my guitar. I still have this guitar and have kept is as clean as I can. These days, for protection, it sits in a case as I’ve replaced it (for playing) with 3 other guitars: a Tele in California Blue, and a P-Bass in Surf Green, and a Strat in Daphne Blue. All Squier Sonic Series.
In addition to these electrics, I have 2 acoustics, both Yamaha, a steel string and a nylon string classical and another electric, a Gretch hollow body.
First, and foremost, I want to get back into playing the guitar. I’m at a point in my life where I have the time and I need a hobby!
I’ve put together a nice pedal board and I have a Tascam GM-200 practice player, essentially an mp3 player with stuff for guitarists like a foot controller to pause/resume and ff/rwd. I’m going back old school, the way I learned all those years ago. Play along with the tracks you like. Play by ear.
So far this is my favorite new skill. I’m not great, but I’ve brought life back into the old Strat and I’ve made the new Squiers very playable. I’ve even floated the trem on the Squier Strat and it stays in tune about as well as you would expect for a $100 guitar to stay in tune.
I wanted to do some upgrades to my old Strat; you know, Grover tuners, Stainless Steel saddles, hotter pickups, Schaller Strap Locks. But, wait, this is an actual “Vintage” Fender. Not like those new ones that simply have the word “Vintage” in the name. It’s actually an old guitar. Do I really want to mess with it? No, but, I do want to mess with a guitar. That’s when I decided to get that California Blue Squier Telecaster.
After some success with the Tele, I came across a Squier P-Bass for what I considered a good price. So I got that so I could learn to setup bass guitars. It’s also a blast to play. There is an associated story, but that will come later.
When I bought that Strat back in the 70’s I spec’d it with a hardtail. The vibrato system on the Royal Artist left a bad taste in my mouth for vibratos and tuning. However, I bought these new instruments not just to play, but also to learn how to work on them, like performing a basic setup, or replacing/upgrade components. I certainly didn’t want to experiment on the 50 year old Strat, so I found Squier Bullet Stratocaster (the Bullet Series is what they now call a Sonic Series). Funny thing, what I paid for the old Strat in 1974 was not much more than I paid for the cheapest Squier Strat in 2025. These 3 guitars give me several avenues of learning: A simple basic guitar, a Bass, and a Floating Tremolo2.
This is what I’m really looking forward too. Now, I’m not going to carve a body or a neck. But there are many companies out there that sell DIY guitar kits. I bought a “Telecaster” kit from Harley Benton Guitars. It includes everything you need to build the guitar (except paint and finish, but for that there is Oxford Guitar Supply). You order it through Thomann Music in Germany. It’s costing almost 2/3 the price of the guitar to ship it here. AND, there may also be a tariff.
But, I’m going to build a guitar!
Update: Yes, there was a tariff. I’m so glad we showed those Germans a thing or two by putting tariffs on their exports. except.. I paid the tariff, not the Germans!