Like many, I began my guitar journey as a youngster playing my dad’s beaten up, no-name acoustic. It truly was a knackered instrument, so, when I’d proven after a few out of tune weeks that I was going to stick with the guitar, an upgrade soon followed: a brand new nylon string which my mum bought for the princely sum of £30. I don’t remember the brand. Again, I persevered, and a few months later, mesmerised by a beautiful, rich new sound (well, new to me!), I came to own an acoustic 12-string. I think my guitar teacher, a family friend, gave it to me.
These guitars have all sadly long since left my collection, and it’s only recently whilst planning our acoustic issue that I realised how formative those initial months before I ever picked up an electric guitar were for me. Despite generally listening to rock and pop at the time, ‘plugged-in music’ as it were, those early experiences sewed a seed in me. 15 or so years later, I barely played electric for a year or two. The acoustic guitar was my instrument of choice.