COVER FEATURE
PUNK JUNK
THE GEAR THAT POWERED THE GENRE
Here we take a look at the guitars, amps and effects as used by punk’s greats. Back in the 70s these players embraced a DIY ‘make do and mend’ ethic... Words Jenna Scaramanga
1. WAYNE KRAMER’S STRATOCASTER
In the 1970s, poverty-stricken early punk innovator Wayne Kramer repainted his Strat metallic purple and sold it. The guitar has never been recovered, so hard info is scarce today. The big headstock puts it no earlier than December 1965, and Kramer had it for the recording of the MC5’s Kick Out The Jams in October 1968. In a bid to make his solos cut through, Kramer installed a humbucker (most likely a Gibson, given the era) in the middle, retaining the single coil Strat bridge pickup for his preferred rhythm tone. In the Vietnam era, the stars and stripes motif was Kramer’s own patriotic way of reclaiming the US flag from right wingers.
Buying now?
Fender did arun of Wayne Kramer Strats in 2011. Failing that, you’ll need to find a Strat with amiddle pickup rout to install a PAF ’bucker.
2. JOHNNY THUNDERS’ 1960 LES PAUL JUNIOR
The New York Dolls were forerunners of punk and glam metal, and you can thank Thunders for the Junior’s subsequent appearances on records by The Clash and Green Day. Thunders started out playing a 1957 Les Paul Special with the neck pickup disconnected. At ashow with the Stooges in Memphis, Thunders hit the pickup selector, cutting out the sound. Thinking his guitar was broken, Thunders smashed it and incited a riot. On returning to New York, he purchased his TV yellow doublecut Junior which had no confusion-causing switches. He referred to it as an ‘automatic guitar’ because it was easy to use, like an automatic car.
Buying now?
The Harley Benton DC-Junior has all the right features, and even comes in TV yellow.
3. JOHNNY RAMONE’S 1965 MOSRITE VENTURE MODEL II
Johnny Ramone wanted something cheap and individual, and the Mosrite was perfect. They’re now highly collectible as less than 150 of Ramone’s preferred slab-bodied variant were originally built, but at the time it was a junk shop special. According to the auction catalogue when it sold in 2021, “The fretboard shows an incredible amount of wear to the bass side of the higher register frets” from Ramone’s savage pick attack, and “extreme wear on the back of the neck from the first to 5th fret” from his constant powerchording. It sold for $937,000 to an anonymous buyer who, we would assume, does not play punk guitar for a living.