# What was your first good electric Guitar?



## lpaholic59Don

Being the Les Paul addict I am, course it was a Gibson Les Paul, 
Lets hear your stories please?


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## fiftycalibre

American series Fender Stratocaster. All white, maple neck.

.50


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## Adwex

After I discovered the Ibanez "Sabre", I was determined to get one. I finally found one in Black Cherry for sale in a newspaper classified. Picked it up for $400 with case.
It wasn't until later that I became a Les Paul addict.


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## JCM800

my first was my strat, and i chucked in the SD hotrails in the bridge
but in a few months i can add this to the list

Anniversary Lacquer/TV Jones

a gretsch anniversary, with a lacquer finish, trestile bracing, and TV jones pickups. sounds freaking sweet.


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## coldsteal2

My first electric was a Fender 59' Strat,


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## LJGriggs

Let's see... I bought a 1953 Gibson LP Goldtop with P-90's and a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece for $200 back in 1974. It was owned by an old hog farmer near Macon, GA that said he took it with him on his honeymoon. He had just bought a Gretsch Chet Atkins Special and didn't need it anymore. The gold had turned green, so he stripped it down to the bare mahogany and gave it a simple oil finish. It actually looked pretty good, all things considered, and it played like butter. It weighed a ton ( in excess of 12-lbs). I removed the Bigsby and put a wrap-around stop-bar on it like the '54 LP's. I sold that guitar basically nothing in 1979 to help pay for college. Right now it would probably pay for a year of my Son's tuition at Ga Tech... 
I guess that's my story of "the one that got away"...


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## Harpozep

1977 Ibanez Artwood Artist











I moved up from my Crestline SG ( Don't ask )





The Ibanez weighed a ton it was all ash and very bright. First real pickups I ever owned. Real nice. I used it until I bought my 1968 Les Paul Black beauty. I kept the Ibanez case since the Gibson had none.

It took some years before I got a decent amp though. I think my first amp that had any tone was the Ampeg V4 head and the Sound City 4 x 12 cab. I sold the sound City head since it sounded Sh@ty!


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## BluesForDan

my first good electric was my '76 Ibanez Les Paul copy. I wish I could say it was my '74 Strat, but it was a dog. Took me a couple of years to figure it out.

They were just strats in those days. One single model line. Trem, hardtail or 12 string. That's it.

hard to fathom, isn't it?


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## RobertD

1961 Fender Jazzmaster. Seafoam Green w/Matching Headstock.
Wish I still had it.


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## bowhunterwt

I first good guitar was a 78 Fender P-bass. Like a dum ass I traded it for a cheap accoustic. I wish I had that P-bass back


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## Kramer Krazy

My first electric guitar was a Cort Flying V that was blue. Bought it in 1983. My first "real" guitar was a fluke. I had been saving for a Kramer in 1984 and 1985, but was only going to be able to get the Focus 4000 (Flying V) with the money that I saved up. I was actually making payments on the guitar to a local dealer with the agreement that once I had paid enough for it, he'd order it. When I almost had enough money, he said he couldn't order the guitar I wanted because he wasn't a dealer and returned my money to me. This is when my father and I drove up to Reliable Music in Charlotte, NC to look at their Kramer inventory.

They had the white F-4000 in stock, but my father spoke with one of the owners of the store about guitarists and how most go through many, many guitars before finally getting the one that they want and like. I was all set to buy the Focus (Japanese made), but my father told me to wait and we'd discuss it on the 2+ hour ride home. It was during this time that my dad asked me which guitar I really wanted. For me, it wasn't the Focus model, but the US-made Vanguard. After a long and lengthy discussion, he said he'd kick in the rest of the money I needed to "upgrade" from the Focus (about an extra $250). So, on that Saturday afternoon of October 29, 1985 when we got home, we called the store and ordered the white Vanguard that was hanging on the wall.....it arrived on October 31, 1985.







22+ years later, I've had a couple hundred guitars go through my hands, but.....I still have the Vanguard.


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## 5er driver

An '83 Squier Strat MIJ, black with a rosewood finger board. Still have it.


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## Peter Brewsky

The first good one was charvell cxm dlx, but I sold it, and that was a tsupid thing to do... Then I bought jackson professional stealth EX and professional KE3. I´m about to make a deal with jackson custom shop, but it´s kinda difficult from finland and with my therrible english...


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## mysalsa

My first good electric guitar was a gibson les paul studio, wine red with chrome hardware. loved it!


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## stryker59

it was a mexi deluxe players strat. i still have it and have since loaded it w/ custom shop 54 pickups.


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## 13yguitarman

An Early squier model


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## GeeJay

My first guitar was an Epi Les Paul Special II.

My first good electric guitar was/is my Fender MIJ 50's re-issue strat.

My favourite electric guitar is my 2002 50's neck Gibson Les Paul Standard.


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## Lucifuge

First guitar was a Kramer Artist 650G (the one with the forked aluminum head). Basically a jazz guitar with a great clean sound. Had tons of others, but wanted to go back to playing it with my hard-rock band, so I decided to put the 85 and 81 EMG's in it (kept the old SD's though). It's all I play now (as far as electric goes).


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## guitarguy1964

I bought my first good guitar in 1981 at the age of 17. I had just started gigging in my first band and had saved the $400 to buy it. It was a 1973 Deluxe Les Paul Gold top that had been routed for humbuckers. Actually I use the term routed "loosely". Don't you have to use a router for that term to apply? I think the guy who owned it before me used a butter knife and a mallet. I didn't discover that till years later when I replaced the Dimarzio Super Distortions with a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and I cleaned it up with a router. In the late 80's I became a "Strat Guy" and sold it. By the mid 90's I was missing the Les Paul and bought a Silverburst Custom and I've been a Gibson guy again ever since.


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## RachelMorgan

First decent guitar: This Les Paul Studio






Followed by a full trade in of my starter gear for this Schecter C-1 Hellraiser:






And finally in February I got what I always had wanted:


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## Slapjaw

I still have it 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom natural, but with a white pick guard. I've never seen one like it yet


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## codyfarmer

I actually owned a mid 70's Martin & Co. electric guitar... it was yellow-wood w/ a dark brown stripe. It had a hella ugly headstock but reverberated like a les paul. I sold it because I was 16 and stupidly wanted a Stratocaster. I'm not exactly smart.


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## ZoomZilla

My first good electric was a Charvel Model 4. I ended up selling it for $200 with the case. Man, I was dumb. I would love to have it back now!


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## DocNrock

My first "good" guitar was a Gibson "The Paul."


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## FERGIE

Bought both this year......a Tokai Les Paul 2001 japanese love rock model......then my Patrick Eggle T.I. Legend,prior to obtaining these two guitars
i could never understand why you should have to pay over £500.00 for a guitar........I HAVE NOW SEEN THE LIGHT!!!!!


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## graydane

My 1st real guitar was my '78 Wine Colored Les Paul Deluxe, I bought from a friend in '79 for 450.00. Put a lot of miles on it back in the day, but still have today and would never part with it.

Of course I have added a few things since.


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## lp_junkie

my first electric was a 1977 LP Deluxe that I got new in 77 (my dad was cool, a Les Paul for my 5th B-day), it's been trashed since but it was a nice guitar at one time, but the 80's were bad to it (modded to fullsize humbuckers and a floyd rose).

My very first guitar was an acoustic of some sort given to me in 1974 (I was 2 so it didn't last long), I didn't really get serious about my gear until the early 80's, and now I am just chasing vintage tones.

At one time I had 11 Les Pauls, 2 Explorers, and a Strat. The need to eat and the end of gigging forced me to downsize, I have 1 Les Paul and a Strat now.


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## poeman33

A Les Paul Deluxe with the smaller pickups. I think it was a 79, bought new. I kept it in pristine condition until some drunk threw an ashtray at my head before I even started playing, and I used it as a goalie pad. I switched to Strats a few years later and have never changed.


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## Jamiee

being another les paul addict I'd say it was my Epi Les paul, good quality copies


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## plexipaul

USA Fender Am. Std. Strat with Kahler trem.


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## RiverRatt

You guys are making me feel old. I traded a Tiesco Del Rey and a Framus 335 copy for a daphne blue Fender Mustang with a maple fingerboard that a local pawn shop couldn't get rid of fast enough. I'd love to have that one back. I learned my first Angus Young licks on that thing. Then the 80's happened and I traded it for an Ibanez Roadstar with a Kahler. No pics of the Fender, but I still have one of the Ibanez.






Here's a picture of my LAST good guitar. I think I'm done for awhile.


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## BYoung

My first guitar was a Victoria single pickup model from Montgomery Wards $20.00. My first GOOD guitar was a 1967 Fender Stratocaster that I wish I still had.


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## JohnH

This is my '76 Shergold Masquerader which I've had since 1978 and will never sell.

Shergold were a small English maker in the '70s and early 80's. Its a bit quirky, with wild switching with coils cuts and out of phase options on both pickups, excellent slim hand-carved maple neck with zero fret, and unusually large humbuckers.

The sound is very clear and clean - great for fingerstyle and light overdrive.

At the time, I could afford the masq, or
a not very good Strat copy and I made the right choice.






John


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## MR_NITRO

My First descent guitar was my 1978 Gibson Flying V. It was cream and I loved it so much.. but I sadly had so sell it to pay the bills when I lost my job.... I also had to get rid of my Marshall 2150 powercell combo . . at the time the V went for £300, and the amp went for £180... Sad times... Perhaps thats why I'm a bass player now!!


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## radiomatts

My first good guitar was a 1977 Gibson Flying V. I thought I was so cool, because Paul Stanley still used them before the Ibanez Iceman. My next cool guitar was a 1981 Gibson Les Paul Standard in tobacco sunburst. I moved on to wanting to be Ace Frehley then. Funny thing was, the owner of the guitar store offered me the Silver Anniversary Fender Strat, and I PASSED ON IT. That guitar would have bought me at least one MORE Les Paul today.

I still have both of those great guitars and nothing sounds better than they do.


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## joey

Myu frst "good" guitar was my Fender Talon. This was a joint effort between
Ibanez and Fender to produce a killer axe at great prices. Made in the same 
plant all high end Ibanez got made. Problem was with Fender... they didnt 
advertise this line the proper way.

Fender used top notch parts on these guitars... Floyd Rose Pro, Dimarzio's (what 
later became Super3's and the Evo neck if i remember correctly). They play incredibly 
and sound killer in ANY situation. They also offered 7 models of these... the top end 
(talon V) shown below is pretty an upgraded Ibanez RG 770. I bought this one new in
1992 for $1400 inc OHSC.


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## omikl

Mine was a Made in Japan Kimbara Strat copy that I got for my 18th birthday from my parents. They were made in the same factory that Fender later used for their models.

I still have it but it got a Kahler in the mid 80's

The Kimbara was followed by an Ibanez Moderne copy that I bought at Kitchen's Music in Leeds, half price to clear. It's a '74 (= no serial No.) and is currently leaning against the wall about four feet to my right  Unmodified by very very well worn.


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## st.bede

LP custom...(before that it was a aria knight warrior and, before that I found an electric no name guitar on a street.....Sepulveda Boulevard in LA)


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## omikl

The Kimbara:






The Futurist (Moderne copy):


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## BoD

My first good guitar was a 1977 Gibson RD ARTIST which I still have. These came with MOOG electronics. I never really liked the sound of it but it played so good I just couldn't get rid of it. I eventually put in a Gibson 500T in the bridge and boxed up the originals.
I am now so glad that I kept this machine because it has since become very collectable. I rarely see these for sale, but you can find find 1 on EBAY every once in a while.
I need to find the matching Bass now.


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## Robertf

Probably not everyones cup of tea on this board, but here's my first really good one...


1968 Rickenbacker 330/6. The amp is a '65 Deluxe Reverb. Wish I still had both of them. I had owned the guitar for about 3 years when the pic was taken and the color had faded noticeably already.


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## number1984

Jackson Bolt on #1022, the twenty second one made out of san dimas. Cost $1100 bucks back in the 80's, still sounds great through the marshall model#1987


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## satchfan

After trying to learn on a 'Woolworths Special' my first good guitar was a 70s Yamaha SG 30

Steve


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## steelhorse

About 30 years or so ago my ex gave me an American made strat in mint condition for Christmas. She did this completely out of the blue because she knew I wanted an electric but didn't know where to start.

I never should have gotten rid of her.

The guitar AND the wife!


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## rocker67

My first good elcetric guitar was a Kramer Berreta U.S.A made. Damn good guitar. Was very easy to play. I had purchased it back in 1988. Unfortunately, it was stolen.


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## poeman33

rocker67 said:


> My first good elcetric guitar was a Kramer Berreta U.S.A made. Damn good guitar. Was very easy to play. I had purchased it back in 1988. Unfortunately, it was stolen.



I ordered one of those when they first came out. 84-85 I think. It became my main stage guitar. It had one really good humbucker as the only pickup, and I added a Dimarzio HS-1 in the neck position. With the Floyd Rose and those two pickups...(and the Marshall of course)...I was all set for the eighties


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## Coolguy

Must've been a 2000 MiM HSS Stratocaster.
The pickups were alot hotter back then.

I kept it with me ever since and has been upgraded a few times.
At the moment it has an EMG Kirk Hammet setup, Locking Schaller Tuners and an LSR nut.

I still use it quite alot.


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## Unknown3

My first good electric guitar? Certainly not my very first guitar (which was an Epiphone LP Special-II). My second guitar (and currently my favorite) is my Jackson RR3 Rhoads (see attachment). I need to get the strings replaced to skinny top heavy bottom strings by Ernie Ball.


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## Werner Sommer

My first electric was a Hofner hollow-body, a copy of a Gibson L-5. THEN, after relentlessly begging my parents, they caved and bought me a '74 cherry sunburst 20th anniversary Gibson Les Paul Custom. Sold it a few years later to a guy in Long Island, so I could buy a 1970 Gibson Medallion V.


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## Unknown3

Werner Sommer said:


> My first electric was a Hofner hollow-body, a copy of a Gibson L-5. THEN, after relentlessly begging my parents, they caved and bought me a '74 cherry sunburst 20th anniversary Gibson Les Paul Custom. Sold it a few years later to a guy in Long Island, so I could buy a 1970 Gibson Medallion V.



I had to fight with my parents for 2 days to convince them to let me buy a bass guitar + amp. And I had to pay for it myself.

Some of you are lucky f******!


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## Keefoman

joey said:


> Myu frst "good" guitar was my Fender Talon. This was a joint effort between
> Ibanez and Fender to produce a killer axe at great prices. Made in the same
> plant all high end Ibanez got made. Problem was with Fender... they didnt
> advertise this line the proper way.
> 
> Fender used top notch parts on these guitars... Floyd Rose Pro, Dimarzio's (what
> later became Super3's and the Evo neck if i remember correctly). They play incredibly
> and sound killer in ANY situation. They also offered 7 models of these... the top end
> (talon V) shown below is pretty an upgraded Ibanez RG 770. I bought this one new in
> 1992 for $1400 inc OHSC.




Weren't these mainly marketed as 'Heartfield' ?


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## kevink

A `63 or 4 SG special with a fender princeton reverb for $225. And that was to much back in 1965. Just luck, no skill involved. I really, really wish I never sold ANY guitars but nobody had a crystal ball....


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## guitarweasel

A 1960 Double Cut Les Paul Jr. Paid $ 150.00 for it in 1965...........got stolen in 1972.


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## ProfChaos

A black '78 Fender Telecaster Deluxe with a maple neck.


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## psphill27

My first good guitar was a Gibson Flying V that I bought in 1984 and used during my metal days. Sounded great, but I off loaded it in 1987 to buy a custom painted Kramer Beretta with a Floyd and Seymour Duncan JB in it. Man that guitar rocked! I don't have either one of them anymore. Totally a Les Paul guy now and have three of them. Life is good.

Les Pauls and Marshalls...you can take over the world with that!


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## alx

my first was a cheap strat copy.
i then got an ibanez pgm. yes, a pgm. i was young.
i then traded it for a cij fender jazzmaster, which i still have, play and love.
answering the topic title question, my first good electric guitar was my beloved jazzmaster.


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## sojatriani

Charvel Blueburst San Dimas just like Jake E. Lee!!!! Saved all summer for that guitar. It was stolen in 89.


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## steelhorse

My best gear from back in the day never got stolen in the classical sense, I had to sell it to pay off my ex in the divorce settlement.


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## Mase947

40th Anniversary Stratocaster. Black with mother of pearl pick guard. It was my first guitar and remains my favorite... Probably always will be.


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## JAC

Mine is a 1978 black Fender Mustang with a rosewood neck. I still have it and the hard case with the red fuzz light lining inside. I purchased it through employee sales at CBS Musical Instruments, I got an employee 40% discount on it. It's still a great guitar to this very day. Back then it was my only guitar and I play it through a pignose amp!


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## andyman95023

My first REAL guitar is a 77 hardtail strat I traded for a motorcycle. I still have it complete with 3 bolt neck and 5 way switch.

Andyman95023


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## AngryDeli

My first electric guitar was a real piece o' crap J.B. Player with shitty pickups, warped neck and even worse Floyd Rose-copy whammy bar. That's what I got for letting my parents surprise me. About 3 days later, I took that POS guitar and traded it for a Fender Stratocaster (Korean model). 

My first REAL guitar was my Les Paul Studio Baritone, which I still use to this day.


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## wkcchampion

my 08 Parker Fly Mojo. I still have it.

Also worth considering a Gibson SG with Bigsby tremolo I had years ago but... umpf no match to the Fly at all, period.


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## thrawn86

I had a black Epiphone LP that was really nice. This was after a lousy Squire...... Ugh....sickening to think about that thing. My Gibson LP is the best yet.


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## Fcal124

1970 Cherry Gibson SG with Maestro Trem about $450-500 new. Man I wish I hadn't sold that guitar.


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## RobS

My first guitar was a Yamaha RGX312 which I still have, only because all original members of KISS signed it. Then I was lucky enough to buy one of Paul Stanleys PS10CL's and I see that as the 1st real guitar I got. I have also an Epiphone LP Custom which is a great guitar as well and used to have a Gibson LP Custom which I recently sold and now also have a 08 Gibson LP traditional which I put on par with the Ibanez. The Ibanez feels very much like a Gibson Explorer to play and the Traditional is like a tank and really sounds great on both clean and dirty channels.

Rob


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## Gtrman58

It was 1971-72. I had been playing for about 6 years. I started out with a Norma and stumbled upon a mint condition 1951 telecaster with mint case and a 51 fender deluxe amp. ALL FOR 50.00 DOLLARS!

I still have the amp.....and dreams about the guitar!

I have photos of many of my past babies and I am still trying to figure out how to get them on the forum.


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## StootMonster

My first electric was some pawnshop special called a Checkmate. Then I "upgraded" to a much better sounding guitar. It was a japanese import Les Paul copy called a Lotus. I played that one for quite a while until I got an Epiphone Les Paul. So somewhere in there was my first REAL electric.


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## custom53

My first guitar was a "no Name" with switches and knobs, 4 pick-ups, weighed about 40 lbs...! Had a couple more cheapos than I got a Hofner 6-string around 1973. Sold that for $75.00 (with case....!) Then I got got a mid 60s Strat around 1974. After that it was a blur....


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## zslane

1996 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, pictured below. Purchased new from Guitar Center thirteen years ago. Clearly, my LP collection has grown since then...


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## HOT TUBES 70

zslane said:


> 1996 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, pictured below. Purchased new from Guitar Center thirteen years ago. Clearly, my LP collection has grown since then...





sweet set up ZSLANE !!
where's the 6100 ??


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## MacMan

The first great guitar I ever bought was my black Peavey Wolfgang Special Deluxe the neck is beautiful as is the feel. You can probably tell I really really like them.


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## zslane

HOT TUBES 70 said:


> sweet set up ZSLANE !!
> where's the 6100 ??



That photo was taken before I got the 6100. Rest assured, though, it sits atop the DSL-100 head.


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## Benito

Little bit unusual this one.........
Gibson Nighthawk Special 3-pickup.....nice

Slanted bridge 'bucker, middle single coil, and a mini-bucker in the neck,
5-way switch gives 1) bridge bucker full, 2)both neck and bridge 3) neck full bucker
4) bridge bucker and middle single...super strat i guess, 5) neck and bridge singles (tele mid position) and pull the tone pot up and you have classic strat 5-way switching!!!
It's a Gibson but it's fender scale and strings through body like a tele....Mental
Mahog body and a maple top the same thickness as an SG overall, it knows not what it is...... but i love it and i still have it despite pawning it to buy an engagement ring
All i can say is 1 year later i still have the ring, still have the guitar, but got a different girl... he he rock 'n' roll!!!!


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## tubes

My first guitar that really sounded good was a Fernandes 'The Function'. 
Bought it about 20 years ago. 
On the day, in the shop, I tried a USA Strat, USA Tele, and the Fernandes. For about 5 hours.
They were all about the same price.

I knew very well the good reputation of the Strat and Tele. I had lusted after them for years.
But I couldn't get past the fact that the Fernandes sounded better than either of the Fenders - and very versatile, which was one thing that I was looking for.

Now I still have the Fernandes. It's worn - but still interesting with some good sounds. 

However, I evidently didn't make the best _investment_ decision that day.


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## kernal

An '82 Les Paul Custom, tobacco burst w/ gold harware. Paid $900 for it new in '82, sold it for $400 in '85. 

Although it would have been worth so more now, I never really liked playing it that much. It was an "impulse" buy, from which I saved up my paper route money and went into a local music store and seen the LP. My guitar teacher had one similar to it, and I figured I couldn't go wrong...I was wrong. 

I picked up a Fender strat and the LP went bye-bye. Been a strat guy ever since.


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## BluesDisciple

My Fender American Deluxe Strat HSS w/rosewood neck.


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## watchtheskies

well my first ever electric guitar was a black les paul copy which I got for my 15th birthday, 
I had been playing an acoustic for a couple of years before that, but that was my first electric, I think it came with a crappy little practice amp, but I thought it was the best thing ever,

my first decent guitar was an Explorer made by a Yorkshire luthier named Pete Back Pete Back Guitars www.peteback.com, I bought it second hand for £270 in 1982, I was at college doing my A levels at the time, so where I got the cash I have no idea?

when I got my Gibson Explorer in 84 I sold the Pete Back, actually thinking about it I traded it in for a Marshall 4x12, It was a great guitar and I wish I had managed to hold on to it,
I've had some awesome guitars over the years, so why the heck did I sell them!!!, needed the cash I guess, but would love to have some of them back for sure


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## Ken

omikl said:


> Mine was a Made in Japan Kimbara Strat copy that I got for my 18th birthday from my parents. They were made in the same factory that Fender later used for their models.
> 
> I still have it but it got a Kahler in the mid 80's
> 
> The Kimbara was followed by an Ibanez Moderne copy that I bought at Kitchen's Music in Leeds, half price to clear. It's a '74 (= no serial No.) and is currently leaning against the wall about four feet to my right  Unmodified by very very well worn.



OMG. I'm the ultimate Moderne fan. There was the Ibanez you have hanging next to the Les Paul Standard I bought in 1977. Both were the same price but much as I loved the "Moderne" I wanted a Gibson, not a "Japanese" guitar. 

Then in 1983 my local guitar store had a Gibson Moderne and wanted like $800 for it. I didn't have the money at the time, so I missed that one.

Today there was the cheesy Epiphone copy on eBay with a Buy It Now of $399. I thought about pulling the trigger but it got bought. I don't regret that as much as it wasn't the korina model and it had a bolt on neck. But still....

So SOME day I'll have to pony up the $6k a 1983 Gibson costs...


Ken


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## Lespaulnmarshall

A Gibson Les Paul studio, don't have it anymore, it was an awsome guitar for the price, I was dumb by selling it.


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## Procter2812

Fender USA Highway one... i left it for ages as i went to les pauls.

Came back to it and it plays like shit... needs a set up!


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## custom53

1


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## custom53

RiverRatt said:


> You guys are making me feel old.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's a picture of my LAST good guitar. I think I'm done for awhile.



I used to own a Sound City setup like the yours... Should have kept it...


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## Riffraff

Mine is a '81 Ibanez Destroyer II (DT400) which I still have. It's a set neck, hard tail with a flamed sunburst top. I tried a lot of guitars before I got it in '81 and it outplayed everything I picked up. I overhauled it about 10 years ago when one of the pick-ups died and replaced all the electronics. Now it's got SD pups ('59 neck & C5 bridge), 500K ohm CTS pots, and .015 orange drop caps. A year later I picked up an Ibanez RG520QSB then a Gibson LP Standard which have since become my go to guitars. Lately I've been thinking about selling the Destroyer. It sits in it's case for months at a time. It probably not getting much play time because it's in the original P.O.S. case which is now falling apart so it's a pain to get it out and put it away......lazyness.


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## Buggs.Crosby

My first real guitar was a "Student" model Jackson soloist...i worked my ass of trying to pay for a top of the line soloist but gave up and settled on it
Man i wish i had that back...the only difference i can remember between the two was the sharkfins and no binding...i'm sure that white is now an awesome cream


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## Gyroman

My first guitar was a bloody awful Kay catalogue job. I then acquired a marginally less awful Hondo Les Paul copy. It wasn't until 1981 that I could afford my first halfway decent guitar: a Washburn Stage A10. It was bright red, shaped like an Explorer with the bottom horn cut short, had a v-shaped neck and I absolutely loved it. In retrospect I should've paid the extra 30 quid for the A20 (brass nut and inlays, coil-tapped pups), but that would've meant waiting another week before I could afford it (the impetuousness of 16 year-old youth...). I still have that A10 and still play it but not so regularly now.

I then took a backward step with a rather nondescript Squier Tele, redeemed myself with an Epiphone '56 reissue Goldtop LP, which I was perfectly happy with until the 2002 Ebony Gibson LP Standard drifted into my life. I spent eight weeks living on lentils and rice to be able to afford that baby, and it was worth it all the way. So, I think that's me done with buying guitars now, as I now have everything I could possibly need axe-wise...








... Although lately I have been thinking that a nice US Strat would add that little bit of icing on the cake...


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## rockinr0ll

Gibson Les Paul baby.


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## EADGBE

My first electric was a 1982 USA Dean Z Baby. It has a DiMarzio super distortion type pickup. It's one of the nicest sounding guitars I've ever played.


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## ThreeTone

My first guitar was a 1965 Fender Malibu acoustic. Rather unremarkable guitar. But it said Fender on it, had a headstock like a Strat, and that was good enough for me at 10 years old. Still have it.

A couple years later I saved my grass cutting money and bought a used '76 Stratocaster. This was around 1980. That guitar would have some stories to tell! Still have that one too.


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## slowhand

My first electric guitar was a '82 Gibson Les Paul Standard I bought for $300 at a pawn shop. I think it was about a year old when I bought it. Never sold it and is still 100% original. I've fought the urge over the years to modify it and now I think I'll just pass it down to my son. Not really a highly collectible model, but is going up in value as the years roll along. Have the original chainsaw case as well.


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## MajorNut1967

My first good Electric Guitars was a 1975 Gibson SG Special.


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## kramer.geetar

I had a couple before this, but this was my first real electric that I was completely happy with and was exactly what I was looking for


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## EADGBE

kramer.geetar said:


> I had a couple before this, but this was my first real electric that I was completely happy with and was exactly what I was looking for



NICE!





Yeah I love Kramers too. I have a 1987 Baretta and it's the best sounding guitar I've ever played.


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## kramer.geetar

Yea, I got hooked on them. Mines a Kramer Focus 1000, ESP Japan made....well, ESP was making bodies and necks for Kramer on their USA models too except those were assembled in the states. Awesome guitars, you got a photo of your Baretta?


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## MartyStrat54

This wasn't my first guitar as the thread asked what was your first good electric guitar? That would be a 1974 Les Paul Custom Cherry Sunburst. The first of many Les Paul's that came and went.


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## bloosman1

Mine was a 1963 Stratocaster, repleat with "ashtray" bridge cover. I got it in '74.


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## Tommy Boy

My first good guitar was also my first guitar...'73 Fender Telecaster Deluxe that I received as a Christmas gift when I was 12 (thanks, Mom & Dad!). Still have that baby and it still plays like a charm. Wish I would've kept it stock - alas, I changed out the bridge pickup to a DiMarzio Super Distortion and threw away the stock Fender humbucker. Anyone know if Fender sells those humbuckers?


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## emko

First proper "good" guitar for me was an Ibanez RG2750 Prestige.


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## lord_guitarula

my first real guitar was a gibson sg standard .. but i have to say that I still have and love the actual 1st guitar I ever bought, it came with a tiny marshall amp and cable and all that stuff you need to get started .. but this thing is anything but a starter guitar .. sure i modded the hell out of it .. but body and neck are still original and I still love it!


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## dymlos

i wouldnt consider it a good guitar but i loved it more than anything (still have it by the way ) is a washburn wg208 cheap guitar and cheap washburn pick ups but it played great through my pos amp and sounded 100 times better than my harmony strat knockoff


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## lakehaus

My first good guitar was my first guitar. My 17 year old mind said "if I start with something good, I might stick with it."

Bought new in 1977 - a 1976 Gibson SG Standard, pictured below c. 1977






Pictured below in 2009


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## zfmusic

Very first guitar was a fender rip off slammer.

First good guitar was an 05' or 06' Schecter C1 classic when they were still made in South Korea.


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## Tubedude

Even though I have played for over 20 years and have passed some Gibsons and other good guitars the first guitar that really suited me was a Ibanez S2170 Prestige. Of course if you had asked some years ago the answer would been diferent.


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## j2112c

Kramer Krazy said:


> My first electric guitar was a Cort Flying V that was blue. Bought it in 1983. My first "real" guitar was a fluke. I had been saving for a Kramer in 1984 and 1985, but was only going to be able to get the Focus 4000 (Flying V) with the money that I saved up. I was actually making payments on the guitar to a local dealer with the agreement that once I had paid enough for it, he'd order it. When I almost had enough money, he said he couldn't order the guitar I wanted because he wasn't a dealer and returned my money to me. This is when my father and I drove up to Reliable Music in Charlotte, NC to look at their Kramer inventory.
> 
> They had the white F-4000 in stock, but my father spoke with one of the owners of the store about guitarists and how most go through many, many guitars before finally getting the one that they want and like. I was all set to buy the Focus (Japanese made), but my father told me to wait and we'd discuss it on the 2+ hour ride home. It was during this time that my dad asked me which guitar I really wanted. For me, it wasn't the Focus model, but the US-made Vanguard. After a long and lengthy discussion, he said he'd kick in the rest of the money I needed to "upgrade" from the Focus (about an extra $250). So, on that Saturday afternoon of October 29, 1985 when we got home, we called the store and ordered the white Vanguard that was hanging on the wall.....it arrived on October 31, 1985.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 22+ years later, I've had a couple hundred guitars go through my hands, but.....I still have the Vanguard.



Great Story!


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## Mike_j

Rickenbacker 330. Eventually sold it but eventually bought another one.


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## maiden666

mine was a jackson dk2 great guitars had a few of them plus a sl3 but got rid of that for my new brian may guitar that i love,it can be a strat a les paul a tele,everthing i need and the neck is great
this is the jackson sl3 i got rid of




for this my bmg,would love to have kept the sl3 but couldnt


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## Claret Badger

My 1983 Westone Thunder 2a


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## hellbilly

1984 Silverburst Gibson Invader. Pawn shop $350


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## rapidfiresc

the strat was my first good one, i just got the v

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&...&th=12643a27af5658dd&attid=0.1&disp=inline&zw (gibson faded flying v)
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&...&th=12643a27af5658dd&attid=0.2&disp=inline&zw (fender standard strat)


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## theflyingmat

Some great stories and some sad stories on this thread. Great stuff.

First decent guitar was a early Fender Bullet Deluxe for 60 quid. It's shaped like a telecaster and also has two pickups. I had no amp so swapped it for a Ibanez SB250 acoustic. Then bought the Fender back a few years later and very let it go again. Next was a 74 telecaster, and then.................what was that about it being a blur?

Oh, I've still got the Ibanez as well as my wife won't let me sell it because I took it to her house and sang a love song to her 20 years ago....Woman!!!!


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## john805punx

esp M-II.. 
lol


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## jrfreak0

My first good guitar was a 1971 Fender blonde Tele that i bought new and still have.


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## trobdcso

My first was a fat strat. I didn't know anything about Strats or LP's and bright versus dark. I didn't like what I heard. As soon as I could, I bought a LP, then a Marshall. Now my Strat sits in a case, and every once in a while I pull it out to remind me how much I like the LP. It ends up back in the case for another month.


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## Doomhawk

early 90's Gibson SG standard - it was sweet.


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## Dave666

Mine was a Ibanez RG620 (Made in Japan) made before the Prestige-line came in the catalog and it played better than the now Prestige-line which is also made in Japan...
But when I bought my SG Standard I sold the Ibanez 'cause I needed to much time adapt to the thin neck when switced from the Gibson...
I recently played an Ibanez RG and didn't like the feeling of it...
Maybe I'm a Gibson man


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## NewReligion

A 1963 Fender Duo Sonic.


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## KYrocker04

First good guitar was an ESP EC-300 red cherry. Looked sexy and sounded really good even with the stock emg-hz humbuckers. Had to sell it to cover moving expenses, I'd sure like to have it back.


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## BluesRocker

Mine would have been an ESP LTD Kirk Hammett Sig. I quickly traded it after tooling around with a floyd rose for a 1994 Gibson SG. I wish I still had that SG


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## rjohns1

My first real guitar was a Peavey Wolfgang Standard. I bought it in 1999. I played the crap out of that thing. I wore out the frets, and found my baby, my 2003 EBMM Axis at GC. I traded in the Peavey, and got the Axis. Since then, I went through several cheaper guitars as backups. The one I never wished I sold was this Godin I had. It was pretty bad ass, but back then I wasn't into it. In 07, I bought my other Axis, and I have my main two guitars. The Amber 03 has a PAF Pro in the bridge, but the 07 has the stock pickups in it.


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