Johns Guitars | About Johns Guitars

I first attempted playing guitar around 1973, starting with a £15 mail order Kay acoustic. That was hard work, with its flat wide neck, so I bought a second-hand Hofner (456?) that was much easier on the fingers. That one has stayed with me, despite the neck cracking years ago. I recently had it repaired by Graham Wheeler, and it is once again useable. I bought it for £21, paid £1 a week for a while before quitting college and using that week’s lunch money to clear the deal and take the guitar home. You can imagine the thrill when I explained that I had quit college and bought a guitar…

I then progressed to an Eros dreadnought, but it got broke. No pictures of that remain. I also picked up a Top Gear electric - sort of thin Tele shape with one single-coil pickup. Re-sprayed that several times, cream, gold, metallic blue, sunburst, then pure white with a home made black scratch plate. That one ended up in the bin! I briefly owned a Grant Strat copy - maple neck, tremolo etc, but I couldn’t afford to repay the credit card bill and it had to go just a few weeks after acquisition. Psychologically, perhaps that is where my guitar troubles started, or at least where the seed was sown.

The inevitable Eko Ranger was next - I was better with acoustics as they suited my chord-based style. I used that throughout 1980/81, with a clip in pickup, through a tatty Sound City Concord combo. Some low-life stole the Eko from my car.

The replacement was my first “expensive” instrument. With part of a legacy I found myself in Macaris (Tottenham Court Road I think, although they had a shop in Hove - the source of the Top Gear and Grant) where I bought an unusual, mahogany finish, dreadnought - D15M - made by Washburn USA . I’d never heard of them, but it looked and sounded great. With a DiMarzio bug on board, the Washburn was my principle gigging guitar for about 20 years. I had the foresight to buy it a robust case, so it still looks real good today. Two refrets and replacement Grovers keep it spot-on, but it just isn’t loud enough with the passive bug, hence the retirement from live work.

Still no great shakes on electric guitars, I acquired a Les Paul copy - can’t remember the make, but probably a Columbus or similar. That had a broken neck, so I switched to a Hohner Strat, bought at a shop in Eastbourne. That one is still around, and Nick used it extensively in the early years of SOS (til he got a Patrick Eggle Berlin). It carries a “Rock’n’Roll” sticker that Nick’s daughter stuck on it years ago, along with the scars of having lived in a vinyl bag rather than a case.

The Washburn & Hohner (plus the broken Hofner) constituted the entire collection until 2000, when changing fortunes meant I could upgrade. First of many (I had no idea how bad the obsession would become) was a Parker Fly Deluxe - a featherweight electric with piezo for acoustic sounds. I thought that would be ideal for gigging, saving all that messy swapping guitars mid-set. Trouble is, it just doesn’t suit that heavy-handed strumming that I excel at, so it gets little use.

Can’t remember where I first encountered the name Paul Reed Smith, but he features with my first top quality electric. Mansons in Exeter, March/April 2001, I spent ages drooling over a Hollowbody then decided that a Custom 24 was even better. Dark Cherry burst, birds, artist pack - sold! It is a fabulous guitar. The collecting bug is biting harder…

I freely admit to being an Elvis fan - he, along with Buddy Holly and the Beatles, had an undoubted influence on my musical development. I have a photo somewhere of him in the film Loving You, toting a blonde Gibson J200, so what was I going to buy next? GAK in Brighton was somewhere I’d encountered when I bought the Parker. I was close by one Saturday and thought, “If they’ve got a blonde J200, I’ll get one”. Well, they had and I did. That is still a favourite, booming acoustic and a real looker. For a short while, I settled for that and concentrated on my other passion - motorbikes.

And then I discovered eBay!

When you reach the stage of life when you can have the odd toy (you know, the things you always wanted as a kid, but that were just way out of reach), discovering that the whole world is available to you in your living room (office etc) widens the horizon somewhat.

Browsing GAK’s website, I made a shortlist of “guitars that I’d like to have”. For me, Buddy’s Strat was top of the list. I also liked the look and sound of the Rickenbacker 370/12, so that was noted - and I thought a real Les Paul might be a good idea, but couldn’t even start to choose from the dozens of variations stocked by GAK. “Les Paul ?” was on the list. I even printed off pictures of them - sad or what?

As I really play acoustics better, I wondered whether a 335 style would suit me for live work. Electric, hollow and more the feel of an acoustic instrument - but again, which one? The answer presented itself whilst watching the Beatles Anthology. John’s Epiphone Casino looked so cool on the roof gig, but could you buy one like that? Weird coincidence - browsing for Epiphone, I landed on a page all about the “Revolution” Casino - a limited replica of John’s actual guitar from the later Beatles years. GAK had it listed, so that was sorted. It’s nice, and I gigged with it briefly, but being a limited run of 1965, it is a bit daft to risk it as a regular working tool.

Having bought a couple of low-cost items on eBay, I became confident enough to risk looking at the world of guitars - oh dear! Starting with the list-topping Buddy Holly Strat, I was overwhelmed by the goodies on offer. The one I finally went for, a limited 40th anniversary Strat that was pretty close to my idea of “the right one”, came courtesy of David Crozier - more of him later…

He delivered the guitar to me, and I showed him my “collection” - PRS, Parker, Casino Washburn, J200, Hohner - from small beginnings…David pointed me at Line 6 amplifiers, the ones that replicate the sounds of many different amps. Seemed like a great idea, so along came a Flextone III Plus (GAK again). Line 6 brought out the Variax 500 - I had to try one of those, and the collection was starting to grow alarmingly quickly. Incidentally, the Casino through the Flextone really does produce an astonishingly accurate Revolution.

The Casino was good to play, but lightweight without the solid centre block of the Gibson 335. Better get one of them, then. Ebay came up trumps with a gorgeous natural flamed 335 with gold hardware. The blurb said something about it originally being Cherry/nickel, but having been refinished by Martyn Booth of Suffolk. I’d not heard of him, but he features again later - another weird coincidence. The 335 is a delight to play. I took it to Graham Wheeler for a set-up and he confirmed the guitar was, indeed, originally Cherry. The refinish was to such a high standard that it was indistinguishable from a factory finish.

It all accelerated from there, such that I can’t really recall the order in which the rest of the collection came together. I could probably work it out, but who cares? I’ll just relate a few of the links and coincidences.

I decided I’d like to replace the stolen Eko - and whilst at it get a 12-string version too as I had always admired them and the sound they made. Ebay again, and the girl who sold me the 6-string asked if I would be interested in her Yamaha MSG Custom as well. I’d never heard of the model - Yamaha to me always conjured up boring, light top, dark back & sides acoustics from the 1970s. Internet browsing suggested the MSG might be interesting, so I bought it. Who designed the MSG? Martyn Booth, the same guy who refinished the 335 - small world! The MSG is a cracking guitar - active pickups, fretboard LEDs, wonderful neck - what a lucky impulse buy!

Web-searching located Martyn’s website, and this tempted me to make contact. He builds guitars that are a modern interpretation of the MSG, and they are out of this world. I paid him a visit and we spent the best part of a day discussing my MB Signature guitar. He also remembered the 335 and still has the box of old hardware that he replaced with the gold stuff! Martyn mentioned that he had worked with another local luthier - Andrew Guyton - who was building replica Brian May guitars. Oh yes, I have one of them on order, but even that was the “small world” syndrome.

I had seen a couple of “chrome” Strats on eBay, but one caught my eye specifically as it had been assembled by Andrew Guyton. I bought it - was very impressed, so had a good look at his website, too.

I have some favourite sellers on eBay, and one of them (Badlands Guitars) had a Guyton DC guitar up for grabs - 3 P90s, synth capabilities, rosewood neck, beautiful workmanship. It was featured on Andrew’s site, and after a chat with Andrew on the phone I went ahead and bought that one, too. With his Brian May replica’s getting rave reviews on the Mondo Guitars site, I had another look at them and decided to go for one of just ten green ones being made. I got the last one, but delivery time is 30 months. I can hardly wait, and pictures will be posted as soon as it arrives.

Returning to Martyn - the Signature guitar he made for me is glorious! Quality is beyond comparison and the cobra headstock inlay is a masterpiece. I asked if he could do a “Junior” style one with P90s. Yes, he was already building one for another customer - so the order was placed, this time I asked for a headstock inlay featuring SOS. Well, why not?

Back in the 1970s, when Macaris had the small shop in Hove, I remember being transfixed by a white CSL guitar with two necks. Way out of my league back then, but with the obsession taking root I found “the real thing” for sale. A 1974 Gibson EDS 1275 - not white (or cherry), but natural mahogany finish. I travelled to Birmingham to pick that one up from a fellow Harley rider. A heavy beast, but Hotel California demands the right sound.

The double neck concept interests me, and there are five in the collection. The Ovation is by far the most unwieldy, having a bowl-back that is a mirror image of my bowl-front. All it wants to do is roll off!

Some time after I bought the Buddy Fender off David Crozier, I learned he had opened a shop in Worthing. If you love guitars, this is the place for you! I have a few from David’s shop in my collection - 50th anniversary Tele & Strat pair, Martin OMC Aura, Martin D35 Johnny Cash, Washburn EA36 and a couple of stunning Gibsons - Super 400 & L-5. Irresistable…

The web is an amazing source of information. I stumbled across the Gibson Custom Shop 10th anniversary Les Paul and thought it rather special. Only 30 made, sparkly white finish and fancy gold hardware - one of those would be good. Oddly, I didn’t buy the first one that came up on eBay. That was because the seller (Peter Barton, touring as bassist with The Animals) had so many superb guitars up for sale that I couldn’t have them all.

From him I got the CS356 10th anniversary, but let the Les Paul go, opting for a J45 Custom Vine and a Ron Wood J200. The latter is odd, as it doesn’t have the twin flamed pick guards, but Gibson assure me it checks out as a genuine Ron Wood model.

I nearly got caught with an eBay scam Les Paul version, but with a starting bid way too low and a seller who exhibited no knowledge of what he was selling I left it alone. Sure enough, the same guitar came up again later, this time advertised by the true owner, but at a price I wasn’t prepared to stretch to. Patience paid off - and a Les Paul appeared in the Netherlands. The seller was genuine, another enthusiast, and we did the deal. Then, I spotted an SG version - the blurb explaining that Gibson had produced four different anniversary models - one each quarter - 30 of each. Well, you have to have the complete set, don’t you?

We did a deal on the SG - the first of that type in the collection if you discount the SG-based EDS 1275 double neck - and I then had to find the missing link, an L-4. Google to the rescue…exactly the right model was nestling in California! This time, not an eBay purchase, but an online deal directly with the shop (Buffalo Brothers). This was a good price due to the weak Dollar, and even the import duty wasn’t crippling. Brilliant service from across the pond, and the quartet was complete.

I hope you derive some pleasure browsing my guitar collection. Every instrument is maintained in “ready to play” condition, with fresh strings. Although a collector, I have them for the joy of playing as well as appreciating the workmanship that goes into creating fine guitars. It sure beats investing in stocks & shares!

I am not a dealer, so the guitars are not for sale at this point. I have learned a lot while putting the collection together, and made contact with loads of like-minded people. I am sure I haven’t finished yet, so keep an eye on the site for additions now and again.