20
May
Guitar Legends and their First Guitars
The second these Rock icons picked up their first guitar, Rock’n’Roll changed forever. Let’s take a look back into yesteryear when it all began.
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Eric Clapton-Clapton’s first guitar was a Hoyer Guitar for his 13th birthday. Hoyer guitars are German made and are inexpensive. Their steel strings can make them difficult and even painful to play. This was discouraging to the young Eric Clapton and he actually put down the guitar without any further intentions. Two years later he picked it up again and hasn’t stopped since. In retrospect… WTF Hoyer Guitars! That could have been an epic loss!
Jimi Hendrix- During his elementary school years, Jimi Hendrix had a habit of walking around with a broom and sporting it like a guitar. This gained the attention of a social worker at his school who eventually requested funding for an actual guitar for Jimi, but was denied. Later in 1957 while helping his dad with a side job, Jimi found a ukulele in the garbage that he was taking out for a wealthy, elderly woman. The woman said he could take it and he did, even though it only had one string. Jimi taught himself everything he could by playing single notes until he bought his first guitar at age 15 for $5.
Jeff Beck- Jeff Beck first learned to play guitar on a borrowed guitar, followed by several attempts to create his very own guitar out of unsuspected objects like cigar boxes and un-sanded fence posts. While these attempts were less than successful, I think it is safe to say that Beck’s first guitar was certainly one of a kind.
Jimmy Page- in 1952 while moving into a new house with his mother and father, Jimmy came across his first guitar. The guitar was just waiting in the house as if left by the rock gods… Nobody knew who it belonged to or where it came from so Jimmy claimed it. At age 12 he started taking lesson with his new found guitar locally in Kingston, although he was largely self-taught.
John Mayer- While John Mayer is a younger model, he is certainly gifted when it comes to the guitar. He became interested in the guitar when he saw Marty Mcfly’s Performance in “Back to the Future”. John got his hands on a guitar for the first time when his dad rented one for him for his 13th birthday. John Mayer grew more and more obsessed with playing the guitar to the point that his parents were driven to send him to a psychiatrist. John’s parents were academics… They just didn’t get it.
Keith Richards- Keith Richards received his first guitar from his mother at age 15. He took to it immediately and played mostly at home listening to Billy Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. Way to go Mom!
The musical awareness and self-discovery of these incredible artists seem almost divine. Thank You Rock Gods- this has not gone unnoticed.
When and where did you get your first guitar? If you have a cool story tell us and we will post it on our fb page!
