Longest owned instrument

[Bassworm 8]

I still own a 1960-ish Hofner Congress acoustic that was the first guitar I ever played. It was originally bought for my younger sister but she quickly lost interest so it came to me. Still plays nicely, and every so often I wonder if I should do some sort of sympathetic restoration on it. Maybe when I retire...

[jacko 352]

I still have my first dolmetsch descant recorder from primary school and play it regularly. I'll be 59 this summer.

[Happy Jack 4,523]

The longest instrument I own is my double bass. 

[casapete 1,761]

35 minutes ago, Bassworm said:

I still own a 1960-ish Hofner Congress acoustic that was the first guitar I ever played. It was originally bought for my younger sister but she quickly lost interest so it came to me. Still plays nicely, and every so often I wonder if I should do some sort of sympathetic restoration on it. Maybe when I retire...

I had exactly the same model, even down to the missing scratchplate!

Sold it a couple of years ago for a good profit on the £30 it cost me in the early 80's. ☺️

[casapete 1,761]

Here's my first ever instrument, brought back for me from Spain by my Grandma. Pictured with my mandolin and uke bass so you can get the scale.

 

[Baxlin 958]

3 hours ago, casapete said:

 

Cough....😉

Ok, but you did say c. 1965 ie approx.......😇

[Bassassin 2,063]

Longest-owned instrument is a Columbus SG copy which I bought used in 1980 - my first guitar. I'd been playing bass for two years when I got this:

Nice, playable slightly better than budget quality Japanese guitar which I learned a lot with.

That one's not mine - These are guitars with very slender necks & no volute, and bad things can happen when headstocks hit walls.

This is mine...
 

Spoiler

 

It went through a few stages to reach this point, my Dad re-glued the headstock, which broke again after a month or two, he then made a discreet aluminium brace to reinforce it, which worked better but after a few years, the glue gave way meaning it had a thin soft-metal plate keeping the head on - not exactly stable.

It languished for a year or two and in about 1985 I was inspired by the popularity of headless instruments to try out my woodworking skills. Considering it was all hand-cut & hand-shaped by some yoof with no formal training, I think it turned out OK. The output's recessed into the side of the body under the bottom point of the scratchplate, tuners are mounted  on two "steps" carved into the body and an offcut from the scratchplate part-covers them, stopping them being knocked. Dispensing with volume & tone controls (never used 'em!) meant I could keep the body compact & fairly symmetrical. The string retainer's crafted from 1mm aluminium plate, formed & folded to shape, and the elongated top box section reinforced with a block of wood.

The typically restrained 80s paintjob is gloss black, with Halfords dayglo rattlecan on the front and a matching stripe down the side of the neck below the binding. It's lacquered over the front paint (as it was a matt finish) which unfortunately cracked while curing, so, undeterred, I wiped some thinned black paint over it, to give it a trendy-at-the time crackle finish!

It's a fiddle to tune & even worse to change strings, but plays as well as it ever did. Sounds OK too, the pickups are single-coil fakebuckers and it's very bright & Tele-ish sounding. Even got used on an album my band at the time did in the 90s, where none of the Strats or LPs we had in the studio could quite give us the ringing, clean harmonic sound we were after.

I should probably clean it up & take some better pics. And I'll be leaving the holographic dolphin sticker on!

 

 

 

[casapete 1,761]

6 minutes ago, Baxlin said:

Ok, but you did say c. 1965 ie approx.......😇

Unfortunately grand-mama popped her clogs a while back now so I can't verify with her, but I can safely say either 1964 or 1965. She was the first person we knew to go abroad for her holidays, hard to imagine now. I was mad on the Stones and Beatles so she thought it would be suitable, bless her. Carried it as hand luggage on the plane home, without a case for it! Made by Roca in Valencia, it still plays okay despite only being 1/2 size. When I took it to school I was amazed how big everyone else's guitars were!

[Baxlin 958]

1 hour ago, casapete said:

Unfortunately grand-mama popped her clogs a while back now so I can't verify with her, but I can safely say either 1964 or 1965. She was the first person we knew to go abroad for her holidays, hard to imagine now. I was mad on the Stones and Beatles so she thought it would be suitable, bless her. Carried it as hand luggage on the plane home, without a case for it! Made by Roca in Valencia, it still plays okay despite only being 1/2 size. When I took it to school I was amazed how big everyone else's guitars were!

👍👍

[Stub Mandrel 9,685]

My long-suffering and amended Kay K-2T bought around the time Running Free was in the charts 🙂

[bassbiscuits 1,198]

I have a Hohner acoustic guitar I bought in 1988, along with a metal guitar stand and Arion tuner I got for Christmas 1986, all of which still work fine. 

[inthedoghouse 255]

The instrument I've had longest is my early '73 4001 I bought in 1985

Amp I've had longest I bought new in 1980, Marshall JMP 100w 2203 head
Cab I've had the longest: Circa '71 Marshall 4x12 I bought in the mid/late 70s for £90.  It still has three pre-Rolas.

I've still got the (nice) neck of a Kasuga Strat I had in the mid 70s. 

Edited June 14, 2020 by inthedoghouse
Typo

[stewblack 5,531]

Until a few years back I still had my first bass, a Kay ⚓. 

Unfortunately all my old guitars and basses, at some point became props for some insanity or other and got destroyed. 

I had the head of an acoustic mounted by a friend on a block like a trophy. He'd retrieved the smouldering remnant after a beach party where I had decided it would entertain those present if I was to strip naked and play the guitar having first set it on fire. Luckily we always took a bottle of petrol to facilitate a quicker start to the fire, so I had the necessary accelerant. 

And people still ask me why I stopped drinking. 

Anyway thanks to all this and other shameful tales, my longest owned is my Aria Pro ll. 1983, bought from Guitar Workshop up St Michael's Hill in Bristol. Still a fine instrument, if somewhat ravaged by the passing of time. 

[ubit 2,345]

54 minutes ago, stewblack said:

I had the head of an acoustic mounted by a friend on a block like a trophy. He'd retrieved the smouldering remnant after a beach party where I had decided it would entertain those present if I was to strip naked and play the guitar having first set it on fire. Luckily we always took a bottle of petrol to facilitate a quicker start to the fire, so I had the necessary accelerant. 

And people still ask me why I stopped drinking. 

I dunno, that sounds like a great party! 😎

[akabane 150]

My 4/4 upright has been with me for 20 years now - very battered but it still sings!

[fryer 138]

I still have my Framus Star bass, given to me by my double bass playing Dad in September 1963 for my 13th birthday. It was secondhand when he bought it. Taught myself to play, and played in a few groups in the 60's. Still sounds nice, although the varnish is cracking a bit on the back of the neck. 

[knirirr 180]

I've had an old Flying V since the 90s, but this instrument just beats it:

 

For anyone who's interested it's a Grainger & Campbell army regulation pattern set which I got new in 1988, IIRC. Not much chance to play these days, unfortunately.

 

[Baxlin 958]

1 hour ago, knirirr said:

I've had an old Flying V since the 90s, but this instrument just beats it:

 

For anyone who's interested it's a Grainger & Campbell army regulation pattern set which I got new in 1988, IIRC. Not much chance to play these days, unfortunately.

 

No offence, but UNfortunately??

 

😎

Edited June 15, 2020 by Baxlin

[knirirr 180]

1 hour ago, Baxlin said:

No offence, but UNfortunately??

 

😎

Correct. It's not just cheese - there's endless fun to be had with the highland bagpipe!

Classical:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8H2HHs6Iqg

Jazz:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mFeMMXhTua-ZXjiy9qcwuzLDCPlIam80E

 

 

Edited June 15, 2020 by knirirr

[fretmeister 2,465]

 

2003 Fender American Strat. Now with a black plate and a set of fantastic Lollar Black Face single coils.

I bought it new in 2003 to commemorate the birth of my first child. I'm usually a Gibson scale fan for guitars, but this strat is fantastic.

[pineweasel 206]

I have the first three instruments I bought: a £30 Kay classical guitar in 1979, an Aria steel-string acoustic in 1980 and my Westone Thunder 1-A bass in 1983. Still play them all from time to time.

[jacko 352]

22 hours ago, knirirr said:

I've had an old Flying V since the 90s, but this instrument just beats it:

 

For anyone who's interested it's a Grainger & Campbell army regulation pattern set which I got new in 1988, IIRC. Not much chance to play these days, unfortunately.

 

Oh God, not the highland bagpipe please!!  Give me Kathryn Tickell on the Northumbrian pipes any day. In fact just give me Kathryn Tickell and I'll be happy.

[Bassworm 8]

On 14/06/2020 at 17:28, casapete said:

I had exactly the same model, even down to the missing scratchplate!

Sold it a couple of years ago for a good profit on the £30 it cost me in the early 80's. ☺️

THis one had the scratchplate originally but gawd knows where it went between getting it in about 1970 and now. Still plays really nicely, despite it's 'distressed' condition.