Mark's quote on Tony Bacon's book about guitars

[JF]

few days ago I saw this book in a store

the back cover features a Mark's quote that I hadn't read yet :

"we always talk about Gibson or Fender etc ... but I also really like cheap guitars. I grew up with all kinds of cheap guitars, Höfner, Futurama, Burns, Watkins, Harmony.
I have as much affection for kitsch and inexpensive guitars as for exceptional ones"

sorry if the traduction isn't exactly accurate



as for Joe's quote, it's a longe and very large debate that can't be summed in few lines. I will write a chronicle about it when I find the time :

"give someone my Priceton, a '59 Burst, and a jack, and he'll play a music that sounds like him.
Give me his Epiphone and a Line 6: it will suffice to turn a few knobs to find my sound. the most important thing is always the fingers on the strings "

you know, the "it's all in the fingers" thing 

[Knopflerfan]

Thanks JF...

Good to see Joe & MK both on there giving quotes! About time we had a recording of them both together...

[Jules]

He said such things a lot between 2004 and 2008,actually he used quite cheap guitars for Shangri-la and Crimson records.

And after that, back to expensive ones.

[KnopfleRick]

It's the fingers that make the sound. So true!
Thanks for sharing, JF. 

[quizzaciously]

Gotta love cheap guitars because that's what everybody starts with. There are few lucky ones who can start on a proper and expensive Gibson or Martin, most people graduate to more expensive guitars as they realise why they need them and what they are capable of. Sometimes affection towards expensive guitars goes out of hand and nobody from nowhere buys himself a custom shop 1/1 edition signature instrument for some reason which costs like 1,000 cheap guitars. I don't get it.

[dustyvalentino]

He said such things a lot between 2004 and 2008,actually he used quite cheap guitars for Shangri-la and Crimson records.

And after that, back to expensive ones.

He still regularly uses a Danelectro I guess.

A lot of the cheap guitars aren’t as reliable for life on the road.

[Knopflerfan]

He said such things a lot between 2004 and 2008,actually he used quite cheap guitars for Shangri-la and Crimson records.

And after that, back to expensive ones.

He still regularly uses a Danelectro I guess.

A lot of the cheap guitars aren’t as reliable for life on the road.

Mind you, on the subject of cheap guitars 'on the road' - JB has used Epiphone's & Squier's on tour!

[JF]

It's the fingers that make the sound. So true!
Thanks for sharing, JF. 

ah ah ah. I think it's a little more complicated than this.
I am currently working on an article about that 

[qjamesfloyd]

Mike Rutherford is currently using a cheap  Strat copy he found in a guitar shop in South Africa while in lockdown, and he is using that for the Genesis tour, his tech said it has had some mods to cope with touring, but it is a cheap guitar.

[3Strats]

Some of the cheaper vintage guitars are good, because they were well made & have their own sound, they were just not made by one of the "big" companies. Others were truly awful. My first electric was a 70's Jedson "335 style" semi acoustic that I sold because I felt the pick ups were rubbish, my second was a Jedson Tele-style, (I was on a low budget) which sounded a bit better but looked "wrong" . My first "proper" electric was a late 80's Fender Japan Strat (in red with a maple neck of course) and that was a totally different thing. I still have it and love it.
The majority of entry level electric guitars (over about £150) nowadays are much better than their 60's & 70's equivalents. Beginners have never had it so good !

[dustyvalentino]

Yes, I bought a Squier CV Jaguar recently and it's great!

[quizzaciously]

Yes, I bought a Squier CV Jaguar recently and it's great!

I think the idea behind the love for cheap guitars is not when an artist of big calibre uses it on stage, it just means he doesn't play fancy guitars exclusively. Just like you've said, expensive guitars are simply more reliable and stable on stage, after all, it's a professional instrument, but it doesn't mean cheaper counterparts can't give you the joy of playing. I remember sitting in a guitar store one day where they displayed a lot of Martins and their cheaper brand Sigma (historically a Martin brand), and I liked one Sigma more than the most expensive Martin simply because it brought me more joy. And the price was 1/10 of that Martin!

[Jules]

I saw Peter Frampton in Madrid in 2005 and he used a very cheap copy of a Fender Surburst to play "Baby I love your way", I recognized it because it was the cheap copy my youngest brother had at home. I think it was something like "Saeltan", can't remember the name...

[KnopfleRick]

It's the fingers that make the sound. So true!
Thanks for sharing, JF. 

ah ah ah. I think it's a little more complicated than this.
I am currently working on an article about that 

You are probably right.
Thanks to Google translate I always enjoy reading your articles. Can't wait to learn more