Guitar(ist)s

Well, I’m sitting here listening to the guitar solo in Freebird, so I guess I’ll talk about some guitars and guitarists, being one myself. I started playing when I was about 12 years old I think. I was really into the band AC DC at the time and Angus Young was my favorite guitarist. He played lead guitar on a Gibson SG guitar, so of course I wanted to get one, being the impressionable 12 year old that I was. I had a starter acoustic guitar before that, but eventually I got an Epiphone SG guitar as my first electric guitar, which is kind of like a cheaper knock-off of the SG brand. And I played a whole of AC DC on that until that musical interest started to fade. Then as a young teenager, I went through my angsty stage where I listened to some punk and grunge rock. I wanted a Fender Telecaster because that’s the guitar that a lot of those bands played with. Then I started to reach my hard rock and heavy metal phase, where I started listening to bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, etc. I wanted to get either an ESP Explorer guitar like the one that James Hetfield from Metallica played or a Flying V like many heavy metal guitarists played. I never got either, just kept playing on the now-old Epiphone guitar that was falling apart because I never took care of it. My last musical stage, the one I’ve mostly stayed at was classic rock, bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Bad Company, etc. I wanted to get a Gibson Les Paul, because that’s what Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin played. I also think Slash from Guns N’ Roses played one, and many other famous guitarists. To me, it just seemed to have that classic rock feel, look, and sound. But I never did get one. The guitar I had finally chosen to buy was a Fender Highway 1 Stratocaster because I really liked Pink Floyd. They’re actually my favorite rock band, and David Gilmour plays a Fender Strat, so I had to get one. I had heard so many great guitar solos from him alone. I just love the sound and look of a Strat, and so many great guitarists play with that guitar including Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Frusciante, Mark Knopfler, and many, many more.