“Guitars are like human beings – if you don’t play them, they get sick”: Why John McLaughlin doesn’t believe in collecting guitars
Jazz fusion virtuoso John McLaughlin has opened up some of the prized guitars he’s parted ways with over the years and the reason he prefers giving away guitars to collecting them.
“I think back on how many guitars I’ve given away. And I do have some regret,” the guitarist admits in a recent chat with MusicRadar.
One of those guitars was a 1963 Gibson L4-C with a Charlie Christian [Lollar] pickup, which he was forced to sell during a difficult time in his life: “It was a beautiful guitar,” says McLaughlin. “It had a great jazz tone, but I ran out of money and had to sell it to eat!”
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McLaughlin ended up selling the guitar to an “angling friend”. He then tried to buy it back several months later when his finances improved, but unfortunately by then, his friend had grown too attached.
“I asked him, ‘Will you sell me the guitar back?’ He said, ‘No way, man. No way.’ So that was gone forever!”
There’s also the white 1967 Fender Stratocaster he gifted to Jeff Beck after a tour they shared in the 70s.
“I gave a 1967 white Strat to Jeff Beck after a tour we did together in 1974, or ’75,” says the musician. “And when we lost Jeff, his wife wrote to me and said, ‘I’m going to sell the guitars. They’re all around me, and they keep reminding me of him.’”
While McLaughlin attended the London auction that followed, even he couldn’t tell which white Strat had once been his.
“They had all these instruments, along with amps, pre-amps, and pedalboards. But there were two white Strats! I don’t know which of them I gave him, but anyway, I saw it there!”
Still, McLaughlin isn’t one to dwell long on what’s been lost. For him, guitars are meant to be played – and passed on when they’re no longer in use.
“I’m not a collector,” he says. “I get guitars, but I give them away.”
To McLaughlin, guitars are living, breathing companions and they’re not meant to sit on a shelf. “Guitars are like human beings – if you don’t play them, they get sick. They really need to be played.”
“Instruments are like a marriage between heaven and hell,” he continues, “They’re made on Earth, but the stuff that comes out of them is made in heaven. They’re wonderful in that way.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
