SOUND AND VISION

Over the years, we’ve featured just about every type of guitar collection imaginable, from multi-million-dollar rock star arsenals to collections that focus primarily on one specific model or even one custom colour. Don’t believe us? There really is someone out there who only owns Fiesta Red Strats. Dozens of them.

Maybe it’s because the pursuit of clutter-free minimalism has become so popular in recent years but there’s something especially appealing about the notion of curating a small but discerning collection of vintage guitars. Just four or five instruments, perhaps, that tick all the boxes sonically and represent some of the very best examples of their type.

Almost by accident, London-based photographer Phil Bourne has arrived at precisely that point. But, like most guitarists, he’s been on a long journey to get there, including a stint as a bass player in the punk era, selling guitars to fund photography gear, and plenty more besides. But before we get into all that, let’s wind back the clock to Phil’s childhood in the North West of England and find out how his obsession took hold.

“The first time that I ever really thought about playing guitar was when I was about nine years old. I had a schoolmate whose parents had a lot of Beatles records. I would go around. So that was probably when the seed was planted. Shortly after that, I discovered T. Rex and was just completely blown away. After hearing for the first time, I knew that I had to get a guitar as soon as possible. That was an exciting sound.”