FRETBUZZ

BUCKING THE TREND

Dear Guitar Magazine, I must confess that the lethargy instilled in me by having to work from home since March has left we with a backlog of magazines to read. That being the case, I’ve only just caught up on the November 2020 issue, in which I was really intrigued to read about Chris Buck’s 1962 Stratocaster find, as I’m also the owner of a player-grade example.

I acquired mine in 1987 from none other than one-time contributor Phil Harris, who at the time was clearing his stock of refinished Strats. I spent a very pleasant afternoon at Phil’s house in South London, playing five early 1960s Strats that he’d laid out for me before picking #82207, a creamy white refinish, for the princely sum of £1,000. Phil was kind about my playing and even took the time to show me an absolutely mint 1957 Strat in the next room, which he said, to my dismay, “plays like a dog”.