STRAIGHT EIGHTS

A missed call on my phone from my dentist had me quickly redialling. I didn’t know dentists had reopened, but I could do with a quick check-up. “Oh, hi, Dave. Would you be able to take a look at a couple of my guitars?” I should have guessed. And, yes, before you ask, my dentist owns a PRS.

In fact, I’ve been having a one-sided conversation about guitars with my dentist for some years. He does the talking while the best I do – with numb, open mouth – is to gurgle a reply. He also plays bass, and a while ago I gave his 70s Fender Mustang a bit of a spit ’n’ polish.

“Once upon a time, big was best and you, the player, were deemed inferior if you used thin wires”

With masks on we stood on his practice doorstep as he handed me two cases. “They could both do with a clean-up and restring. The PRS SE has a dodgy coil-tap thingy and the Strat… well, I don’t think anyone’s taken a look at that since it left that factory about 10