Bernie Marsden was one of Britain’s best-loved rock and blues guitarists, known not just for his role in penning huge Whitesnake hits such as Here I Go Again but also because of his enduring love for vintage guitars. Bernie’s touring took him all round the world and that provided the springboard for his many decades of guitar collecting, which saw him acquire a bevy of beautiful, rare and classic electrics, which he used across his prolific career.
So when news went out that Bernie was putting key guitars from his collection up for sale, it unsurprisingly caused quite a stir. Mike Long of ATB Guitars in Cheltenham had the honour of being appointed the agent for what are arguably the most interesting guitars from Bernie’s collection. News that Bernie’s infamously raw and exciting 1959 Les Paul (aka The Beast) was to head up the sale proved short-lived, however. The Beast was initially among the guitars offered for sale at ATB, but, perhaps understandably, after a bit of soul-searching Bernie withdrew it saying simply that he had “some constructive conversations with my family and they feel it should stay with me…”
Even without the presence of The Beast, the collection that is now with ATB is seriously impressive – with: we only learned of Bernie’s death two days before going to press, so the following interview – conducted before his passing – refers to him in the present tense. We took the decision to respectfully publish it as is, in tribute to Bernie’s lifelong love of guitar collecting.
