What was the first guitar you bought with your own money?
“The first guitar I bought with my own money was a Fender Custom Shop 1954 reissue Strat at a local music store called Shreveport Music [in Louisiana]. It was one of the first Custom Shop guitars that I ever really saw hanging on a wall and it got my attention because it had this very flame-y maple neck on it. And it had a Mary Kaye type finish – it was an ash body with a translucent off-white finish. I’m not sure why they call it a ’54 reissue; it looked like a Mary Kaye Strat but without the gold hardware. I just thought it was so fancy.
“I bought the guitar after I signed my record contract.