![]() “I’ve never really sold guitars I’ve given them away. Have you ever sold a guitar you now intensely regret selling? In fact, I haven’t even thought about it until that question. It was just like: ‘Meh! Well, you know… it’s not that good, anyway.’ But, later, when I bought myself a proper acoustic I spent a couple of hours trying out loads of them until I was happy. I didn’t have that anxiety about if I opened the case and the neck’s snapped. “However, the good thing about it was I got to take it all around the world on tour and I wasn’t that worried. But, yeah, I thought, ‘This is cool and it’s got a pickup… but then I got it home and really, it wasn’t a great guitar at all, you know? It didn’t sound good, it didn’t particularly record nicely. It was a busy shop and I felt intimidated being there, so I had a quick play on it and thought, ‘Yeah, this is great.’ I think it was about 350 quid… I don’t remember what the make was. “There was this lovely-looking one and I was kind of wowed by the inlays on it. So I went to Denmark Street and didn’t really know what I was looking for with an acoustic because I’d never had one before. Now, I find guitar shops very intimidating – even then, when I was in my late-30s. I needed one, so I went to Denmark Street. “Years ago, when I was playing in Mediaeval Baebes, I didn’t have an acoustic and I was borrowing one. What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve ever had after buying a piece of gear? I feel extremely fortunate that this happened to me.” ![]() ![]() The body looks a bit like a cross between a Les Paul and an Iceman. It’s called the ‘Nilus’, which apparently is the God of the Nile. “It sort of sounds a bit like a Les Paul and it’s got this lovely kind of Bigsby-style trem. “And he paid the tax on this thing! So it turned up and it’s in this beautiful case, and it’s made of a lovely piece of swamp ash and it doesn’t look like any other guitar I’ve seen. You shouldn’t have to pay a penny for it.’ So I had to get back to Alone with a copy of this receipt and say, ‘I’m so sorry, I can’t pay for this guitar, I just don’t have that money.’ And he said, ‘Oh, this is a mistake. ![]() “So we exchanged addresses, and I was in London recording with Gong when I got a message from the shipping company saying I needed to pay import tax of over a thousand pounds. I have friends with lots, but I’m fairly monogamous when it comes to guitars Give me your address and I’ll send it to you when I get back to Israel.’ It was quite ridiculous and I was very, very flattered. And after I saw you play, I wanted you to have it. it’s the best guitar I’ve ever made and I’ve been looking for someone to give it to. “And then he said, ‘I’ve made this guitar. I have a boutique company called Coils that makes pickups.’ I have friends with lots, but I’m fairly monogamous when it comes to guitars this is quite interesting… So Gong was playing at the Electric Ballroom last year, and after I came offstage, this guy called Alone Sage grabbed me and said, ‘Hey, look, I’m from Israel. “I have to say, as a caveat, I really don’t need any more guitars. What was the last guitar that you bought (or acquired) and why?
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