(Continuing on Rain's theme)
 
Since I had no clue about electric guitars at the time, the drummer for our future band chose the guitar for me. It was a (I think Korean made) maple neck 80's Hondo Destroyer Deluxe (cherry red). It even had American-built Dimarzio pickups . I was totally into Van Halen and wanted to emulate his striped guitars.....so, I got the best (blue, white, & black) electrical tape I could find and taped that sucker. It also came with a hard shell case which was a novel thing for me and I looked like a real band member. Our three piece (sometimes 4) garage band played house parties, anyone's garage/backyard (when the parents were away), and just had a total blast with the little equipment we had. My first amp was a Peavey Backstage (the one in Rain's First Amp thread) We even had highschool groupies .
 
I played/practiced and abused that guitar down to the bone.......it was still in decent condition until I decided to check it in as luggage on a flight. It had obviously come out of the case as there were broken strings, chipped wood, scratches etc......it was quite sad as I loved that guitar since we had been through so much throught out the years .   
 
It was identical to this pic, but in Red:
 

 

#1 Some short scale kiddie guitar bought by my step-grandparents for X-mas when I was about 7 or so. No one got me lesson or encouraged me. It got slowly destroyed by me and my baby brother but neither of us never really played it. Not sure what happened to it... probably got thrown out.
 
#2 My first guitar that I actually played. An El Degas acoustic my mom had in her basement when I went to visit her one time when I was 11 or so. It had three horrendously corroded strings and ultra high action. Over that weekend I mastered playing the main riff to the Beverly Hills Cop theme on one string so she let me take it back home to my dad's with me. I got new strings for it and it was my main acoustic guitar for many years but it was truly horrible. I had it up until at least ten years ago but for the life of me I can't remember what happened to it. I was keeping it as a souvenir. I think it may have been stolen or lost in a move at some point. Seriously that thing sucked but I used to use it to busk with which provided me with much needed street vendor hotdogs for sustenance as a young man in the city.
 
#3 My uncle's Hohner telecaster which was also a horrendous beast. He also loaned me his Fender Vibrato Champ which in retrospect was a pretty nice amp but it had no distortion so as a young metalhead I did not like it so much... but those don't count because they weren't really mine.
 
#4 My mom bought me a Saga II ES-335 copy (I had been playing a strat copy but the Saga just sounded so much better). That is the one I consider to be my first real guitar and I wish I still had it. I took a years worth of lessons using that guitar, learned most of Metallica's And Justice For All and Megadeth's Rust In Peace on it as well as a ton of other metal/alterna stuff that was going on back then. It was a great axe but once I started playing in real bands (metal of course) it squealed like an extremely angry pig. It got relegated to guitar case sentry duty for way too many years only being taken out on occasion to noodle on nostalgically or to steal strings from for my other axes. I pawned it for a ridiculously low sum of money expecting to retrieve it quickly but FORGOT THAT I PAWNED IT!!! One day a year and a bit later (after the pawn ticket had expired) I remember and I am still tormented by that inexcusable display of blinding stupidity.
 
#5 A schoolmate of mine who went to the same guitar teacher had an Ibanez Roadstar he used to always brag about to me and the other guitar dorks (there were very few of us so we tolerated his obnoxious behavior because he had better gear and used to win Kiwanis festival competitions with his renditions of songs ripped directly from the Hal Leanord method books). When he told us he wanted to sell it I convinced one of my parents (I forget which) to buy it for me and surprisingly they did. Great guitar and definitely more suited to metal... BUT it had a crazy pull pot electronics system and bizzaro wiring that made the pickups cut out all the time forcing me to have to literally PUNCH the pickups as I played to make them work. I used this guitar for years with my various bands angrily punching away at the pickups live to the point it became an art. I could hear the pickups drop out, punch them and be back in action with out dropping a note. This was despite multiple "repairs" and pickup replacements over the years. Very frustrating. Eventually I ripped out all the electronics myself which were a complete mess of wires, bad solder jobs, a bizarre 5 switch toggle, etc and just crammed one of the simple factory pickups back into the bridge position with some electronics surplus store bought pots and NO toggle. I bought the wrong kind of pots though so turning the knobs only turns the volume/tone halfway down. lulz... Still I nice guitar to play and I still have it. I will be replacing the old stock pickup with a much nicer Dimarzio a buddy gave me and probably some intertube acquired pots that are hopefully the correct kind this go around.
 
I consider all of those my "first" guitar in one way or another but if I had to pin it down I'd say the Saga II was my true first and I loved it. God damn am I ever stupid for losing that axe. Now I'm desperately trying to figure out how to acquire one of those new Epi ES series models... preferably the "Lucille" one because it looks just spectacular.
 
Wow... I forget how crazy my life was sometimes. :-/

Good idea, Mesh. :)
 
My very first guitar was an acoustic. I must have been 6 or 7. Then a friend of my parents borrowed it for a variety show where he was doing a number and smashed the guitar. Idiot... He was supposed to replace it but never did.
 
I have very few memories of that one, except that my older cousin had taught me to play something that sounded like Twist & Shout. 
 
There was little store in town which carried all sorts of things including a couple of guitars. They had an electric bass (looked like a Thunderbird, from memory) and I fell in love w/ it - though to me it was just an electric guitar.
 
I had no clue what a bass was. When I finally figured it out (partially), I decided that I wanted to play bass. But another cousin told me I'd be much better w/ a guitar. Then I heard Randy Rhoads' solo in Over the Mountain. By the time the song was finished I knew I wanted an electric guitar.
 
So for Christmas, 30 years ago this year, I got my first electric. I was 12.

 
This is a pic I found of the web but mine was identical, except the knobs - mine were speed knobs. It sucked. The fact that the inlays aren't even aligned properly gives you an idea of the manufacturer's level of attention to details.
 
By the mid eighties, Les Paul's were anything but fashionable. Every one had super strats. Sunburst finish was associated with anything but metal. Chrome covered pick-ups were a joke. But, hey, it's what I had...
 
I remember watching Maiden's Live After Death over at an older pal's place one day after school. When Adrian Smith pulled out his Goldtop, the fellow went "Ewwww! Can you believe it? He has all sorts of nice guitars, like Lado's. And he's playing that old piece of junk...
 
I felt humiliated. We looked up to this guy, he had crazy talent and he knew I was stuck with a LP copy. I never figured out why he was so mean. He was usually pretty sweet, and I guessed that that made it even worst.
 
The funny thing is that he now plays Les Paul's - has a bunch of them, and they're pretty much his main axe. 
 
 

Beepster, if you are looking at a 335 style, consider this:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--EPIETR3
The Epiphone Riviera P-93 has proven to be a very nice guitar. And it's just plain pretty.
My first electric was a Univox Hi Flyer, similar to this one:

It was an inexpensive guitar, and I enjoyed playing it for several years before it was stolen.

Beep - what Robert says! :)
 

 

 
:P

Oh my. She is a nice looking beast isn't she?
 
As someone who has come close to purchasing a P-90 outfitted Gibby SG but opted for a model with chromes (out of caution because I am more familiar with 57 humbuckers and it was a high pressure decision due to an imminent tour and minimal time to explore gear) I would like to ask...
 
How is the noise/hum factor on those P-90's in studio... particularly with some distortion from either amps, or sims? I know they are much quieter than single coils am not sure by how much.
 
The reason I was looking at the Lucille is the varipot thingie for all the pickup combos BUT it also lacks the f-holes which I think might defeat some of the crisper high end and resonance I'd like (but provide thickness/bottom which I also like).
 
Also I've never owned a Bigsby. If I do something like a double whole tone+ bend it will still behave like a fixed bridge, right? As in it won't detune the other strings? That is the major reason I avoid whammy bars (especially floating) or tighten the buggers down so no amount of bending moves them.
 
Still... any time I've played soemthing fitted with a Bigsby I've always liked it. So cool for weird chord wobbles. The notes stay in relative tuning SOOOO much better than other systems.
 
Anyway... thanks for the tip. That is an excellent price and I am ecstatic Gibson has released an affordable Epi line of these guits. $3000+ for the Gibson models is simply an impossibility. Some day though... some day.
 
:-)
 
Edit: I have another question.... after looking at that bridge does that allow for downward pitch bends? I've only played the kind the bends upwards in either direction. If it bends down (and stays in tune) that would definitely give it some points over the Lucille. It's also about $200-300 less than the Lucille.

#1 (electric) no name such and such for West L.A. Music (along with my first amp, cramp, ram, lamp, scamp)
 
#2 St George
 
#3 (switched to bass) Cheapo bass
 
#4 Fender P-Bass (got it for $15). It did not work. My first wiring repair job. Played it for 3 years (and yes it worked).
 
#5 Gibson EB-0 (brand new), sold P-Bass for $100
 
#6 traded up EB-0 for an EB-3 (brand new)
 
#7 traded up EB-3 for Rick bass (brand new)
 
#8 traded up Rick and $700 for my Alembic Series I (or carp I just let the cat out of the bag that I own an Alembic)
 
Still have #8 and.....
Line 6 JTV-69
1987 Fender Strat with custom active electronics
Fender P-Bass
Line 6 Bass
Custom Michael Henley (spacey) 5-String Bass
Kala Uke Bass
Silver Creek Acoustic
Ibanez classical cutaway acoustic
 
 

Upon a point by point comparison the one glaring deficiency of the P-93 would be the tuning heads. I actually had one of those buggers blow up on me right before a tour. Not sure why Gibson keeps using those rickety old things. The Lucille has the more solid Grovers. However for the extra $200-300 price difference the heads on the P-93 could be replaced. I'm also not sure what to think about the fine tuning bridge on the Lucille. Looks like it could be problematic. I've had fine tuning screws go funky on me before too (which is one of the reasons why I dislike Floyd Rose style setups).
 
The varipot thingie and any associated wiring could be a liability as well. You guys have given me a lot to think about. I have a bit of a black thumb in regards to gear so unnecessary complexities are something I try to avoid.
 
Cheers.

Beepster
Oh my. She is a nice looking beast isn't she?
 
As someone who has come close to purchasing a P-90 outfitted Gibby SG but opted for a model with chromes (out of caution because I am more familiar with 57 humbuckers and it was a high pressure decision due to an imminent tour and minimal time to explore gear) I would like to ask...
 
How is the noise/hum factor on those P-90's in studio... particularly with some distortion from either amps, or sims? I know they are much quieter than single coils am not sure by how much.
 
The reason I was looking at the Lucille is the varipot thingie for all the pickup combos BUT it also lacks the f-holes which I think might defeat some of the crisper high end and resonance I'd like (but provide thickness/bottom which I also like).
 
Also I've never owned a Bigsby. If I do something like a double whole tone+ bend it will still behave like a fixed bridge, right? As in it won't detune the other strings? That is the major reason I avoid whammy bars (especially floating) or tighten the buggers down so no amount of bending moves them.
 
Still... any time I've played soemthing fitted with a Bigsby I've always liked it. So cool for weird chord wobbles. The notes stay in relative tuning SOOOO much better than other systems.
 
Anyway... thanks for the tip. That is an excellent price and I am ecstatic Gibson has released an affordable Epi line of these guits. $3000+ for the Gibson models is simply an impossibility. Some day though... some day.
 
:-)
 
Edit: I have another question.... after looking at that bridge does that allow for downward pitch bends? I've only played the kind the bends upwards in either direction. If it bends down (and stays in tune) that would definitely give it some points over the Lucille. It's also about $200-300 less than the Lucille.

As far as noise is concerned, she's definitely noisier than my humbucker guitars (LP's and SG). Not half as bad as my US strat though.
 
It depends on the pick ups combination. With all 3 pickups actives, noise isn't really an issue.
 
But I use the middle pick up sparingly, usually only a tad to bring in a different color to my tone -  I'm not much a fan of the "in-between positions on a strat" type of tone, and the middle p.u. brings in something which reminds me of that sound. 
 
That being said, all I need to do is turn around a bit and I can find a sweet spot where it isn't picking up interference. Anyway, you don't want to use that guitar to record facing the monitors because the semi-hollow body actually picks up the sound and re-amplifies it.
 
No issue w/ the Bigsby vs bending strings. Though you have more tension due to string length, so depending on the gauge you're using, you may find them a bit harder to push 'em. For me it certainly was a departure from the SG, which is the easiest thing to play in the Alpha Quadrant.
 
In my case, switching guitars usually means switching styles - I'll not try to pull some Van Halen or Randy Rhoads' type of solo on the Riviera. I tend to do a whole lot less single string solos and get into a somewhat old school type of soloing, which usually doesn't involve as much bending, besides the Chuck Berry type of thing, obviously.
 
 EDIT - Oh yeah, I'm not too fond of the tuners. Aesthetically, I guess they fit, but I just don't feel them. I guess eventually I'll find an appropriate replacement, something that's both functional and matches the guitar's vibe.

1rst...no name single pup red slab of wood
2nd...Harmony double pup sunburst
3rd...Fender 1965 MusicMaster in sonic blue
4th to Eleventy Jillionth...Katie Bar The Door