Bought & Sold
Former Jeff Beck gun-for-hire takes us through her new-found love of Suhr guitars and why she’s only “semi-sad” about letting her road-tested Washburn go
What was the first serious guitar you bought with your own money?
“That was a Sunburst Les Paul. I got a loan from my dad and paid it back for many years. I believe the inspiration was photos of Duane Allman.”
What was the last guitar you bought and why?
“The last guitar I bought was a Suhr Modern Antique. I need a great bridge/middle combo for a lot of the shows I’m playing now, but I was always compromising with my Washburn Parallaxe 24-fret. I thought I couldn’t get the sound I wanted because it was a 24-fret neck, and you couldn’t get proper Strat spacing.
“Then I was sharing the stage with the phenomenal Brazilian guitarist Leandre Gomes; he had me play his Suhr Modern Antique 24-fret guitar into my system, and the clouds parted. I soon bought my own and have never played a more comfortable neck.
“I was timid for quite a while because I’d played with a Floyd [Rose] since the 80s, but I now find I can do some pretty extreme vibrato with the bar using the Wilkinson locking bridge WVS130. But there is no locking nut; it just stays in tune. I also use Big Bends Nut Sauce on the bridge and nut.”
What is the most incredible find or bargain you’ve had when buying gear?
“Suhrs are hella expensive, often running $3,500 to $5,000 – but I found mine on Reverb from Japan for just $2,600!”
What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve ever experienced?
“I’ve been using the Midi Commander [footswitch] for years to change presets. [I then decided to try the] Midi Captain, which looked very promising since I now need to change snapshots versus presets. I bought one and it toasted while updating. I returned it to Amazon and got another. Same thing. No response from the company for help. I gave up on them and missed my return window and am now very happy with Morningstar MC8. Their support team is great, and the programming interface is really good.”
