The First Look
2020
Our first proper look at the guitar, in the weeks after the 2020 auction. Years of use have marked it, and we've chosen to leave it exactly as it reached us.
What forty years looks like
These were taken in the weeks after the 2020 auction — the first time we had the guitar in our own hands and could look at it properly, rather than across a room or in someone else's photograph.
It has been used, and it shows. The finish is marked, the hardware is worn, and the strings are in poor condition. They will have been changed many times since 1980, and there is no way of knowing who put the current set on, which is part of why they are still there.
The built-in effects module still mostly works, which we had not expected. The guitar plays, too — we can confirm a certain chord sequence comes out about right. And somewhere in among the controls is the misspelled "replat" button, which is the sort of detail that makes an object feel like a real thing somebody owned rather than a relic.
Why we have left it alone
We thought hard about the strings and decided not to touch them. Once you start that kind of work it is difficult to know where to stop, and anything you take off is gone for good.
Getting the guitar into properly playable condition again would mean a significant refurbishment, and we think that would cost it most of what makes it worth looking at in the first place. So it stays exactly as it reached us: unrestored, unpolished, still carrying the wear.
What you see in these photographs is what you see in the display case.
