It was the best gift a teenager like me could have, my very own electric guitar! This was a thoughtful gift from my grandmother, and I love it!
There is always a First ONE!
As I sit and write this article, my guitar collection is about 23 instruments or so. Every guitar has a story, and they are all very dear to me. I’ll be writing about them all, especially if you’re ever curious about the particular brand and what not. But there can only be one actual first guitar. And mine is a very special instrument. Not so much because of the brand or the playability – but because it was a gift from my grandmother from my mother’s side. And the older I get, the more I appreciate my grandma for that wonderful and thoughtful gift. It’s been almost 20 years since my grandmother passed away, but this little bit of her love for me remains immortalized in this instrument.
I’ve written before how ideally your first instrument will have a story worth telling. Technically my oldest guitar would be a classical guitar that used to be my mother’s. That guitar is about as old as I am. But my actual first guitar was the guitar my grandmother gifted me when I turned 16 years old. There must be an old reaction picture somewhere. I know she took one, and I’ve seen it. But that was decades ago the last time I saw it.
I remember it vividly. It was my birthday; we were going to have a celebration with my friends later on that afternoon at my home. I was taking a shower getting all prettied up for the occasion. As I got all dressed and came off the bathroom towards my bedroom, my grandmother had placed the guitar on my bed so it would be in view as soon as I entered the room. I was so excited! I could not believe my eyes. She was so happy for me. I had a few friends and we had started a bad and I wanted to be a guitar player… and there was my grandmother ahead of my own dreams, believing in me. Even though I did not yet know how to play the guitar. And she knew as much about guitars as I did, which was really nothing… except that she went all over town to buy the nicest one she could find.
And to be honest, the guitar was stunning. She knew I loved black at the time – so there it was a Stratocaster-style black guitar. It was all black, with dark fretboard, black pick-ups and a white pickguard. It was in a black gig bag. The brand and model: Marlin by Hohner SL-100g – try finding one of those nowadays. I was over the moon, even though I did not have any accessories that would come with it. Particularly no guitar strap, no cables, no pedals, and no amplifier. I didn’t care I could not believe she had gotten this for me. Now, this was of course a beginner guitar, and Ecuador at the time did not have many places where you could go out and buy high end instruments. So, this was as nice as you could get unless you had some connections somewhere, or somebody would bring you a guitar from a different country. Also, we did not realize that in order to maximize an electric guitar you do need a few accessories. And all that was also expensive – and that was IF you could find any in stock. Back then in the mid 90’s was not like today where you can just think about something, and it will magically show up in your social media feed. I had to wait until Christmas to get an amplifier, and that was the best we could find at a reasonable price. The amplifier is long gone. Sometime before I got a hard case for the guitar, and that was super expensive. The case is also long gone. And I am sad about that because my grandmother gave both that case and that little amplifier.
Despite that, my grandmother walked all over Quito and found this guitar and brought it home for my birthday. It was expensive at the time, so in today’s money it would have set her back at least the equivalent of about a couple hundred bucks in today’s money. That was a lot of money in Ecuador. Specially to give it to a kid who might or might not ever learn to play the damn thing. In fact, I had one of the nicest guitars from most of my friends. As I learned more about guitars then I learned about some friends who had some very expensive instruments, but again I didn’t know the difference yet. In either case, they were more into the professional side of performance. And yes, they got those instruments abroad. In either case, my skill level was still in its infancy. I played this guitar with my first band and our first gigs. The guitar actually got some scars from the adventures we had together.
Being the teenager that I was, I always wanted to “trick up” my guitar and make it even more awesome. You know, update the pickups and all that jazz. Of course, that did not happen for many years. That next year I moved to the U.S., and I played my guitar mostly at home. I missed playing with my friends. By then our little band had become as proficient as you could expect for a few teen boys jamming. Eventually here in the U.S. I would maybe have a jam session here and there. We tried making a band with a friend but that did not come to fruition, though we did compose together.
A few years after I joined the Navy, and this guitar also ended up going back to Ecuador for many years. I saw it in a stand sort of neglected and dusted up in the house in Ecuador. This was back in 2006. I did not have time nor the possibility to fix it because I was living in Hawaii at the time, so in Ecuador it remained. My brother was kind enough to also bring this guitar during one of his trips several years after in 2014. It was amazing to have my guitar back.
Not surprisingly a lot of the guitar components had suffered through the years. By this time, it was several years since my grandmother passed away. So, I wanted to restore this guitar and elevate it to the point I could only have dreamed as a kid as a homage to what she gave me. From all the things music related that she gave me, this is all that remains. I bought a new hard guitar case, new pickup… all three DiMarzio, which is what I always wanted for that guitar, all new electronics, new pots, new knobs, a new pick guard, a new bridge, etc. This time I put a black pickguard, so it was black on black. My brother helped me soldering all the components, and it was amazing seeing the guitar come to live. I still didn’t have an amplifier, but my brother gave me an amplifier as a thoughtful Christmas present. And it was a brand I could have only dream as a teenager. It is a little Marshall practice amp, and I love it. I still use it even with my more expensive guitars, and despite the fact I have a lot more amplifiers now.
I kept the original guitar body and the original neck. I kept the old pieces and I plan sometime in making it a nice art piece. Although the pickups are likely dead, still it’s part of this instrument’s history. Even though I had to chisel some of the wood in the body to make room for the larger pots, capacitors and electronics, it was all worth it. Even though the neck, as compared to my other guitars is nowhere near as playable, it has that feeling that brings me back to when I was a teenager playing with my friends and performing in our first gigs.
It was actually thanks to a friend of mine who was an amazing guitarist who told me I should be very proud of the guitar I had. This was especially true when a different schoolmate was kind of snuffing my guitar because it was not a more recognizable brand. Therefore, my other friend’s comment, the one who is a very talented musician resonated loud and clear with me. Yes, it is true it is not a big brand guitar. But this is my guitar, and to me she’s unique. And I ensured to made it even more unique as it can be.
© 2021 Marcelo Baqueroalvarez / HLC | Hohner SL-100G upgraded with DiMarzio 2021 Hampton Roads, USA
A few years back I did the second update to my guitar. This time I updated the saddles and the tunning pegs and put a red pickguard. She now has locking tuners and all kinds of cool stuff. Yes, there is possibly well over $1,000.00 of upgrades on what would have been a $100.00 guitar… but remember everything cost a lot more in Ecuador because of the differences in economy, so it was about the equivalent of almost $400 bucks in today’s money back then. But regardless of the cost, to me this is a priceless instrument because it represents my grandmother’s belief in me.
I have to say it. Although I love this instrument, and she is also all decked up. I rarely play this guitar. Just like the case with my mother’s old Yamaha classical guitar, it does feel me with nostalgia, and a great deal of sadness. I do get the guitar in special occasions, and I intend to use those guitars at some point to play something in their honor. I just don’t want to rush it. I know that the right time will come. Meanwhile I’m just happy to know that I have my very first guitar special instrument at home with me, and the memories become tangible every time I strum it along. HLC