Access Backstage Pass
This month in Bought & Sold, Marc Ford pops his head through the door to talk about the guitars in his life, from first loves to current squeezes, and those he loved and lost over the years.
And with a new concert album, Live in Germany, out now, the Lucinda Williams guitarist reveals what’s in his current rig, and tells us why his Asher signature guitars are almost too good to be true.
What was the first serious guitar that you bought with your own money?
Well, I took all of the savings I had accrued as a kid from all the birthdays and Christmases – which was obviously meant for something way more responsible, I think – and I cashed it and went in and had a guitar put together out of Warmoth parts. It was right when that whole Schecter thing was happening and the parts-guitar thing was just starting. I essentially had a hot-rodded [S-type] made.
But prior to that, all of my guitars were gifts from my family. I ended up trading that for something else pretty quickly. It was sort of a flash of the times, you know? It had a humbucker in it and it was [an S-type], so it had the whammy bar… it was very Eddie Van Halen-esque in a way. That was what was going on at the time and I didn’t know enough about guitars, so it just seemed cool. But as soon as I got into guitar, I realised that it wasn’t something I wanted to use.
What was the last guitar that you bought, and why?
The last one that I bought was a Nash [T-style]. I was missing the Telecaster style with the gear that I had with me with Lucinda [Williams], so I went to Mike’s Music – where I bought my ’61 Tele, like, 30 years ago – and now I’ve bought another [laughs]. It’s a great guitar and it made sense because it’s a tool that I’ve been missing in my equipment.
What’s the most incredible find or bargain that you’ve ever heard when buying guitars?
Shoot… probably a short-scale Gibson hollowbody like the one Chuck Berry played in the ’50s before he went to the ES-335 [the ES-350, a close cousin to the Byrdland]. I found one of those in Lake Havasu for incredibly cheap. It needed some work, but it was a great deal. It was the same one that Chuck played, and the same one that [Eric] Clapton played at the Bangladesh concerts [EC played a Gibson Byrdland].
What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve ever had while buying gear?
There were a lot of lean times, where I had to get rid of stuff just to keep afloat.
Well, that first guitar that I had made is one. It was a quality guitar, but it was just a dumb choice. It really wasn’t at all helpful to what I was doing, so I was pretty bummed that I did that, you know?
But other than that, I don’t think I’ve made too many stupid mistakes… at least, not ones that stick out. But there’s always gonna be some stuff that didn’t turn out the way that you thought or didn’t fit once you got it home. But I don’t do a lot of on-a-whim, off-the-cuff buying, you know? I’ve gotta hear it and know that it’s working pretty cool before I buy it.
Have you ever sold a guitar you now intensely regret letting go?
I mean… yeah [laughs]. There’s a lot of gear that I had to get rid of because rent was due. I was always paid as a sideman, so there were only a few moments where I was really paid money that was decent.
There were a lot of lean times, where I had to get rid of stuff just to keep afloat. So that list is longer than I can remember what’s even on there. But gear is a great place to keep your money, you know what I mean? If you have real pieces, you’re really not gonna lose anything on them.
This is when you start to realise that guitars are just tools. Like, you can have your favourites and you can have things that you prefer, but sometimes that can be limiting.
There are times when being on an instrument that’s a little uncomfortable, set up wrong, or not what you’re used to, forces you to be present, think about what you’re doing and not get so hung up about the instrument itself.
What’s your best buying tip for someone looking to buy their ultimate guitar?
The ultimate guitar tip for guitars – and really, any guitar, though it’s more obvious on acoustic and maybe less so with electric – is that it’s got to sound good when it’s not plugged in. There has to be a tone that catches your ear. And it probably needs to be unique compared with other guitars.
Obviously, feel is important. It’s gotta feel good to you. But if it doesn’t sound good when it’s not plugged in, there’s no way that you’re ever gonna get it to sound good through the electronics.
If forced to make a choice, would you rather have a really good guitar and a cheap amp or a cheap electric guitar and a top-notch amp?
I’d buy the guitar. Shit, these days, half the time I’m playing through a rented amp [laughs]. But the guitar is so much more personal. You’re physically touching the thing and, in a perfect world, it becomes a part of you to where you don’t even think about it any more.
It becomes just a way to get your insides out, since your fingerprints are literally on it. There’s direct contact and that’s gonna exchange your subtleties way more than an amplifier will, I think.
If you could only use humbuckers or single coil pickups for the rest of your career, which would you choose, and why?
Single coils. They’re more expressive. There’s more subtleties and they’re way more direct for when you need that. I just find them to be more versatile and more fun. I’ve always been drawn to single coils. Not that I’m knocking a great humbucker; I just prefer single coils.
Marc’s Go-To Rig
Right now with Lucinda, I’ve got a Satellite amp. It’s probably about 25 watts with two 10-inch speakers. I don’t know what [owner] Adam [Grimm] does to them, but they’re just cool and they work.
I’m playing a Wide Sky guitar that’s kind of like a Les Paul Special, and I’ve got the Nash T, and an old 50th anniversary ’54 [Fender] Strat that I really love. I just got the Nash, but I think I’ll bring it out on the road with me.
Bill Asher is an incredible luthier. His attention to detail is almost more than I can handle!
Aside from all that, I’ve got my signature Asher guitars. Bill [Asher] is an incredible luthier. His attention to detail is almost more than I can handle! I developed a relationship with him over time, and we started talking about ideas and gear.
At the time, my two favorite guitars were a Les Paul Special and a Fender Strat. I thought, ‘Can we marry these two guitars together somehow?’ Then I noticed his Electro Sonic design, so we were essentially using his parts that he’d already designed and just assembling them to my taste.
With pedals, on the road I’m really only using a couple of boost pedals, an overdrive and maybe a slap delay. There’s not a lot of tricks, which is cool because I was never much into tricks anyway.
- Live in Germany is out now.
- This article first appeared in Guitarist. Subscribe and save.
