“I’ve always favoured humbuckers. They’re what my heroes used – Clapton, BB King and Paul Kossoff”: Connor Selby on his greatest gear hits and misses, and the Gibson ES-125 that was the bargain of the century
The up-and-coming blues ace stops by to talk all things gear: the buying, the selling, and the regrets along the way
(Image credit: Rob Blackham)
Connor Selby is our latest guest on Guitarist's Bought & Sold, and you know the drill by now. This is where the guitar world's great and the good come to discuss gear, all the electric guitars they've loved (and lost), the gear regrets that keep them awake at night, and the prized finds that warm their hearts.
Selby, whose self-titled album is out now via Provogue/Mascot is no different. Like the rest of us he can't stop looking for gear, for deals he will never make. But at least he is sure of one thing: when it comes to electric guitar pickups, it's humbuckers all the way.
What was the first serious guitar that you bought with your own money?
“When I was about 15 or 16 I did my work experience at Peach Guitars, when it was in Braintree [Essex]. In those days it was a small independent shop, before it became the huge thing that it is now. For the whole week I was just trying as many guitars as I could.
“My granddad had passed away many years before and had left me some money and, because I was doing my work experience, John Priest, who owns Peach Guitars, gave me a really good deal on a nice secondhand Custom Shop Strat.
“I’d been playing for a few years at that point and I was really into music. I think I was just starting to play live shows and stuff and, weirdly, during that week they really got me into Stevie Ray Vaughan because they had his music playing all the time in the shop. So for about six months after that I just really spent a lot of time trying to nail his style. Prior to that I was listening to the same people I listen to now – Eric Clapton and B.B. King.”
What was the last guitar you bought and why?
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“The last guitar I bought was a Gibson Custom Shop SG. It’s kind of a funny story, really, because I had an SG prior to that, but I sold it to a friend and I didn’t really intend to buy another one.
Les Pauls are my favourite guitars, but I thought that if I was going to buy another guitar to use as a backup, then I wanted it to be slightly different... The SG is a nice sort of middle ground
“The reason I sold it in the first place is because I wanted to get another Les Paul or something like that. But I ended up seeing this relatively recent ’61 SG Reissue with the old-school trem and I just fell in love with it. So I bought it impulsively.
“Les Pauls are my favourite guitars, but I thought that if I was going to buy another guitar to use as a backup, then I wanted it to be slightly different. I wanted it to be similar enough that I can still get the same sort of sounds, but I don’t just want to have another guitar that’s the same, you know? The SG is a nice sort of middle ground.”
What is the most incredible find or bargain you’ve had when buying gear?
“About two years ago I was on Gumtree and I found a Gibson ES-125 really cheap. I’d wanted one for many years at that point and I was lucky enough to find this one that was in really great condition. So I ended up going to Gloucester to get it and it was an old guy who’d had it for, like, 25 years or so and I think he had some injury to his hand so he couldn’t play any more.
“I fell in love with that guitar and I’ve used it so much ever since. I’ve used it on some of the support tours that I’ve done with people like Beth Hart and Robert Cray. It is such an amazing‑sounding guitar.”
Don’t be too impulsive. We’ve all done it, we’ve all gone into a shop, played a guitar, fallen in love with it and just, you know, ‘Gotta have it!’
What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve experienced?
“I went through a phase where I was really into Cream-era Eric Clapton and I bought a Joe Bonamassa Epiphone Firebird I. I mean, it was a really nice guitar, but I just found it really uncomfortable to play, basically.
“I wouldn’t say I necessarily completely regretted it, but that’s probably the only guitar I’ve ever bought where I’ve not been able to use it because it was just so uncomfortable, at least for me, just because of the weird shape of the Firebird. I used it probably two or three times on stage. And then I just thought, ‘This is not really for me.’”
Have you ever sold a guitar that you now intensely regret letting go?
“I mentioned before that I had an SG that I sold before buying the other one and that was a really nice guitar. I suppose in a way I kind of regret selling that, but I sold it to a good friend so I can still go and see it if I want to!”
What’s your best guitar-buying tip?
“I think don’t be too impulsive. We’ve all done it, we’ve all gone into a shop, played a guitar, fallen in love with it and just, you know, ‘Gotta have it!’ It’s great when that happens, but oftentimes, at least for me, when you go into these shops, it can be quite overwhelming. So just don’t be too impulsive about it. Make sure that you go back a few times and try it and take your time.”
When was the last time you stopped and looked in a guitar shop window or browsed online and what were you looking at?
“I’m always on eBay and Reverb, just looking for deals. Don’t ever buy anything, really. Well, occasionally, like with my ES-125. I’m often in London, so I’m always going to Denmark Street window shopping. I just love looking at old guitars, I think they’re beautiful objects. I always love going into shops and looking at all the details and seeing them in person. It’s a whole different thing to actually see them in person and maybe sometimes play them.”
For me, the guitar is the more important thing. I think you can get a good sound out of more or less any amp, if you know what you’re doing
“I think, for me, the guitar is the more important thing. I think you can get a good sound out of more or less any amp, if you know what you’re doing. I’m lucky in that my tone is very direct and I don’t rely on a lot of effects and things, so I can pretty much just use any amp on the clean setting, turn it up a bit, get a tiny bit of drive from doing that – and that’s more or less all I need. But if I have a guitar that is cheap and it doesn’t play nicely, if it doesn’t respond in the way I want it to, then I’m going to struggle a lot with that.”
If you could only use humbuckers or single coil pickups for the rest of your career, which would it be and why?
“Definitely humbuckers. I’ve always favoured humbuckers I guess, primarily because they’re what my heroes used – people like Clapton and B.B. King and Paul Kossoff, all those guys. But also I think they just suit my playing style and it suits my voice on the guitar more than single coils. I mean, I love them as well, but if I had to choose one, it would definitely be humbuckers.”
Connor's go-to rig
“My rig is quite basic. I’ve got a Custom Shop Gibson Les Paul R9 with ThroBak PAFs in it; that’s my main guitar and my ’61 Reissue SG is a backup. I’ve blocked the trem system on the SG, just for tuning stability and because I never use it anyway so there’s no point.
“I just kind of like the look of it, to be honest. And my pedalboard is very basic as well. Lately, I’ve been using a Klon copy and also I’ve got a Strymon Flint tremolo/reverb pedal. Then I use a Lazy J 20 as my amp. That’s basically the whole rig.”
With over 30 years’ experience writing for guitar magazines, including at one time occupying the role of editor for Guitarist and Guitar Techniques, David is also the best-selling author of a number of guitar books for Sanctuary Publishing, Music Sales, Mel Bay and Hal Leonard. As a player he has performed with blues sax legend Dick Heckstall-Smith, played rock ’n’ roll in Marty Wilde’s band, duetted with Martin Taylor and taken part in charity gigs backing Gary Moore, Bernie Marsden and Robbie McIntosh, among others. An avid composer of acoustic guitar instrumentals, he has released two acclaimed albums, Nocturnal and Arboretum.
