Kenny Wayne Shepherd has been discussing the benefits of beginning one’s guitar-playing journey with an affordable guitar, claiming in the new issue of Total Guitar that starting with a “crappy guitar” is the best way to go.
Despite now owning a huge catalog of boutique and vintage gear – from the only Dumble-modded fuzz pedal in existence, to a huge catalog of Alexander Dumble’s mythical guitar amps – Shepherd’s own early guitar years were actually far more humble.
As he explains to TG, his first six-string was a budget Stratocaster-style electric guitar, which “had one pickup and one volume knob”.
“It was an incredibly crude guitar,” Shepherd recalls. “My family couldn't buy me a fancy guitar even if they wanted to.”
However, the blues guitar great now realizes that his cheap Yamaha SE150 was “all I needed at the time to get me going and give me an opportunity to start honing my skills”.
To that end, Shepherd believes aspiring guitar players should take note of his experience, claiming that by starting with a less-than-ideal six-string, it gives you a greater sense of appreciation when higher end instruments eventually cross your path.
“When you start with a crappy guitar, it begins the cycle of gear addiction; you appreciate it, but you long for a better instrument,” he goes on. “It gives you a level of appreciation because you started with humble beginnings.
“Then when you make it to the top of the guitar mountain you've appreciated every step along the way and what it took to get there.”
Now, Shepherd is at the point of his career where he is able to play through some of the finest gear money can buy, and his journey can be traced all the way back to that budget Yamaha that first set him on his way.
As he once told Guitarist, the first guitar he then bought with his own money was a Fender Custom Shop 1954 reissue Strat – a celebratory purchase he treated himself to after signing his first record deal.
Shepherd has also previously discussed the virtues of playing cheap guitars, arguing in that same Guitarist interview that they can often be used to great effect.
“A perfect example was Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s guitar player,” Shepherd recalled. “I had him out on tour with me and we did a show in Milwaukee and he showed up with a Squier Strat – a $120 Squier Strat. And he brought it up and played it on stage that night and killed it.”
The new issue of Total Guitar is available on newstands now.
