“Yes, I know, I have no respect for an instrument. To me, it’s a piece of wood until you make it into a useful tool”: Steve Morse on the time he took power tools to his guitar so he could play a Deep Purple show with a broken wrist

Steve Morse plays live with Deep Purple and takes a solo on on his signature Ernie Ball Music Man, with the band's logo visible in the background.

The summer of 2000 was a wild one for Steve Morse – or at least it was a summer of misadventure. The then 46-year-old guitarist was larking around on a skateboard, fell and broke his wrist, and he had an upcoming tour with Deep Purple fast approaching.

There are a couple of lessons to take from this story. The first, and it’s an obvious one, is do not go on a skateboard, especially when you are in your mid 40s, and especially when you are about to go on tour.