It’s no secret that I play guitar and I have a small collection of guitars – acoustic ones, electric ones, one played by a well-known Christian band, and even a lap steel.

On February 9, 1964, I saw The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. The next day, I picked up my dad’s guitar and practiced playing ‘D’ – the only chord I knew. While I was playing, a girl stopped to listen. Over the next years, I learned more chords and learned how to play as many Beatles songs as I could. Tim Hunt, Rick Lovett and I formed a little band called The Red Barons and learned “House of the Rising Sun,” “Gloria,” and every Beatles song we could find.

I got my first guitar for Christmas, 1968. It was a total surprise. I did not ask for one. But on Christmas morning, I unwrapped a Sears Silvertone Jumbo dreadnaught guitar. It was gorgeous! (I still have it stashed away in the closet.) In my senior year, I got a cheap electric guitar. Along the way, I bought an Epiphone bass guitar and learned to play it and read bass clef. I also played my grandpa’s 1962 Epiphone Texan – the same kind of guitar Paul McCartney played on “Yesterday.” This is the guitar I used on the “Walking in the Father’s Love” LP I made in Nashville.

In 1984, I purchased a black 1983 Ovation Custom with a built-in pickup. I used this guitar extensively at New Hope Church and while touring between 1984 and 1994. It was damaged beyond repair by Continental Airlines. That began a guitar buying trend that continued until I retired from teaching.

With the advent of Ebay, I bought guitars and sold them to trade up to better guitars. I now own most of the guitars I’ve ever wanted by simply “trading up” each time I got a new guitar. Once in a while, I found some great deals and turned a profit. Once I bought an “attic find” – a 1953 Gibson LG-1 – which I restored. I’ve enjoyed Gibsons, Martins, Fenders, Epiphones, and mostly acoustic Taylors – an American-made guitar from the San Diego area.

I do not have a favorite guitar, but I’m glad I still have the Sears Silvertone I got for Christmas. My dad’s guitar hangs on my wall in my bedroom. I took it on a mission trip to Mexico and the extreme heat caused the head stock to snap. My grandpa’s Epiphone is in a case in my closet, but it is almost unplayable due to age and damage.

(Pictured: Top – Me and the Sears guitar, 1970. Bottom – 1967 Sears Silvertone Jumbo.)

I never named my guitars. I just don’t see them as friends as much as I see them as tools. I do appreciate them as craftwork and enjoy their beautiful woods, mellow aromas, and unique tones.

Some of my guitars have stories: The 1952 reissue Fender Telecaster was going to be a Christmas present from a girl to her boyfriend. She had the back plate engraved specifically for him. But he broke up with her on Christmas Eve, and she stuffed the guitar under her bed for a few years until she put it on Ebay. I bought a Taylor 714CE off the wall at Red Zone Guitars in Pasadena. It was there because it was a gift from a boyfriend, but the relationship soured. Every time the girl played the guitar, all she could think of was the guy who gave it to her, so she sold it. The best stories seem to be heartbreak stories.

(Pictured: Me and Steve Sanchez in the green room at Tim McGraw, 2011. I’m playing the 1952 re-issue “Heartbreak” Telecaster.)

I have given guitars as gifts, and I have received guitars as gifts. I plan on enjoying guitars and playing guitars until I leave this earth… and then I hope to play some more.