After college I moved to NYC where I spent a lot of time with my sister Martha, my brother-in-law Mike and a little bit of time with a band they were managing, The Drongos. It was hard to go home and strum my acoustic to Bob Dylan and finger pick blues classics after hanging out with the band in clubs like Tin Pan Alley, CBGBs and Irving Plaza. I needed a change - I needed to go electric. 1982 in NYC was a great place to look for a guitar. Right on 48th street was Manny's and Sam Ash, In the village you had Matt Uminov and ??? (can't remember). There were literally hundreds of guitars in these stores and great players just hanging out jamming. It was very intimidating for a hack like me to go into this scene and have everyone watching and listening while I squeaked through the opening riff of Sunshine of Your Love. I never got to the point where a had a selection to choose from that I knew was right for me.
I did know that I wanted a Telecaster. There was the famous red Telecaster that belonged to the Yardbirds that Clapton, Beck and Page all played while they were with the band. There was the Muddy Waters Tele. David Gilmour played one. Andy Summers played one. Sprinsteen had his Esquire. All the country players used one. And of course Keith Richards had Micawber. We all know timing is everything in life. Around this time The Drongos had a little influx of cash which allowed them, among other things, to upgrade their equipment. Jeanne McAlister, rythm guitar, keyboards and singer had a kind of beat up Tele that had been modded with a humbucker installed in the middle position. It was pretty dinged up. Well with the new funds Jeanne bought a Stratocaster and guess who bought her Tele?
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