"Where's the top of your guitar gone?!"

Against my better judgement, I've agreed to play guitar for Charlotte's theatre group. I didn't really have much choice, as both Charlotte and the Canon (She was a rector, but has been promoted - I think she gets free parking at the cathedral now ...) have been throwing subtle hints at me over the past couple of weeks.

So with my return to the guitar playing world in mind, I thought I'd better dig out a guitar. I do have a guitar I bought last year called an I-Axe, which has a USB connection built in to the body of the guitar so it can be used for recording to a computer; however it's crap. The USB side of things never really worked and I lost interest, so the guitar was put in the garage which over the course of a couple of months has caused the neck to warp slightly. A warped neck means the guitar is harder to play, especially the further up the neck you go, as you have to push down harder on the strings. I took the guitar to pieces yesterday and was going to adjust the truss rod in the neck to alleviate the warping, only to discover it doesn't have a truss rod - the neck is a single piece of wood which will require clamping to get in back in line. Needless to say I gave up. Instead I went back to the garage and dug out this:

My 1992 (Or thereabouts) Steinberger guitar. This guitar is different to my other guitars as the neck is made from carbon fibre, so doesn't warp. Oh ... and unlike 99% of guitars, it doesn't have a headstock.

I bought the guitar from 'Rock Stop' in Camden in 1993, part-exchanging my pearl pink Jaydee bass for it. As I was going back to Camp Kuratli in the summer of 1994, I wanted a guitar that was small, and could be carried as carry-on on a 'plane - and this guitar was ideal, even though every week I'd be asked by a concerned camper as to what happened to the top of my guitar.

(In action with The Banned, 1994 - before we were, 'banned'. Plaid shirts were oh-so-in.. Nirvana had a lot to answer for)

16 years later, it's looking somewhat worse for wear - the pickup selector switch has lost its top, the volume and tone control knobs are long gone, and there was an unfortunate accident with a can on silver spray paint - but it still sounds fantastic. The biggest problem I have though is getting strings for it, as it takes specialised one. Now your common variety guitar string has a ball at one end and nothing at the other end, as you wrap the string round the tuning peg - the Steinberger though doesn't have a tuning peg, instead it uses strings with balls at both ends, with the ball at the headstock end slotting into a hole in the nut (That's the bit at the top of the neck). And can I find anywhere that sells them now?! I've seen some on eBay which I might have to resort to buying, though they are double the price I used to pay for them, but needs must ..

I also have one of these:The Line 6 POD (Bought for £50 from the bloke who used to write songs for Steps!). This little beauty is an effects processor which covers your every need - unfortunately it doesn't make me play any better, but at least my wrong notes will sound better.

So, my evenings now will be spent practiscing scales, and trying to get my aged fingers to recover some of the dexterity they once had. Over the years of non-playing I've forgotten more than I know, but perhaps playing for Charlotte's theatre group will give me the kick-start to get back into playing again? Providing of course, I can find strings for my guitar ...