FIRST GEAR

“I bought this ’Burst about 10 years ago,” Andrew, a bona fide ’Burst aficionado, says of this guitar, one of several he has had the pleasure of owning over the years. “I think ’Bursts are in a different category in terms of craftsmanship and how well they’re made,” he continues. “This one is currently valued at £285,000, but I remember back in 1975 you could buy a ’Burst for £500. Goldtops were about £350 and an early 60s Strat was about £150. By the early 80s, a reasonable quality ’Burst was about £2,000 and in the late 80s I was offered a ’59 for £5,000.

“The big jump in price came from about 1990 onwards, up until the early 00s. When I first started collecting in the early 90s, there was