I rescued this 1976 lefty Fender Precision a few years ago. The 1970s were a strange time for Fender quality-wise. My go-to Telecaster is a 1977 dream, but on the other side of the coin, I probably went through a dozen shockers before I found it. This Precision was definitely on the ‘Friday-afternoon’ end of the quality spectrum. Badly aligned neck, buzzes everywhere, staunch refusal to stay in tune, you name it, it was wrong on this guitar. So Job One was to put right all that the Fender factory got wrong.

Job two was to give it a proper 1970s pub-rock appearance. A good friend of mine once owned a beautiful natural-finish 60s Strat. It was constantly ooh’ed and aah’ed over. Being a contrary kind of person, if the wrong person complimented the guitar, my friend used to respond by stubbing out one of his ever-present cigarettes onto the body. I think he liked the cries of horror that inevitably followed. After he’d done it a dozen times or so, I thought he’d inadvertently created the best work of art ever. So ‘Marlboro Man’ is our attempt to re-capture that work of art. I think it’s one of John’s best pieces of work.

Plus, with a set of Reflex active pickups added to the mix, it sounds absolutely killer too. Another very reluctant sale. I’d be extremely happy if this stayed in my studio for the next decade.

Price on application.