“You’re not going to get the perfect guitar just because it’s old and cool and original and worth money”: Eric Johnson tells us why vintage is not always best (even if he regrets selling his ’54 Strat)

What was the first serious guitar that you bought with your own money? It probably would be a ’63 ES-335 like the one Clapton used at the Albert Hall [for Cream’s Farewell gig in November 1968]. I found it in a music store for, like, $300 many, many years ago. I had a ’66 335 that my father helped me get when I was 12, but I found this other one when I was about 18 or 19. At the time, I didn’t know that Clapton had played a 335.