Johnny A. Reveals His Gorgeous Gibsons, Gretsches and More
 "This is the very first electric guitar I bought with my own money," Johnny A. says proudly, grabbing a compact, off-white 1964 Vox Clubman from a stand and twanging out a few unamplified notes. He's standing in the luxuriously appointed basement of his house, just north of Boston, dressed in shades, a white linen shirt with light-blue stripes, black jeans, and Beatle boots. Behind him is a plush lounge area with a pool table and a well-stocked bar (he's fond of Scotch). Skull-shaped shot glasses stand at regular intervals on the granite countertop. In front of him is the comfortable studio space, dominated by an SSL console, where the rocker recorded and mixed the entirety of his latest instrumental album, Driven.
"It was 1965 and I was 12 years old," Johnny recalls as he strums the Clubman. "I'd been playing guitar for about a year. Before that, I was a drummer. My aunt ran a beauty salon in Medford, Massachusetts, and right down the street from it was a music store. One day, I looked in the window and there was this Vox. I wanted it, but it cost $88, so I ended up sweeping the hair clippings in my aunt's salon every Saturday until I had enough money to get it. I'd go into the music store every week and give the guy a few more dollars, and finally I got the guitar. And you know what? I just plugged it in yesterday for the first time in years. It still sounds good!"
Johnny has picked up a few more guitars since then. He currently has about 70. "I don't think of myself as a collector," he says cautiously. "I'm an obtainer of things I want to use. Most of my vintage guitars are gone, actually. I've owned '52 Teles and L Series Strats and early Les Pauls, but I've gotten rid of all of them. The guitars I have now are all the guitars I want, and the reason I have them has nothing to do with their worth."
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