This month on Bought & Sold we speak to Hannah Wicklund about her life in guitars. A gigging player since she was a child, it was not long before she started acquiring a taste for the finer things in life.
Here we talk all things gear. And she makes a pretty persuasive case that there is a false economy with guitars. You get what you pay for. That’s why she is quality over quantity every time.
What was the first serious guitar you bought with your own money?
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My dad is a painting contractor, but his friend was one of those attorney gear collectors – he literally had a room full of amps and guitars. So we went in halfsies when I was nine years old. I paid $800, my dad paid $800, and I went from playing a Daisy Rock to my very first Anderson Drop Top Classic.
I think the price was down to the ‘cute’ factor of being a little nine-year-old who was paying for half of it myself. I think the poor attorney took pity on me. But my first full-on, by-myself guitar purchase was this amazing sparkle Cherry Red Custom Shop Tele. They only made 13 of them and it was my introduction to Abby [Ybarra]-wound pickups, learning the lore behind that amazing woman.
What was the last guitar you bought and why?
I bought this incredible Custom Shop Gibson 339 – it’s white with cream binding. I’m a sucker for binding. Y’know, the devil’s in the detail. I’d gone a long time of playing more Strat/Tele-dominant guitars, but I was going on tour solo with Yes and Deep Purple, and I wanted a hollowbody to ratchet things up with an instrument that really fit the stage.
What’s your best guitar-buying tip?
It’s really just to follow your intuition and your gut. Before I even pick up a guitar, there’s a special moment, there’s a spark. It’s like love at first sight. I’m not into forcing anything. I love the universe and divine intervention, so I just wait for the perfect guitar to fall into my lap – and it usually does.
What’s the most incredible find or bargain you’ve had when buying guitars?
I mean, I’m a lady with expensive taste. I went into Fanny’s [House Of Music] when I was still living in Nashville, and there was this stunning parlour with checkerboard binding. It also had these weird symbols carved into it, almost like little cats or something.
It was obviously very old, you could tell, and the name on the headstock was Herwin. Like, ‘Her Win’, I loved that. Turned out it was an 1800s parlour, so I was expecting to look at the tag and see a super-duper high price, but it was only two grand.
What’s the strongest case of buyer’s remorse you’ve ever had after buying gear?
Honestly, I haven’t. I’m a quality-over-quantity girl. I mean, $2,000 for a guitar is the minimum I would spend. I’ve been really fortunate: I started making good money playing music as a literal child, so I’ve taken my time with my purchases. I will say that I’ve been gifted a few things I didn’t end up enjoying… but I’m not going to tell you who gave me what!
Have you ever sold a guitar that you now intensely regret letting go of?
Definitely. That would be my first two guitars, which were a Baby Taylor and my Daisy Rock. It’s so weird because I’m the most sentimental gal in the world. I have, like, an altar of all of these knickknacks and tokens from my life surrounding me, even on tour.
Are there any common design features on electric guitars that are an instant turn-off for you when you’re auditioning potential new guitars?
I prefer a natural shape. I’m not a huge pointy guitar fan. And I’m not a fan of gold hardware. I don’t know… there’s something about it that really turns me off, other than on a really high-end Black Beauty Les Paul. Now that is beautiful. But other than that, I just don’t trust gold on a guitar.
When was the last time you stopped to stare in a guitar shop window and what were you looking at?
It was literally the other night in Soho. I stopped and stared at this gorgeous natural-finish Gibson 335. It was very clearly quite old and had been worn in. But then I looked up and I was like, ‘What the fuck are they doing?’ Because they had it hanging on a string from the headstock, and I was like, “That can’t be good for this beautiful old guitar.”
If forced to make a choice, would you rather buy a really good guitar and a cheap amp – or a cheap guitar and a top-notch amp?
Well, I really don’t like this question. It’s slightly torturous. But I will answer it: I would much rather have a shitty guitar through a fantastic amp. I do believe there’s a lot that lies in your hands, so I think for somebody who knows how to work with an instrument, there’s always a lot you can do to make a guitar sound better. But there’s not a lot you can do when there’s a solid-state amp just killing your tone.
If you could only use humbuckers or single coils for the rest of your life, which one would you choose and why?
Oh, that’s very easy – humbuckers all the way. I love digging in. I love being loud. I love having a ferocious guitar tone. I love sustain. And I play most of my set on humbuckers anyways. Y’know, if I need to, I’ll just roll the tone back and figure something else out. You can always go less, but it’s harder to go more.
What’s your favourite guitar shop and why?
Honestly, I love Gruhn Guitars [in Nashville]. There is something quite spectacular about being in a place that has so much history and love and attention put into it. It’s like an art gallery of guitars. Passion is very palpable, and George Gruhn is the heartbeat of that place.
I love being anywhere where the person in charge has as much love for it as I do for what I do in my life. But I also really do love Fanny’s. I usually have a lot of shit to talk about Nashville, I’m not gonna lie, but the guitar shops in that town are quite spectacular.
Hannah’s Go-To Rig
My Anderson guitars are an extension of me at this point. The Drop Top Classic is my go-to, but last year they sent me a Wolfhound, which has some fantastic humbucker energy.
I’m playing through an Orange Rocker 30, but I’m gonna test the waters by adding a Supro Amulet. I love a tiny amp with a bit of break-up
I also have a Cobra with these custom-painted flames. It’s funny… flames can be kinda corny, but these are beautiful. I’ve had plenty of dudes make fun of me and that guitar, but I’m ready to embrace my fuck-you energy and break it out for this next run.
I’m playing through an Orange Rocker 30, but I’m gonna test the waters by adding a Supro Amulet. I love a tiny amp with a bit of break-up. On my ’board, there’s my Keeley-modified Blues Driver, my old T-Rex Room-Mate, the [MXR] Carbon Copy, the J Rockett Archer and my MXR Talk Box. I’m also playing the shit out of this incredible guitar called a Myooz guitar.
The builder, Tudor Maier, reached out and asked if he could send me a guitar, and I’m not a crazy person, so I said, “Sure.” It’s the most beautiful custom guitar. Anybody who sees it, their jaw drops, especially guitar nerds.
