My first guitar was a Columbus copy Les Paul Special (Black Beauty). I bought it from a college mate. I couldn't afford an amp at the time, so I played it unplugged. I was new to the craft, struggling to make my left hand move into unfamiliar shapes, and rarely succeeding.

However, I then saw a cheap Satellite Strat copy in three-tone sunburst and lusted after it (I still love Strats). I hocked my Columbus (in retrospect a much better guitar) for this piece of junk with a nice paint job (it was probably a decal!).

I struggled and slowly (oh, so slowly!) improved. Gritting my teeth, I pounded out near-D and A and C and G7 chords in something almost like even tempo and real time. It was hard work, but I even did a little gig at my local pub with it, having bought a Fender Harvard practice amp. But I was falling out of love with guitars and thinking of jacking it in.

Then I saw another thing of beauty in my local guitar shop: an Aria Urchin in green sunburst with gold hardware. I went in the shop, but there was no way I could front the cash for this vision of rock loveliness. Howvever, the assistant steered me towards something I could afford: a Washburn Force II. It was by no means as glamorous as the Urchin - quite spartan, really - but had a good, low action, even, dressed frets, a straight neck and a well-profiled nut. I hocked the Satellite on the street market and bought it. I also got a loan and bought a brand new Marshall JCM800 4212 2x12 50W combo.

After struggling with the Strat, my fingers seemed to fly now, and I joined my first band as lead singer and rhythm guitarist, a post I held for four years. The shoddy Satellite had actually helped me! And the Marshall was wonderful.

The Washburn, faithful to the end, finally wore out. It wasn't worth getting a refret. But I moved on to a Squier Strat, followed by a Fender Japan Yngwie Malmsteen Strat. I couldn't afford the real deal, so I still bought cheap, but not garbage guitars.

I finally bought a real Aria Urchin (plain white, very uncomfortable to play, then (if my memory serves me:

Another Squier Strat
A Yamaha SG4000
A Mexican Strat with locking trem

Then, I thought, I would look at an Epiphone Les Paul (being a metal fan, I wanted higher-output HBs). However, the assistant did tempt me by putting into my hands a brand new 2002 Gibson Les Paul Standard (the first Standards since 1960 that even die-hard LP nerds began grudgingly to admit were OK). Satan in a suit did tempt me and I did buy. Marrying Paul to Marsha (my name for my JCM800) was a match made in heaven.

I have recently added a 2005 American Standard Strat, a 2006 American Telecaster and recently a Gibson Les Paul Studio with Min-E-Tune that is good for swapping tunings (straight to DADGAD to open slide tunings and back again, etc). I don't have any more cheapos.

I love my full price axes, but I might never have got there without the help of a piece of junk that, on the surface, wasn't worth what I paid for it.