Edwyn Collins

Edwyn is playing a Burns Nu-Sonic guitar.

“When I was in my first group, Orange Juice, I got a Gretsch Blackhawk. I saw the advert in the Glasgow Evening Times and got it for £115 in 1979. It has great pickups.”

Edwyn’s bargain-hunting prowess was on top form when he bought his 1964 Fender Stratocaster in Denmark Street in 1989 for £800. Stripped of its original finish, this authentic L-Series Strat has the battle scars to prove its worth. “It’s a lovely guitar, and pre-CBS,” he says. “You could just about make out its sunburst when I got it.”

His white 1965 Telecaster, for example, has kept its place in his guitar roster because of its unique sound, but only just. “Everybody loves that guitar; Roddy Frame [Aztec Camera] in particular,” he says. “But the back pickup isn’t a Tele pickup; it’s from a Strat, so it gives it a unique sound. It was like that when I got it.”

Edwyn says in this interview that he has a 1958 Gretsch Anniversary.

A trio of Gibsons in the live room have a similar aura, with each bearing the tell-tale signs of a much-loved instrument. Edwyn picks out a beautiful L-00. Known for its bright tone and quick response, the guitar is suited for fingerstyle country-blues, although he maintains it can handle anything. “It has a V-shaped neck,” he explains, “but it’s light. It has everything. It plays beautifully. I still play it from time to time working out chords, choruses and verses. It’s magical.”

Edwyn Collins is seen using a Burns Marvin Electric Guitar in a performance of "A Girl Like You" on Top Of The Pops in 1995, as shown in a YouTube video from his official channel.

"I always write on guitar. I've got lots. I've this [the blue Jazzmaster, as featured in the nice photographs by Mr Sheehan] which dates from about 1962. I often use a Gretsch Black Hawk on stage; it's a model below the White Falcon, which it was discontinued in favour of. I foolishly had mine resprayed pink [a Pink Hawk? Surely not...]. But I think I'll get it sprayed black again. I used that on all the Postcard singles, that and a black Burns Nu-Sonic which I picked up for £40. The Gretsch cost me £115 from an old man in Glasgow, who put an ad in the Evening Times — it must be worth over £600 list price, a real bargain."