TYLER BRYANT

The young bluesman tells tales of a brand-new signature guitar and an unbelievable deal on a 1960s Strat

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What was the first serious guitar you bought with your own money? 

“The first nice guitar I bought was an Epiphone Les Paul. My parents realised I was obsessed with the guitar so they [also] purchased me a Stratocaster from this place called Mars Music in Plano, Texas, and from then on, I just wanted to have all of the guitars, you know?

“My first expensive guitar that I bought was a 1956 Gibson ES-125 and I still have it and I still use it all the time. I think it was about $1,000, which seemed like an incredible amount of money at the time. But I’ve had that guitar since I was 14 or 15 years old.”

What was the last guitar you bought and why? 

“Well, the last guitar that I got was the second prototype for my signature [Custom Shop Tyler Bryant ‘Pinky’ Stratocaster] with Fender and it’s such a dream come true for me to have a signature guitar, something with my name on it. It’s a huge honour. It’s a 60s ‘C’ neck, which is my favourite shape of neck and it’s got a rosewood ’board. The pickups are two hand-wound 1960s-style single coils and a custom ShawBucker, designed by Tim Shaw. I just love the way that this configuration makes this guitar so versatile. I can achieve just about any sound with it and I use the humbucker almost like a secret weapon. It’s not coil-tapped, I did not include that. I have guitars that have coil taps on and I don’t ever really feel like I need it.