JEFF 'SKUNK' BAXTER

The ever-active session legend on his love for cheap guitars, Roland gear, and modding his pickups

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

“That would probably be a Fender Jazzmaster. Because number one, when you grow up in Mexico, American guitars were so expensive. But I'd always wanted a Jazzmaster because Bob Bogle from The Ventures had one. I'd sent him a fan letter and he told me to buy one, but they were just too expensive. So when I went to the United States to go to school when I was around 13, I went to Manny's [Music in New York City] with all the money I'd saved up and bought a Jazzmaster. And I still have it today. I love that guitar; I think it's one of the coolest guitars ever.”

What was the last guitar that you bought, and why?

“The last guitar I bought... for myself? Because I buy a lot of guitars for veterans' charities and stuff like that. But let's see... the last guitar I bought for myself, I think, was a Squier Telecaster that has a Jazzmaster pickup installed for rhythm. It's a great guitar. I bought it just for the hell of it. I saw it and thought, 'Wow, a Jazzmaster pickup,' and it was put in at the factory. I played it and really loved it, so I told the guy at Guitar Center, 'Pull down that '58 Telecaster you have up there,' which cost about a bazillion dollars, and I spent about an hour setting up the [Squier] guitar.

“They had a guitar repair guy there and I asked if I could use his tools and set up the guitar myself. And very quickly, I compared the two, and the $140 Squier Telecaster, to me, sounded better, so I bought it. I said, 'Yep, gonna have one of these,' so I think that's the last guitar I bought.”

What's the most incredible find or bargain you've ever had when buying guitars?