Ξ Leave a comment

My First Guitar: Egmond Lucky 7 Semi-Acoustic

posted by
My First Guitar: Egmond Lucky 7 Semi-Acoustic

This article was submitted by Guitar Jar contributor: Mark Angel

I was 11 when I got my first guitar. Actually it was my second guitar; the first was a complete junker from a jumble sale, so we’ll ignore that one, but as my mum thought I had a flair for the guitar she bought me a “proper” guitar.

That was back in January of 1974 and the guitar in question was an Egmond Lucky 7 Semi-Acoustic in a beautiful cherry red.

…I wish I’d kept hold of the Egmond – they are quite sought after now it seems…

Egmond Lucky 7It cost my mum a whole week’s wages (£20.78 for the guitar and a soft case – I still have the receipt!) and she bought it as a complete surprise for me. I was so pleased that apparently I took it to bed with me that night.

The guitar came from the only real music shop in my town – Delmars Music Shop, in Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, UK. I spent many an hour (and many £££) in that shop over the next few years. I have no idea if the shop is still there.

I can’t really comment on the playability of the guitar as I didn’t really have anything to compare it to. I loved the colour and the shape and it had this clunky white scratchplate contraption fitted with a single pickup with tone and volume control. You could take the whole thing off with about three screws.
The neck was held on with a huge single screw and spring assembly and a small crew through the fingerboard hidden under one of the fret markers. Don’t ask me how I know that; I guess I was inquisitive when I was younger (nothing changes!).

The guitar had a single cutaway, and two F holes but only one was visible as the other was hidden under the scratchplate. It had a floating bridge and a tailpiece attached to the back of the guitar with a wooden strap button pushed into a hole in the guitar. At the other end of the strap I’m afraid it was the Country-and-western-shoelace-round-headstock deal. The tuners were three a side open type with white (plastic?) buttons.

As the Egmond was a semi-acoustic I didn’t need an amp at first. Eventually my Dad and I built a 100W amp from a kit from Crescent Radio in Wood Green, London. We also built two great 1 x 12″ cabinets fitted with Goodmans 12PG drivers that we bought from somewhere in London. I still have one of the drivers and the amp but the cabinets are long gone.

I joined a band pretty quickly after I got the guitar and even though we were young, we got some reasonable gigs quite quickly. Sadly I decided that Egmond was no longer what I wanted, sold it to a friend, and moved on to a Kay SG copy for the princely sum of £32 (yep, I have that receipt too) in 1976.

I wish I’d kept hold of the Egmond – they are quite sought after now it seems. I did find one about 10 years ago at a boot sale – it was in a right state. I had plans to restore it but in the end it went back onto eBay to fund some new toy. Maybe one day.

Share This Article

You may also like...

Submit your equipment reviews

Do you own a guitar, amp, effects pedal or guitar accessory that you love (or hate!). If so, become a Guitar Jar Magazine Contributor and submit your reviews for other guitarists to read.

About the author:

New Zealand based Mark Angel is an experienced British guitar and bass player with over 30 years experience of playing electric and acoustic guitars as well as bass in a variety of scenarios and styles. Mark teaches at, and co-manages, a Guitar Studio with 18 teachers and around 180 students. He's recorded on many studio projects and now runs his own studio from his home.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Search Guitar Jar Magazine

Sign up to our Mailing List

* indicates required

I'm interested in: