1979 Fender Black Stratocaster, as made famous by The Edge

As close as it comes to one of The Edge's many 1970s maple-fretboard CBS-era Black Strats.  An absolute beauty, loved and roadworn, with a weight and sustain that matches a Les Paul.  Perfect for every New Year's Day.

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But before we get to the guitar . . .  U2 played at the first gig I ever went to.  Sunday 19 October 1980.  The Lyceum, London.  Big moment for me (first gig!), probably a slightly bigger moment for U2, just one day before the release of their debut album, Boy.  It wasn't even U2 I was planning to see.  I'd never heard of them.  I was there for the headline act - 70s glam giants, Slade, riding the wave of their revival in 1980.  Revivals came around quicker in those days.  It was only 4 years since Slade had had their last big hit, happily wrong with "Let's Call It Quits".  Nowadays, they're most remembered, every year, without fail, and with royalties to match, for "Merry Xmas Everybody".  But if that's all you've ever heard, you're missing out.  Dig out any Greatest Hits album, and you'll know why. 

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  Anyway, back to the Lyceum.  Slade were supported by Australian punks The Last Words (true to their name, they split up the next year), punks-on-the-verge-of-metal Discharge (where are they now?) and new wave hopefuls U2 (where aren't they now?).  As the 80s unfolded, U2 became inescapable - as did the love 'em/hate 'em Marmite reaction.  Early days, but the opposing sides were already drawing ranks.  That Lyceum gig was reviewed by Gary Bushell.  Definitely in the hate 'em camp.  But you've got to hand it to him for spotting behaviours that  stuck with the band, pretty much for the rest of their careers: "the newer material confirmed the impression that U2 are letting their pretensions run away with them . . . Bono's glum, self satisfied pronouncements became increasingly offensive as the night progressed. It seems like he's beginning to believe the messianic treatment he's getting from the self-styled radical press . . .".  Fair enough, though they didn't do too badly in the end.  I'm in the love 'em camp.

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In those early days, The Edge was probably most recognised with an Explorer in his hands.  But he loved Strats, and bought a 73 Black Strat as soon as they got their record deal.  You'll find it (or the two or three other Black Strats he picked up along the way) in his hands at all the right iconic moments: Under A Blood Red Sky in 1983, Live Aid 1985, Where The Streets Have No Name on that Los Angeles rooftop  in 1987.  As he talked about his Signature model, released in 2016, "I can only describe it in terms of like getting on the back of a great motorcycle and opening the throttle and just tearing up the highway.  It's that sort of adrenaline rush."  And this one delivers that rush in spades.  It's a heavy Strat - 8lb 2oz - with all the sustain that that weight is going to give it.  Roadworn it may be, but it plays like a dream.  Maybe, finally, I've found what I'm looking for ;-).