I had an H&H VS Combo - swapped it for a clapped Marshall valve amp. The H&H was crap - heavy and with no warmth - but the Marshall always decided to take a holiday on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve gigs. (Dry joints are the worst sort of fault to diagnose).

PFR - did you ever have a Watkins CopyCat? Great gear at the time. Sold mine for £30 to a guy in the car park at the back of the Black Lion pub in Brighton...

My first proper band was an eccentric jug-band style outfit called The Egbert Sousé All Stars, with a hard core of personnel from the BBC, where I worked at the time. We had guitar/tenor banjo, mandolin, double bass, washboard, tenor sax, alto sax/clarinet, jug, kazoo/vocal, harmonica/vocal, bass sax/tenor banjo - supplemented now and then by other musicians. Our residency was in the early '70s at the Redan pub on the corner of Queensway and Westbourne Grove (London W2). The landlord was an ex-cabaret guitarist and singer, and the tenant of the upstairs flat was Diz Disley, who occasionally came down for a pint and joined us. We had a great time and,for me, it was a hugely informative period in my musical life, where I learned stuff I'd never dreamed of playing, with some good musicians to learn from.

I remember Diz sitting in with us one evening. We played "Doctor Jazz" - the first time I'd ever done it. After we finished, Diz turned to me with a big smile on his face and said, Well done, dear boy - now go and learn the fucking chords."

Good advice.