They say you should never meet your heroes.
When I first started playing the electric guitar, I was around 15 years old. A good friend of mine’s dad played the guitar. and had a left-handed Gibson SG from the ’70s. Of course, it had a broken headstock that they’d had repaired.
I’d always been interested in rock music, guitars, and that whole world.
We were just growing up, getting into listening to music, and discovering our own – moving away from our parents’ music and whatever the current pop songs were. In this melting pot of everything coming together, we started learning the electric guitar and became obsessed with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
When I say obsessed, I mean we knew every song and all the backstories. Me being a nerd, I knew about all the equipment, the pedals – everything we could possibly find out about them. We would endlessly try to play their songs and learn all the parts. It took me a bit longer to get up to speed than my friend. I remember spending about a year trying to learn how to play “Californication”.
This was before the days of YouTube, where you could just go and watch someone show you how to play it. Back then, you had to sit, download some dodgy guitar tabs, try to make sense of them, and then work on learning the songs. It’s safe to say the Red Hot Chili Peppers weren’t a bad place to start as an electric guitar player. John Frusciante is an absolutely legendary guitarist.
Influences and early learnings
My teen years were filled with trying to learn as many Chili Peppers songs as possible, whether it was guitar or bass. It was an amazing time – I got really into funk music and that loose, Hendrix-inspired style of playing. It wasn’t the super precise, technical playing like Eddie Van Halen that was more typical at the time.
By the time I was 16 or 17, this obsession culminated in securing tickets to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers live in London during their By the Way tour, around 2003 or 2004. I was beyond excited.
Seeing the Chili Peppers live
My dad drove us to London to watch the show and he sat patiently in the car while we watched the band. The Mars Volta opened for them, and they were insane. Most people didn’t know what to do – should they dance, mosh, or just stand there? It was crazy.
Then the Chili Peppers walked out. I’d watched every video I could possibly find of them, followed the album release, and taped their TV performances on VHS. Seeing them live was surreal. They looked smaller in person than I expected.
A few things stuck with me, though (not in a good way)…
First, during “Scar Tissue,” Anthony Kiedis forgot some of the words and looked at Chad Smith for help. That felt weird. Then, the song that had inspired me to learn electric guitar – “Under the Bridge” – was about to start. I’d managed to make my way to the front, standing right in front of John Frusciante. But just as they began playing, he moved to the other side of the stage. I know that’s not their fault – I was just unlucky – but I was still gutted.
More than that, I felt a lack of sincerity from the band. Their comments to the audience and the big “thank you, we love you” at the end felt rehearsed. It didn’t feel real. I came away from the show deflated. This band, my absolute heroes, left me severely underwhelmed.
Falling out of love with the band
Since then, I’ve drifted away from the Chili Peppers. Part of it is the albums – they just don’t resonate with me the way By the Way did. Frusciante left, came back, and now their recent stuff feels like a throwback to their early, bouncy, rap-heavy style. Maybe my live experience cut me off emotionally, or maybe they’ve changed. Maybe I’ve changed.
Either way, that saying – “never meet your heroes” – rings true for me.
A New Chapter: Building guitars
Fast forward 20 years, and now I’m building electric guitars with my dad under the name Munson Guitars. We’ve consciously chosen not to replicate vintage models, which brands like Fender and Gibson do so well. Instead, we want to drive guitar design forward in our own way.
The primary reason we started Munson Guitars was to create custom, high-quality instruments tailored to individual players. They need to feel and play exactly how you want them to. That’s different for everyone. We’re truly passionate about making great instruments that become someone’s number one guitar. If we can achieve that, we’ve won.
The Problem with expensive, off-the-shelf guitars
When I was around 22, I went into Gamlin’s in Cardiff and played an American PRS guitar for the first time. It was about £5,000, an incredibly high-end instrument.
While it was beautifully made, I just didn’t connect with it.
That experience stuck with me. I thought, “Surely we can make guitars for less than £5,000 that feel personal and unique, rather than just another off-the-shelf product?”
Today, affordable guitars have improved massively. You can buy a great starter guitar for around £300, leagues ahead of what we had in the late ’90s and early 2000s. At the higher end, there are incredible options for players willing to spend more.
But when brands release instruments like – Fender’s new John Frusciante Masterbuilt Stratocaster for $20,000, I have to ask – what’s the point?
Fender’s John Frusciante Masterbuilt Stratocaster: A missed opportunity
Fans have anticipated this guitar for years. Frusciante is an icon, synonymous with his vintage Strat. So, you’d think Fender would release something aspirational yet attainable.
Instead, they’ve released a $20,000 guitar… why?!?
From what I can tell, Frusciante hasn’t endorsed it. His face isn’t even on the marketing materials – it feels like a cash grab. The guitar isn’t even an exact replica of what he plays. For the price, you could easily have a custom replica made or even buy a genuine vintage Strat.
For me, guitars are meant to be played, not kept in a box as investments.
If you’re looking to emulate your heroes, it’s about finding an instrument that helps you sound and feel like them, not spending a fortune on something they wouldn’t even recognise as their own.
Moving the guitar forward
At Munson Guitars, we’ve taken a different approach with our Avenger model (our first take on an S-type). While inspired by classic designs, we’ve modernised it with features like flatter fretboard radii, noiseless pickups, and custom switching options. It’s designed for today’s players, blending practicality with playability.
Looking Beyond the Headstock: The Future of Guitar Building
Brands like Fender and Gibson have built their legacy on incredible, game-changing designs from the ’50s, but it’s 2024 now. Guitar players today have countless choices and innovations that allow them to play with less friction, more efficiently, and in a way that truly expresses who they are.
For us at Munson Guitars, the goal is to create instruments that aren’t defined by the name on the headstock but by the connection the player feels with them.
So, if you’re thinking about getting a guitar, don’t just reach for the familiar name or the model your hero used. Instead, look for an instrument that feels like yours, something that’ll inspire you to keep playing, keep growing, and maybe, one day, to become someone’s hero yourself.
Let me know what you think, and remember – sometimes, it’s worth finding a new hero.