A Japanese-made 1970s Columbus Les Paul electric guitar, once owned and used by Martin Gore of Depeche Mode. The vendor purchased this guitar directly from Martin Gore in 1979, with Gore using the proceeds from the sale to purchase his first synthesizer and from there to form Depeche Mode. See below for detailed provenance information from the vendor and review the images for shows of Gore using the guitar pre-Depeche Mode. The vendor had previously offered the guitar to Martin Gore who confirmed the authenticity via his guitar technician but declined to purchase. As per info below - the guitar shows many cosmetic marks and scuffs.

"In 1979, I was living with my parents at 109 The Knares, Lee Chapel South, Basildon. My brother had got a nylon Spanish guitar for his birthday in July and I found I could pick out a tune or two. My girlfriend at the time played classical guitar and also showed me how to play arpeggios etc. I had
definitely got an interest in playing guitar and wanted my own electric guitar, but my parents objected.

While they were on holiday in September 1979 I saw an advert from someone selling an electric guitar – possibly in the Evening Echo, Basildon Recorder or even in a shop window. Knowing my parents would not approve, I saw their absence as a good opportunity to get an electric guitar – having saved a lot of money from working in Mr Byrite and, more lately, a summer job in the local council street lighting department. I contacted the guy and visited his terraced house in Lee Chapel North, where he lived with his parents. We went up to his bedroom, where he demonstrated the black Columbus Les Paul copy guitar to me. He pointed out that the guitar had an impact mark on the body, which he had cloaked with a white US star badge, from an Airfix aeroplane kit decal. I believe he said he didn’t want his dad to see he had damaged it. He said he was selling the guitar to fund the purchase of a new keyboard/synthesiser. I really liked the guitar, which the guy also threw in a case, lead and battered old amplifier – so I was happy. I really cannot remember how much I paid but circa £25 seems to ring a bell. He struck me as a rather eccentric guy – very enthusiastic and talkative, but similarly slightly shy, which seems like a contradiction. Before I left, he showed me some tune on a piano in the living room and then demonstrated how his uncle/family friend Ray (Gilbert) O’Sullivan would have played the chord progression. It was a memorable experience, which is why I have remembered so many minor details.

It was only recent events that have made these memories come flooding back – some forty-three years later – and finding out just who the guy was who sold me the guitar. In the end my parents reviewed their objection to the new electric guitar, when they heard how melodically it could be played by my girlfriend. My playing was a different story and it took a number of years to get even marginally proficient. The guitar is now in a fairly poor condition, having been damaged during a performance of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, when it slipped off the strap and the neck impacted with the ground. The guitar then became a plaything for my boys during their early years and has since been in the loft for a significant number of years.

Following the death of Fletch, I became reflective of my time in Basildon – especially as Fletch had died of the same aortic aneurysm that I had survived in 1995. I recently made a reacquaintance on Facebook with an old friend, Phil Burdett, from my days at the Towngate Theatre in Basildon. It was after reading his stories of his time in the band ‘Norman and the Worms’ with Martin Gore and seeing his photographs that I sought out more information online. When I heard that MG had sold his guitar to fund his first synth (Yamaha CS5) in late 1979 and saw the old photos of MG playing a
black Columbus Les Paul copy (with white star mark) I researched further – so much info is available online. The rough dates of his guitar sale matched and when I saw where his old home was in Lee Chapel North, I recognised the type of house. The black Columbus Les Paul copy guitar was the one sold by MG to buy his first Synthesiser."