Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: classic guitarsGary and Joan Gand moved to Palm Springs, California, 20 years ago, not only to get away from the cold Midwest winters, but also because of a love for the mid-century Modernist architecture that is a defining feature of this glamorous desert town, two hours from Los Angeles.Gary grew up playing folk music with his family, and in 1971 he founded a company selling professional lighting and sound equipment. “I started after a music store defaulted on the warranty on a Marshall amp,” he says.AdvertisementAdvertisement“They deliberately took so long to repair it that by the time I picked it up, the warranty had expired.”Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: classic guitarsGary has been in bands since the early 1970s.For fun, and often for charity, too, he is the frontman of the area’s premier covers group, The Gand Band, with wife Joan playing the Hammond organ.He has also recently moved into film production with a documentary about his friend, Trini Lopez, the ’60s singer and guitar player who also sang in The Gand Band before his passing in 2020.Since moving to Palm Springs, the Gands have been busy and have restored three mid-century houses.Their current home is Villa Vadera, built in 1973 and brought back to life with close attention to period detail.Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: classic guitarsStrictly speaking, his 1963 Studebaker Avanti car, photographed outside Villa Vadera for a recent Classic & Sports Car feature (which you can read here), is a decade out of period, but it definitely still looks the part.AdvertisementAdvertisementAnd, if you can look past the angular, Raymond Loewy-honed lines of this classic car, Gary’s incredible accumulation of musical instruments is something to behold.In fact, a whole room of this house is devoted to his spectacular collection of electric guitars from the 1950s and ’60s.All are regularly played, either for fun or when performing, and while many are worth as much – or more – than the Avanti, Gary isn’t precious about letting others handle or play them.Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: classic guitarsAnd it turns out there are parallels with some automotive and guitar names, too.“I was given the ’64 Firebird by my dad,” Gary tells us, “but it didn’t become cool until I went to a Cream concert and saw Eric Clapton playing one.”AdvertisementAdvertisementThe largely original, red-coloured 1959 Les Paul Custom in his collection weighs in at 10.2lb (4.6kg) and is one of only a dozen made in this shade. “I bought it via an advert in the local paper when I was aged 14,” remembers Gary. “I couldn’t drive, so I had to get the seller to bring it round to our house.“It cost me $250, and I had to pay for it in two instalments.”Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: classic guitarsThe 1964 SG Custom guitar came as part of a deal when joining a band way back in the 1980s, while one of the older but most used models in Gary’s amazing collection is a Fender Stratocaster, number 0163, dating from 1954.He explains: “I bought it in the ’90s. It still has its original pick-guard.AdvertisementAdvertisement“Originality is probably more important in the guitar world than it is with classic cars, although I love my restored 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard.”The Guild Thunderbird guitar has the same name as a certain classic automobile, plus it has a kick-stand like that of a motorcycle in order to store it upright.Classic & Sports Car – Also in my garage: classic guitarsThere’s a 1959 Gibson Flying V of distinctive design and also a ’67 Gibson Trini Lopez Standard.Totally original in glorious Cherry Red, it was bought as a birthday gift by Joan and is paired with one of Trini’s old amps.One of the rarest, most valuable and technically excellent guitars in the collection is a Wandre Brigitte Bardot, which had long been on Gary’s wish-list when a dealer found one for him in a French music shop.AdvertisementAdvertisement“If you don’t want it,” said the dealer, “I’m giving Johnny Depp a call.”The Gand Band plays anything from blues to ’60s psychedelic and acid jazz.The Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster is a favourite for rockabilly gigs and, like most of the pieces, has a story behind it.“A college roommate gave it as collateral against a loan, but never wanted it back,” says Gary, “even though he went on to be a doctor!”Images: Pawel LitwinskiWe hope you enjoyed reading. Please click the ‘Follow’ button for more super stories from Classic & Sports Car.
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