“I can’t believe I did that. I wish I still had it”: Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan on her beloved red Strat she sold for just $25

Everyone remembers their first guitar. Even if it was bought from the pages of Argos or off eBay, it has a special place in our respective hearts – it’s usually the guitar we learned on.

But Lindsey Jordan’s was more special than most.

“It was a red Fender Strat,” the Snail Mail singer songwriter reveals. “I remember I begged my parents for it for Christmas one year, and to start lessons. And it was signed by Paul Reed Smith! He was at a guitar camp that I went to one time, which looking back was kind of crazy.”

Alas, the red Strat is long gone. “I don’t know why but when I was in early high school I sold it for $25,” the 26 year old guitarist laments. “I can’t believe I did that. I wish I hadn’t done. I wish I still had it.”

For her current album Ricochet, Jordan used a number of guitars.

“I used a lot of this 70s Gibson I have - I’ve decided I’m going to take it on tour next time. I’ve been holding it back – it sounds great and I love playing it. Also a Rickenbacker for some of it, one of my dad’s old Jazzmasters and a vintage Martin.

“On previous albums I didn’t use that many of my own guitars for recording - usually when you go into a studio there are guitars lying around left and right - but for this one I did.”

However, Jordan has recently returned to her first guitar love.

“It’s funny,” she says. “I’ve only really played Stratocasters as an adult only in the last year or so. When I picked one up again, immediately it was like, ‘I’m home!’ It felt so natural to me. I just felt like, ‘I’m back!’”