My main squeeze is still a US Standard Tele I bought in the Soho Square Soundhouse in 1989, I had a studio at the other end of Rathbone Place and walked through Soho on my way back from a job at Charing Cross.
There was one Tele I always used to joke with the staff that they'd never, ever sell, it was in some horrible darkish green, slightly metallic and very plasticky finish .... over the months it worked its way further and further up the wall until one day, again for a laugh I asked if they'd get it down. It was way out of tune but when I struck a chord it just chimed and carried on chiming. When I asked how much they wanted for it they thought I was kidding. As the original case had gone astray we eventually struck a deal for the guitar, half a dozen sets of strings and two black binbags as I didn't want anyone I knew seeing me with it.
I raced back to my studio, stopping on the floor below where there were architectural model-makers to ask if I could borrow the corner of a bench and within an hour the guitar was in bits, another hour and the finish was chipped off, the body sanded back and a coat of nitro sealer applied using their industrial spray booth .... I re-finished it in black nitro, after a few years it became Dakota Red, then after a while (my daughter called it my raw liver guitar) it got re-done in Sonic Blue, a colour its remained ever since ..... and it still chimes.
