"It was like some kind of dream," Trevor said. "I was on holiday in the States, driving from San Diego to Palm Springs in this open-topped '59 Mustang, along all these straight roads, and I got lost. I don't know how, but I got lost, and I ended up in this small old shanty town, with tumbleweed — no, seriously — blowing down the main street. It was getting really dusty so I stopped at the bar for a beer. I noticed across the street was this old pawnshop, which had a tuba and a harpsichord in the window. Odd, I thought, so I wandered across to take a look. It was run by this greasy old Mexican; inside, they had all the usual old TVs and washing machines, but on the wall is this Series 7 Gibson Firebird — I know, the really collectable one — and a brand new Gibson EBO bass. So I had a bit more of a poke around, and I found this big rack of boxes. When I blew the dust off them I saw that they were all addressed to this pawnshop from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and dated 1959. Kalamazoo, I thought — isn't that where Gibson used to be? So I opened one of these boxes, and there was this brand new Gibson ES120 semi, still with all its tags on. And next to it was a 1125, and an L5, a gold Les Paul Signature and matching bass, a J200 acoustic, and Gretsch Clipper... I had to pinch myself."

Trevor Holiday, who just happens to be managing director of the Monkey Business instrument shops, swears the above is all true. Apparently, the previous owner of the pawnshop had decided in the late fifties that he should stock guitars. They never sold, and when he died, his lazy son hadn't bothered to even move them. Trevor bought 15 instruments on the spot, all of which he shipped back to Monkey Business and sold for somewhere in the region of £700. He wouldn't say how much he paid for them, though he described the pawnshop owner as "happy" with the price he got.

Understandably, Trevor's not telling anyone where the shop is, as there is still plenty of gear to be exploited.

"And it wasn't just new guitars — he has secondhand stuff as well, Les Pauls, Jaguars, a Broadcaster, SGs, all from the early sixties." The second shipment of guitars should be in the Romford branch of Monkey Business about now. So what do new vintage guitars play like? "Everyone who has played them says they're great," Trevor told us. "They play like a dream — you get that vintage sound, but from a new instrument, without any of the problems you get with older guitars."