Mike Rutherford Has Been Playing $140 Guitar During Genesis Reunion Shows

Mike Rutherford could probably have his pick of a number of high-end guitars to bring on the Genesis reunion tour, but his guitar tech revealed in a new interview that he's opted for playing a guitar that normally retails for about $140.

Steve Prior told Guitar Player, "The Squier Bullet Stratocaster is his favorite at the moment, it really is. And I’ve just bought him a couple of others which I’ve found rather cheaply in the clearance section at Guitar Guitar in Newcastle [England]. They were only about 100 quid [$137.95 USD] each! I mean they’re unbelievably good guitars for the money."

So, how did Rutherford even end up with Fender's budget brand in the first place? Prior says he forgot to bring his fancy black Fender with him to his home in Cape Town, South Africa and bought a Squier from a local guitar shop."

"Sitting at home in Cape Town plugged into his Blackstar 3-watt amp, Mike just fell in love with it playing along to his laptop and relearning all the Genesis songs," said Prior. "That was him for almost all of the first lockdown because he wasn’t allowed out of Cape Town. He was stuck there. But he came back saying how much he loved this guitar."

Rutherford doesn't seem to mind everyone knowing he's playing the bargain guitar live with Prior adding, "I asked him if he’d like me to take the Squier decal off the headstock but he said he wanted it stay. Fender are probably over the moon about that!" (Honestly, you couldn't ask for better advertising!)

Rutherford and his Squiers will be making their way stateside next month with Genesis when they kick off the North American leg of their The Last Domino? tour on November 15 in Chicago.