U2's Adam Clayton felt like a ''Rolling Stone'' when he got his first proper bass guitar.

The 'One' rocker can vividly recall asking his father Brian Clayton to purchase his dream instrument during a business trip to New York City because they were so much cheaper there than in his native Ireland.

He said: ''In 1976 I hadn't mastered the bass but I had identified that I needed a better instrument and my father - a practical man, not affected by music or art - was essential to this plan.

''He flew regularly to New York and second-hand instruments were much cheaper at Manny's on 48th Street.

''I gave him money and the magic words 'Fender Precision Bass' and waited.

''When it arrived, it had a sunburst finish and I felt like a Rolling Stone.''

Despite his years of musicianship, 55-year-old Adam still feels the same sense of excitement when he gets a new guitar.

He told new book 'Sons and Fathers': ''I often have this same feeling when touching a new instrument for the first time.

''I doubt my father has the same recall but I often think of what it was like for him to enter that music shop.''