Silverburst! - This is the first good guitar I ever bought (new in 1980). Upgrades include Gibson's TP-6 fine tuning tailpiece, a Groove Tubes Fat Head on the headstock, and Lindy Fralin High Output humbuckers. The bridge pickup's tone control is a Stellartone ToneStyler, which gets 16 different tone variations for this pickup. The neck pickup's tone control features a Hovland capacitor for extra smooth woman tone. It's got vintage vibe, with a lot of teeth for aggressive lead playing, and this guitar sustains for days. Like Nigel Tufnel says, "play a note, go out for a bite, come back - it's still sustaining!" It's my main instrument for Dino rock, classic rock, blues, southern rock and heavy metal.

My TV model. Gotta love P90 pickups! These are by Lindy Fralin. The Fralins have a little more volume and a less brittle top end than stock Gibson P90s. The bridge pickup's tone control is a Stellartone ToneStyler also. This guitar is great for blues, rock, punk - anything that requires a real in your face attack. I've upgraded it with the TP-6 also, as well as Gibson's better tuning machines. It's my second voice.

The devil made me do it! Light weight and easy action, bright, biting and brassy. I upgraded the tailpiece like I did on the other Gibsons with the TP-6. It's loaded with Fralin High Output pickups and RS Guitarworks pots, with a Hovland cap on the neck pickup, and another Stellartone ToneStyler on the bridge pickup.

This Les Paul is very light weight and resonant. The previous owner installed Fralin pickups on it, and it's a singer. It has my typical upgrades of RS Guitarworks pots and Hovland caps.

For a no-frills Les Paul, this one is quite extraordinary. Light weight, great sustain, totally fun to play. It's got the stock Gibson Burstbucker Pro pickups on it, and I gave it a Stellartone ToneStyler too.

What started life as a basic MIM Strat became my tribute guitar to Dave Murray of Iron Maiden. It has an alder body, a maple neck and a traditional Fender Stratocaster bridge. DiMarzio pickups - a PAF neck and Super Distortion bridge - along with decorative pickup rings complete the project. Great for playing classic early Maiden, Judas Priest, or any late-70s/early 80s NWOBHM.

1999 Danelectro DC-12

Not a bad novelty instrument for the low price. Bone stock, the lipstick tube pickups have that classic Dano jangle. I play Beatles, Petty, Eagles ("Hotel California") and country music with this one. It sounds awesome when played through a compressor pedal.

2003 Squier Bullet Special

Crapped ...er, crafted in Indonesia. This is the "basement beater" guitar - the one I knock around with casually. I reworked the heck out of it with some Carvin parts; a string-through bridge, tuning pegs and straplocks, plus an old Duncan Distortion pickup and another Fat Finger. And, the secret weapon - a Torres Engineering 2Meg Pot and Volume Kit. All the power of the pickup hits the amp, with no loss of tone when turning down. Great for metal and punk - this guitar doesn't sound too bad, but it never leaves the basement!

2002 Epiphone EB-0

I wanted a nice inexpensive bass to dabble with, and the price was right on this one - I won it! I totally love this body shape, as I developed a major Free jones and I had to have a bass that looked like Andy Fraser's. I've upgraded this one with a Dimarzio Model One pickup, which keeps the sound punchy without getting muddy, and a Fender thumbrest. The short scale is more comfortable for a guitar player like myself. I don't pretend to be a real bassist - I play with a pick and sound pretty terrible on it!

This is the first edition of the 410 model. Newer ones use a different wood (mine's mahogany) and have bound necks. I have played in a church folk group off and on for many years, and this is my main instrument when I have my "gig with God." I added a Martin Thinline pickup.

An awesome 12-string, if I do say so myself. A real joy to play. It has seen plenty of folk group action over the years too. If I need to amplify this guitar, I use a Dean Markley Pro Mag sound hole pickup. Because of this guitar's unusual bridge saddle length, I haven't been able to find a suitable piezo pickup for it.

Another contest win. I used to play classical back in the '80s (in the wake of the Randy Rhoads / Yngwie Malmsteen craze) but stopped in 1990. This one is an Indonesian cheapie, but since it was free, who's complaining?

I started to play mandolin in 1998, and used it in the folk group a little bit too. This model has a unique sound, and is quite loud. I also added a contact pickup to it, and it's very loud when amplified.