People often ask and I never really know. Here's a list of what I can remember I have in my collection.

[Drums]
Ludwig Vintage Jazz Kit
Tama Swingstar Kit
Gretsch Blackhawk Kit
22" Zildjian Ride
18" Zildjian Rock Crash/Ride
17" Zildjian Rock Crash
16" Zildjian Thin Crash
14" Zildjian Azuki Crash
13" Zildjian New Beat Hats
14" Zildjian Rock Hats
14" Pearl birch snare
14" Ludwig steel snare
13" maple snare

[Electric Guitars]
American Strat (cherry burst)
Hot-rodded Epiphone SG Les Paul Custom
Hot-rodded Squier Tele (Hot Rails + Humbucker from the SG)
Squier Jagmaster
Ibanez mutant guitar w Floyd Rose bridge.
First Act Electric (w flames)
Synsonic strat-copy
BC Rich Warlock (Deluxe?)
Ibanez RG2EX1
MIM Tele with Burstbucker III and Bigsby Pickup
Agile AL-2000
Pink/creme semi-hollow (under construction)
Epiphone PeeWee mini electric guitar

[Acoustic Guitars]
Classical Yamaha
Classical Paracho
Dreadnought 15+ year old Blueridge
Dreadnought Jasmine
Grand auditorium Takamine
Grand auditorium Blueridge BR-163, hot-rodded w upgraded tuners, saddle, and pickup
Acoustic-Electric Alvarez
Marlboro "Martin" D28
Baby Taylor
Mark II Mini Acoustic

[Basses]
Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass (natural)
SX Jazz Bass (lawsuit headstock, tobacco burst)

[Amps]
Fender "Evil" Twin
Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
Roland Cube 15
Hughes and Kettner Attax 80
Newport Smokey Amp
First Act amp
Yamaha 15" bass amp

[Effects, Etc]
Ibanez Tubescreamer TS9
ZVex Woolly Mammoth clone
Behringer Vamp2
Line6 Pod XT Live

[PA, etc]
Fender 900w powered mixer
2 Peavey floor monitors (12" with horns)
B-52 Matrix-1000 (700w, 2x10", 1x15")
Shure SM-57
Shure SM-58
Behringer dynamic cardioid
Digitech Vocal 300

[Other, Misc]
Blue Snowball mic
Roland EXR-3
Mandolin
Violin

And here I thought I was going overboard when I bought my third guitar Friday...

What really matters is that you have great taste! I can safely say that I lust after your Tele, pretty much always. Also, what's up with the First Act stuff? Were those some of your first instruments?

HOLY CRAP! SOMEBODY READS THE BOARD STILL???

I still lust after that Squier Tele and I own it. Ha! It sits by my bedside and gets more love than all my other guitars combined. If that isn't lust, I dunno what is. The previous owner actually seemed kind of put-out that I was so excited about the Tele and kind of ignored the SG. But man, I love that thing SO much.

Honestly, my love for that Tele really inspired me to buy the other MIM Tele.... which I HAAATTEEEE. The neck doesn't feel the same, the bridge looks MUCH better than it functions. The Burstbucker III sounds sweet, but really doesn't match well with the other stock pup. I might end up having to replace the nut with one that's cut a little wider or something. I have no idea right now. But man I wish it was half as cool as the little hot-rodded Squier.

The First Act stuff Ozzy actually bought for me. Truth be told, it's a wicked cool guitar. The fretboard on it is kind of wider and flatter -- like an SG. Great for the more intricate work than standard chord-mashing. Style-wise, I'd give it an 7 out of 10. The pups sound decent. The amp a little travel amp that can work from an AC adapter or a 9v battery. Sounds better than the smokey amp, but that's because it's built in a real box. Haha. My understanding is that First Act makes several different lines of guitars -- ranging from play things to sweet customs. I believe this is the midrange stuff that's d*ng respectable. At least it plays and looks like a decent axe. Waaaay better than the Walmart Specials. Haha.

New guitar??? Whaddid you get? You've still got the SG, and your dark Fender acoustic, yes? Is this the semi-hollow I've heard rumors of? Specs? Review? Love-scale?

There's another Les Paul I've been Jonesing for, but it's all the way down in Utah County. I really need to quit blowing money on these things but oh man, the temptation still lurks. I've been sweating over it for about a week now.

[This is now the nerd-out-on-gear thread]

Of course I still read this! These days it feels like the easiest way to keep in touch with you. Look at us, all communicating and junk!

A testament to the fact that every instrument is different, and usually even different from person to person. No surprises about the Tele, but I never would have guessed that First Act makes good gear. That might be from my experience teaching, because the only First Act stuff I ever see is the $100 "WalMart Special," as you put it. I'd love to hear that little amp sometime running off a freakin' battery!

Yes, the new guitar is Steve's hollow-body. It's an Ibanez Artcore AG85:



I'm pretty much in love with it. I would marry this guitar if I could. Perfect action, high-quality hardware, great acoustic output and extremely versatile electric output. This has become my fun/performance/home guitar, and the rest are for teaching. I will not sully this beauty with the drudgery of everyday duties. My favorite thing about it is the way it wails above the twelfth fret: every time I play up there, a blues man creams his pants and an emo kid's head explodes.

Ooh! Ooh! What kind of Les Paul? Is it worth the drive? I've never been a huge fan of how they play, but they're so pretty...

Let the gear-nerding commence!

NICE! I dig it! Those inlays look pretty crazy, and I LOVE the tailpiece. I'm a real sucker for the Bigsby look on a semi-hollow, though I've read some really mixed things about QC on them. I think it was yesterday that I was reading some people had issues with the Gretsch Bigsbys being misaligned. To me that's completely mind-blowing considering how much money those things cost!

The Paul is an Agile AL-2500 with what appears to be two P90 pickups. The seller is asking 200. You can buy them online for about 200 + shipping, so some haggling is in order. That said, I think Agile is by FARRRRRRR the biggest bang-for-the-buck you can get when it comes to Les Paul style guitars. That 2500 will blow most Epiphones out of the water. I'm hoping to save my pennies and find a steal on a silverburst AL-3100 one day. This has been my dream guitar for the past year or so now.

http://www.rondomusic.com/al3100silverburst.html

Honestly, for coolness-factor the Smokey Amp is where it's at. They used to be made out of old cigarette boxes. Wicked cool.

Steve was thinking about getting a Gretsch at some point; I'll be sure to mention that little complication to him.

Very pretty guitar! I like that it's only 10 lbs, too. That's always been my biggest complaint about Gibson Les Pauls. You know, not that I could afford one or anything. You know what's fun? Goin into a guitar center and dicking around with the super-nice Gibsons under the facade that I'm a contemplating consumer. Suckers!

I've heard of cigar-box guitars, but never amps. Let's make one!

I've really been digging the weight of the Gibson Les Pauls. My biggest beef with them is (1) price and (2) the tilted headstock. Seems like the added sustain you get from them also is responsible for destroying a lot of guitars in accidents.

Anyone want to buy me one of these? I'd play the hell out of it.

Someone finally did what people have been thinking about guitars for decades now.

Alas, why must you tease me with things that aren't really for sale!

Update. 2011 I did a good job of controlling my urges. Here's what I've noticed change-wise has happened in the past year.

- Bought and sold a Behringer bass amp. Wish I hadn't sold it.
- Sold the snowball mic (good riddance, but i may buy another)
- Bought an Alesis electronic drum kit (still in box)
- Bought a Peavey electric guitar/amp kit (still in box)
- Bought an Epiphone Thunderbird IV Goth Bass (needed major repair, did 98% of it, then lost a part)

I'd really like to get that Pod XT Live fixed up (it's missing a screw or something so one of the two pedals doesn't go all the way down), then get it sold. Or maybe sell it as-is. It's been taking up space for way too long. Though I did find a setting on it that, when coupled with my H&K's distortion, produces this unbelievable hell-chorus that makes me swoon SO hard. I'd never been in love with electric tone until this. But I'm not willing to keep around that huge pedalboard and plug it in just to get the tone. Lazy > Beauty.