My first guitar was a gift from a family friend. It’s a Yamaha FG-450SA acoustic that he was storing at our house. While it was at our house I had decided I wanted to learn to play it. When he came back a month later he heard me playing and was impressed with how much I had picked up on my own, so he gave it to me.

That guitar has seen better days… I moved from BC to Alberta and did not pay attention to proper humidity and the guitar dried up and cracked. Currently there is a split in the soundboard and two nicks out of the back. Also the fretboard is in dire need of new frets. The guitar was probably $700 new and has been a great guitar. It does have some sentimental value, so I could see myself getting the repairs done for that reason despite the fact it is only an entry level acoustic.

My second guitar was an electric that I purchased almost 4 years after playing only acoustic. I got some money gifts for graduating high school and used them to buy the guitar. It is a bottom of the line Epiphone model and strangely enough it is a strat copy. I purchased it for $185CAD and a little 10-watt Traynor amp for $80.

My third and current favorite guitar is an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I had gone to the guitar store a few times when I was thinking about buying it. I had a white one picked out and was just going by on payday to pick it up. When I got there they had just received a new shipment of guitars and another LP caught my eye. First I noticed its honey-brown finish, which I love. As soon as I picked it up I knew it was the one, the body was at least 10% lighter than the others I had tried. Although I like the weight of the Les Paul, I have to admit, this one just feels right.

I was still playing the guitar through my little 10-watt Traynor amp with no gain (which was no fun). So I went to the local pawn shop and bought a BOSS Metal Zone MT-2 to spice it up. About a month later I was given a Line 6 Spider II 210 for my birthday. I really love this amp.

About 6 months after buying the Les Paul I upgraded the pickups from the stock ones to a set of EMG Zakk Wylde 81/85 pickups. Since my style was quickly changing from Classic Rock to Metal, the pickups gave me the extra noise I needed.

What the future Holds

I’m currently looking for adding to my instrument collection. I have a few ideas for what I would like to get. Since I play a lot of metal that is tuned down, I would like to get a second electric guitar that I can leave tuned a full step down, maybe a Jackson RR3 or an ESP. Lately I have also been lusting after a Line 6 PODXT Live as well. Although, I do not know how well it would go with my Spider II. I’m not sure how they interact or what happens when you put an amp modeling floor unit into an amp modeling amp. So I’ll have to read up on that. If I do not get either of those I have also been thinking about getting a phrase looper. Lately I have wanted to jam more and more, and this would be a great tool to help me improve my improvising techniques.

So that is my gear past, present, and future. What have you guys got?