DISQUS

I like to think of it as like the difference between a fine paper products boutique and Staples. If you want some paperclips and tape, staples is gonna be fine. But for me, the most interesting things are hand-made and unique. I try to frequent the smaller stores, otherwise they'll disappear forever.

If you want something that was created with love, you aren't gonna find it at Bed Bath and Beijing.

When I first started gigging on a regular basis in my late teens and 20s I was a bass player. I practiced and played out, jammed with friends and did sessions constantly. Then I switched to guitar. For almost 15 years I rarely touched a bass other than to test it.

Then, I brought a bass that I had at home hanging on a wall, to work. A guy in the shop was playing a song one afternoon, so I grabbed the bass and joined in. Woah! It was so foreign, yet so familiar at the same time. It was almost as though I'd picked up a saxophone—and could instantly play it well! It was such a revelation that I started to play bass every chance I got. The joy of playing returned, just like when I was first gigging and jamming. Songs I hadn't played or heard in years came easily and intuitively.

So I know exactly what you mean... it's like riding a bike. I'm sure happy about putting in all those hours back in the day.

Guitars are fashion statements, and people view them as expressions of themselves visually as much as sonically. Sad? Not at all really. It just opens the door for someone clever to exploit a stereotype by contradicting it. I loved Jimmy Page slinging a Telecaster for the first two Zep albums (and tours) and how about the Cult or ACDC cranking out Rock on a Gretsch?

I would have loved to have seen Dime playing a Rickenbacker, but then... some people just feel uncomfortable when they're out of uniform.

There's so many ways to interpret this list, depending upon your viewpoint.
Imagine if you walked into a room where all of the guitars on the list were hanging up on the walls, and you had to name each guitar's owner...

That's one way to look at it.

Another would be if the names of guitarists were listed, and you had to name their main guitar...

Hey, where's John Lennon's black Rickenbacker? Or Merle's Bigsby? Or Charlie Christian's ES 150?


In the end, it's not really worth arguing about.

Gotta love those 90s! I remember when they first came out we put it on everything—bass, guitar, vocals, drums; it didn't matter. Eventually we got sick of it and moved on to chorus...

I'll have to dig my old MXR out of the cabinet and take it for a spin again.