GUITAR COLLECTION

...and, there's more in storage.

This is my first real electric guitar.  I bought it new in 1977 from Music Emporium in Northern Virginia, and continues to be one of my favorites.  While not historically accurate, the P-90 pickups, one-piece mahogany body (beautiful grain), slim neck (no volute), and low, fast frets made this a real bargain.  In this photo it had an early-80s Bill Lawrence Mini-Humbucker in the bridge position, but I have since replaced it with the original P-90.

This is a great guitar and I would recommend them to anyone wanting to get into an affordable P-90 Les Paul.

I bought this guitar in 1995 from Mr. Gruhn in Nashville.  An early amber Classic with a really nice top (and 1991 serial number), this was a NOS guitar with nary a nick.   This is an interesting instrument because it is almost an Historic Reissue.  Thin binding, small headstock, and correct headstock inlay -- the right features are in place plus it is an ultra lightweight.  The pickups are really hot and have two conductor leads.  Yes, it says "MODEL" on the headstock.  Fast neck, hot pickups, and a great top.

Check out these photos.  We decoded the info in the front and back cavities!  Click here to read about it.
 

I bought this guitar in 1987 from a sad fellow going through a divorce.  I got a great deal on it, and immediately found that the neck had never been adjusted and the original strings were in place -- wow!  A Black Beauty, the gold is perfect on this instrument, and I plan to pass it to my son when he gets the fever.

A great playing guitar that has an original set of "Tim Shaw" pickups.  Virtually spotless, it is like new.

When I was in junior high, the hot guitar slinger in school had one of these.  A severe guitar-envy complex developed -- I swore that someday I would meet the LP Custom challenge.  Consequently, this guitar cannot be sold!  Matter of fact, don't even look at it, mate.

We recently installed two period-correct Gibson T-Top humbuckers.  We are still trying to decide if we like them.

This SG has the thin nut/neck profile -- it is almost like a Telecaster.  The fingerboard is standard rosewood with dot inlays. This guitar can really hammer my old 50-watt Marshall, and I have grown accustomed to it's great sound.  I've done all sorts of mods to this classic, but I've always enjoyed it immensely.

This guitar represents a multi-year search by the GuitarAttack Crew.  We finally took the plunge in May 2004 and acquired this classic Ibanez Explorer copy. 

Who wouldn't want a cool Explorer copy?  Ace Frehley of KISS played one of these, as did Ricky Medlocke from Blackfoot.   Mr. Van Halen used a Destroyer on at least the first three VH albums.  You can hear it rock on "Runnin' with the Devil".  You might recall that a "chopped-up" one appears on the cover of Women and Children First.  He also borrowed one of these from Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. to use on the the album because his was so mangled!

Who cares!  It is a great guitar and a real keeper!   Click here to see more photos.

For some reason not readily apparent to anyone, I had always wanted one of these guitars.  I briefly considered one at the 1987 NAMM Show in Chicago, then again in Indianapolis in 1989, then again in Phoenix in 1998, then...  Finally Mr. KK put me out of my misery and just ordered one from his Fender Rep and stopped the hand-wringing.

I have to say that this is a great instrument, and I was not disappointed when it arrived.  It sounds fabulous, and everyone that hears it is certainly curious.  The scalloped fingerboard is not for the timid, but it does make a difference when trying to play megafast.  This is not appropriate as a first guitar, but for a jaded shredder it is perfect.  Viva Yngwie!

This is your basic heavy metal machine from the 80's.  For those of you that can't remember that far back, this instrument allowed you to sweep, dive bomb, and alternate pick to your heart's content -- oh yeah... comb and spray your beautiful hair!  Its wide, flat neck and killer double locking Kahler tremolo allows you to act just like a middle-aged headbanger.

I bought this guitar from KK Music in Manchester, TN in 1988, and still play it regularly.  Nowadays these are selling at comparatively low prices.  A shame because it really sounds and plays great, and I believe this is one of the nicest Strats Fender ever made. It has a Dimarzio humbucker, Gotoh tuners, and other quality hardware. 

This is still one of my favorite guitars.  Fener reissued these in 2020-21, but I still like the originals.  Try to find one of these and take it for a test drive.

Purchased from Tommy's Guitar Shop in Viersen, Germany, this is probably the finest sounding acoustic guitar I've ever played.  I don't know if it was just fate or just dumb luck, but I found this beauty just when I was looking for a new acoustic guitar.  I just don't know quite what to say about it -- wow.  Click here to read more about it on the Opinion Page.

Another purchase from KK Music.  I bought this guitar in 1988 to facilitate recording of those cool metal ballads from the 80's.  Not a particularly great sounding guitar, it plays great and has a piezo pickup in it.  Note: This is one of those thin-bodied guitars that the salesmen claimed sounded "just as good as one of those high-priced Martins." Noted.

Out of curiosity we installed one of those "condenser mic pickups" available on eBay.  It is a mic element on a little circuit board.   Amazingly, it made this guitar sound much better when plugged in.  But in acoustic mode....well, you know.

I suppose everyone needs an acoustic.  Who thought that one up?

Yet another purchase from Mr. KK.  I bought this bass in 1985 from KK so I could round out my proto recording rig.  It has a killer candy apple red finish, and plays really great. The color sold me on the bass.  I even think KK bought me lunch that day.

I'm not really a bass player, but this one is really great sounding.  Highly recommended.

On a historical note, this bass was used by the Fabulous Squid Brothers in 1987-88 at Camp Page, Korea.  If you remember the Squids, drop us an email.

I bought this amp in 1979 from Keith's Music in Cookeville, TN.  It has been abused beyond your wildest imagination.  From impedance mismatches to being rained on, this loyal subject has never let me down.  It has a very distinctive sound, and has been the subject of "dude, how much would you take for it" conversations.  Yes, that is an old-time Scholz PowerSoak on top -- about the only thing that will tame the beast.  Also included is a late-70's DoD OverDrive Preamp 250 -- a key element to the attack.

The cabinet is an Ampeg 2-12 with Celestions.  The cabinet is stereo wired, and really sounds great with the Marshall.  I have used this with a number of different cabinets and it always sounds great.

Pete Traynor's dream, and my first amp.  Straight out of Canada, this amp was originally part of a duo with an Aria Telecaster Thinline-like axe.   I eventually teamed it with the Les Paul '55 above.  This amp really sounds great, and took an incredible amount of abuse when hauled around in my old Mustang. 

In 1998 I had it repaired by Kendrick Amps in Pflugerville, Texas.  It was kind of steep, and the highly-trained "experts" in the shop made fun of it when I hauled it in, then nearly ruined it.  In 2010 it was brought back from the dead by Andrews Amp Lab in Atlanta, and it sounds better than ever.

Dating from about 1980, this Ibanez Pedal Board has made the rounds.  It is a hinged plywood box with a little handle on the top.  It also has a built in nine-volt adapter.  The effects are, from left to right, an FL9 Flanger, and AD9 Analog Delay, and a CS-505 Chorus.  The flanger and the delay are nine-volt, and will run off of the board's power.  The chorus requires two batteries, and has it's own adapter.

I also had the DoD OverDrive Preamp 250 jammed into this board, and the effects chain sounded pretty good live.  Of particular note was the chorus, which is probably one of the best analog effects ever produced by Ibanez.   While it may be heresy, I also believe the DoD Preamp 250 sounded better than the Ibanez Tube Screamer with the Marshall...that is why you don't see a green Tube Screamer in this board!