Finally, I got the chance to briefly meet Nile Rodgers on my birthday back in 2013 and he signed it for me before being whisked off by Acoustic Guitar mag staff.  I tried protecting it with coat of acrylic but the acrylic has started flaking off and it made the signature a little smudgey. :(

Speaking which, Nile Rodgers was the reason I decided to take up guitar.  This is a replica of his Hitmaker strat made by Al Knight - made with Fender licensed parts apart from the body.  The wear isn't quite the same these days but it features a thin alder body, Sperzels, Gibson speed knobs and a hard to find Kahler brass pickguard finished in chrome just like the original.  Electronics are standard wiring with Fender Noiseless Vintage pickups. I'm pleased to say it gets satisfyingly close to the sound of the original!

Being a big Al Murphy fan and needing something with humbuckers led me to this, a Yamaha MSG/Image Deluxe.  I have two, one of them is the Mk1 and this one is MkII where the vol pot is slightly further from the bridge.  All mahogany construction with a maple cap, I have since installed Armstrong PAF humbuckers so can extract some nicely jazzy sounds as well as a fat crunch.  The pickups can be coil split and while I was aiming for a tele twang, the mahogany construction kind of gets in the way of achieving that.  Still, the sounds are funky enough.  Otherwise both are still stock, with a Yammie RM-Pro vibrato bridge.  These are great guitars, seriously underrated.

Finally - a Klein replica.  I made the body with help, from NZ beech with a redwood top and the neck is an old Music Yo Steinberger jobbie.  Bridge is a Steinberger R trem and a Fernandes Sustainer kit is fitted for infinite yowling.  I'm not totally sold on the beech body, it seems to dampen the attack a little without reducing harshness so I may yet look for a replacement from mahogany or limba.

Still gassing for an Ibanez Artcore AWD82-ATF for semi hollow sounds.  Was going to make one but with this being nearly identical spec to what I planned, it's a no brainer.  Assuming I can find one. 

Kicking off with a Martin from circa 1840 with original hard case, but a dodgy newer bridge... which will soon replaced with an original looking one when I get some cash! 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd2EhoY5iHfaxKyZuCWHCKGjB4RHGrigvWMn_X_WDAZFdSt0g/viewform?usp=sf_link

I came back from the UK yesterday with an entire suitcase of stuff I'd managed to squirrel away over the last 7 years in it's own suitcase. All of it bought for less than market due to being in the right place at the right time. With the delivery of a couple of V30 loaded 1x12 cabs today, I spent a decent chunk of this afternoon, jetlag permitting, putting a couple of the preamps through the MPX G2 (which I already owned).  

My favourite amp is a Princeton Deluxe which is being shipped over, it nails the sound I've always wanted to hear.  But I didn't expect how much I would like the Marshall JMP-1!  I even preferred it to the Mesa Studio pre. 

I'm so happy using wireless transmitter... I picked one up from amazon £30

Made jamming more efficiant and fun!

Enjoy.

Any excuse to post an image of my 66 Tele

I've been playing the guitar on and off since I was 13, I'm now 50 and forever looking for better sounds and tones.

My biggest music influence over the years has been Metallica, I first heard Orion back in '87 and I had to know who was playing it and have been a massive fan of them since.

Rig Rundown:

Amp - Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier.

Cabinet - Marshall MX212R  2x12" Celestion Seventy 80's.

Guitar - ESP KH-2 (Customised EMG Solderless System running EMG Bone Breaker Pick-ups with a 24v Mod).

Pedals:

Acoustic Simulator - Boss AC-2

Amp Modeler - Joyo California

Chorus - MXR Analog Chorus

Compressor - MXR Dyna Comp

Delay - VOX Satriani Time Machine

Looper - TC Electronic Ditto

Noise Gate - MXR Noise Clamp

Tube Screamer - Ibanez TS Mini

Tuner - Korg Pitch Black

Pedal order from the effects loop on my amp:

Amp Loop Send - Tuner - Noise Gate - Compressor - Tube Screamer - Amp Modeler - Acoustic Simulator - Chorus - Delay - Looper - Amp Loop Return

Guitar plugs direct in to the amp.

Here's my much-loved, much-gigged and slightly non-standard American Standard. I bought this new in 1990 from what was then Musical Exchanges in Snow Hill, Birmingham.

Since then it's had, er, a few mods. Can you tell?

Pups are David White Old Glories (the gap in the scratchplate is where one of a pair of blue Lace Sensors once lived), and if you look carefully you'll notice that the frets are jumbos. Very much a personal thing that will no doubt have the purists chirping, but I just prefer  it that way.

I have to say it's an absolute beast of a guitar and the attention to detail is phenomenal. it comes with loads of candy, a reliced flight case and just has that sound in spades.

As an aside, if anyone is familiar with what I believe to be an original type Floyd Rose term and the specific tool you might need to tighten the trim arm, then your advice would be much appreciated by it's owner.

We've both had a look at it and are undecided as to whether it's even possible.

We decided it might be a nice idea to have a side by side shot of the 'monster' next to my pristine Ritter Cora.

It's the nicest playing guitar I've ever owned, I really like the way it looks - the picture doesn't quite do the colour justice - and the sound is just exactly what I wanted. I think it will be my #1 guitar for a good while.

(I don't know why the picture comes out that way round when it's vertical on my PC, but it does't really matter. It is actually hanging on the wall, not performing some levitation trick!)

First up is a 1995 Fender American Standard Strat in Electric Blue which was a colour offered between 1995-96. Condition is excellent apart from a bit of lacquer wear up at the Cowboy Chord end. It’s also been fitted with a set of Kinman Vintage pickups and a push/pull tone pot that activates neck and bridge pickup together. I swapped out the original white pickguard and backplate for black ones as I think it makes it look better.

I was fortunate enough to pick this up for less than I’ve seen used Mexican Fenders go for, even with nearly £300 worth of pickups in it. 

Next is a 2000 Fender American Standard Telecaster in spotless condition. It sounds wonderful and is a beauty to pay. It originally had a white pickguard but I decided to replace it with a black one.