Leaderboard

Simply put, it ain’t a forum until it’s full of GAS. For me, a 56 Les Paul and a 54 Strat. I’ve been lucky enough to play one of each, I’m just not the fella that’s lucky enough to own one....

IIRC I’ve had: Traynor 2x12 (a Fender Twin clone that weighed a ton). Marshall Country & Club Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (I replaced the speaker with a Jensen 12”, which improved it no end). A self build Stinger amp, designed by Denis Cornell, 1x10, 11w. Fender Super Champ X2 (my current amp, albeit with some digital FX gubbins in it). But the best valve amp I ever owned was Fender ‘59 Bassman reissue. 4x10, 2x6L6 and loud as hell! I modded it so it be a master volume amp, with preamp gain control. What a tone.

I had an eighties Fender Twin. Great sound, weighed a ton. Now I have a Fender Blues Deluxe, still heavy but sounds great especially when paired with an attenuator and a good guitar! I also have a sixties Gibson GA100, all original. Also sounds amazing with an original fifties P90 equipped ES5 or a Les Paul (any age, but a good one) not so good with a strat. I have a Line6 POD XT Live. Great for recording, doesn’t work for me live.

My 1991 ES175, neck break courtesy of my son. Bless him, he still apologises about it to this day, even though the accident was ten years ago and I’ve forgiven him. I think that’s what he finds hard. I didn’t get cross about it, said “Accidents happen, it’s ok” and got it repaired. It’s as old as he is. The amp is an early sixties Gibson GA100, all original. Amazing sound when cranked and paired with some P90 equipped beastie. Then there’s the custom shop tele (custom artwork on the scratchplate) and a Squier JV strat with ...50s spec Tonerider pickups, CTS pots, switchcraft jack, 5 way selector, full cloth wire, an original 1950s Astron Hymet wax/paper capacitor, on a custom shop mint green pick guard, strung with flat wounds - sounds and plays fab at a fraction of the cost of an original. I use the Fenders with the funk band and my Gibson R9 Les Paul with the swing blues band. I’d like to use the 175 as well but often find I don’t have enough space on stage! Main amp - Fender Blues Deluxe That studio of Octatonic’s is SO much tidier than my music room!

Indeed! Along with Nick Beggs and Marco Minnemann!

Ok, I’ll add mine to the pot of already great players mentioned.... Steve Howe ... up to and including Close To the Edge. Huge influence on my attitude toward the guitar. Narciso Yepes ... he started the whole thing for me. Guthrie Govan ... especially with Steven Wilson. “Hand cannot erase” is such a great album. Has anyone seen the video of the solo from “Regret #9 (I think that’s the one). One take and the look of relief on his face when he finishes! Brad Paisley, Danny Gatton, Shawn Lane, George Benson, Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Aleman, George Barnes, Mike Stern, B.B. King, Al Di Meola, and so many more! Xuefei Yang, Kazuhito Yamashita from the classical world, although Pavel Steidl, David Russell and Paul Galbraith are ridiculous. PG is sublime. His style of playing (holds it like a cello), his touch and musicianship are out of this world. Acoustic guitarists ... not so knowledgeable here! The players I know have been mentioned. We are fortunate enough to have so many to choose from and be humbled by.

Fine, fine guitars. I owned an original run McCarty and a Swamp Ash Special, both were fantastic players with bags of great tone, although eventually I found the ergonomics weren’t for me. I also had an SE singlecut later on which was better for me as a design and was stunning value for money. I’ll see if I have any pictures stored somewhere. EDIT: None of the Swamp Ash Special sadly. However...

Bon voyage!

So many great guitar players…. My pick is Guthrie Govan. Love his playing and can listen to him talk about music all day, every day!

Guitars: Studio:

For electric guitar, I'm a big fan of Jeff Beck and Michael Landau. Alan Hinds and Leslie West are also up there. Acoustic guitar, Michael Hedges, Tommy Emmanuel and Gordon Giltrap

I like Larry Carlton

Currently GASing for a reissue Princeton Reverb that I can gut and replace with a handwired turret board, and maybe an upgraded OT and speaker. Like this: