Gear
Squier Stagemaster 2001 (2013?-)
This guitar was an awful blue color when I bought it cheap, used on eBay. These are not popular guitars at all, but I like the necks on them, and because I was able to get this one so cheap, I tried removing the paint (mostly with a chisel and sandpaper). I actually like it a lot better without the thick lacquer.
Squier Stagemaster 2000 (2012?-)
After finding my first Stagemaster, I looked for others, and I bought this one on eBay. This is similar to my first, though it has a (lousy) non-locking trem system, and strangely, bigger frets. (Strangely because you'd typically expect the version with the Floyd Rose tremolo to have big frets, and the version with the traditional bridge to have medium or small frets.) Nothing super fancy here, but plays well and sounds okay.
Squier Stagemaster 1999 (2004?-)
I came across this superstrat style guitar in the Music Lovers Shoppe in Brighton, NY. I'd never heard of the model. It was new old stock. Immediately it checked a few boxes for me: cheap, reverse headstock, floyd rose tremolo, HSS pickups. What I really dug, though, was the neck. A very thin C-shaped profile; small in back but not super flat, and really narrow at the nut, I think about 40mm. I don't love the fretboard wood, and it strangely has pretty small frets. Otherwise, though, I really dug it right away and traded my mexican Strat and twenty bucks for it.
Fender “Big Apple” Stratocaster Hard Tail, ca 1999 (1999-2004?)
This is probably the most expensive guitar I've ever bought. I think I paid about $600 for it. At the time I was looking for a simpler setup compared to the double-locking floyd rose tremolo, so this hard-tail strat felt like a step in the right direction. It was made in the USA and had Seymour Duncan pickups that sounded great. Ultimately, though, this guitar had too "twangy" a sound for me and I found myself playing "twangier" when I played it, so I traded it for some other equipment. (Photo is not the actual guitar.)
Ibanez MC888 Bass (1995?-)
This is a cool small-body bass with neck-through construction. I don't rememeber when I bought it. It was hanging used in the Music Lovers Shoppe in Brighton, NY for around $300, it seemed worth way more than that to me and I've had it ever since. I'm not a bass player but it's great to have one on hand to record song demos.
Ibanez RG550 1993 (2002-)
When I was in college and playing a lot, the RG550 was the guitar I wanted but couldn't afford. By the early 2000s, I'd been working a few years, and was able to afford one used. This one came from California in good shape. I changed a few things cosmetically, but otherwise it's all original.
Fender MIM Stratocaster (1994-2003?)
I bought what I consider to be a fairly "standard issue" Stratocaster in the mid-1990s, I think I bought it new, a cheaper made-in-Mexico model. It was built rock-solid, but the pickups and wiring were really noisy. (Photo is not the actual guitar.)
Ibanez 540 PSH (1993-2008)
I played this guitar at more gigs than any other, it was my main instrument when I was most actively playing out. I loved the reverse headstock and smaller, unusual body.
Yamaha Pacifica 521 (?) 1992 (1992-94?)
I got a Pacifica, I believe, the first year they came out. I remember wanting the "921", that had a Floyd Rose tremolo, but I could only afford one of the lower-priced models, I think a 721 or 521, which was still a pretty decent playing and sounding guitar. I think this is the guitar I was playing when I started to audition and got into my first real band. (Photo is not the actual guitar.)
Westone Dimension WE5400UV 1990? (1990-93?)
This was a great guitar, I believe the first I ever had with a Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo. I had this guitar my last few years of college, and a few after. I think I got this one when I was starting to understand what features I liked in a guitar, this one has a slightly smaller body, reverese headstock, single coil neck pickup. I recall at one point I had this strung with just 5 strings that I had tuned all to even fifths. (Photo is not the actual guitar, but mine looked just like this.)
Ibanez EX120 1989 (1989-?)
This was my first Ibanez guitar, and while it was a budget model, it was a step up from what I'd been playing. And it looked close enought to the guitar Joe Satriani was holding on the cover of Not of This Earth.
Honda Fame Series 761 (1988-89?)
My sophomore or junior year in college, I got a few bad grades, and my parents blamed this on guitar playing and wouldn't let me take my guitar back with me in the fall. I guess they thought unsupervised access to girls and beer had nothing to do with it. I made a beeline to the House of Guitars and ended up with this cheapo Van Halen knock-off. It had a hideous mirror pickguard, but was good enough to keep my fingers busy. (Photo is not the actual guitar.)
Washburn G-2V "Spazocaster" (1987?)
This was my first electric. I'm not sure, but I think this was bought new from Enders Music, a small shop that was located in Manlius, NY. It couldn't have cost very much.