Guitars and amps...

My first guitar is a 70s japanese electric from Cimax, it came when I was 12 with its Daytona TC300, french solidstate amplifier. Cimax was a part of Ibanez building low end copies of American classics. This one is a Gibson SG copy, it has a bolt on neck. It's light and build for speed, the neck is thin (in a vintage way, it ain't a shredder). I got it with the brdge pickup not working, and after 15 years it was replaced by an Epiphone one! I removed the Bigsby copy arm and had the tuners changed, so now it can finish a whole song in tune. It's a real rock guitar, perfect for ACDC but also Cream sounds.

A little later my father gave me his old acoustic guitar, a kind of pinewood guitar from the 40s or 50s with 12 frets outside the body but almost 10 mm between the strings and the neck at the junction! It stayed unplayed for long until I discovered slide guitar and that it was the one for that! The worn little body has good projection and with its chinese magnetic pickup it's simply perfect for swampy/dirty blues sounds!

My first job was in a supermarket, and everyday I got to there on my bicycle dreaming about the Les Paul I would get with the hard earned money. It's not a Les Paul, but a red Gibson Firebird V I bought, and after a little time finding out the string gauge that would fit (11-48) it was perfect. The sound is bright, due to the mini humbuckers and the neck thru body construction. The neck is quite big but extremely comfortable, the only con would be the weight, it's like an old Les Paul Custom or something like that. I just love it!

Next one came 2 years later, after hard times waiting for the money to come. It's a korean Telecaster copy (Maison) with honey finish. It sounds mostly like a 70s Telecaster, quite a bit aggressive, but really efficient. Excellent guitar played in Open Tuning, A, E most of the times.

As I was at the university I heard about a group looking for a bass player in a Country Rock group, so I rented a bass to get there, they took me and so I bought the bass. It's a korean made Music Man copy with a big Humbucker, fat but round sound, the one you want mostly for blues and rock. This one made me earn money as we were doing concert in Picardy.

My first acoustic guitar that doesn't need a bottleneck is this Dreadnought. A left handed friend bought it, and before he started replacing the bridge and nut I explained him it would be better to get a real left handed one, so I bought it. It's a bit hard to play but it has a good projection and it's quite nice.

please welcome Kitsch the cat!

I spent a lot of time in pawn shops and found this korean made Strat copy. I changed a crappy rythm machine for it, it had a broken pickup selector, the neck had to be straightened, but it was good looking and I always found the 2 tone Sunburst Stratos beautiful. The sound is not that good, but for some twang licks, surf riffs and Hendrix/Blackmore trem abuse it's just fine.

Last one is a Fender Telecaster Japan reissue 62. First time I saw it, in a second hand shop, it was a real sweat, I thought it was the real one, and at this price it would have been the big bargain. When I found out it was a reissue I felt a little disappointed but well, I was fooled at first by the look, feel and sound, even for a reissue the price was really good. Many people consider the 80s japanese reissues better than the same period's real ones, I have to admit the finishing is real good, even considering a new American reissue, it's more custom shop like. It's my 'Steve Cropper" guitar, perfect for rythm'n blues, arpeggios but also for early Zeppelin riffs.

Next one?

If I keep reasonable, it would be a chinese Ibanez Archtop.

If I'm not, well something like a Gibson ES345 would fit... the french DNG Comète would also be an excellent choice.