Of the three, the guitar I’ve had longest is the Art&Lutherie Cedar acoustic (bought new in Canada 1996 for $200 – case included). Laughably inexpensive, it’s solidly built, 100% real wood and sounds as good as guitars 3 times it’s price (didn’t when I first bought it – aged very well). This model is basically a Martin copy, but with a satin lacquer finish (same bridge and headstock shape, etc.).

My Stratocaster is a 2001 Fender “American Series” Hardtail (bought used)…which means it doesn’t have a “whammy bar”. It has a string-thru-body bridge, coupled with a tight-as-you-can-get neck pocket, so it resonates more like a set-neck guitar than any bolt-on I’ve ever owned. The “Surf Green” color turns some people off, but it’s a bit more original than the same old “burst” most get and should age well. I LOVE THIS GUITAR.

My most recent acquisition is a 1997 “Candy Apple Red” Fender Precision Bass (USA). I bought this particular model P-Bass because of the string-thru-body bridge (and the low price - used), but it probably would have resonated for days, regardless. It sounds SO good.

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Almost everything I know about the fretboard I learned from instructional videos (…so, I guess you could say Frank Gambale, Scott Henderson, Greg Howe, Eric Johnson, Don Latarski, Steve Morse, etc. were my teachers…kinda). However, still only knowing the most basic music theory (can’t sight read notation) and being just a guitar/music hobbyist, I record my simple arrangements through a Johnson J-Station amp modeler (don’t even own a real amplifier) over drum loops via good ‘ole “Vegas Audio” software on my computer.

Click here for a sample of my stuff (yes, that’s me singing…my “back-up only” voice helped by a pitch shifter and several layered tracks). It sounds pretty sketchy, but I only used earphones to monitor and I haven’t even really mixed it.

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