What is your main axe brand?

[bammbamm]

So we all have our favorite axes, I'm an Ibanez guy, through and through.
Other people can only make magic on a Gibson, or a Fender, or the Parker Fly, PRS, etc...

How did you discover the instrument that you consider to be your one and only?

For me, it was years of cruddy guitars, which I didn't know at the time, I just worked with what I had. One day I bought an RG-550DY from my old singer who said it was too pointy for him. That was it. I was hooked, but I didn't know it until a couple years ago.

For a while It'd been Ibanez only:
http://dnr-music.com/Stuff/my_gear/images/rsz_30.jpg

Then I sold off a couple Ibeni for a Strat
http://dnr-music.com/Stuff/my_gear/images/rsz_29.jpg

Then the strat and another Ibanez for the Parker Fly
http://www.geocities.com/itsbam2/DSCN1914.JPG

Until recently, I caved to my inner voice.
I tried the G&L Legacy, thinking this should be it, a strat to beat the other strats I've played and liked...
http://dnr-music.com/Stuff/GANDL/photos/r0.jpg
Nah...

So I've completely embraced my inner Ibanez fanatic.
http://www.dnr-music.com/pics/1.JPG

What did you go through to arrive where you are, and where do you see your self in say, 5 years?

[jemaholic]

I love Ibanez, Jackson and Fender guitars.

For acoustic - there is only one -- MARTIN.

[OLIE_ROCKS_THE_80'S]

My favorite guitars are the Ibanez JPM's having said that I love ESP, Jackson, Charvel,Kramer, BC Rich, Fender, Washburn, Yamaha,Peavey,Hamer,Alvarez,Dean etc... I'm a jack of all brands!

[kotornut]

I'm not a brand guy. I'm not endorsed so why limit myself? But I must say that I lean toward Ibanez for the necks and quality/price ratio. Looks help too, RGs are my favorite style of body.

I would love to get my hands on an EBMM guitar sometime or a high-end ESP, but when I see the CA red RG2670 or the 2550 in sparkle white, I forget about those other guitars. Just don't need the trem. Oh well I can block 'em.

[ScottB]

My main axe is a True Temper Kelly. I bought it in 1987, just about the time that the Kelly Axe Co. was sold off. It has the original hickory handle and is razor sharp. I also have a nice Craftsman splitting maul. That one had the handle replaced about 7 years ago.

[bammbamm]

NICE !
...and what of your guitar collection?

[ScottB]

dOH!

I have 4 Ibanez (Jem, RG550, RG321, SR400), 2 Fender Stratocasters, 1 Squier Mini Strat, 1 Warmoth custom Floyd Rose Strat, 2 Simon and Patrick acoustics and a Yamaha classical.

I keep them in the house, but the chopping axes are in the shed!

My first "real" guitar was a '75 Fender hardtail Strat. I traded it in for a Gibson Flying V in 1980 when I was in my "Michael Schenker is god" stage. The V was trade in for a Kramer with original Floyd about 2 years later when EVH replaced MS as the new guitar god in my book. The Kramer was "disassembled" in 1990 with the hardware and electronics going into the Warmoth. That was my only electric until I caught a terminal disease called GAS, here at Jemsite.

[shreddersymphony]

My custom guitars are all I play right now. I've had Fenders, Jacksons, Ibanezes, Schecters, etc over the years, and nothing really compares.

[Ayrton]

I have mostly customized Ibanez, but have several Fenders, a Gibson, and Washburn. I like different guitars for different reasons, but I know I own waaay more than I actually need.

[etfmusic]

I agree with what Ayrton just said. While having more than I can play, most of my guitars exist for their different sounds and/or their different feeling when played. The one that stands above the rest is a custom, made out of an ESP body, an old Fernades or Charvel neck (the previous owner could not recall the origin - he did many modifications 15 years ago!) and a Floyd. It sports a Hot Rails in the bridge, a Cool Rails in the neck and a Brian May in the middle. Oh, and it is scalloped of course! Second (hand in hand) are my PMC along with my Gibson MIII. I tend to play more the PMC, it is more eye-catching...

[bammbamm]

Pics would be nice

[Scali]

I suppose I go back and forth between Ibanez and Gibson/Epiphone.
When I started out, I was really into the sound of Slash and Gary Moore, so I got an Epiphone Les Paul.
After a few years I discovered Joe Satriani and Steve Vai and all that, and started playing their music. This demanded a guitar with a tremolo, so I looked around and eventually got an Ibanez RG570CT.
I ended up really loving the tone of that Ibanez, perhaps even more than my Les Paul.
At some point I 'pimped' the Epi by putting in original Gibson pickups and electronics, having the frets recrowned professionally, and having a graphtech nut installed.

Not too much later, the neck pickup on my RG died. I ordered a set of DiMarzio's, but it took a long time for them to arrive. I had already taken the guitar apart in an attempt to fix it (at first I thought the switch was faulty, it had acted up before), and didn't feel like putting it back together before the new pickups arrived.
So I had to play on my Les Paul during that time, and fell in love with the tone and playability all over again.

Since I still needed a guitar with a tremolo, I started looking around for a replacement. I found a Gibson M3 (I have actually been fascinated by that guitar ever since I first saw it... but couldn't find one when I was hunting for a guitar with trem)... Completely loved the tone, playability was great aswell, and the sustain was just... insane... The only thing I didn't really like about it, was that the tremolo didn't go up as far as my RG did.

Anyway, the DiMarzio's finally arrived, but they didn't work out for me. They didn't sound like my stock pickups at all, and I lost that very tone that made me fall in love with that guitar in the first place. So the DiMarzio's went again, and I made it stock again with a cheap secondhand V7. Now it was hard to choose between the M3 and the RG570CT...

Then I saw a special offer for the Ibanez S7320... I had been fascinated by the ZR-tremolo for a while... It looks really slick, and the zero-point system is great. But I didn't want to buy another guitar just because of a tremolo. The 7th string gave this guitar a little something extra that my other guitars didn't have. So I thought I'd buy it and see if 7 strings would work for me... If not, I could sell it again, it wouldn't cost me all that much anyway.

The moment I first played on it in the shop, I noticed that the bigger neck also gives it a bigger tone. I really liked it. It is currently my main guitar, even though I don't actually make use of the low B-string much. I just like how the guitar sounds, and how it plays.

(I'm now looking for an Epiphone Les Paul Classic 7-string actually)

I suppose you know what a Les Paul or S7320 look like, pretty standard... Here are the relatively rare RG570CT and Gibson M3:

[Myst and rain]

Well, I started out playing a Squier. Then I played a Yamaha Pacifica for years (I still do) and then I bought an Ibanez S. Through playing all these and growing as a player, I narrowed down what specifications my ideal guitar would have. And to my surprise, they were all incorparated in the design of... *drum roll* the Carvin DC127! So I hope to get one of those this year.



Alwin

[Brosa]

Hey Alwin,

Carvins are realy tough to get in the Netherlands. Good luck with that! If i ever see one, i'll PM you.

My main brands are Fender & Ibanez. I always loved the Superstrats. Lately i've been having GAS attacks of a Suhr Standard. Got.. to.. have.. a... Suhr...

[Jaden]

Jaden Rose guitars....
but i may be considered bias on that opinion