Ivan Bonahora

The neck is comfortable for those used to Explorer style guitars. Small tuning stability issues from the not-so-great tuning pegs, and in my case the nut fell off once. Otherwise, a nice instrument, especially during the period it was made (1998-2012) as it was one of the few inexpensive Explorer guitars available for left-handed players.

I bought this guitar (black finish) on impulse (something I'd never done before or since), as it was the one of the only two lefty Les Paul guitars at a certain music store. I asked if I could try it and I found it to be comfortable, amazing tone-wise and with a surprising capability for sustain. I don't remember the retail price but it was knocked down to €400. It's since become my main guitar due to it's reliability, tone and stylish looks. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a vintage Les Paul-inspired guitar that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The one thing I'm not fully sold on after two years of owning one are the vintage-style tuners. I'm swapping those for locking tuners. Oh, and the pick-up switch would look better with a classic "rhythm/treble" ring, but that's just cosmetic.

My go-to acoustic guitar. Setup was on point straight out of the box, sounds as full as I wanted it to be. No tuning issues worth mentioning, and the on-board tuner definitely helps keep any minor deviations on check. On the downside, I'm not entirely sold on the piezo tones coming out of it, but I think none of us has ever been impressed by them. After some eq-ing and a custom IR though, it sounds just as wonderful plugged-in as it does acoustically. The pins are not so easy to push back in either. The price was just right (roughly €520) and if something were to happen to it and I needed a replacement I'd go with this same model.

Bought this as my first practice amp. 26 watts, solid state. That's about it. God-awful distorted tones, decent cleans. I've had it repaired twice in the 5 or 6 years I used it. I took it to my first gig and it died during the first song. I keep it around for nostalgia, I guess. My 15 y/o cousin seems to enjoy it, though.

To be honest, I got this one because of it's extensive use on Muse's Origin of Symmetry. Of course all I did at first was turn knobs here and there to make crazy radio-like sounds, but once I sat down to get some actual tones from it I was pleasantly surprised. It can do anything from velcro fuzz to sweet metal tones. That being said, it did take me some time to get a thick guitar tone out of it. Definitely doable, just takes a bit more work. Oh, and it seems to be really sensitive to temperature and humidity changes so it's definitely not set-and-forget. Still, it's the only pedal I haven't sold even after going fully digital.

I got this one a while back while trying to put together some Marshall-y tones. I haven't made a side-by-side comparisnos nor have I had enough first-hand experience with Marshall amps to say it's exactly like the real deal. All I know is I paired it with an Orange 4x12 cab IR, twisted the digital knobs a little and got the best hard rock tone I've ever heard. Definitely worth a lot more than it's stunning $0 price tag.

...and it's a free VST plug-in. This one in particular is clearly aimed at metal players, but with "metal" being such a wide term these days, its versatility comes almost by design. I use it mostly for Black Album-style rhythm tones, and it gets a lot of use in leads too. Along with LePou's HyBrit plug-in, it's one of those products that'll make you go "how is this free?!"

I got my first pair as a Christmas gift. Loved it for listening to music (though the long cable is obviously better suited to a studio setting than for casual music listening). As soon as I used it for mixing it became apparent that they weren't quite as transparent as I hoped. They definitely have the low end cranked up, which I didn't appreciate at all. I've also had to replace them twice, and I consider myself to be extremely careful with gear. I'm looking to replace them with something better, maybe some of the higher-end Sennheiser stuff won't suffer from the same issues.

Such a tiny capo, easy to use and most definitely reliable. I got this as part of the guitar maintenance kit. Definitely a pleasant surprise to find this thing inside.