My PRS guitars are my work-tools and they fly round the world fairly regularly.

They seem oblivious to temperature and humidity variations, out the case and straight on stage.

They cover all the sounds I can imagine in my mind and they respond to every touch and stroke!!!

I look after them personally, including stringing and tuning (it,s part of the job!!!)

Essentially I love them and have a great and respectful relationship with Paul Reed Smith, Bev Fowler and the wonderful craftspeople at the factory.

I have fallen in love with Mandolins and their big brothers, the Mandola and Bouzouki, over the last 10 years or so!!!

As well as the gorgeous Gibson F4 (circa 1917) and the Gibson A 5 from 1958 which I am very lucky to own; I have my three Fylde 8 stringers!!!

They tour with me and not only sound fabulous but are very stable with their tuning.

I've toured with cheaper instruments, but I dont want a compromise with sound anymore. hence the Fyldes.

I love recording with them and they now seem to appear on everything, whatever the style of music...

quite rightly so...

This is a trio of 3/4 size Gibson student guitars from the mid 1950's.

They are pretty to look at and a lot of fun to play.

The blonde "125 "on the left is one of a dozen to be made that year and is in mint condition.

One of my many finds in the depths of Mississippi.

The acoustic was brought to an early Tull gig by a dealer, I didnt really want it and he wouldnt fly it home so I paid $15 for it.

My Hamer Sunburst used on Tull's Bursting Out album and the sole survivor of many Hamers built by Paul Hamer, himself.

We became best friends many years ago and he remains so to this day; a man to be inspired by and an astute musician.

One of the few people I actually listen too!!!

The three love of my lives...(in the world of guitars!!!)

left to right... Gibson "dot-neck" ES335 made in 1961 Gibson ES 135 from the mid 1980,s and a Gibson ES 235 from 1956.

The "dot-neck" was an amazingly generous gift for my 70th birthday from..... myself!!!

I found it advertised on the Manson Guitar Online Shop and it had been owned by..... myself!!! about 15 years previously. Why I sold it then, I'll never know, as it sounds stunning, in fact better than any of my sunburst 59s or, in fact, any other guitar in my cupboard.

Sometimes I just stare t it, but mainly, I plug it in and smile..... a lot!!!

The ES 135, I bought because it looked so cool and, quite frankly, it is cool.

The ES235 I bought from Gruhn Guitars in Nashville.

I saw it on the web page and, somehow, knew it would be nice.

I played it acoustically in the store and it played like a dream so it was no surprise that plugged into an amp it sings like a bird!!!

The sustain from the single P90 is truly awesome and defies that it was built as jazz instrument.

It inspired the track "Back to Steel" and deserves it.

Every guitarist needs a few Fenders and here are a few of mine!

A 1969 Telecaster; I've owned several over the years and this is the best Ive ever played.

A new DuoTone; just a cool and very easy instrument to play; it really covers the breadth of Fender tones.

A "Fat Strat" made in the USA and a guitar to keep forever, as they dont make this model anymore and it a really dynamic "beast".

Three Taylors

left to right

A Doyle Dykes built for the NAMM show in the early 2000's

A 12 fret 614

Full size 614

I own a few more Taylors, including a classical model and they are all used in the studio.

My favourite is the 12 fret, as it is more compact and translates from playing electric much better.

I can use it on live shows and I dont have to adjust too much to an acoustic feel form the easier electric feel??

I have an LR Baggs Anthem on my "live" Taylor and it's a delight to play and hear!!!

I have been using Soldano amps for over 25 years and have found them to be essential to my sound.
They are tough and totally consistant; their reliability is amazing too!!!
I have them dotted around the world, some in Europe, a couple in the USA and a few more in the UK.

The bigger Decatone is my touring amp and the smaller and much lighter "25" is my amp that flies on festival and one-off shows.
They are slightly different in response but both perfect for my needs.

I use a tiny Picoverb on the send/return with a very modest ammount of hall reverb to deepen the tone otherwise, no pedals and not too much front-end gain, as I use the guitar volume to increase or decrease the overdrive.
The crunch channel is for clean through to solo sounds and the overdrive for occasional flurries!!!

I always use Marshall 2 by 12 and 1 by 12 cabs and have a stash of studio amps for variation,including an old Marshall Studio 15, A Blackstar and an Audio Kitchen amp.
for crystal clean I have an old Matchless and a few Fender amps.

I like an amp which responds to the pressure from the pick, so it must be high quality.