This was my guitar from 2020 to 2023. I tested it out at the Fenway Guitar Center in early 2020 and immediately knew it was the guitar for me. I had them order me a new one and would end up playing it for the next 3 years. It was basically a perfect fit for my playing style, which is what I was looking for at the time. I had previously used very expensive steel string guitars up to that point, but this guitar only cost $1200 when I bought it. It’s gone up a little bit since then (thanks, inflation), but $1200 is on the cheaper side for what’s considered a “nice” guitar. What it lacks in tone, it more than makes up for in playability. It’s great for fingerpicking, great for flat picking, and its wide neck was great for my large hands. Again, you might notice it doesn’t have as good of a tone as a $5000 guitar, but playability is priceless in my opinion. In addition to recording several Instrumental Singles with this guitar, I also used it on all the weekly cover videos as well as 2 studio albums, Outside Looking In and Trust the Science. To say that I’ve gotten a lot out of this guitar is an understatement. Unfortunately, I had to sell it in 2023 because the exposed wood on the back of the neck was starting to splinter.

The only electric guitar I’ve ever owned (so far). This was a Christmas gift in 2006 and that year happened to be the 60th anniversary of Fender so it’s what I got. There are certainly nicer Fender Strats out there, but this one got the job done and was easy to play. Owning an electric guitar made me realize how much easier they are to play than acoustic guitars. I remember there being a noticeable difference to the feel of switching back and forth between my electric and my acoustic. I never quite got used to that. I ultimately decided to sell this electric guitar in 2015 because I preferred the immediacy of an acoustic. I hated having to fumble around with wires, amps and knobs to get all the settings just right. With an acoustic guitar, I could just pick it up and play it. That decision solidified me as a purely acoustic player from that moment on. I used this guitar to play the first 9 tracks on Back in Time, Vol. 7: 2007 Analog Demos. You’ll notice that it’s not plugged into an amp for those, however. Even when I had an electric guitar, I still wanted to play it acoustically!

I’m not sure what the exact model was, but this was the first guitar that I ever owned. It was given to me as a Christmas gift in 2003 when I was 13. My dad noticed that I could not stop playing my uncle’s guitar over Thanksgiving of that same year so he went ahead and bought me this one. It only cost around $300, but it was a great starter guitar. I used it to record the last 9 tracks on Back in Time, Vol. 7: 2007 Analog Demos. I have 2 regrets about this guitar. I regret selling it in 2015, and I regret not being able to find a better photo of it. Sadly, this blurry screenshot is the best image I could get.

These were the guitars and rig I used to record my live album, Live in Salem, as well as every song on Back in Time, Vol. 3 and Back in Time, Vol. 6. The guitar in the open case was my 2018 Taylor K24ce and the guitar in the closed case was my 2017 Gibson J-45. I plugged them into the house PA system and recorded the show with the hand-held recorder in the bottom right of this photo. All the songs that sound more bassy were played with the Taylor, while all the songs that sound more high-pitched were played with the Gibson. You can also see my 2 effects pedals in the bottom right of this photo. The only song these pedals were ever used on is Space (Live). It’s also the only song I ever played with a metal slide.

This is the guitar that replaced the Taylor 814ce. I ended up returning that one and upgrading to this one. It doesn’t have as big of a sound as the 814ce (most likely due to the wood), but it makes up for that with its playability. This is by far the nicest acoustic I’ve ever played. It makes the hard stuff easy and the easy stuff effortless. With the right strings, it has a super crisp and clean sound. With the wrong strings, it tends to sound like a harpsichord. I used this guitar to record the lead and rhythm tracks on my 6th album, Reflections, in 2019. As nice as this guitar was, I ultimately ended up selling it in early 2020. The neck was super narrow, causing my fingers to muffle strings unintentionally on certain basic chords. Obviously that was a huge problem so I knew I had to find a guitar with a wider neck.

For my 5th (and final) solo guitar studio album, I wanted to do something different. I had made albums with Martin and Gibson acoustics but Taylor was the other major brand that I’d never used. So I went to the guitar store and tried out several models. I fell in love with the 814ce DLX as soon as I started playing it. The playability and warm, rich tone blew me away. I couldn’t believe such a powerful sound could come from a small, cutaway body. I used this guitar to record every track on my 5th album, Alternate Universe, in late 2018.

This acoustic/electric was loaned to me by Adam Weiss in late 2019. I was looking for a new guitar around that time and wanted to try it out. It was Adam’s personal guitar, but was mainly used as an auxiliary instrument for artists to play at Mix One Studios. Adam said I could take it home and play it if I put new strings on so that’s what I did. It never got used in any studio albums, but I managed to record 5 Instrumental Single videos before having to return it back to the studio. The 5 videos were Call and Response, Status Quo, Jazz to Rock, Industrial Wasteland, and A Real One. I thought this guitar was super interesting and unique, but ultimately not meant for me. It has a metallic, shrill sound and and can get very loud if strummed hard enough. It also has a “0 fret” meaning there is a metal fret at the very end of the neck, which is something I’d never seen before. It doesn’t do much other than change the tone of certain chords. Definitely a fun guitar to mess around with for a little while and I was grateful for the opportunity!

I really wanted a Gibson for my 4th album so I settled on the J-45. It has a dreadnought body so it has a much fuller sound compared to a cutaway body. That worked perfectly for the album. In my opinion this is the best acoustic guitar model Gibson makes. I could’ve spent more money on a Hummingbird or Southern Jumbo, but those guitars are twangy and buzz way too much for my taste. The J-45 has the cleanest tone in my opinion. The best thing about this guitar is its dynamic range. It can be played really soft like a Martin but also super loud with a booming bass. I used this guitar to record my 4th album, Elixir, in early 2018.

I originally planned to use this guitar to record my 4th album. I had used nothing but Martins to record my first 3 albums and it was time for something different. I tested this model out in the store and really liked the playability. I could play super fast on this guitar. I noticed some scratches on it and was able to get a few hundred dollars off the sticker price. I brought it home and recorded a few solos. Then I went on vacation for a week during the winter. When I came back, I immediately noticed something was wrong with how the guitar played. The cold must have changed the wood in some way because the strings wouldn’t stop buzzing on the frets, especially when playing the high notes. That was not acceptable to me and I returned it. I used this guitar to record Improvised Guitar Solos #9 and #10. So at least I got some use out of it. It was fun while it lasted.

I don’t actually own this guitar. I borrowed it from my Dad who purchased it in 1970. It’s very similar to my 1966 Martin D-28. The only major difference is the pickguard color and the low end sound. It has a much softer low end compared to the 1966 Martin. I used this guitar to record my 3rd album, Locked In, in late 2017. It was also the rhythm guitar used in every song on Whistling Past the Graveyard 2.

This is the only guitar that has been custom fitted for my playing style. I bought it at The Classical Guitar Store in Philadelphia in late 2016. It’s by far the cheapest guitar that I own, but you couldn’t tell by hearing it. It has a very crisp sound and is fun to play. I used this guitar to record my EP, Nylon, in the summer of 2017.

I’m not a huge John Mayer fan, but he sure made a great custom Martin OM (although I’m not sure how much input he actually had). I tested this guitar out in the store and knew I had to buy it. I used this guitar to record my second album, Devices, in early 2017. It has a very clean sound and was a perfect fit for that album. Unfortunately, I was not able to keep this guitar as it did not survive the harsh winter in Boston. About a month after I recorded the album, I noticed the guitar was slightly out of tune. I spent a half hour trying to get it tuned perfectly but I could never get it back to the way it used to sound. Something was just “off”. So I had to return it.

I nicknamed this guitar “The Survivor” because it has been through everything and still sounds great. Seemingly nothing can damage this thing. It was built to last. Originally purchased by my uncle in 1966, this guitar was given to me as a gift several years ago. It was my first “nice” guitar and a big reason why I got addicted to playing acoustic guitars. I feel very fortunate to own it. This guitar was used to record my debut album, Millennials, in the fall of 2016. Before getting into the studio to record Millennials, I had the Fenway Guitar Center install a Fishman pickup right under the sound hole. This converted it into an acoustic/electric guitar. I plugged it into the Apollo Twin interface and recorded Back in Time, Vol. 1: 2016 Apollo Demos in the spring and summer of 2016.