Musicians, what instruments do you play and why

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hey.
For the musicians on the forum, I thought I would add a thread about musical instruments.

The topic for this thread is what instruments do you presently play, and why did you choose that one in particular.
I guess you can include synth's as well, for people who make EDM, who don't play traditional acoustic electric instruments.

I will start, I was originally a bass player many years ago, however after a number of years making EDM
I have returned to learning to play guitar.

The guitar that I have just got, is an Epiphone Casino (just the standard one).
Which I presently love, as when unplugged it sounds like an acoustic, but plays like a good electric.
Well made, and in my opinion, really good value for money.



My Casino is vintage sunburst. I picked it because I wanted to look and sound like the guitars from the mid 60s,
when rock music was starting up. During the time loads of bands were playing archtop hollow body semi acoustic guitars. The beatles all had one, and they were used on loads of the Beatles tracks despite being actually a budget guitar. Loads of other people played this type of guitar (hollow body not necessarily epiphones), including Chuck Berry, Steve Marriot from Small faces, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend.

There are some differences in the later guitars though, as the early hollow bodies had single coil pick ups that were prone to feedback due to their electrics but also the size of the bodies. like acoustics when plugged in

The guitar manufacturers eventually made humbucker noise cancelling pickups and made the bodies smaller.
Which made them less prone to feed back and gave the guitars more sustain.
However, when unplugged the thinner semi acoustic versions weren't very loud and sounded more like an unplugged electric guitar.

Personally I like the fact that the full hollow body sounds awesome unplugged, and still sounds pretty cool when plugged. I am into classic rock and acoustic stuff, so not really into making the guitar sound like a heavy metal guitar.

So suits me at the mo.

I have a hofner copy of a Steinberger bass guitar, which has EMG pick ups. Nice for reggae etc.
Would like however to get a more expensive bass at some point.
Perhaps a Hofner Very Thin bass guitar (sunburst) very retro but great range of tone.

Or a quality 50s Fender precision bass guitar.
Will have to wait for that one though...

[img]https://www.hofner.com/media/catalog/product/cache/45/image/1280x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/h/c/hct-500_7-sb_1_2.jpg
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Sure. thanks for your help. Although the topic is slightly different.

The question wasn't what musical instruments can you play. But what instruments do you presently play, as well as why. This may sound pedantic, but I think there is a slight difference.

Especially the why. As people have different reasons as to why they buy their particular instrument.
From a music producer perspective (I am a hobbyist aspiring to be pro producer),
it can be an interesting and important question, especially as people start to get good or who are at pro level.

As mentioned, the reason why I brought an eiphone casino to play guitar on is deeply based on the aesthetic design as well as the sound. This is an interesting observation, as there are loads of different archtops on the market which all look the similar or even the same to the uneducated, but if you listen to how they sound when plugged in and when unplugged, you will easily hear a difference.

So my question was more what exact instrument do you presently play and why did you choose it?
Thanks for your help though otherwise
cheers

I see. I presently play a homemade fretless tackhead banjo with nylon strings. I like the old time sound, and I got a Deering Vega Old Tyme Wonder banjo, but it has metal strings, lots of metal hardware, a thick wooden hoop, frets, and was heavy. I hate the feel of metal strings, and I was ripping up my fingers every time I played. Clawhammer style is usually played without picks. I've tried special clawhammer picks, also improvised my own, and they all suck. I don't understand having all that hardware to stretch the head, when you only replace it every 20-50 years so, if that. Humidity changes don't change the sound that much to matter. I like goatskin better than synthetic heads, which are impervious to humidity. Without metal strings, it doesn't need metal neck bracing, or metal tuners, just ebony violin tuners. Since it's fretless, the setup doesn't matter so much, just fret the note where it is, you can move the bridge around anywhere. It's super light, and the only metal is the tacks, which at this point, are only decorative. The sound is great, and I can play all weekend without blisters. It's a pleasure to hold, most of the materials are locally sourced, and it's very light.

I play the great Highland bagpipes...just because.

In fifth grade, my precious lil "parents" made me take clarinet with a creepy old man. Mister Garcia

I hated it .

Eighth grade band. My choice

Ninth grade, two weeks trombone. School band

Nothing since then

In college,vwhen I had piano access, I played. But no lessons

Since then , nothing

Lazy

Nowhere to practice

Expensive

These days I write and record electronic music. Why? Because I'm alone and it's all I can do by myself without a band.
My instruments: Nektar LX88+, Cubase 9 Elements, Massive, Sylenth1, Dune 3, Arturia V Collection, some other VST's.

It connects directly to the computer via USB.

An Ibanez SR-506 six-string electric bass is my main instrument. I have a little electronic drum kit and a few keyboards, too, but use them very little these days; and my ukelele and jaws harps have been relegated to ornaments!

I have a pretty weird way of using a bass guitar. I can and do play regular bass-lines, but I also mess around a lot with "lead bass", chords, arpeggios, fret-tapping, e-bow, etc. Bass guitar is just what I can get my fingers around the easiest, and I never really understood why it should always have a fixed, stereotyped role in a track - it's just some wood with wires strung across it that can make whatever sounds I can manage to get out of it. Throw in some effects, pitch-tracking synths, and a looping pedal, and I can get a whole groove going, including a bit of percussion, synth pads, even a not entirely unconvincing brass section - all without leaving my favoured instrument. The much wider range of a six-string allows me a lot more space to layer things up without them stepping all over each other too much (I went from 4-string via a 5-string, originally to save the hassle of down-tuning for grungey numbers.)

The 506 was just the cheapest six-string I could get, and I got a good deal on a factory second with a few cosmetic blemishes (they're nothing compared to the "battle scars" that I've given it - which is exactly what I knew would happen!) It was still a hell of a step up from any instrument that I'd had before - they were all "well loved" (as dealers like to say) hand-me-down, low-budget instruments with necks thicker than mine and tuning stability worse than a cat that's had it's tail stood on (spot on for the punk bands I started out in!)

Prepare yourselves- I have quite the list of instruments I can *barely* play but still enjoy playing.
My Main Instruments are Saxophones, I have a beautiful vintage Alto, despite Tenor being my main, I my secondary instrument is Balalaika, for instruments I can play well AND own it just about ends there, However I can also play Clarinet, Bass, Uke and Dulcimer but I down own any of them.

I also Own a Concertina, a Bagpipe chanter, a Violin that I fitted with a custom Copper-pipe Bridge and guitar strings (It sounds disgusting tbf), A Keytar, and a tiny mouth organ.
I Play these instruments for no real reason other than it's my Passion, I play Tenor Saxophone because I cannot afford a Baritone.

Oh, I also invented my own Instrument called a Globophone, I've built around 7-9. It's a woodwind instrument that uses a silicone glove tightly wrapped over a pipe as a Reed, so that's kinda cool ig. I'd probably be a good musician if I actually had Talent.

The instrument I play most, by quite some way is my classical guitar. It's an Alhambra, somewhat dented and dinged, and I bought it second-hand for £90 twenty years ago. I learned to write songs on it, and it's my go-to instrument for open mics, folk clubs and gigs. I've never, ever found a guitar I like better than it, which has saved my bank-balance from the kind of punishment most guitarists give theirs....

I have the four most common sizes of ukulele. The most-used is the concert, made by Riptide, which has a really nice inbuilt pickup. It's even good for fingerpicking on. I got my baritone last summer, and it's proved useful for songs where I just can't get the accompaniment to work on other instruments.

I play the piano, but the only instrument I have is a 4-octave Yamaha keyboard (vintage c.1998) that does a surprisingly good piano impression. This is obviously less than ideal, but brutal restrictions of space and money have put me off trying to get a proper electric piano for years. I've been playing an awful lot of 18th/17th century music as a result, which has at least improved my technique.

I have a whole load of harmonicas, both tremolo and blues. Harmonica in the rack is useful for adding a bit more variety to a solo set. As a teenager, I'd happily lie on my back on the grass playing harmonica while everyone else played football.

(There's also an indigo Stagg bass guitar lurking in a cupboard, which I bought and learned to play for my ill-fated punk band. I was a terrible bassist, but I still treated the thing better than its previous owner.)

I have an Ibanez afs75t in translucent dark blue.
Excellent guitar for the money.
I got it around 2003. I decided on it after playing almost every thinline full hollow guitar in the shops in my hometown under $1000 unplugged. It had the best sound. I figured that electronics can be changed, but bodies can't. I had to replace the bigsby style tailpiece with a trapeze.
The general idea behind looking for that style of guitar was that I could practice quietly without sacrificing tone and without driving friends, neighbors, roommates crazy. And when it's plugged in I can get just about any kind of sound out of it.
I also have an acoustic that I bought a few years ago, just because it spoke to me. No name on it. It was made in the 1920's. Spanish style. Peach wood body with an ebony fretboard and peach/ebony rope style binding. The body warped shortly after I got it and it's been stored for a few years since. I should be getting it fixed soon, though. Really looking forward to that.
I'm really considering getting another guitar soon. At least to see how it feels in my hands. Since I bought my Ibanez I really haven't spent much time with any other guitar. But I have a really nasty hand injury that I have to work with, and I'm thinking that a thinner neck, different strings (something) might be a little less frustrating.

I started with electric guitar and progressed to classical guitar.

Now I work with a synth keyboard.