Curious Question

Here are the reasons I can come up with:

• Using one guitar throughout an entire setlist is taxing on the guitar. They wear out a lot faster, need refretting, and finish wears off at a much greater pace. Look at Stevie Ray's #1 for an example. BB King has a bout a million Lucille guitars.

• Different guitars give a different mood. I think Joe calls them "moments" like when he plays the double-neck SG for YoungManBlues, etc. Sometimes I forget a riff I came up with, and go back to the guitar I wrote it on, and it comes back.

• Different guitars have some different tones. LesPaul vs. Tele sort of thing. Like playing Mountain Time on a Gigliotti just sounds right. Billy Gibbons, on the other hand, has all his guitars sound like LesPauls.

• It's a show. People like to 'ooh and aah' at the fine collection of guitars. It's probably the closest most of us will ever get to a 1959 Les Paul. When a double-neck comes out... people gasp - and it's a story people bring home "and then he got out the doubleneck sg!"

• Different tuning. John Henry, takin a hit, etc. have alternate tunings. Guitars in 440A can go out of tune as well, so switching out for ones in tune keeps the show going.

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping.

Tax write off.

Jimmy Page once said he had 3 main guitars in the late 60's.  A telecaster which was all over a Zeppelin I, a Harmony Acoustic, and a Les Paul #1.  He said in an interview that he was visiting Eric Clapton once and Eric had guitars all over the place hanging from wall laying, on furniture on the floor, guitar in hand!  And it was begging him to ask the question "Why does one man need so man guitars?"  Eric's response, "Tax write off."  After that Mr. Page decided to do some tax write offs himself.