Dick’s Gibson Firebird V11. Jacqui’s birthday present for Dick, 2003. "What an amazing looking guitar! The story goes that Gibson’s Firebird series were designed by automotive engineer Ray Dietrich in the hope of offsetting the spotlight a little from Fender’s market-cornering solid bodies. Apparently the plan failed but not in my book. This guitar has a stunningly attractive appearance, which at the time, if sales were anything to go by, was just too radical. The later, more conventional non-reverse body style model didn’t hold a candle to it, though. The sound is bright and has incredible sustain due to the through neck. The vibrato is responsive and returns reliably to pitch. I did a little modification to the electrics to enable all the pickups to be selected individually – an important aspect since I wanted to use the middle pickup on its own for "Geronimo".

Nurse!…I can’t get my arm out of this anorak….damn…now I’ve dropped my carrier bag…"