My instruments - and some instruments I wish I owned ...
 

IBANEZ Vintage 691 (6-string)
WASHBURN D-14 12N (12-string)
Bouzouki
Bodhran
Mandolin
Hohner Atlantic IV N - piano accordion
Mollenhauer Soprano Recorder
C Tin Whistle
 

Wanna have - thingies:
Takamine Santa Fe DSF-15C
Also on my wish list are a keyboard, and a bass guitar and ...

 

My main instrument: my Ibanez 6-string. Her label inside says "Vintage" and "691" - and I believe the manufacturing year must be 1977 - any help here? She is a wonderful instrument. I bought her in 1991 from my former accordion teacher (who has in many ways influenced my musical development) for a very low price (including case - I remember his wife being furious about it ... ;-)) He did not tell me much about it but just said, if I ever wanted to sell it, I should sell it back to him ... whatever this meant. Today I can really value this guitar. She might not be a special model, but means a lot to me. I seem to finally have grown a bit into her ;-) These days I find that she sounds best with Adamas Phosphor Bronze Light strings.

One of the rare pics where I play my Washburn 12-string. I like it very much, got it in ... ahm ... 1993 from a friend; it seems to be quite a goodie as well, but as I can only schlep one guitar at a time, I usually do not take it along, but my Ibanez. I still have problems with picking patterns on a 12-string ...

May I introduce the newest addition to my string instrument family? The Redhead :) I bought this bouzouki from UK's very own Magician, in December 2002 and am happily trying to play her ever since. It has a very rich and warm sound ... it's more difficult to sing to it, I definitely have to be louder ;-)

An instrument I never really thought about getting, since Bear plays it so well :) Yooh rightfully says that one should learn instruments that the other cannot play. However ... after attending a bodhran workshop in HH and having so much fun trying it, I had to purchase this 16" rosewood bodhran with a blue velvet decoration. It is tuneable, too! And it was a special offer, with bag included. Go to the Folkfriends webshop, they have a very good selection of instruments :)

My mandolin - it's an old German model (from the 50s, I assume) and quite scrappy. I bought it very cheap via Ebay in December 2000, took everything apart, cleaned it and put new strings on. But it seems to be impossible to tune it absolutely properly ... oh well - it's a sweet thing anyway and it was worth a try. I bought a bouzouki instead, and the mandolin will end up as decoration on the wall or something *g*.

My first love :-) My accordion. The pic shows the Hohner Atlantic IV T model - mine is the IV N model, manufactured in 1982, but it looks almost alike. A really cool instrument with 120 bass keys and 12 sound variations. But reeeally heavy! You can find a link to my former accordion orchestra here - sorry, it's in German only.

The Takamine Santa Fe DSF-15C  - my dream! It's the only dreadnought model in the Santa Fe series, has a solid cedar top, the "Black Crows" design rosette and turquoise decorations on the fretboard. And boy, does it sound good - I tried it in a shop in Hamburg. *sigh*. *doublesigh*. It is highly improbable that I will get one some day, but ...But (my only comfort) apart from being way too expensive for my current means, it is probably too good a guitar for me as well ;-))