My Kay mandolin is rather like this, only darker.

My Maffick mountain dulcimer is something like this, sorta.

The Martin Backpacker steel-string is a honey (except around the nut) - and see the signature model.

My Academy 'National'-type resonator is on the left.

My Aria Diamond / Gibson jazz clone is just like this, plus a MIDI pickup.

The superb Arts et Lutherie [a.k.a. Seagull] cedar-top has the RICHEST tone. The smooth Ibanez Pro PF5 [with a Shadow pickup added] is great too.

My Ovation 1115-1 12-string looks quite like this, but woodier

Grampa's century-old Guckart Duplex banjo-mandolin is like this, only a bit more worn-looking.

A çümbüs lute (Turkish 12-string guitar / banjo) - I have 2 of these, one [fretted] tuned as a bottleneck guitar, the other [fretless] tuned as an Egyptian / Arab oud. The desert calls to me...

My Orlando 5-string banjo is somewhat like this.

My Aloha Hawaiian electric is (barely) visible at the right-middle.

My Scholer 20-button 'San Antone' concertina is redder than this.

Love that kewl Tonette, eh?

My clay tabla bayan is simpler than this.

My tongue drum is sorta like this.

My Tandy 'MiniMoog' analog synth is precisely like this, and it spends its time plugged into the Roland on the right 'cause I can't find the rest of the Roland System 100 in thrift shops or garage sales. Bother.

My Roland 101 synth is like the middle back section of this system.

My Casio VL-Tone was actually used on a pop recording. My Casio SK-1 sampler is a tidy little composing tool.

Yet to be pictured are the Tanara electric bass, the H.Landau clarinet [Paris], the EK.Blessing Standard trombone [Elkhart, Ind.], the Wurlitzer church organ, various recorders & whistles & ocarinas & harmonicas & percussion, other cheap digital synths, a home-made zither, et al.

Note: Since writing the above, I've donated the clarinet and trombone to a music education program, in hopes that aspiring students can evoke better sounds from them than I ever did. If you have unused instruments lying about, I urge you to do likewise. And the organ stayed with the Forestville house when we sold it. And I sold the zither too, cheap. But I keep getting strange urges to build some strange instruments -- stay tuned for further developments.

Ah, those nice Wish-List items for which I stay alert include: banjo-ukelele; more guitars; backpacker mandolin & dulcimer [I may build one of the latter -- I made and sold a few of those some years ago and still have the materials for one more]; pentatonic flutes / recorders / whistles; cheap [or expensive] MIDI guitar(s) & drums; electric saz & çümbüs saz); telescoping / collapsable one-string electric bass; more mandolins, banjo-mandolins & 12-string guitars that I can tune strangely; any kind of saxophone; tres, cuatro, bandurri a, etc; resonant things upon which to loudly whomp; whatever else falls in front of me.

And a small digital portastudio would be nice too, eh?

Another note: Since writing the above, I did get a tiny digital studio, the Zoom PalmTop Studio PS-02 pictured here. The Walkman of digital studio/drum/effect boxes, it's a real honey, and I may even use it someday for something other than guitar distortion. I also have acquired a pentatonic flute and some cheap recorders & noisemakers.

PS: I reluctantly passed on a chance to purchase a bugle inscribed CSA which stands for either California State Assembly or Confederate States of America. The neighbors are relieved...