Originally Posted by Reggae Joe

Wild summed it up for me too, pretty much...music nourishes the body and spirit, and there's nothing better than playing it, either in a band or just by yourself.

Me, I'm a guitar player primarily, although I can play bass, West African-style percussion, and some basic drums. Been playing guitar 15 years now and am completely self-taught--I still can't read music, and rely on my ear and basic knowledge of music theory and structure. I'm not the fastest player, but I think I'm pretty good. Been playing reggae professionally for almost 12 years now too, and I've been blessed with playing with excellent bands, and having played with or for some of the heavies of that genre.

I pretty much play Fenders, although I'll get a Gibson or Epiphone sometime this year. So far, I have:

--a 1990 Fender Concord II acoustic
--a 1996 Estrada nylon-string I bought in Mexico...groovy little guitar.
--a 2001 Fender Standard Strat, modded with extra switching.
--a 2002 Fender Fat Strat, with new pickups and extra switching.
--a 2005 Fender 1960's reissue Telecaster

Amplification is through a Fender Ultimate Chorus combo amp, at 65 watts/channel (solid state amp, but very warm sounding) with footswitch. Pedals are (in order of signal chain):

Danelectro 7-band EQ
Boss Blues Driver
Dunlop Crybaby wah
Seymour Duncan decibel booster
DOD Stereo Chorus
Digitech Whammy II

This year, I'm hoping to get one of the Epiphone Bob Marley guitars, or if I'm really lucky, a Fender Jazz Bass.