Love letters, advice, poison pen letters, and other opinions of note are encouraged.

We've chosen to eliminate the P.A. and special effects categories as they are too vast in themselves to cover here. Expect them to turn up in later editions.

LEAD GUnTAR:

1. Gibson 168

2. Travis Bean TB1000

3. Fender Stratocaster

RHYTHM GUITAR:

1. Gibson ES345TD

2. Guild Starfire IV

BASS GUITAR:

1. Fender Precision

2. Alembic Stanley Clarke Model

3. Fender Jazz

ACOUSTIC GUITAR:

1. Guild D-50

2. Martin D-35

3. Ovation Deluxe Balladeer

CLASSICAL GUITAR:

1. Ramirez (any)

2. Yairi (any)

3. Martin (any)

GUITAR AMPS:

1. Acoustic 475

2. Sunn Coliseum Lead with 412L cabinet

3. Ampeg V4

4. Fender Twin

5. Peavey Mace

BASS AMPS:

1. Ampeg SVT

2. Sunn Coliseum Bass with 215BH cabinet

3. Acoustic 371

KEYBOARD AMPS:

1. Sunn Coliseum Keyboard with Model 15 cabinet

2. Acoustic Keyboard system (especally preamp)

3. RMI Keyboard System ROTATING SPEAKER SYSTEMS (for keyboard):

1. Revo 250

2. Leslie 147

ELECTRIC PIANO:

1. Fender Rhodes (88 or 73 key model)

2. Wurlitzer B-200

3. Roland EP-200

4. Univox Compac Piano

ORGAN:

1. Hammond B-3

2. Yamaha YC45D

SYNTHESIZER (large):

1. ARP 2600

2. Roland Series 700

3. Moog 55

SYNTHESIZER (medium):

1. Oberheim 4-voice

2. Roland SH-5

3. ARP Odyssey

4. Mini-Moog

SYNTHESIZER (small):

1. Oberheim 2-voice

2. ARP Axxe

3. ARP Pro Soloist

4. Roland SH-3

MISC. KEYBOARDS:

1. Clavinet

2. ARP String Ensemble

3. Moog Taurus Bass Pedal

4. Univox Stringman

DRUMS:

1. Cameo

2. Slingerland

3. Pearl

4. Rogers

5. Sonor

6. Ludwig

DRUM HARDWARE:

1. Pearl

2. Cameo

3. Slingerland

4. Rogers „

5. Sonor

6. Ludwig

The listings here are purely the opinion of the writer after trying all sorts of equipment in music stores and on stage, and after spending quite a bit of time talking to players as well. The choices made are based solely on how the instrument performed and our estimates of their reliability. Therefore, if some names and/or models you think should have been included weren't, it's primarily because the ones listed scored higher in all areas of consideration. For example: Marshall Amplifiers were not included because the reliability factor was questionable. Although we certainly loved the sound and performance of the amplifier, we just couldn't justify including it in our list.