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Accordion
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 Having hankered after an accordion for a while, I went ahead and bid generously on Ebay for this one, which I won for £117. It's an Italian Scandalli Butterfly Model 701 and although it needed a bit of TLC to the register mechanism, it now works great. I also purchased a Microvox accordion microphone to record it. |
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Alesis S4+ |
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This synth was going half-price at Turnkey one Christmas, and so became my Christmas present. I really has some big sounds on it, and has become a mainstay of my music. |
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Balalaika
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 Early in my instrument buying craze, I purchased this balalaika for £43. Certainly not concert standard, but fairly well made and without any nasty sunburst effect on the ribs. New strings and some bridge tweaking and it plays well. |
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Bandurria
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 Having been outbid with 4 minutes to go on only my second Ebay bid on a different bandurria, I knew I was destined to purchase another. Little did I know it would be about twice the price. I bought this lovely, well made, Vicente Sanchis bandurria for £76. It is in excellent condition but for a mark on the side that someone has attempted to sand down. New strings from Hobgoblin and it's now a lovely instrument. |
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Banjo |
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 At the time I wasn't sure how much to bid. It was very early in my collection, and I won this early Windsor banjo for £82. The head looks as though it has been chewed, but new strings and a good clean and all seemed well. That was until one of the tuning pegs, severely worn, stopped holding the string. I still need to replace this peg to make it fully playable. |
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Bodhrán |
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I bought my Gremlin bodhrán from Hobgoblin for £38, a fairly inexpensive one. I also bought two tippers - a normal one, and one with a brush. I keep meaning to get a book on how to play it properly, because try as I might I keep dropping the tipper. |
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Bouzouki
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 My bouzouki was my first purchase on Ebay, and I won it for £52. It's by Ozark, who make budget instruments. The seller was very upfront about this, but a cheap instrument was fine for my first Ebay purchase. The seller was also very helpful in showing me the Ebay ropes. I restrung it, and gave it a clean and it plays as well as can be expected for this type of instrument. It's boomy, but it's still quite a different sound from a guitar. |
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Bowed Psaltery |
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I bought this bowed psaltery on Ebay for £50. I missed the end of the auction and contacted the seller afterwards. He was very fond of this instrument and it wasn't surprising. It's got a really beautiful tone, and really nice to play. It's missing one string and I've done my best to clean it without removing the current strings. |
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Charango
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 I was watching this charango on Ebay, but missed the end of the auction. Fortunately, there'd been no bids, so I emailled the seller and offered to buy it at the opening bid of £50. He agreed, and the deal was done. It's a beautiful instrument, with a wonderful maple back, and some nice inlay. It's clearly not been used much. It came with its own case and an instruction booklet in Spanish. |
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Clarinet |
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My sister used to play the clarinet in school. It got put up the loft and left for years. I inherited it when I began to learn to play it. I managed a few tunes before I ran out of decent reeds, and it's since then been sitting around doing nothing. I must get some more reeds for it and continue to play. |
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D Tin Whistle |
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I bought my tin whistle in one of my sporadic buy-a-bunch-of-cheap-stuff-from-Hobgoblin moments. It's in D and...well, it's a tin whistle. |
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Descant Recorder(s) |
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I played recorded at school. I guess it was the first thing I learnt. I still have my plastic descant recorder from then. I also have my sister's bakalite descant recorded too. |
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Didgeridoo |
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Walking through town, one winter's day, I spotted a didge in a tub outside a charity shop. The tub had written on it "Everything in this box, £2". So I had it. The old geezer in the shop asked if I was going to beat someone around the head with it, cause he didn't know what it was and why I'd be buying it. It's a bamboo one, and nothing to shout about, but it was a cheap introduction to the didge for me. I had read how to play them, but never had the chance to try. I was desperate to try as we did our grocery shopping, so I gave it a blow and gave everyone around a shock with the foghorn. I didn't blow it again 'til I got home! |
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Domra
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 I bought my domra for £56 off Ebay, and the seller didn't know it was a domra. It came in very good condition in a nice leather case. The label is russian and it seems to say it was made in 1982. It didn't need anything doing to it, and was playable straight away. |
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Egyptian Rabab |
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I bought my egyptian rabab off Ebay, of course, for the princely sum of £15.50p. It has horse-hair strings and came with the original bow. The head has a large horn on top. It may be a tourist instrument (not sure), but it works well enough and looks the part. |
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Er Hu
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 The Er-hu is a two stringed chinese violin, played similarly to a spike fiddle on the knee. I bought mine on Ebay for £30. |
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Fender Stratocaster |
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I bought my Strat for £300 off Ebay. The seller lived locally so I felt better about spending so much. It's a really good condition Japanese '57 reissue and has that wonderful warm fender sound, especially through the Tech21 SansAmp. |
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Frog |
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Christmas 2003, I was bought this frog. The frog is a percussive instrument from Thailand. It is in the shape of a frog and makes a croaky-like noise when the beater, that it holds in its mouth, is rubbed up its back. |
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Gopichand |
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The gopichand looks a bit like a wishing well, with a single string running down the centre. Mine's obviously tourist, because it's made a cheap wood, with aboriginal-like lizards on it. The peg doesn't fit the hole by some way, making it impossible to tighten. I bought it on Ebay for £10.10p. |
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Gusle |
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I bought my gusle on Ebay for the bargain price of £15.50p having missed a much nicer one soon before by assuming a winning bid. The reason it was so bargainous is because it doesn't have a string or a bridge, which is somewhat a hinderance. Hopefully I can make a bridge, and I need to find out what the string is usually made from. |
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Hohner HS-35 |
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Bought for me by my parents as a birthday pressie way back in the mid-1990s, this guitar really is a beautiful arch-top semi-acoustic. A copy of a Gibson ES335, the Hohner HS-35 is a gorgeous rich blonde colour, with some storming humbuckers. I wish I'd taken more interest in it when I first got it, but I'm glad I've got it now! |
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Ibanez SDGR1000 |
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I bought this bass from Ebay for £230 having had a go on a mate's bass. They're really fun to play, and I was desperate to learn to slap. It's in great condition and didn't need new strings. It's a long neck, and it bends a bit (as expected), so the action is higher near the bridge-end, but not overly. I haven't yet dared to play with the tension rod. |
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Jianghu |
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The jianghu is like a mini er-hu. Mine is really beautifully made, with a carved dragon's head on the top, which holds a ball in its mouth, carved from one. One peg has been repaired not too well, and it doesn't have any strings at the moment. I got it from Ebay for £34. |
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Junior Bagpipes |
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I bought these bagpipes for £21. I can't believe I paid that much now having seen them in shops for £10. Anyway, I did. They've got a plastic reed in the chanter, but the drones are dummies. The bag leaks and so it's almost impossible to play. You live and learn. |
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Kazoo |
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I bought my kazoo as something for myself while I was purchasing a present for a friend. I think it was 95p or something, from The Music Room. |
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Kim
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 I bought my kim from Ebay from a rather poor webcam photo. I paid £101.01 (extortionate postage though), and was very pleased. The kim is in exceptional condition, even with the original hammers. Again, I only found out afterwards what it was. |
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Kora
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Although I recently missed a bid on a proper kora (due to not really having enough money to bid as I would have liked), I bought this kora sometime earlier, paying £25 for it. It's clearly a tourist instrument and is all but unplayable, so money rather badly spent. It is furry though. |
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Laúd
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 Very early one morning, about 6am, I was up at my mother-in-law's, on the modem bidding for this Spanish laúd. In the romantic style, it's got lovely curvy sides and a teardrop sound hole. A good clean, and new strings from Hobgoblin and it's all good. I bought it for £76. |
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Liuqin
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Ebay was the source for my liuqin, at £41. At the time I thought I was buying a pipa, and only later found it was the pipa's smaller sibling. It is missing some strings, but is otherwise in good condition. I'm still searching for the right strings to buy. |
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Low D Whistle (Bamboo) |
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I was bought this low D whistle as a Christmas pressie by my mates, because it had "DD" written on it (my initials). It was really the first instrument that made me understand overblowing. It's got a very woody sound, and not as breathy as regular low-Ds. Pretty hard to play in the low-register too. |
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Mandolin
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 I bought my mandolin on Ebay with a battle to the final £96 tag. Perhaps expensive, but it's a beautifully made instrument with lots of ribs. It has some weirdness in the varnish on one side, like there was a sticker there once, but is otherwise lovely. It has no makers name, and after a clean and restring, it sounds angelic. |
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Mountain Dulcimer
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I bought my mountain dulcimer from the same lady I bought my oud from. The soundboard of the instrument has a crack in it, and it probably needs repairing before the new set of strings are applied. It's a very basic dulcimer, and I paid £36.55p for it. |
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Oud
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 I bought my oud on Ebay from a lady in Wales for about £92.99. It's a nice instrument, although the crude soundhole inlays shows its a tourist instrument. New strings (the original strings were horrid!), and a good clean and it sounds as good as a more expensive oud, though still as hard to play. The seller was very helpful when a delay in the postage of the instrument caused it to get stuck in a warehouse in Bournemouth. Humourously, the lady phoned up the couriers who put her through to the Bournemouth warehouse, where the local Dorset accent made her think it was in a warehouse in Barnmouth. |
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Panpipes |
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I was bought these panpipes for Christmas by my folks. I don't know if it's the type of bamboo they're made out of, or if I'm just unfit, but they're very hard to get notes out of, and I usually get dizzy trying. They sound ok when you do get the odd note out of them. There's a hole in one of the tubes too, which stops it from playing unless you block it. Not sure if that's supposed to be like that or not. |
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Phonofiddle |
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I bought my phono-fiddle on Ebay, really as a impulse buy. I have seen phono-fiddles go very expensive on Ebay, so was surprised when I won if for £38. The neck is pretty bent, and the horn is perhaps lacking in shine, but it's generally a good instrument. There are no makers names. One day I will give it the good clean it deserves and shine up that horn. |
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Rennaissance Lute |
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I bought my rennaissance lute on Ebay for £87. It is a basic lute, but that is still a good price for one. It needed new strings (which I haven't fitted yet), but is otherwise in good condition. It has a crack in one rib that has to be careful handled, but it's a rib that's not under too much tension (on the side) so will remain that way for now. |
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Roland D10 |
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I was given my Roland D10 from a mate who refused to sell it on Ebay for £40 (the going rate for them, it seems). Although with pretty dated sounds, the Roland D10 can certainly provide backup sounds in a general studio situation. I've not used it much because I haven't been in a position to record since I got it, but I've heard sounds I know I want to use. |
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Roland Juno 106 |
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I purchased this mint Juno 106 from a friend who was disestablishing his music hobby. I bought it for £250 ("mate's rate") and it's wonderful synth to play with. I intend to use it in most of my music, when I get around to recording some more. It has a lovely warm tone, perfect for ambient pads. |
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Ruan |
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My wife bought me my ruan from Hobgoblin as a Christmas present for me. Although clearly mass-made (the frets fell off when I got it out of the case) it has a lovely round tone. It's a flat back version and came with a pick in a nice canvas, shaped case. I've since glued the frets back on, of course! |
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Sarod
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 I bought my sarod on ebay for £125. Quite expensive, but it's a professional version with the extra brass tumba, and a hard-case. The tumba came up wonderful with a bit of "Brasso", and the rest needed little doing to it. The strings are a bit tarnished, but they're all there. |
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Saz
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 I bought my baglama saz off Ebay with a buy-it-now. The instrument was starting at £10, with buy-it-now for £25. It was an absolutely gorgeous instrument and still has to be my best deal. It had a full set of strings, a gig bag, and no damage at all. I met the seller in a dark carpark outside PC world and we did the swap. |
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Sitar
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 I bought my sitar from Carole Noakes on Ebay for £80 as a second chance offer on an auction I'd been outbid on. It required some cleaning, a new peg for the 2nd string, and new strings. I purchased a new peg, some tuning beads and some strings from JAS Musicals. It took me a week (in the evenings) to clean, restring and tune it, but its now almost as good as new. |
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Sitar (junior)
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I bought this sitar on Ebay for £67, actually thinking I'd got a bargain on a full-size instrument. As it was, this is a half-size sitar and probably about the money. It needed a good clean up, and the strings on it were useless. I've cleaned it, and put new strings on it tuned a fifth above a regular sitar's tuning. |
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Stick Dulcimer |
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At least, I think it's a stick dulcimer. I bought it from Ebay for £22.10p, and although maybe not worth that, it's certainly an interesting piece and one that I might take to altering. It's been fairly well made, although I would suggest by a hobbyist. The pegs are very poor plastic things and the decoration on its triangular body is stickers! |
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Takamine EG-560C |
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I was bought my Takamine as a Christmas pressie by my folks (damn they're good to me!). It was easily the most comfy guitar I played in the shop, and after the old classical I'd been playing 'til then, sounded amazing. |
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Tenor Recorder |
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My sister used to play the tenor recorder in school. I have inherited this instrument as she now prefers horses to Hohner. It plays an octave below a descant, and has a very soft sound. |
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Tres
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 I bought my Lonestar tres from Ebay for £46. It was cheap because in transit to the seller it had received some damage, but the damage was very minor. It was therefore effectively brand new. When tuned I noticed it had very bad intonation (out of tune by fret 5). Tuning higher than intended helped this a little, although the intonation's still not great on the lower strings. |
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Ukelele
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 I bought my ukelele when I was buying one as a present for a musical friend. It's basically the cheapest uke one can get, and is ply with laminate - but it does the job. With new strings and a bit of tweaking to the tuners so that they actually held their tune, it sounds a great twangy little uke. |
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Vihuela
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 Being a grumpy git, in a bad mood one day, I bid what I considered a stingey amount on this vihuela. Turns out that when I got home from work, I found no one else had bid, and I won it at £31, some way below even my scrooge-bid. It's in perfect condition, but it came with crappy strings. However, a new set should see it right. |
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Violin
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Having been collecting odd instruments, I decided I to pay as little as I could for a violin, expecting to not be able to play it. I managed to get my cheap and cheerful Skylark violin kit for £35 on Ebay. I was right though - I can't play it. |
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Wesley Sycamore |
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I bought this electro-acoustic guitar having hankered after a 'leaf-hole' guitar for a while. I got it from Guitar Mogul on Ebay, and due to it being a lovely summery, bank holiday weekend (i.e. no one else bidding), I purchased it for a bargain £72. It's been one of my most played guitars in the last year. |
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Yamaha PSR-6700 |
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I was given my PSR-6700 for a Christmas present from my parents when it was very new (expensive!). It's been such a good base for my music, and has some great sounds. |
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Yamaha PSS-780 |
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I bought my Yamaha PSS-780 for about £200 with my saved up pocket money, way back in the late 80s. I used it with my BBC Micro for my early experiments in MIDI sequencing. FM synthesis, 16 part multitimbral, and some pretty nice sounding drums. |
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Yamaha SW1000XG |
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This card is amazing, and supplements my computer music perfectly. Hundreds of decent XG sounds with multi-track playback capability. I'd love to get a VL or DH plugin board for it. It's really not got the use it should have since I've been so busy since I bought it, but it will do (promise ;o) I bought it from Ebay for £250 (they're cheaper than that now!). |
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Yeh-hu |
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I bought my Yeh-Hu from Ebay for £30. When I got it I thought it was odd that the bow was threaded between the strings, and I unthreaded it. However, this is how it should have been. Its in good condition, although very difficult to play tunefully. |
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Yue-Qin |
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My wife bought me my yue-qin from Hobgoblin as a birthday present for me. It's a nicely made flat-back version, and came in a nice fake-crocodile-skin covered box. |
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Zither (or swarmandal)
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 This zither was bought from Ebay and collected locally. I paid £42 outbidding another bidder in the last 4 seconds of the auction. It is in good condition, missing only one string. I replaced the string with a bouzouki string, but it's really not of the correct weight (bass guitar string might've been better). It needed a good clean which was made difficult by not removing the strings. |
I tend to go for string instruments, mainly because I already play the guitar.
Keyboard instruments tend not to come in so many flavours. Although I keep an eye
on wind instruments, my inability to play them tends to hold me back from bidding
a reasonable amount for them. None of my instruments are for sale, if you're wondering;
This page is merely for my prosperity and for your interest.
The following is an alphabetical list of the instruments I've acquired.
If possible, the instrument name is linked to information about the instrument
on my encyclopedia website, Instrument World.
Where given, sound files are available, and you can view larger pictures by clicking
on the small images. There are currently
57 instruments in my collection.
