"My very first guitar was pretty much unplayable. I was 14 or something. My mom went to a pawn shop and got me a Harmony acoustic. I didn't know any better! It was one with an f-hole, and it wasn't a good one. They do make some good ones, but this was not a good one. I thought that it was just the way that guitars were. I could hardly push the strings down, and I figured 'man, these guys must be strong!'

Then I went to my friend's house and he had an SG. He handed it to me and I pressed the strings down and was like, 'my god, you don't have to bleed!' I used to bleed over that thing.

"The next guitar I got, my dad sent me a Goya electric six-string. He was on tour in Okinawa and he mailed me this $60 guitar. It was playable. I actually auditioned for Tom on that thing. They laughed at me when I walked in and played it, but once I played Johnny B Goode, they quit laughing."