One day in 1991 I found an old acoustic guitar in our house, which should have been destroyed years ago. It had 3 strings left and I began to try it out. At some point I learned how to play some simple melodies. One day, I bought new strings when one single string lasted from the three.
I bought a guitar book to learn the basic chords. But as I have never been an expert in notes, I always learned how to play melodies and songs by just listening to the songs over and over again.
The first complete songs I learned were songs by Roxette, a swedish pop-group, which was my favorite music group at that time.
In 1993, I decided to buy an e-guitar. I bought a cheap black Dean guitar with a small Peavey amp for 300 € all in all.
In 1994, I bought a new guitar, an Aria Pro 2, made in Japan. The neck was small and it was pretty easy to play.
In 1995, I started to like Bon Jovi. My first song I ever tried was Bed Of Roses. After hearing the Bon Jovi concert from Bremen 1995, I was amazed by the way Richie plays the guitar. From that day on, I began to learn how to play all their songs.
In 1996 I bought my first big amp, an Hughes & Kettner Attax 100.
In 1999, as I was able to play all Bon Jovi and Richie songs, I began to learn to play songs by Van Halen. Until today, I still have the opinion, that Eddie Van Halen is one of the best guitar player of the whole world, as he is a real master of techniques and speed.
In 2002 I bought a black Ibanez RG guitar. But I didn't like that one really much, so I bought my Ibanez S470 QS in the same year, which I still own. And as this is the best guitar I've ever owned, I'm sure I'm gonna keep it for long years.
I now also own a Kramer Jersey Star, Fender Stratocaster Richie Sambora signature, and an 12-string acoustic guitar.
These days I play with a Marshall TSL601.