Words and photos by Neal Tiemann

1979 Gibson Rd Artist (Natural)
This guitar was modded out from its original state by Johnny Metal. I call her lefty. This being the name given to her by her former owner Mikey J.

1979 Gibson Rd Artist (Black)
I only brought this one out for a little while. Similar to the natural one, just all original.

2007 Gibson Rd Standard Reissue (Silverburst)
This was given to me by David Cook after the recording of his debut album. It quickly became my favorite and, accordingly, my main guitar because of the color (silverburst is my favorite Gibson finish) and it’s real heavy.

1977 Gibson Rd Standard (Walnut)
Another guitar that was modded by Johnny Metal. During said tour it was my ‘Bar Ba Sol’ guitar.

2009 Gibson Explorer (Black)
Gibson hooked me up with this about halfway through the tour. Definitely the fastest playing guitar I own. Additional mods by Johnny Metal.

2000 Gibson Les Paul Standard (Honeyburst)
‘miss america’. This was one of the first ‘real’ guitars I bought. I’ve played this one for years and years. The declaration tour was the last tour she’ll ever go on.

2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard Premium Plus (Lightburst)
I bought this one specifically for this tour, but I’m finding out that it sounds great in the studio as well. Another huge overhaul done on this one by Johnny Metal.

2003 Gibson ’57 Reissue Custom (Black)
I picked this one up on the St. Louis stop of the declaration run. you can’t really beat customs.

2008 Gibson Hummingbird (Honeyburst)
I used this during the first half for acoustic radio shows or the rare acoustic versions we played every once in a while.

2007 Gibson Hummingbird (Silverburst)
This replaced the honeyburst one halfway through. One of my many happy memories is playing this at an intimate show in Canada.

2008 Gibson L-4a
I used this for radio shows and late night parking lot shows.

For more information on Johnny Metal, please check out his website here: johnnymetal.com