Acoustic
When playing with Albireo, my main instrument is a Thornbory Lynton 110/C acoustic with a Fishman pickup. It's also had a Fishman power-jack pre-amp fitted and that really improves amplified sound. It goes straight into the PA desk via a Behringer Ultra DI 100 DI Box. I've used D'Addadrio J16's for years.
Electric
When playing electric, I use an Ibanez Blazer strat copy (I think it's a BB550) through a Marshall JTM310 (30 watt all valve 2x10 combo). In the past I've used a Zoom 3030 multi-effects unit mostly to make use of the programmable delays, but also for a bit of chorus and tremolo. I gave up using it though, as the bypass isn't great and it really takes away from the natural sound of the guitar. I ended up just using a Boss graphic equalizer for fine tuning the tone, an Akai Headrush delay/looper, an Ibanez digital delay and a Marshall VibraTrem Pedal. I also have an E-Bow as well which is great fun. It is quite a while since I really played electric though.....
Miscellaneous
Also cluttering the house up is a bog-standard Washburn acoustic and an old, old Hofner jazz guitar that looks lovely but is a real bugger to play! Sadly the piano I was borrowing went back to its real owner, but I've replaced it with a Fatar Studio SL880. It's not quite the same, but it's fairly close to a piano action. To accompany that there's a smattering of midi gear I've been picking up recently..... One day I might put some photos up here so you can see if it's worth coming round my house to nick them.
Latest edition to the stable is a baritone ukulele. It's cheap and cheerful, but it's fun to play, and easy for a fat-fingered guitarist as it's in guitar tuning and is a little bigger than your standard tenor uke.
Home Brew!
My first foray into instrument building has resulted in the magnificent beast pictured right, which can be heard on soundcloud.
So What?
So what do I do with all this stuff? The Albireo sound is pretty much a straight-ahead ceilidh band although we like to rock it up a little. My work with Holly was a different matter, and it's probably best to listen to the recordings if you really want to know (contact me if you're interested in hearing them). If you can't be bothered with that or want it from the horses mouth, here's a short answer. I never really think of myself as a lead guitarist in the traditional sense (partly because I can't play blinding solos), but as an accompanist. So I'm more interested in feel than wailing away like a madman. It's what you don't play that counts. I was described as "sublimely subtle" by a local journalist and a bass player said he thought I sounded a bit like Vini Reilly at times, which will do for me!