Objects of Their Affection: Five Musicians and the Instruments They Love

Page 5 of 7

Ani DiFranco & Smoky

When it comes to her guitars, Ani DiFranco isn’t exactly monogamous. “Some musicians have an axe,” she says, “and it’s a very intimate relationship. For me, I’m always playing a different guitar.” In fact, she likes to lend them out. “I think that the more experiences a guitar has, the more it’s played, the happier it is.” Her vintage four-string Epiphone tenor is one among many favorites, a gift from Scot Fisher, president of DiFranco’s label, Righteous Babe Records. “A guitar doesn’t come from the factory with a soul,” DiFranco says. “So a lot of the guitars I play on stage are earning their soul right now. But this one came to me with a vibe in it. … [It] has a kind of more middy, honkier, narrow sound”—recalling, in DiFranco’s mind, nothing so much as a marvelously sassy goose. (Click on image to view full size.)