M&SR: Is there anything you’d like to see manufacturers do better?
Ojeda: Well, everyone has their little things they like. I have custom stuff I use like the Wayne guitar with the EMG pickup and Sustainiac. But I only have that on one guitar. It would be really cool if Sustainiac were available on more models. Most guitar players can find a use for it. The Sustainiac is usually in the neck pickup. So it’s something that could be out of the way if you don’t want to use it, but is there if you do. It’s like having that extra boost. I’ve been using it for a year and a-half and I love it.
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M&SR: You certainly have a lot of gear. Where do you shop for the gear and what do you like or dislike about the stores you visit?
Ojeda: I think the stores are cool, like Sam Ash and Guitar Center. I always have a great time when I go into any music store. I’m a bit of a gearhead. I think a lot of guitar players are. It’s fun. To me, it’s like a kid in the candy store. It’s never changed. Even though I have a lot of gear, it’s still exciting to go into a store and find another guitar you like and you say, “If I had that guitar, I’d be the man.” [Laughs] And if you buy the guitar, for three weeks, that’s the guitar. And then after that, you go back to whatever you used to play. I still like going into music stores. I enjoy seeing all of the guitars hanging on the wall.
M&SR: So you mostly go to Sam Ash and Guitar Center?
Ojeda: Yes, because when I’m out traveling a lot, those are the stores I’m familiar with and I usually know someone there. When I was a kid, I used to go to 48th Street [in New York City] and there was Manny’s Music and others. I loved Manny’s. It was a classic store. But it’s only one store. As a kid I remember going there all of the time. In fact, that’s where I got Jimi Hendrix’s autograph. And I got “Mitch” Mitchell’s autograph there too, although I don’t know where I put it. When I was a kid, everyone went to Manny’s. Forty-eighth Street was the place to buy instruments. There wasn’t the chain store thing you have now. I also went to Jimmy’s, which used to be across the street from Manny’s. I think Dale Armstrong and Larry DiMarzio had a place on 48th Street too. It was cool to see that whole evolution. Manny’s is still there and it’s kind of a landmark. It’s funny we’re talking about it, because I was tempted to go to 48th Street today and buy an A/B box. A friend of mine works at Sam Ash and I haven’t been in that area in so long. And whenever I’m in the Boston area, I love to go to Daddy’s Junky Music. Fred Bramante, the owner, is a great guy. He’s come out to a bunch of our shows. We’ve gone out to dinner with him and his daughter Candi, who helps him run the business.
M&SR: So what’s the next thing you plan to buy?
Ojeda: I’m not buying anything. I’m done buying stuff. I have enough guitars. I’m pretty much set with what I have, even though I get the urge sometimes to get something. I usually get the urge to get something vintage, or a collector’s piece. Like the John Lennon [1965] Casino Epiphone. I like those collector’s items because they come with certificates of authenticity and a picture.
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