This is a fun one. I have a thing for instrument makers. I am hoping to publish a book someday on musical instrument makers although I had to stop researching because I was running out of money. It seem that every maker I worked with I end up with one of their instruments. There is something special about an instruments history. My guitar was made by Otis Tomas a luthier in Cape Breton (he also composes some nice tunes) and it is hands down the best guitar I have ever played. While living in Newfoundland I met a Uillean Pipe maker by the name of Neil O'Grady who I did some research on and ended up with a practice set of pipes. While living in British Columbia I met a Bouzouki maker by the name of Neil Russell and keeping in tradition I left there with one of his bouzouki's. All my instruments were individually crafted at a price far less that you would pay for even an inferior guitar from a more "prestigious" maker. I also own an old german fiddle which I had restored and a bunch of various whistles including my favorite Low D Howard. It is all relative I have a friend who has one of the nicest sounding sets of Scottish Smallpipes which he made himself out of various sizes of plumbing pipe. Its amazing.