There’s no telling where a Ry Cooder interview will go. One could spend hours talking to him about legendary Captain Beefheart, Lowell George, Stones, John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison sessions. Or perhaps pick his brain about the Buena Vista chapter of his life, or world music in general or even politics… And then there are those solo albums, worshipped by nearly every guitarist of a certain age.

But the truth is that Cooder is producing some of his finest work right now. His 2018 album The Prodigal Son is a masterwork of great playing and great music. And, though the often-mimicked Coodercasters get all the attention when one talks about Ry’s guitars, he’s still buying gear, still tinkering and still tweaking his backline.

On the Spring 2018 day when photographer Reuben Cox and I visited Cooder’s home for the Fretboard Journal’s Electric Guitar Annual (order here), we were shown plenty of great instruments and we captured plenty of great tales. Print space being what it is, we had to cut a few photos. Here were some of the other great guitars at Cooder’s space.