My Guitar: Colleen Power's souped-up Danelectro

A loss can sometimes result in a gift for musicians.

In the third part of our summer series about musicians and their guitars, Central Morning's Leigh Anne Power spoke with St. John's musician Colleen Power about she became attached to a gift after losing her own guitar.

• CBC Music: Colleen Power

After most of her belongings were stolen from her Victoria Street house in 1999, Power went to Ontario to record some music. In Ontario, Rob Lamothe, who played in the band Riverdogs, gave Power a guitar as a gift complete with a carrying case.

"This was a guitar he used in that band," saidPower. "People always ask me if it's a Danelectro. The answer is no. It looks like a Danelectro, has Danelectro parts, but is made by a luthier in Nashville named Jerry Jones. He made souped-up versions of Danelectros."

The guitar originally had three Lipstick pickups, named for their resemblance to silver lipstick tubes. Power replaced one of the Lipsticks with a Humbucker pickup which gives it a "heavier pickup sound".

• My Guitar: Fergus O'Byrne and his resilient 8-string

Power's guitar was also originally red, but is now painted black. "I'd love to go back to the red some day, but right now black is working for me," said Power.

The bilingual singer prefers to play this guitar in the Colleen Power Band,as well as her other band,The Sauce.

"It's easy to play," says Power. "But it does have a tendency to go in and out of intonation at certain times. I guess it's a normal phenomenon with the weather and humidity but it's finicky."

• My Guitar: Duane Andrews and his illustrious sound

Powers likes how the guitar is easy to handle and not heavy. "It's got a nice shape to hang off you when you're onstage."

Click on the audio file to the left to hear Leigh Anne Power's conversation with Colleen Power.