DONITA SPARKS: Hi. I'm Donita Sparks.

[DONITA SPARKS PERFORMING]

The first Flying V I ever got was actually a payment for rent from my roommate, and it was I didn't even know what kind of Flying V it was. It might have been an Ibanez. I'm not sure. It didn't have any name on it and had a weird cutout on it that was done by somebody in their home shop or something, but I had that for many years until of course I broke it onstage. And then I got an Epiphone one a Gibson one.

PATRICK OGLE: Do you still use the Flying V now?

DONITA SPARKS: I don't but I would love to at some point when I play an L7 song at a show, put the V on, you know. We just couldn't bring them out this time. We don't have a crew so we had to be very barebones and stuff.

PATRICK OGLE: Yeah, that's why you can't bring out like eight guitars with you.

DONITA SPARKS: Exactly. So now I'm playing on stage. I'm playing a 1963 Gibson Melody Maker that I love very much, and I got like an '80s Gibson Melody Maker also which is covered in glitter, and that's also like a home job.

PATRICK OGLE: Where did you get that one?

DONITA SPARKS: Silverlight Guitar Store, which does not exist anymore, and I believe that it was the member of The Hangmen's guitar, which is very cool. Great LA band.

PATRICK OGLE: But they were -- They haven't existed for some time.

DONITA SPARKS: No. They just put out a record. Mike Ness of Social Distortion just produced it.

PATRICK OGLE: Did they get back together?

DONITA SPARKS: Yeah. They got back together a few years ago, but yeah they're touring the world and got a new record out.

PATRICK OGLE: And you still got their guitar.

DONITA SPARKS: And I've got that guitar. Yes I do.

PATRICK OGLE: If they want it back?

DONITA SPARKS: They can't have it back. It's too good.

PATRICK OGLE: Now, what do you like about the Melody Makers?

DONITA SPARKS: I like that the Melody Makers are lightweight. The Flying V was pretty heavy, and I used to string it really low, you know, with L7, and the Gibson Melody Maker is just more lightweight and I can move with it a little bit more.

PATRICK OGLE: Yeah. Is there any other guitar that you tried before you went to the Melody Maker?

DONITA SPARKS: No.

PATRICK OGLE: No. So basically, you had the Flying V...

DONITA SPARKS: Yeah.

PATRICK OGLE: ...and then you switched. That's kind of a big leap to jump from because they are heavy guitars and they're kind of awkward too, Flying V.

DONITA SPARKS: Yeah. They're very awkward. You can't sit and play them. You got to straddle it with your knee and everything. Suzie Gardner from L7 played a Melody Maker, and whenever we would record, I'd usually play her guitar because it had great action and the sound was really good, so I just kind of bought a guitar that sounded -- that played like Suzie's with really good action and everything like that, lightweight, so that's what I'm playing.

PATRICK OGLE: Now they only have one pickup, right?

DONITA SPARKS: Mine has two.

PATRICK OGLE: Two. Okay.

DONITA SPARKS: Yeah. Yeah, I mean that [OVERLAPPING]

PATRICK OGLE: That is that part about me that is making it to -- Comment about what I'm talking about out please.

DONITA SPARKS: Well, the '63 Melody Maker, everything has been swapped out. The pickups have been swapped out so they're hot and you know, they got their, you know, you've got distortion, distortion, and stuff.

PATRICK OGLE: Do you know what kind of pickups they put it?

DONITA SPARKS: No.

PATRICK OGLE: No.

DONITA SPARKS: Humbuckers, I don't know. And then the headstock was switched out. The tuning pegs were switched out too for something more functional than the old '63 parts.

[DONITA SPARKS PERFORMING]