[jtkung]

There are many pro guitarists out there who are what I describe as gear heads -- or rather gear whores. They will go from guitar company to guitar company, endorsing their gear, then dump them in a second for the next big thing. Here's a few of them:

• KM. Has played all sorts of boutique stuff, and has now settled on Schecter with the KM signature series.  I am sure he gets paid OK for this, but probably plays other guitars on his studio albums. 
  
• MM. Another guitarist who plays pretty much anything that is a 7-string and trendy -- Skervesen, Mayones, *strandberg, Jackson, etc. I think he has a signature from Jackson that isn't that great.
  
• Too many to name ... This guy is legendary on The Gear Page forum. Has played all sorts of high-end boutique guitars and amps and will endorse pretty much anything that is expensive and free to him. Then will dump on the Emporium after a year. 
  

If you look at the guitars they own (or rather collect), the funny thing is that they are all pretty much the same -- not much variety. For KM and MM, it's 7-strings that pretty much have the same general look and construction and pickups.  For most, it's mostly cloned vintagey guitars. 

There are many more guitarists like this ...

Note that every guitar they actually purchase can be deducted from their taxes because it is a tool of their trade (though you have to show you are doing it as a business -- not a hobbyist).   I bet many of them do just that. However, when you sell something that has been depreciated, you have to report that too.  Since there's really no way to track this -- I bet it's never reported.  So it's no wonder pros buy and sell a lot. They get the tax break when buying, but no taxes when they sell!