It seems something about playing the electric guitar corrupts your being beyond al repair. A small price for instant attractiveness with the ladies, I daresay.

A few examples:

• When his house was clad a sea of blazing fire, B.B. King ran inside and risked his life to save his favourite guitar, Lucille

• Eric Johnson claims he can hear what brand of batteries are in his effect boxes.

• Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi can make your bowels party without his fingertips, which he lost in a sheet metal factory on his last day of work!

• Prodigy Jason Becker was the fastest shredder alive, until he got diagnosed with ALS. Not Cool!

• Jimi Hendrix was a mean drunk and hit his girlfriends when he was intoxicated. Ouch.

• Stevie Ray Vaughan used string gauges up to .14 and played his fingertips to shreds. To restore them he'd glue them to his forearm and rip off the skin. Double Ouch.

• Neoclassical virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen crashed his Jag, got into a coma and suffered paralysis in his picking hand due to a blood clot. During his rehabilitation his mother died of cancer. He still plays to this day.

• And finally, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine fell asleep on his forearm and cut off the blood supply. It took him a year of physical therapy to recover.

So before you pick up that six-string, calm down and think!