When he joined Thin Lizzy, Gorham was playing a Japanese Les Paul copy, which was quickly deemed not up to standard. He is often associated with a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe guitar with mini humbuckers. This guitar was purchased at the same time as his bandmate Brian Robertson's Deluxe guitar. The two guitars could be distinguished by the fact that Gorham's guitar had a redder finish and lacked a pick-guard. In 1978 he began playing a Les Paul Standard, which became his main guitar until Thin Lizzy broke up in 1983. He can be seen using a Schecter with a Lynott style mirror scratchplate on later videos. Nowadays, Gorham uses only Gibson Axcess Guitars which are lighter and thinner in body width than regular Les Paul guitars. guitar with 100-watt 1970's modded Marshall Amplifiers. Even before Thin Lizzy split up, Gorham started using Fender Stratocasters, but reverted to his Gibson Les Paul in 2006. For the Thin Lizzy 2011 tour of the UK, Gorham said that he would be returning to usage of a Gibson Les Paul, this time using a Les Paul Axcess as his main tour guitar. In an interview with "Guitarist" magazine he said that he had made contact with Gibson Custom Shop and had used it during rehearsals. The Axcess is different from normal Les Pauls in the fact it makes use of a Floyd Rose tremolo and also has a thinner body among other features. Gorham's Axcess has a thinner neck than the normal models as well as a 500T pickup in the bridge position.