Ty Pennington, the wacky host of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and carpenter on TLC’s “Trading Spaces,” has given TV viewers a hint of another side of his talent by performing snippets of his songs in a few episodes. There is indeed a guitarist/songwriter trying to get out, but Ty admits he needs help.

“I’ve been playing music for a long while,” he explains. “It’s not good music, but…”

And in almost the same breath, he adds: “I wish I could do a Dobro justice, but I need guitars that make me sound better.”

Gibson is doing its part to help Ty sound better, with a new Les Paul goldtop model. It’s  the latest addition to his eclectic collection of guitars and amplifiers.

An interview with Ty about his collection quickly turns into a conversational adventure. Ty’s off-the-wall TV persona, which has helped “EM:HE” gain an Emmy nomination (it’s ABC’s only Emmy-nominated show, and Ty will be a presenter on the Sept. 19 awards program), is not a persona at all. It’s the real Ty. “You can tell I’m complete ADHD,” he explains, but he seems to have this alleged Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder under control when it comes to talking about guitars and music. At least he sticks to the general subject. Here are some random samples:

“I collect a bunch. My dad, both my dads are jazz musicians, I’ve got all these old Ampegs that I refurbished. I collected a lot of Silvertones that are basically wall-mounters now, and I’ve got some Silvertone amps. I’m definitely old analog style.”

“My first guitar I ever bought was a Gibson, at a pawn shop down in Daytona Beach, one of the thin ones with a black pickup. (It’s an ES-125T.)”

“I had a ’77 goldtop (Les Paul) but I had to pawn it because I was broke. It had humbuckers on it and it was really, really nice. I went to NAMM (the musical instrument industry’s trade show) and saw Jimmy Page’s Les Paul. Anyone who’s ever brushed up against a Les Paul, you could just bump that thing and it sounds amazing.”

“I collect old Kays. But I’m more of an artist than a guitarist. I find them ‘thrifting’ for 15 bucks. It’s hard to say no.”

“It’s weird, man. I make a lot of things that are brand new but I collect a lot of things that are vintage.”

Ty is an artist by training, with a degree in graphic design from the Art Institute of Atlanta and additional coursework in painting and sculpture at Atlanta College of Art. Growing up in Atlanta, he learned carpentry from his father, a skill that put him through school and eventually landed him a job as a set designer on such films as Leaving Las Vegas. He’s also done a little acting, playing aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright in the independent film The Adventures of Ociee Nash (based on the children’s book A Flower Blooms on Charlotte Street). But playing in the background through it all, was a guitar.

“I think I played violin when I was about 10,” he said. “I finally figured out the D chord (on guitar). It’s got to be the most popular chord in music. India, that whole sound is D, and Japan, isn’t that D as well? And then I got a Bob Dylan album and really got hooked on D. D and G. And then A. And then I found E, and I stayed on E for a long, long time. Then it went out of tune….

“I guess I started playing guitar about 12 or 15 years ago, when I had more time on my hands. It’s funny how it all happens. You go through an emotional breakup and you find a guitar and you find an album, like Blood on the Tracks, and then all the lines and lyrics make sense. And the next thing you know you’re writing songs about your own misery. And then you get over that.”

He’s definitely gotten over writing songs about his own misery. “I’m really good at writing really stupid songs about whatever – bad catering, Tourette’s… It all depends on the mood. Out of every 10 songs I write, there are about seven that are hilarious and humorous and about three that are worth listening to. I enjoy riding down the road listening to a really bad recording of myself.”

Ty has always kept a guitar with him on the road for jam sessions with fellow home designer Preston Sharp. “With all the work that I do, that’s the one thing I can do to chill out and step out of my own box,” he said. “It’s a necessity these days. I used to carry a guitar with me everywhere I went. I try to keep one on the bus.”

He has actually performed in public. He and Preston have had one gig, and he also has a musical alter ego named Barney. “I wear this suit that’s full of Christmas lights – a little of the Electric Cowboy going on there,” he said. “I use a sampler or drum machine or a cassette with a lot of obnoxious beats going over and over. I write some pretty funny songs, lots of underwear and breakfast, that kind of thing. It’s more of a performance piece than anything.”

His music may not sound too serious, but Ty is very serious about working it into his TV shows. “I did a few little Western ditties when we did a show out in the Old West, and I did that on ‘Trading Spaces,’ too,” he said. “I will definitely use the old guitar like Steve Martin used the old banjo. It’s fun. It takes the edge off of everything.”