[skippy the wonder dog]

Like Skippy suggests - I have a hunch that the guitar is mostly a device by which Gord can 'busy' himself without engaging in 'antics'.

Further to that, it's not surprising that he would play less in the current shows, if you think about it.

This is a few select dates, rather than a full-on North American tour in which you play three cities in four days, take two days off, etc. Lots easier to have energy when you're doing a few shows than at the tail end of a long tour.