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Guitar Device Help Needed: Urgent

11/15/2011

Free 1962 Fender Stratocaster guitar. Just kidding. I'm using my usually entertaining and insightful blog for a selfish pursuit today. I need some help. I'm looking for a guitar with either an ALB Metal Hob or a Miller Sound Curb (same thing). Buy it and bring it to me. I will pay you double for it. I've only seen 2 and 1 was just in an old newspaper picture. The other was lost in a house fire. The "Hob" or "Sound Curb" is very fragile, so don't screw with it. It's tempting to want to polish it up because age makes the finish cloudy, but it will crack if you don't know what you're doing. Fifteen were made back in 1961, but most were attached to bass guitars. One was modified to fit a Rickenbacker 12 string, but that ended in a real meat on the floor tragedy I will cover later. Send pictures, leads etc. to me at this site or my Facebook page or Tweet me, I don't care which. I just need one. And I need it 2 days ago. Who couldn't use more money for Christmas?

Facebook.com/TonyCochranGuitars
Twitter.com/TCochranGuitars

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Jimi Hendrix Mars Guitar With Butt

11/11/2011

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He handed me the Rickenbacker 365 guitar to inspect. "It's perfect, except for the burn mark." He pointed to a small dime sized charring on the back. "I was at one of Jimi Hendrix's earlier shows in England . . . that's when he became Jimi Hendrix, you know, when he went to England. Anyway, I was playing rhythm guitar with a band that was on the same bill that night. You heard of The Sonic Birds?" He looked at me hopefully. "You mean The Yardbirds?" I asked. He snorted. "Not those posers . . . you remember the song Flower of My Love?" "You mean Sunshine of My Love?" I asked. He looked dejected. "No." He started humming an unrecognizable tune. He looked at me with an even more hopeful look. "I wish I could tell you I've heard it," I said. He sighed. "Jimi Hendrix put his cigarette out on my guitar. That's what that mark is. I had it flipped over trying to tighten the tuner for the E string and he walks by with this Salem hanging out of his mouth. He was so wasted he thought my guitar was an end table and he stabbed out his butt on it." He pointed again at the mark. "By my reckoning that makes this guitar quite valuable." I love storied guitars. "Good story," I said. "Did he sign it?" "No." "Did you get a picture of him doing it?" "No." "Any witnesses that will back you up with sworn statements?" "No." He said, "You want to buy it?" I looked at him with a steady gaze. It was tempting. "No," I said. "But thanks for the story."

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Guitar Made From James Dean's Porsche

11/8/2011

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My search for storied guitars took an odd turn. Sometimes it's the odd devices that get me jazzed. One guy even had a guitar with human teeth used for the knobs on the tuners. He was a professional boxing referee and collected the teeth for 20 years. Another guy once tried to sell me a hollow body Gibson that had a secret compartment fitted with poison darts and a blow gun. I don't know why, but I don't make this stuff up. One of my favorites is the one I have on my work bench right now. It needs a new volume pot. It's a Strat look alike clad with aluminum from the Porsche James Dean died in. The guy I bought it from said a friend of a friend swiped a door from the car. (The car has never been accounted for, by the way.) He deskinned the door and used the sheet aluminum to shore up some bad cracks in the body of his guitar. He had documents. I believed him. Enough said.

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Guitar Doesn't Smell Like Guitar

11/4/2011

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I like weird guitars, and that's about it. I'm not big on spiritual stuff and I don't usually get scared by things other people may jump clean out of their skin about. But I had a guitar once that I couldn't get rid of fast enough. It wasn't the way it looked. It wasn't the way it felt. It wasn't the way it sounded. I had picked it up because it had these cool, bone colored knobs on a chrome pad screwed to the body instead of coming right out of the guitar as is usually seen. I never researched why they were on there like that. Maybe some of you can help me out there. It had a name on the pod and a 5 digit number. The name was "CISSA" and the number was 11653. I guess it doesn't matter because I don't have it anymore. But I'd love to know where it came from. But I digress. I got rid of it because it smelled like roses. I aired it out, I cleaned it, I polished it with a fine cloth. It veritably stank of roses. Not a gentle wafting scent. Not a mild hint of eau de rose. It was a gut wrenching nasal scathing roar of rose. Funny thing is, when I sold it I told the guy that I hoped the smell didn't bother him like it did me. He looked at me and said, "Nah . . . I like eucalyptus."

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I Score Clown Bass Guitar

11/1/2011

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"Is this a three quarter size bass guitar?" I asked. "Yeah, got it from a dude in New Hampshire. He had a clown act he did at parties and such and a full size bass stuck out of his pants too far." I didn't ask for elaboration. Didn't need it. Didn't want it. "Thirty bucks? Why so cheap?" Oh jeez, aren't I the master of haggle? "It's a piece of crap," he said. He was obviously the master of salesmanship. "Take twenty?" I waved the bill. "No, thirty, and that's firm." "Twenty-three?" I pulled some crumpled ones out of my shirt pocket. "Done," he said. It was the extra 2 knobs and the little box wired to the side that caught my attention. I needed to compare it to a diagram I had at home, but it looked like a dual amber capacitor housing and, if it was, this was a very good thing. Sixteen of these were made by Robby Hubson in 1968 exclusively for the Winslow and Sharp guitar works. They never worked like they were supposed to and, even worse, no one knows now what they were supposed to do. Just as it sat, it could easily fetch a grand and, if it lit up when amped, the sky was the limit. I whistled happy happy tunes all the way home.

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Guitar Device Help Needed: Urgent

Jimi Hendrix Mars Guitar With Butt

Guitar Made From James Dean's Porsche

Guitar Doesn't Smell Like Guitar

I Score Clown Bass Guitar

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