TTM "Scream" Devastator

TTM Guitars regularly have a whole bunch of guitars for sale on eBay. They have a choice of high quality USA-built Strat-a-like guitars in various limited edition finishes, some of which are very nice. However I can't say I like their headstock design very much - it looks like it ought to belong on a much cheaper and nastier guitar.

The above pictured TTM Devastator features a limited edition "Scream" graphic, based loosely on the now legendary artwork by Edvard Munch. At first I thought it was yet another guitar covered in skulls (yawn) but now the design is actually growing on me.

GatorTar - Alligator art guitars from Louisiana

When I first saw this picture of a GatorTar, I thought an alligator had swallowed a Telecaster!

Surely, a must-have for Swamp Rock bands.

Folk legend Davy Graham dies aged 68

I've only just heard the sad news. The infamous and highly innovative folk guitarist Davy Graham passed away on Monday. Graham was the guy who inspired many other folk greats such as John Martyn and Bert Jansch. He took influences from Arabic and Indian music and experimented with various alternate guitar tunings, and reportedly it was he that developed the popular DADGAD tuning.

I remember seeing a gig of his in Oxford about 20 years ago, and let's just say it was a very eccentric performance with lots of tuning and re-tuning of his guitar inbetween the songs.

Will Hodgkinson writes about Davy Graham at quite some length in his hugely entertaining Guitar Man book. It seems he was quite a character!

The Guardian's Music Blog has a video tribute page here.

I'm now going to give his final album, "Broken Biscuits", another spin in his memory.

1959 Gibson EB0 Bass

This 1959 Gibson EB-0 Vintage Bass Guitar is interesting, as I've not seen one with this body shape before. The body styling is Les Paul doublecut, as found on certain Les Paul Juniors. More usually Gibson EB series basses shared the SG guitar body shape.

The first Gibson bass was violin-shaped (giving rise to the Hofner "copy" Violin Bass whose popularity eclipsed that of the Gibson original due to it being Paul McCartney's instrument of choice), and others I have seen include semi-acoustic 335-style basses.

I'm not a Gibson expert, so perhaps others who are more knowledgable in this area will think that this bass is nothing too special. Does anyone know how rare it is? Anyone seen one before? Just curious.

It's a nice looking bass, and I can imagine the booming tone you'd get from that huge neck-mounted pickup. To my eyes, at least, it's a more attractive body-shape than the SG style. I can't say I like the banjo-style tuners though.

Ring Out Those Bells!

Here's a seasonal one for you! It's a bell-shaped acoustic guitar, handmade by Frank Eatherly of Sarasota. Aside from its unconventional shape (not one for playing whilst seated, I think), the guitar features a curly koa top with walnut trim, cherry sides, mahogany back, and maple neck.

Peter Kellett Fanned Fret Aluminium Strat

Any Strat fans searching eBay for the weird and wonderful may well have missed this Peter Kellett Strat type guitar because the seller has, for reasons unknown, very ingeniously listed it as a Tele type guitar. It's a guitar that ticks off several of our "weird" boxes. Firstly you'll notice it has an over-the-top "Western" graphic applied to the front of the body. The body itself is anodized aluminium and the listing claims it is "From the last of the Harly Davidson bodies" (sic) which would imply that the body is genuine Fender. The most unusual feature, however, is the neck which features the Novax (or "Kovax" as the seller insists on calling it) patented fanned fret system so that the scale length varies for each of the strings, the top E having the shortest scale and the low E having the longest and which supposedly makes for more comfortable left-hand positioning.

For more guitars in a similar vein, see kellettguitars.com.

A Trio of Tasteless* Teles!

Top left: Squier "Rolling Rock" Telecaster
Top Right: Phil Wayne Custom "Elysian" Telecaster
Bottom: Schecter Bomber Girl

* or "tasteful" depending on your point of view, but I know which side of the fence I'm on!

A Sparkly Fender Musicmaster from 1959

This will be the Fender Musicmaster that you can see in the background of the pics of the DuoSonic that I posted about earlier this week. Again, this one has a rare sparkle finish and is supposedly quite rare.

With an eBay Buy It Now price of US $3,499.99, you'd think the seller could afford to string it up!

Cliché Alert!

Looking through some of the current listings on eBay, I'm experiencing déjà vu.

A guitar shaped like a gun.

A guitar made from a toilet seat.

Yawn.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

(Wake me up when someone comes up with an ORIGINAL idea for a novelty guitar).

Fender Duo Sonic with sparkle finish

You don't see many of these Fender Duo Sonic guitars with this distinctive red on gold sparkle finish. This particular example is from 1963 and the finish is original. Why don't we see more like this? Was it a very limited edition, or were examples refinished over the years?

Raspberry Ripple Guitar

This guitar with the "raspberry ripple" finish is actually a pre-Ibanez JEM Despagni and is apparently just like the one that Steve Vai has from 1987.

The seller also believes that this may be possibly the very first multi-swirl JEM guitar ever! (I'm not quite sure how I'm expected to react to a statement like that? Should I be impressed or just simply stunned into silence with the awe-inspiringness of it?)

Sorry guys, it may well sound awesome, but looks-wise I'd give it a miss. I'd rather hear it than look at it.

ESP Doreamon Guitar

From Japan (naturally) comes this ESP Doreamon guitar based on a cartoon character that I'm not really aware of but have seen on guitars before! I like the fact that it seems to have a built-in amp but the sheer size and shape of it means that it would be totally impractical as a travel guitar. It's extremely cheesy and I have to confess to secretly liking this one mainly because of its ridiculousness. It's a very odd shape, it's funny, and it's another example of what the imaginations of those wacky Japanese can come up with.

Guitar George is cycling on ice

Here is a bizarre news story about 18-year old George Britcher who has been alarming patrons of his local ice rink in Norfolk with his party piece which consists of riding his unicycle on the ice and playing guitar at the same time.

I'm assuming he uses a wireless connection to his amp as a guitar lead trailing behind him would surely make this feat even more hazardous!

Joe Satriani sues Coldplay

The BBC News reports that "Grammy nominees Coldplay have been sued by rock guitarist Joe Satriani, who claims the band's song Viva La Vida uses one of his riffs."

Apparently the song uses substantial original portions of Satriani's 2004 instrumental "If I Could Fly".

Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of Satriani's music, I can only applaud his decision to take the arrogant Chris Martin and Co down a peg or two.

It's not the first time Coldplay have plundered someone else's songs and presented them as their own. As a big Kraftwerk fan I still shudder everytime Coldplay's "Talk" comes on the radio, which uses the entire melody line and main riff from Kraftwerk's "Computer Love". At least in that instance Chris Martin asked persmission and having heard a thing or two about Kraftwerk's Ralf Hutter, you can bet they get royalties. (It still irritates me though.)

It makes me wonder why Coldplay's Chris Martin asked permission from one artist but not from another. Did he think the Satriani piece was so obscure that no one would recognise it? And can't Chris Martin write his own music at all?

Burns Scorpion Bass

I remember when Burns Guitars launched their Scorpion guitar back in 1980. It was at the same time when they also launched the Western-looking Steer guitar.

I hadn't previosuly realised they made a Scorpion Bass too. Looks neat. Is that a short-scale, I wonder?

Breaking News: Image of Jesus seen on guitar

I'm not saying anything about this story. Make up your own minds!

"Employees at Instrumental Music and Sound in Ludington, Michigan say the wood grain of one of the store's guitars has an image that looks like the face of Jesus. Others believe it looks like an angel.

The guitar would normally sell for $500. But officials at the store have decided to take the instrument off the market."

See the story here where there's also a video clip.

AxeGlove - THE Ultimate Guitar Protection System

It's that time of year where many guitar sites and blogs like to bring to your attention various guitar-related gifts.

Well, how about the AxeGlove, designed to protect your pride and joy from knocks and dents.

There are tales of this product being demonstrated at guitar shows with the salesman bashing a Les Paul custom protected by the AxeGlove against a hard surface, only to remove the cover and show that the guitar was unmarked.

Apparently you can keep it on the guitar as you play too! Possibly you could wear a woolly hat and scarf to match.

Obviously, it's not a product that's going to appeal to the lover of relic-look guitars.

And is it just me, or does anyone else remember a similar product called the "Guitar Sock" a couple of years ago?

Let's face it. It's pyjamas for your guitar.

Gene Simmons autographed Westone Warlock bass

This Gene Simmons autographed Westone Warlock bass is quite neat, as apparently he won't sign guitars any more. Being a Westone it ought to be a nice quality instrument too. I had a Westone Thunder I-A fretless bass years back and it was a fantastic bass. I always regret getting rid of that one.

Pictured below is another bass that looks like it should (or could) be played by the Kiss bassmeister himself. Apparently it's a Toshiya bass (never heard of them) and to my eyes it looks as if the design has been based on a left-handed Rickenbacker.

Those of a nervous disposition may want to look away

I am absolutely astounded and just a little bit disturbed that someone could have thought that this mutilation of a 1974 Fender Stratocaster was a good idea. Yes, I know some of those early 70s Strats were very heavy but taking a saw to one and carving it up does seem a bit extreme.