Barry Wood's NAMM Oddities 2008: The pick of the crop of the weird and the wacky! If I'd been at NAMM this is the kind of stuff I'd have been searching out too. I especially like (in a ironic way) the Egyptian Gods guitars, which have to be seen to be believed.

Crazy rabbit guitar

I think that the creature featured on this kids' guitar with built in amp is supposed to be a rabbit with very skinny ears. The position of the pickup makes it look as if the rabbit is playing the harmonica through its nose. I'd have loved an electric guitar when I was a kid, but I'd have preferred something like I'd seen people playing on Top Of The Pops, not something quite as embarrasing-looking as this. Gotta love that turnip headstock, though.

(Mer)Made in China?

From the same people that brought you the Eagle Watching Over His Shoulder For Aliens guitar, here's a dodgy looking creation featuring a graphic showing a
Mermaid using a dolphin as a pillow.

Led Zeppelin guitarist wants world tour: So, apparently Jimmy Page wants Led Zeppelin to tour. Does Robert Plant know about this, I wonder, as he's been steadfastly denying it would happen in interviews recently. (Perhaps he's just saying that because he doesn't want any Led Zep news to overshadow his current project with Alison Krauss. I can't say I blame him - "Raising Sand" has to be one of the best albums of 2007).

Take instrumental journey in museum dedicated to guitars: 10 good reasons why you should visit The Martin Guitar Museum in Nazareth, Pennsylania (if you should get the chance).

Pay Graham Nash to teach you guitar online at iVideosongs.com.

Thank you to everyone who left Happy Birthday messages for me on my Mice Pace page today. It's appreciated.

Watch the birdie

Here's another supremely daft guitar which the deranged amongst you can purchase now on eBay. I appreciate it's supposed to be some kind of bird - an eagle or buzzard perhaps - but why the Alien fingerboard inlays? Actually, from the way the bird seems to be looking around at the neck, it's probably wondering the same thing. The listing claims it is a Hamer, which I very much doubt.

Wheelbarrow bass

Look what I found amongst the craziness over at The Washtub Bass Page. No worries about carrying this bass to your gig. Just wheel it along! Apparently it does detach from the chassis assembly.

How low can you go?

I can find out very little about this Lobro Bass Spring that I found on a Google search for something else entirely. It seems to be some kind of bass diddley bow with a screen door spring acting as a string and is tuned to A1, i.e. the low A on a piano. It appears to be the work of a fan of the German industrial/noise band Einstürzende Neubauten. It's not strictly speaking a guitar, but it's a relation of sorts.