All that Glitters

Dedazzled & bejeweled, this mosaic madness hails from Coon Rapids Home Goods store in Riverdale. This unique mirrored designer piece submitted by talented vocalist Dawn Delaney Wilson. What a cool strat.

Forte 4

These Spectors are among the most practical basses out there from the standpoint of sound & playability. The price range is reasonable considering the quality & longevity of the instrument, & they're just beautiful & sexy to look at. The Spector Forte 4s are known for their straight necks & ultra smooth body contours, & a crisp, clear output tone that can make a worthy player into a contender. The perfect combination of art & functionality come together in this beautiful new guitar owned by Chris Morehouse, currently performing with the popular twin city touring group Common Ground. This assembly of seasoned musical veterans has got the science of performing classic rock favorites down to an art.

Skippy's '63

Saturday March 9th marked Crocodile productions 27th bi-annual Musicians trade fair, & this spring it was held at the Eagan civic center for the first time. The civic center turned out to be a perfect venue for an event of this type, & I look forward to returning to Eagan again for these events in the future. The show yielded some great finds, & one of the vintage gems that seemed to be a cut above the rest was Skippy's 1963 Gibson SG with factory trem. This classic guitar still remains in remarkable original condition after 50 years on the globe. Just getting my hands on it osmosed vibes of greatness though my body to my spirit. Truly one of the finest axes at the show this year. Thanks for the picture, Skippy.

Cool Breeze

Very sad here to be reporting the passing of Dave Brown, (Senders) one of my all time favorite twin city fronts. His energy & style were a powerhouse of inspiration to entertainers everywhere. This hep cat was like Dean Martin & Chuck Berry all wrapped up in one. I'll forever cherish the memories of our many gigs together years ago at the famous Whiskey Junction in S Minneapolis. His Cherry Gibson 335 with large fret marker inlays is a fine blues axe & served him well for many performances. Dave loved the electric hollow body Gibson guitars. His memorial service is being held today at Lakewood Cemetery Chapel in Minneapolis. Click HERE to view a memorial pictorial of Cool Breeze on YouTube. Dave will be missed by many, & remembered by the millions of smiles he left behind in his long  musical career.

Tribute City

Happy St Pat's Day From Minneapolis Guitars. Viking Rocker's classic rock tribute show was a great success Friday night at Pickle Park. The featured acts Poisened (Poisen), Crown Jewels (Queen), & Top Jimmy (Van Halen) were all very entertaining, & as you can see by the photo's the guitars were all fairly authentic too. One of these axes has been previously featured on this website, but is so cool I thought it worthy of a repost. All these guitarists are top players & consistently perform stylistically authentic to give you a taste of the original artists.

The Midas Touch

Mancini's lounge in St Paul is host of the hip house band "Midas Touch". TC's Bob Scoggin is the talented axe wielder of this popular combo, & he's happy to pose for the camera. I captured this shot with my iphone under the velvety red ambient rope light stage. The vintage Fender guitar is a rare 1975 hollow telecaster with factory humbuckers, & clear bell tone output. Bob is a smooth player, & a worthy owner of such a cool axe. Everything about this guitar & this gig portrays an authentic retro flashback vibe. You can find better pics of this rare guitar on Bob's Facebook page.

LTD - Satin

Ted Pillera from Lakeville, showing off his new D5 LTD five string bass in a natural satin finish. Active electronics & low action make for an ultra-responsive & easy playing guitar. This pic was snapped Friday night while Ted's new band Drama Queen was performing their Prior Lake debut showcase at the Arizona's Lounge on 169 & Canterbury rd.

Shred a Tear

Here's a fairly new concept by VOX with a twist, recently released at the summer 2012 NAAM show. Even if you weren't a fan of the vintage Phantom or Teardrop, you'r sure to find the new Apache 1 has plenty to offer any player. This one's available at Mr Mark's Music in Anoka for only $299. The features include built in internal amplifier, drum machine, & ipod input. It's the perfect couch potato guitar. Check out the demo video on YouTube.

Gretsch Silver Ann

This Gretsch hollow body guitar is from 1986, & it's a silver anniversary of the historic 1961 model. Darcel Jones of Coon Rapids is the current owner & player of this fine vintage axe. It's been in his family since new, & has been handed down from his grandfather. The condition is fine but this one's not for sale, so you can stop drooling now.

White Elephant

This beautiful hollow-body Teleblaster is proudly shown off by regional entertainer Chad Higgins. The beautiful ivory white finish is contrasted by a glitzty gold hardware package, including gold Floyd Rose trem system & matching locking nut. You can get a good look at this rare hollow body electric guitar when you catch a show featuring the popular Minneapolis group POP ROCKS. The guitar is a class act by itself, & so is their show. Here's a link featuring their upcoming show dates.

Moody Blue

Veteran luthier Erin Randolph of Minneapolis pictured here showing off his newly acquired 12 string Silvertone acoustic. This solid old catalog guitar dates to circa 1961, & was manufactured by Harmony for mail order sales & distribution through the Sears company. It's a tasty vintage piece, & the custom blue & white finish is far from the original two color sunburst. It's body is constructed entirely of birch, but Erin has big plans for a rebuild of this cool axe, including a new spruce top. We'll get more photos posted after the project is completed.

Yamaha G55 Classical

Front & rear of Yamaha classical guitar, owned by Craig Asche in Fridley MN. Craig contacted me this week looking for offers on this guitar & carrying case. Drop me a line if you're looking for an inexpensive nylon string guitar & I'll forward it to Craig.

Head Stock

Custom inlay is always cool. Happy Birthday to me.
  }:-D-

Ménage à Trois

This weeks submission by a local player who really has a keen eye for grade A flamed maple tops.
When these three beauties make an appearance no man can resist the temptation of their allure.
These RG7-CT / RG7-CST Ibanez guitars are no less than amazing. These were supposedly a first run of the J-custom 7 string to gauge interest. This is why (so I am told) they do not say "J-custom" on the headstock but rather are just tagged with the "Prestige" badge.  Supposedly 24 (or so) produced. Rosewood fb CT has Dimarzio Crunch Lab/ Liquifire pickups. Maple fb CT has Bare Knuckle Rebel Yell/ Cold sweat pickups. Ebony fb, lo-pro double edge bridge with piezo, stock custom 7 Ibanez pickups. Mahogany body with a flamed maple top in vintage violin finish. 1 of 18 world wide.
Discriminating collector & Ibanez aficionado Tim Matteson courteously submitted this & many other great pics of his extensive collection last week; & for this kindness we extend him our gratitude as we'll continue to feature more of his cool guitars here on the site in the future.

Vertigo

This one of a kind guitar submitted today by Tim Krueger. He's currently teaching guitar at Buffalo Guitar Studio in Buffalo, MN. His custom fretless Fernandes Vertigo is quite the fine axe that you won't see anywhere else. The mirrored glass fingerboard was installed by Ned Evett's shop in Idaho.
For more info on this guitar or Tim's studio follow the link below.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Buffalo-Guitar-Studio/200046503458755

Flamin'

Greetings from Greg Pasillas & his custom "Laguna" guitar. His brother Pete Pasillas did the awesome flame paint & pin stripe details. Greg plays this cool axe on a regular basis here the Twin Cities. The guitar gets many comments on the finish as you'd expect, & the back even has a custom MN Vikings logo in the paint. Pete did the paint in southern California where he does all types of custom finishes, stripes, lettering & more on motorcycles, cars, dragsters, and now even guitars.

If anyone is interested in having some custom paint treatments done, I will be providing a link soon.

DaVinci Custom Paint

A couple fine examples pictured here from the Terry North, head painter at DaVinci Custom Guitars. I've had the pleasure to hold many of the finished customs that have been completed through Terry's shop, & they're truly top notch. This is the stuff that makes rock stars. Terry has the skills to bring your fantasy concept into the realm of rock & roll reality. He's a master craftsman & an all around nice guy who promises to work hard to earn your repeat business. Have Terry start your order today.

Guilded

 Peter Berger from White Bear Lake pictured with his 1983 Guild X-702. Wonderful playing bass with high output & great tone. Unique styling with a great headstock & top notch candy apple finish make this one for the archives. These cool 80's basses are hard to find, & this one is a rocker for sure.

Happy Anniversary

1979 Silver Anniversary Stratocaster from Cuffy Parks. Gotta love these large peg head stocks & heavy lacquer bat necks. Looks great in any collection.

7-Up Green

Candy Apple Green, AKA 7-Up Green - You've got to love those Fender colors.
Alder body, Maple neck with a special "V" shape, 22 Nickel Silver fret Maple fingerboard, vintage machine heads, 3 Gold Fender-Lace Sensors, 25dB active mid-boost circuit and blocked synchronized tremolo. Note the Pearloid pick guard up-grade on this 1989 Eric Clapton signature Strat, owned & played by Jesse Ray Ernster of Buffalo MN. I snapped the inset photo while Jesse was doing a stint with Iron Horse, but now you can catch Jesse with the all new show Killer Hayseeds "Amped Up". We'll get more of Jesse's guitars featured here as soon as I can make it out to another Hayseeds tour date.