ESP-ecially fine

I love a good cocktail party, & my good fortune brought me a return invitation to the social event of the sticks last night. The annual south side musicians party was a huge success, & allowed me the opportunity visit with long time colleagues, talk shop, & view a portion of the vast collection of Cary Havlicek, current resident of New Prague. I snapped several pics, but this ESP purchased at Rhapsody Music in Mankato stood out as a particularly prime example for my site. The beautifully finished highly figured carved maple cap is the apex of this axe, but the recess mounted Floyd trem is world class, as is the fully bound neck & body! Check out more of his axes at Downtown Sound where he is the full time instructor to all the upcoming guitar heroes. Thanks for everything, Cary. I look forward to working with you again one day soon.

In Tune in Braham

Custom Davison shark fin V with classic coffin case. Owner Jake King of Braham MN. Jake runs a music store out of his house that resembles a small Music-Go Round. Bring your trade in & do some swapping if your in the neighborhood. Here's the official In Tune Music website, & here they are on on YouTube.

...Rock with me tonight at the Dog House in Maplewood.

Beware the Encore Phantom

Here's the five sided Japanese copy of the ultra British Vox Phantom, distibuted by Tiesco Del Rey. A rare appearance of model EV-2T, circa 1967 available through Encore Music at 2407 Lyndale ave S. Chad was kind enough to let me into the shop to snap a few pics this week during the extensive remodeling process at Encore. With the plethora of vintage guitars on hand it was very difficult to select only one to feature. Give him a call at 612 871-1775 for more info on this pizza paddle, or to get an update what else he's got available this week.

ALERT - Stolen Guitars

Four guitars stolen during a break in at Encore Music 2407 Lyndale Ave S Minneapolis on Sunday night this week.
1959 Gibson es-125 cherryburst SN#20326
1974 Gretsch country club
Charvel fusion black shredder guitar SN#326948
Kramer striker single duncan pickup
First two are very similar to photo. Please forward any info to the owner Chad Speck & aid in the recovery of these axes.
Encore Music 612-871-1775

Ashbory Rubber Band

This one is going on to my "to do" list right now. I'm officially on the hunt. It's about 2/3 the size of a Steinberger. The first one of these that I ever saw & demo'd was labeled as a GUILD. Most of them that I've see since are labeled as Ashbory or DeArmond. John Schwartz from Emerald City Music in Coon Rapids had ordered one in for stock to retail around '85, & couldn't wait to get me behind the wheel to show it off. I was blown away by the responsiveness of the pick-up against the tubular rubber strings. This atrocity was an amazing piece of break through design technology, & sounded better than most of the basses that I'd ever heard. I think they retailed around $429 at the time.