Rob’s World of Unusual, Unique, and Ugly Guitars

02/15/2025

Hers a custom barrel top Les Paul. Beautiful.

02/14/2025

Here’s an interesting instrument from Wishbass. Wishbass basses are built by Steve Wishnevsky.

He specializes in unique and original designs. In order to keep costs down his instruments usually have fairly simple electronic design, lack any sort of finish, and have lower end hardware and components. For this reason some owners choose to add new pickups, hardware, and finishes to their Wishbass, making them a great platform for modders.

02/13/2025

Today we have a custom built and painted Dingwall bass with angled frets. They’re not that unusual but not something that you see everyday.

Bass guitars with angled frets or "fanned frets"as they are more commonly called, have this design so that each string has a different scale length. This allows for better string tension across the fretboard. This resuls in a more balanced tone, better playability and more accurate intonation.

Intonation basically means that the notes on the fretboard are in tune with the notes of the open string. For instance, the note at the 12th fret of the second string should be in tune with the un-fretted or open note of the second string. This is usually adjusted with the saddles on the guitar’s bridge.

The result of good intonation is consistency across the fretboard. For instance if you think you are playing an A note, it’s actually an A and not out of tune and perhaps too sharp.

The fanned frets essentially allow the lower strings to have a longer scale length for better low-end tone and the higher strings to have a shorter scale length for better clarity and tension. This is why instruments with fanned frets are also called “multi-scale” instruments.

I hope that all made sense. I’ve never tried to explain intonation in written form nor have I ever had the chance to play a bass with fanned frets.

02/12/2025

Here’s a ‘Rockstar Wednesday’ bonus for y’all. Rock on!

02/12/2025

Last week I shared with y’all a cool Fender Telecaster twelve string. Today for ‘Rockstar Wednesday’ I’ve got another one for you. This is the Fender Custom Shop GE Smith Telecaster XII.

George Edward Smith was born on January 27, 1952 in Scranton, PA. He is probably best known as the musical director and band leader of the Saturday Night Live band. He was with SNL from 1985 to 1995. While at SNL he recieved a number of Emmy nominations and awards.

Prior to his time at SNL he was the lead guitarist for Hall & Oats. He played with them from 1979 to 1985. While with H&O he appeared on all of their albums and live performances. He recieved a number of Grammy nominations and awards for his work with the duo.

In addition to his time at SNL and with H&O, he has recorded and played live with many artists including Bob Dylan, Tom Waitz, Buddy Guy, David Bowie, and Mick Jagger just to name a few.

After being a life long Fender player, he was first honored in 1998 with the release of the Custom Shop Telecaster XII. In 2006, a six string GE Smith artist series Telecaster model was released.

Smith recieved his first guitar, a Fender Tele, when he was 11 years old. He still owns and uses it regularly for live performances and recording.

02/11/2025

02/11/2025

02/11/2025

This custom built bass was built by Pete Skjold of Skjold Design Guitars.

It has a 33”scale setup to be tuned E to C with a walnut neck and rosewood finger board.

It has a chambered spruce body with a Paduak top and three pickups - two under the cover and a piezo pickup under the bridge.

02/10/2025

Here’s a limited edition HardLuck Kings Douthern Belle. It’s basically HLK’s take on a Fender Telecaster.

HardLuck Kings is a California based budget guitar and accessory brand. The company was established in 2010 and imports most of their products from Asia.

It’s unclear whether or not the brand is still in business. A number of people report that their website is no longer working however they still seem to have a Facebook presence.

02/08/2025

We round out the week with a cool acrylic BC Rich Moockingbird six string- one of the coolest of the varieties of ‘bird guitars.

02/07/2025

I don’t know anything about this one but it’s pretty bad ass

02/06/2025

The Quija bass.

I don’t believe in the occult or supernatural and I don’t know how they work but I have had a few interesting experiences with one of these.

This would be fun to rock if you were in a metal band or maybe playing some delta blues.

02/05/2025

It’s once again ‘Rockstar Wednesday’ and today we have a Les Paul that pays tribute to a Seattle rock legend.

Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. (born March 18, 1966) is best-known as the guitarist, singer, primary songwriter, and founding member of Alice In Chains.

Alice In Chains gained success in the early 1990s as a prominent part of the Seattle grunge scene. The band is known for their distinctive sound and harmonized vocals that sets them apart from other Seattle bands. After the death of lead vocalist Layne Staley, Cantrell started to sing lead vocals on most post-Staley tracks.

The Jerry Cantrell ‘Wino’ Les Paul Custom is a no frills, stripped-down wine-red monster from Epiphone.

Besides its unique custom color, it features a weight-relieved mahogany body, gold hardware, and Grover tuners. It should have an Alnico humbucker with a gold cover in the neck position and an exposed humbucker in the bridge position. However, the pickups in this particular guitar have been replace with Seymour Duncan pups.

The ‘Wino’ Les Paul has a mahogany neck with a custom profile made to Cantrell’s specifications.
It has Cantrell’s name on the truss rod cover and his “JJ” logo on the back of the headstock. Unlike other Epiphone guitars, this also came with a custom case. 

The Jerry Cantrell ‘Wino’ is also available in a Gibson version and a Gibson Custom Shop version. I can’t see why anyone would spend the money for one of those models considering how unexciting this guitar is, unless they were a big fan. 

02/04/2025

Today we have another clear body guitar. This is a custom built Squier Strat that belongs to my friend Trevor W Ripchord.

He got this guitar from a luthier who built it for a customer who never picked it up.

The luthier took the original body and removed all of the electronics and hardware. He then used the original body to make a mold. He used that mold to make the new clear acrylic body. He then reassembled the guitar with all of the original parts.

This guitar is currently listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace. I will share the link in the comments if any one is interested.

02/03/2025

Thanks to all my friends who have sent this to me.

This guitar is nuts!

02/03/2025

Here’s a nice example of a 1969 Ampeg Dan Armstrong clear Lucite guitar. It reminds me of how they used to draw the Invisible Girl in old Fantastic Four comics.

02/02/2025

I’m going to pin this to the top of the page for reference so everyone always knows what I’m talking about. 🤣