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The Down & Dirty on the Galveston B.B. Stone.

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You know I have a collection of weird guitars. I know I have a blog. Sometimes I blog about my weird guitars.

I’ve written about my Galveston B.B. Stone before, and again more recently, but really I’ve only ever nailed down the whole saga of the Eagle brand… Not the origin of this specific model. (Check the comments on those posts too, people have reached out!) So I went back to the well and reached out to Örjan Jacobsson & Jerker Antoni again, hoping to finally close out the top trilogy of my wild axes.

Dewey Decibel FlipOut: A vintage-style sunburst electric guitar featuring an inverted S-style body shape, a white multi-pickup guard equipped with three single-coil pickups, a standard tremolo bridge, control knobs clustered on the lower horn, and a maple neck with a dark fretboard and distinctive headstock shape. Indy Custom FlyCaster: A bright yellow electric guitar with a custom modified shape combining T-style elements and sharp V-style bottom points, featuring a solid yellow finish, a black pickguard, two single-coil pickups, a standard bridge, and a matching yellow maple neck and fretboard with a pointed headstock. Galveston B.B. Stone: A honey-burst, flamed-top electric guitar boasting an aggressive, angular dual-cutaway body shape, a bound fretboard with large block inlays, dual black humbucker pickups, a Tune-o-matic style bridge with a stopbar tailpiece, control knobs placed along the lower right edge, and a dark headstock bearing the Galveston logo.

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I’ve already gotten some nice seriously in-depth info about the process of creation from the makers of the Dewey Decibel FlipOut and the Indy Custom FlyCaster. I even drew the FlyCaster into one of the maze designs available in my second book and on merch, like this shirt.

I needed to get to the bottom of the impetus of the B.B. Stone once and for all.

I consider these three my twisted trio. I’ll reach for one of these or my New York Pro Star Gazer before anything else, typically.

I reached out to Örjan & Jerker once again to try and get the inspiration behind the square guitar shape.

Örjan’s reply was short & sweet:

Contact my partner [______]@gmail.com. He was the designer of that model.

Hälsningar Örjan Jacobsson

Which, fair enough, tracks with everything he’s told me before.

Galveston B.B. Stone (Horizontal View): A horizontal studio product shot of the honey-burst, flamed-top electric guitar, featuring its distinctive angular dual-cutaway body layout, dual black humbucker pickups, Tune-o-matic style bridge with stopbar tailpiece, bound fretboard with large white block inlays, and the black headstock with the Galveston logo set against a clean black background.

Jerker sent over a chunk of his memoir, A Music Dealer’s Confessions, written in 2020, and it rules. Here’s the part that pertains to the B.B. Stone, straight from the source:

Eagle Instruments

JAM had the agency for very good sound cards from Korea in the late 90s. And when JAM was no longer allowed to buy Gibson and Epiphone from Luthman due to pressure from, among others, Estrad and others, Örjan and I started a new guitar brand, Eagle Instruments. I found a nice eagle online and fixed the logo that would be on the head and we also designed the shape of the head itself. The eagle I stole was actually a variant of Iraq’s state emblem. Haha!

During the Musikmesse in Frankfurt, Nysse and I got in touch with a very good guitar manufacturer in Korea called Unsung… We visited Unsung’s factory, which was located in Inchon, a port city not far from Seoul. The guy who was the sales manager, we became very good friends with during the Musikmesse in Frankfurt. He had a strange Korean name that I tried to translate because all Chinese and Korean names seem to mean something. He explained that it meant big brave stone. So when we were brainstorming and trying to put it together in English, it became Big Brave Stone. I ended up thinking that he should change his name so that he wouldn’t have that typical Korean name on his business cards that no one remembered anyway. I suggested the name B.B. Stone, and that’s what it was. He still calls himself that — several years after he left Unsung and started his own company, which of course is also called B.B. Stone.

Jerker Antoni

So there’s your answer on the name, at least. Not a bluesman. Not a nickname for the shape. A Korean sales manager Jerker basically rebranded on the spot at a trade show.

There’s a lot more in what he sent, including warehouses full of unpaid-for Epiphone stock because Gibson stiffed the factory, a bass player named Hazze Wazeen who used to end shows by launching his bass into the air, decibel police getting talked into letting the volume slide, a Sam Ash rep getting told off mid-pitch by Hazze himself. It’s a fun read and super inside-baseball to the industry.

I asked Jerker point blank: What was the inspiration for the B.B. Stone’s shape design, the squared-off body with the deep double-sharp cutaways? Buddy Guy meets Van Halen? This is the one that started my whole weird-guitar obsession… I need to know. Right?

His answer:

I dont really remember – just wanted it to stick out! Like my Penis guitar!

Jerker Antoni
Graphic illustration of a light pink, heart-shaped ukulele centered against a solid grey background. The instrument features a brown fretboard, four tuning pegs, and a round soundhole. The text at the bottom reads "EAGLE PRICK-U-LELE" and "Designed by Jerker Antoni" runs vertically along the right edge.

There it is, the whole story.

This is a guy whose first wild design was built as a novelty prop for Swedish rock legend Magnus Uggla’s live show. (See the video below.)

He also sent me pics of a coinpurse-bodied Eagle Prick-U-Lele, the Violele, and an Eagle Metal Vee. Talking all that in, I guess “I just wanted it to stick out” is the genuine answer. It’s bruh’s entire design philosophy in one sentence. It certainly grabbed my attention!

I didn’t get the deep origin story I went digging for, but I think I got something absolutely honest. It’s proof that the guy behind one of my favorite weird guitars genuinely does not design anything that isn’t weird. How can I not have mad respect for that?

Check out Jerker’s site at www.jerkerantoni.se and peep the memoir if you can read Swedish!

Eagle Metal Vee Specification Sheet: A product catalog page for the "Eagle Metal Vee" guitar, featuring a black-and-white illustration of the black Flying V-style electric guitar on the right, alongside the Eagle Instruments logo, model name, and a comprehensive list of technical specifications and features on the left. Eagle Metal Vee Solid Mahogany Vee Body with single cutaway for better balance than original Contour Back New double arrow head, black with white binding V shape chrome stringholder Strings thru body Tune-o-matic type bridge 2 All Chrome Humbuckers 1 All Chrome single coil 5-way switch, chrome knob Black finish, white binding Maple neck Maple fretboard Double line markers in black pearl (not just painted like on JJ Stage Blade) Grover type tuners Tone and Volume controls Chrome vintage Tele knobs Chrome hardware Also Blues Vee model: All mahogany body, flame maple top Brown sunburst with vintage white binding Finish like B.B. Stone model 2 zebra humbuckers, no single coil 3-way switch Top of headstock brown sunburst flame maple Rosewood fretboard, double pearl markers

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A newspaper clipping in Swedish with the headline "Jam klarar e-handel med enkla medel," featuring a photo of Jerker Antoni holding an electric guitar inside the Jam music store, surrounded by guitars on the wall. Here is a translation of the main article text and key elements from the Swedish newspaper clipping: Main Headline Jam handles e-commerce with simple means Section Header: E-COMMERCE Music store Jam generates more than half of its sales on the web. Jerker Antoni, who pulls the strings, believes the secret to their success is investing in simple solutions and providing plenty of information about the products. Body Text Jam in Stockholm was early out with a website in the spring of 1997. In 1998, web sales really took off. Since then, Jerker Antoni—who is a co-owner and responsible for web operations—has continued to develop solutions based on normal HTML pages and manual order handling. – Some of our competitors have fancy database-driven e-commerce solutions, but you won't find as much information on their websites as on ours, says Jerker Antoni. – We photograph most of the items we sell, rather than using manufacturer pictures, so the customer knows what we are selling. I spend between one and two hours a day updating the website, says Jerker Antoni. Mail and Order Unlike some other e-commerce sites that integrate their website with a back-end system, shopping with Jam involves sending an email and reserving the item. If the item is available, Jam sends a reply email, and the customer sends advance payment. When Jam's staff receives payment, they ship the goods at no extra shipping cost. For regular customers, goods are sometimes sent as regular mail-order sales. – Our motto is that we are scared of anything that makes us lose personal contact. Honestly, our system solves parts of the integration between different systems as a problem. We sell everything relative to value that costs relatively a lot of manual work, says Jerker Antoni. Belief in the Future Jerker Antoni is an old IT profile with a past in several pioneering computer initiatives, including Partille Megabyte and Svenska PC-fabriken. He thinks that the computer industry has been slow to transition to e-commerce, which is becoming more computerized. He notes that the computer industry is open and competition is tougher there than in the music industry. He definitely believes that the web will become even more important when it comes to selling musical instruments and that this will drive structural change. – We already source parts of our manufacturing directly from abroad, without going through wholesalers, which makes it possible for us to lower prices. Thanks to our web-based network, we can reach our products to the entire country, which would otherwise require two distributions in Sweden, says Lars Danielsson. Box: Jam Jam: Music store in Stockholm selling musical instruments and other music equipment. Turnover: Roughly 15 million Swedish kronor. Web sales: Roughly 8 million Swedish kronor. Website: www.jam.se
Jerker Antoni and Colleague with Violin-Shaped Ukulele: A candid photo of two men smiling together indoors, with the man on the right—Jerker Antoni—wearing a striped button-down shirt and holding a small, brown violin-shaped instrument or ukulele, with a conference badge hanging from a lanyard.

Oh yeah, can you guess which guitar he designed here?

Also check out the Jam store and Orjan’s site: https://www.oscarguitars.se/en/ (& Facebook Group)

I wonder what Jerker & Örjan would think about the Shitar and the Bat Logo Guitar? I bet they would love to have their rigs rated & roasted.

Do you have a B.B. Stone? How about any other Eagle or Galveston instruments? Hit me up in the comments about how you found yours!

The Pedal Itch.

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So, we all know I have a thing for guitars. I like ’em weird and I like ’em cheap. Anyone who plays & reads about guitars on the internet knows about the reality of G.A.S. and all its warning signs.

The Falcondrive guitar pedal from Rude Tech & Eaglebones Falconhawk (Ian Fowles) of The Aquabats!
Rude Tech Falcondrive

I only have a few pedals. I mean, I could always use more. Right? I think the Falcondrive sparked this most recent attack. Eaglebones Falconhawk is the renowned stringman and Fender aficionado of the insanely fun band, The Aquabats!

It’s overdrive and distortion all in one… and I like all kinds of noise. I like high gain, overdrive, distortion, chorus, fuzz… all of it.

Eaglebones sounds great, and he’s a killer player… this takes two of his older beloved modified pedals and combines them all into one package. What’s not to dig about it?

Yeah. That got my interest piqued. Then between AliExpress and Amazon, I ended up in a cheap-ass pedal deep dive. I love cheap gear. But not garbage. We’ll say inexpensive gear.

Mooer E7 | Mooer Pitch Box RudeTech Falcondrive | Flamma FC01 Drum Loop

How do the algorithms know? They’re listening. They’re reading. They’re watching. They’re pressuring.

I have sort of always been looking at an EHX B9 or the Earthquaker Organizer (or the EHX C9, Bass9, Key9. or Synth9 really). Honestly though, let’s face it; Most of my guitars cost as much as or less than these inarguably awesome quality pedals.

I found a super cheap and entirely crappy sounding sort of competitor online, then I found a slightly less crappy but seemingly more useful competitor online… still also pretty damn cheap.

Obi Wan, doing the thing. 👋
“You want to buy the pedals.”

Behold the Aural Dream Organ Synthesis B & Organ Synthesis A. They sound like hot buttered ass.

That though, somehow led me to this, which does not sound super terrible: The Mooer E7 Synth. It is not quite as expensive as the big boys, but also doesn’t sound like a dying sound card from a Commodore 64. (Arguably, even that could be a valid fun sound to chase… but if you’re not going for that, then you probably don’t want it by accident.)

Why do I want a synth pedal? Because, for years when playing out in bands, one of the songs I always dug covering was “Cool Kids” by Screeching Weasel. It has two super short keyboard parts that I always just played on the guitar. I would be immensely amused by the 3½ seconds of satisfaction that would provide.

That’s how G.A.S. works, right?

That led me to the Mooer Pitch Box. I don’t even need a pitch box, but is sure sounds cool. And it’s cheap. Damnit. That just led me to the even cheaper VSN Harmonizer. And a drummer pedal! The struggle is real. The pedals have gained sentience and are conspiring.

Then, I found the Flamma FS01 Drum Loop, which looks like ridiculous amounts of fun.

Then there are the other pedals that I can’t forget. I love my Orange Micro Terror. Apparently they make it as a pedal now, The Terror Stamp. I use an A/B/Y sometimes to play through both the Micro Terror and the Fender Blues Jr. at once. It would be fun to Orange-up the Blues Jr., or to play the Terror Stamp into the Micro Terror to make the Orange even more Orange.

Gorilla TC-35 Tube Crunch guitar amplifier.

That got me to seeing about the recent Acorn Amps Solid State pedal made to emulate an old Peavy Decade amp made famous by Josh Homme. That made me nostalgic for my first amp, the Gorilla TC-35. It had a “Tube Crunch” knob, but no tubes. After I got a larger amp to be in a band setting… we used to use it as a PA at AiXeLsyD practice, and I think even at some living room and basement shows.

Gorilla Amps Logo

Is it possible to make into a pedal? I don’t have the skills. I have a soldering iron, but I am no good with it. I used to do drafting in high school, but I am lost on the schematics for electronics. It looks like at least two people have made the combo into a head (…OK, one was for bass). A schematic exists online. Someone even has a circuit board which emulates the circuits for the amp, but is small enough to fit in a pedal. Why make a $200 pedal for a $50 amp? Yes. Why? Also, why not?

I wrote all of that, and still don’t know the point. To relieve G.A.S.? I would guess it should only serve to exacerbate it.

My current guitar effects pedals: Quinnamp Dirt & Ernie DigiTech Trio DigiTech FX3X Planet Waves PW-CT-04 Ammoon Pock Loop LiveWire Solutions ABY Box Ernie Ball Wah
YesFX

I mean, I do have a few pedals. They’re not even on a board. I had them on the cut-off bottom of a milk crate, but then I wanted to remove one. They are fun, and they do indeed do things.

This, hive mind, is where I need your help. Do I want more pedals? Yes. Do I need more pedals? Also, yes. They are sure to spark creativity. Use your wisdom to teach me. Can anyone build me a TC-35 pedal? I can get my wife to Cricut the logo in vinyl! Ha ha. Which pedals should I go for? What would you go for? I’m looking for those people experienced with these cheap pedals all over the internet. Send me your thoughts, reviews, & opinions!