Back in the day, I used to go to websites, message boards, chat rooms, or forums, & blogs. Now it’s mostly Facebook groups.
I’m a simple man. When not enjoying real-life things like family time, noodling poorly on the guitar, drawing mazes, or watching some funny or sci-fi-ish stuff on the TV, I enjoy reading things on the internet. This would include subjects like guitars, gear, guitars, music, Star Wars, guitars, guitars, and surprisingly enough …Guitars.
Picking up a theme? I’m in some guitar groups of varying purpose, from celebrating the instrument in general, to celebrating ugly ones, celebrating cheap ones, celebrating unique ones, alternating between building camaraderie or trolling between fellow guitarists, and making fun off bass players & drummers. I may have G.A.S. – It’s gotta be a real thing.
After a while, you start to notice a repetitive pattern of seemingly-canned responses.
At first, I thought of a drinking game. But, I’m too old for that, and I’m currently on antibiotics. Ha ha.
It may seem light a slight, but it’s not. I’m in there. I have said the thigs. I have typed the things. I have read the things. I have heard the things. We all have a common interest. This is a celebration of you, & us. 🍻
How quickly could you get a line, or even fill up the card?
What responses have I missed?
Please, elaborate in the comments.
GUITAR BINGO!
What would go on your Bingo card or cause you to take a drink?
What do I need to add to my pin boards?
I would love to hear what you have to add.
What are your favorite places to discuss and ogle guitars on Facebook or online in general? You can even share some of your favorite guitar photos or memes in the comments.
You may want to take a look at the Guitars & My Guitars categories here at the blog.
I finally got a permanent place set up to rock. All my guitars, ukes, amps, pedals, and even an electric kazoo are easy to quickly access and just start rocking when inspiration hits.
Axetopia? CBGB’s (Carroll’s Big Guitar Bunker)? The Guitarmory?
It still needs a name. I haven’t officially decided. I have been calling it “the music room” or “the guitar room.” Both of those seem boring. Maybe this? I find it amusing but clunky.
I may make some videos of guitar shenanigans as a creative outlet. Not sure what direction they’ll take. I’m not a particularly good or technical player, but I can demo some gear or do some fun silly stuff. I do already have a YouTube playlist started for my guitar-related videos.
The Postitive Grid Spark amp & app have really made jamming quick and fun… they have a cool in-app video feature, but it’s not much different than recording straight-up with the phone’s camera.
More setup inspires more setup. I need a way to store my physical media (mostly CD’s) so it’s easily accessible. I have a lot. Too many probably. I need to build some shelves and the stuff I’m finding online seems painfully expensive and not quite a fit. And I’d like to dump that all on a personal media server. I have a lot of stuff not available on Amazon or Spotify.
The next itch I can already feel will need scratching is some kind of recording setup. I’d like to layer stuff I can hear in my head, without the aid of a looper. I miss the days of a Tascam 4-track with a cassette tape. Maybe I’ll delve into a nice simple digital version of that.
The kids have guitars, ukes, and a keyboard too… and now we almost need drums and a bass or too, right?
At any rate… it’s important to have a creative outlet. Live isn’t conducive to me jamming regularly with a band right now. I only seem to do mazes when the inspiration hits, and I blog pretty randomly. Music is one more option for expression, creativity, and constant learning/exploring. I hope to foster the kids’ musical expression and drive home how important it is to remain creative themselves and appreciative of art in general.
Keep watching the blog, social media, and YouTube if you’re interested in the musical stuff.
If you’re a regular reader, you know I recently posted all my guitars. You would then also know that I like weird guitars. You may have even seen me in a guitar-related Facebook group defending this beauty of an axe. What is not to love? The thing is fantastic. It is a sight to behold. It probably shouldn’t even exist, but it does an I needed to have it.
Mine is serial number 059. I have even connected with a few other owners out there via a Facebook Fan Page. I had expected to swap out pickups and drop in some rails… but, man this thing sounds beautiful. The neck feels great. It hangs well when standing. It is just a great damn guitar.
I would say it is probably in my trifecta of ire along with the Dewey Decibel FlipOut and the Galveston B.B. Stone. I have had people at shows come up just to tell me that they hate them! Ha ha. It amazes me that a music genre predicated on the idea of just pissing off the previous generation has so many purists who must adhere to some sort of imaginary rules of guitar design. and tired traditions. It would be a fascinating sociological study to see exactly how that can be. It’s OK to enjoy the classics and get a little wild sometimes.
Of course, many people get the joke and love them too.
In with posting All My Axes(did you see parts 1 & 2?), I really got to wanting to dive deep into the story behind each of these if I could. The creator of the FLyCaster, Jimmie Bruhn was easy to find online, and seems like a great guy. I would even say he found me in an “ugly guitars” group or two. Check out my questions for him and his fantastic answers below my embedded Instagram Post of the FlyCaster. The interview was conducted via the highly professional Facebook Messenger.
Jimmie Bruhn:There was no Indiana Custom Guitars. Indy Custom was that particular brand. Its actually a much bigger thing… SHS International was the parent company. It was an international music wholesale company that distributed products to music stores. Its where music stores nationwide (and globally) got a lot of their stuff. We designed, imported and sold products. Here are some of the following brands of SHS International (this is not the full list but the highlights)
Morgan Monroe Bluegrass Instruments
Eddy Finn Ukulele Company
Indiana Guitar Company
Indy Custom Guitars
ModTone Guitar Effects
Bean Blossom Instruments
Tune Tech Tuners
SHS Audio
Devlin Guitars
College Guitar Company
Sundown Amplifiers
I worked as a media producer for the company for close to 30 years and my fingerprints were on most everything from every brand. I wore many many different hats and guitar design was a tiny part of it. Fun but it wasn’t the bulk of what I did. That’s a whole other story. Suffice to say, anything you saw from any of those brands, I had a major role in bringing to life.
In addition I’ve played professionally for a long long time. I’m a writer, singer and I play a lot of different instruments. Guitar is one part of it but probably the biggest part as I am a lifelong collector and nerd. The collection is out of hand but I simply can’t help myself. I still have my first guitar. I never get rid of anything! You can hear and see my work on YouTube. Oh…one other thing…if you ever see Indy Custom Relic guitars, that was me. A one man side business I started where I produced over 400 hand relic’ed guitars. In that time I still played all the time, traveled and played all over.
Ⓐ⑬: Do they have a website?
JB:Not any more.
Ⓐ⑬: Do you have a website you’d like me to link to?
Ⓐ⑬: How did you come to be a guitar designer? Have you designed any other guitars?
JB:I’ve been collecting guitars for over 40 years. It was natural that my need to build and tinker with stuff would spill over into my professional day gig.
Yes, I designed many guitars and would then send my renderings to the factory for prototypes and then on to a bigger run of them. When I say “designed” I in no way want to make it seem that I am some schooled luthier or anything of the sort. I just came up with designs and through trial and error, we would arrive at something unique but I wasn’t in a workshop running a saw!
Ⓐ⑬: How was the Indy Custom label to be different?
JB:By trying to get the best things we all liked about particular models into an affordable recreation that was a Big Bang for the buck. There were some really cool models that came out. I can’t say exactly how many but there were lots of designs over the life of that line.
Ⓐ⑬: I know you were in part inspired by the Zakk Wylde guitars with an SG top & a V bottom… did anything else go into it?
JB:Yes, comedy. It just made me laugh. Another thing that REALLY inspired it were people around the company who were genuinely disgusted by it. That made me want to get them produced even more. Yes, it was stupid, yes it was hideous but I knew it could get a lot of attention for the rest of the line. The powers that be couldn’t see the value in that but here we are all these years later still talking about it. ZERO advertising dollars spent. I wasn’t wrong!
Ⓐ⑬: Was it a hard sell getting in into production? (Convincing everyone else at the company/factory to go with it?)
JB:Some understood. Some did not. The ones that didn’t inspired me to push that much harder. The point was, good or bad…it was getting a major reaction. The only bad press is no press.
Ⓐ⑬: Where was it manufactured?
JB:These were all manufactured in China once final prototypes were approved.
Ⓐ⑬: Were there any issues with manufacturing? (Seems like a big body to be on a manufacturing line.)
JB:There are always issues in manufacturing especially trying to do it from thousands of miles away. Visiting the factories can keep quality control in check but ultimately once production starts things can go wrong. Not always, but that potential is there. Overall, there were no problems in the Flycaster. Even my Chinese contact remarked that the guys on the factory floor thought it was “a weird guitar” which meant even a cultural and language barrier cannot deny that The Flycaster is globally offensive!
Ⓐ⑬: Why “FlyCaster?” Everyone who sees it calls it a TV or a Tele-V. Ha ha. Was that by design?
JB:Because it needed a name, an identity. Plus it had some weird fishing connection so…
Ⓐ⑬: Why 100? Why not 200 or 50? Were they all sold?
JB:The idea was that we would only do limited runs of guitars for the Indy Custom line which we did on other models besides The Flycaster. I think they may have even commissioned a second small batch to fill an order. The dealers that understood the value liked them and they helped bring attention to the other models. Limiting them to 100 kept it fresh and helped if a particular model completely tanked. That way you aren’t stuck with so many. If it’s a hit? Make more! Yes, they were all sold.
Ⓐ⑬: I love mine. I love that it just seems to enrage purists, and it just “outs” so many people as not having any sense of humor or whimsy. Was any if this in your original intent?
JB:This was absolutely the intent from the beginning. I love music, I love comedy and this thing was both. It was just so incredibly stupid that one has to laugh or at least, I did! The ones that were truly offended because they had such a death grip on tradition well, as previously stated, that just fueled my fire!
Ⓐ⑬: Why are so many guitarists stuck in traditional designs and setups, when rock n’ roll at its core is about rebellion?
JB:Because they are either afraid or don’t have the slightest concept of being original. They are too worried what other people think.
Image Provided by Jimmie Bruhn, from his digital book.
Ⓐ⑬: I know one burst prototype exists. Do you ever play it?
JB:I play it occasionally but I see it every day as its hanging on the wall of my studio.
Ⓐ⑬: Did you ever have any other color schemes in mind? I would love one with an antigua finish!
JB: I wanted it to get to that point but those in control saw otherwise.
Ⓐ⑬: Do you have a guitar collection? What are your non-FlyCaster favorites?
JB:Yes. I have a pretty big collection. It’s fairly insane. I have everything from top shelf vintage stuff to weird a wacky. Lots of stuff I built in the shop, some wonderful mutts and some serious collector stuff too. As I said, I never get rid of anything. I come from a musical family.
Ⓐ⑬: Have you seen any other weird guitars out there & thought “I wish I came up with that!”?
JB:All the time! That’s the great thing for me about the world of guitars, its constantly evolving. There are some absolutely great things being produced and it seems people aren’t so brand conscious as they used to be.
Ⓐ⑬: Anything else you would like to add?
JB: Just a thank you for taking the time to even ask me this stuff. It was an honor!
Did you see part one? I felt like posting all my guitars online simply for something else to look at, and I thought others might enjoy.
I still plan to blog about some of the more interesting ones. Hopefully you guys enjoy the content. Thanks for the likes on social media. I don’t think anyone else started to use the #AllMyAxes hashtag. Oh well. Ha ha.
Show me some of yours in the comments, tag me on social media, or use your own hashtag!
Since the world is a bit strange right now, I decided I wanted to see more guitars on social media. Maybe it’ll start a trend, maybe not.
I like classic guitars, I like modern guitars, I like classy guitars, I like ugly guitars. I like guitars. I like playing them. I like looking at them online. I like looking at them on my wall. I like looking at them in the store. I like hearing them. I like arguing about them on the internet. I also like other assorted stringed instruments.
Maybe this will make the world a little brighter. Maybe people will like these guitars. Maybe people will argue about these guitars. Maybe absolutely no one will notice. Who knows?
Below the collage, here are the ones I have posted so far via Instagram with the #AllMyAxes hashtag, minus today’s. The rest will be in the next post. This is the bulk of my guitar collection. The rest of the stuff in the house are my ukuleles and mandolin, the wife’s ukuleles, and the kids’ guitars and ukuleles.
There is a little bit written about each guitar if you click through to Instagram or follow me on Facebook. I hope to blog more in-depth about each of them, or more than I have in the past anyway… reaching out to some manufacturers and designers, especially for the most interesting ones.
I have posted lists before. Some, I have acquired. Some I still yearn for. These three keep popping up lately, and I have no viable reason to purchase another guitar and it saddens me.
All fit my criteria of sub-$500 axes, all well under. Usually I don’t go over $300. I like them weird, and I like the cheap. If I could monetize some weird guitar videos on YouTube, I could maybe buy more. Watch my videos!Share the link!
Sadly, that collage is not even up to date with all of the stringed instruments in the house. I should do another group photo. I even need to grab back a project axe off of a friend!
So, every once in a while, these gadgets pop up on Facebook guitar discussion groups. You get a lot of people poking fun, you get some support. I had to break it all down. It’s easy to hate, but some of these may ignite a spark and only be training wheels. Some of these may enable people with physical or mental disabilities to play some music. Who should be denied artistic creativity?
Guitar Chord Assistance / Learning Systems
Check out all the stats I could find & compile on the Chord Buddy, E-Z Chord, Ez-Fret, & WESOLO Guitar Learning System.
Check out all the details, embedded below:
Or, check out the full sheet here. I have websites, prices, lists of chords, and even videos where I could find them.
There is a wide variety of options. If you can fill in any of the blanks, that would be killer. If you know of any other similar systems, I could certainly add them.
I know I have been bad at blogging. Life got crazy busy as it does. I do hope to blog more, not sure if many people read it… but it is fun. Hopefully if you feel the need, you can keep up with me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
This morning I felt like playing the guitar. I didn’t feel like jamming in the basement by my work bench where all my stuff is set up. I didn’t bring up the Laney 2×12 or the Orange Micro Terror. I brought out the Fender Blues Jr. & a Yamaha MSR100 powered speaker so I could run my new DigiTech Trio into two different outputs.
The Trio was a birthday present from my wife. It was on backorder from Sweetwater for a while & we have been really busy so this was my first chance to try it out. I set it up like this…
It started out as a pile of stuff in the corner. Then I remembered that I had an old RCA-Victor TV cabinet in the garage purchased from our house’s previous owner that I thought about turning into an amp someday. The Blues Jr. fit where the TV went, and the Yamaha PA fit underneath where the speaker grille is.
Then I had a cabinet and I pile of pedals. So, I cut up a milk crate and made a goofy pedal board with a Donner power supply & some zip ties. The “board” fits inside the cabinet with the blues Jr. too. It was a morning long project but it felt good to get it done & know I can jam a lot more easily. It may be tricky if I just want to use the Trio & some headphones.
I do have a Dirt & Ernie pedal & an A/B/Y that I use to run the Jr. & Micro Terror at the same time. Maybe a board extension will eventually be in order? How cool would it be if the doors came off & were the pedalboard?
Oh well. Enough monkeying. Time to jam.
I will eventually have to give a serious(?) evaluation of the Trio. I do already know I want a looper now. Ha ha. It was pretty intuitive & loads of right out of the box. My 4 year old told me to turn it down right away, so it had to be cool. Right?
Monkeying with the DigiTech Trio:
I apologize for the “living room while the wife and kids are home” volume, and the Crocs.
My little dude seemed to like the idea. He has all the moves down. Maybe some day he will want to play too!
Do you have a living room, bedroom, or other small setup rig? Share some in the comments! Any thoughts on any of this equipment? Any tips for the Trio? You can comment below here at the blog with WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, or a Gravatar login.
Is there a word for the internet version of window-shopping? I certainly have enough guitars. I really dig my oddball collection. But, I’m always looking. I made a wishlist before, so I thought I’d update it. Of course, this list is subject to change by the minute, and like a rodent with shiny objects I can be easily distracted.
-🤘🎸🤘-
Traveler Guitar Travelcaster – It’s no secret that I dig weird guitars. This is pretty neat. I love the idea, even if ESP had it first. Supposedly, the ESP ones were only made & sold in Japan. The Traveler Travelcasters look pretty snazzy, and Traveler makes some other really cool stuff. I bet it really would be useful in a travel capacity, & provide some fun on stage. I see these ads constantly.
Bohemian Guitars Oil Can Guitar – Who doesn’t want one? It’s like a cigar box guitar cranked up to 11. They look like a ton of fun, and they’re not really all that expensive. These Boho axes are real attention grabbers. I also see these ads constantly. The reviews appear to be fanrastic.
A Millennium Falcon Guitar – There have been various builders to create this to varying degrees of success. I’d love to get my scruffy nerf-herding paws on one. I even blogged about it before (check the comments). You know I have an appreciation of weird guitars and of Star Wars, so this is a natural. Bonus if it includes lights and sounds!
Peavey T-60 – These Peaveys seem like a sort of underground or unspoken holy grail, especially if you get the amp in a case. The T-30 and T-15 look cool to, but I dig humbuckers. so 60 may be the way to go. Hell, a Peavey Mantis would kick some butt too.
Gibson Reverse Flying V – I mean, I already have a Dewey Decibel FlipOut, so why not continue the trend? This one will probably never happen unless I win the lottery. I like my guitars cheap, and this one is not cheap. Epiphone, how about a limited run here? The hate for it online alone drives my want for it.
Archer Flying Cheese Wedge– This thing is absolutely ridiculous. I love it. If I ever found a cheap one, I would pounce. I mean, CHEESE. Who doesn’t like cheese (besides the lactose intolerant)? I think it has something to do with Wisconsin sportsball. I just like cheese. A lot.
Hello Kitty Squier Stratocaster – This is another gem sought after by a bunch of weirdos. The quality is the stuff of legend if you can snag it for the right price. They were cheap for a bit until someone let out the secret they they’re no joke.
Esteban Midnight Legacy Electric Guitar – These were going for $75-ish online for a bit, then they jumped up. Strat pickup configuration on a Les Paul shape? All black? “E” shaped headstock? Sign me up!
Gianni SG/Tele-style doubleneck – As with Bigfoot, some people refuse to believe that these even exist. The cries of “fake” and “photoshopped” abound with this type of axe online. It is ridiculous. Really, I don’t have a double-neck. I need one, right? I do have a 12 string… so a 6/12 would be boring. I would love to get one of these and make one neck a baritone or Bass VI scale. I mean, this is cool too if we’re getting really weird.
One of those goofy Zakk Wylde guitars – Any of the trifecta of insanity will do. The Gibson ZV, the Dean Split Tail, and the Wylde Audio Warhammer are all sort of the same shape. I don’t know the story behind the jumps from manufacturers, and I don’t really care. They are so metal, it hurts. I play so poorly for metal, it hurts. So, it’s a natural fit of pain. Right? Right? This may have trumped my old longing for a Transparent Green Lucite BC Rich.
Xaviere RTS_550SCE_BK Dreadnaught – This is all cosmetic. I just really dig the look. Plus, I really dig Guitar Fetish. I might even sell the 12-string to get this. Maybe? Anyone heard anything about the quality? I really like the look and sort of want to jump before they’re gone. I mean, if I sell the 12-string… that opens up my double-neck options. Right?
-🤘🎸🤘-
What’ on your list? Gimme something awesome in the comments, bonus points for sub-$300-ish. What haven’t I heard of yet? What am I forgetting? What need to I need to meet or gap do I need to fill? What is your holy grail guitar? Post some photo or links too!
Narrator: “Up next on Guitar Hoarders; Jim, 48, a self-professed ‘Blues Lawyer’ from Oaklahoma is going through a divorce due to his recent failure to remove 27 partscasters from his bathroom, leaving his soon-to-be-ex-wife to do her business in the rose bushes out back.”
Narrator: “Jim’s wife, Tonya, thought the rented apartment two towns over was for another woman, but it was way worse than she could have imagined. It was full of Chibsons and falsely advertised ‘Lawsuit Era’ LP copies that were actually nothing of the sort.”
Tonya: “I wish his browser history had said PornHub or RedTube, but no… it was all Reverb, eBay, ShopGoodwill, Craigslist, and the lowest of the low… local & national guitar forums on Facebook!
Don’t even get me started on LetGo and OfferUp. I wish I had found Tinder or even Grinder. That, I could deal with.”
Narrator: “Tonya did at least see a bright side to all of the madness.”
Tonya: “I mean, I guess at least it wasn’t Reddit.”
Jim: “I guess I don’t need that many guitars. I mean, I don’t get to play as often as I like. Most of my time is spent online explaining to n00bz how tone wood makes a huge difference, why I think Gibson is overrated and how they have gone downhill, the best types of wood for a fretboard, you know… the important stuff. There are some real idiots out there. How can you have fun if you’re not getting the best possible tone from your fingers?”
Narrator: “Jim is seemingly unaware that he has a problem.”
Jim: “GAS? No, never heard of it. Wait, is that the psychobilly jam-band that plays every open stage night at Free Beer Tomorrow over in Tulsa? No?
Anyway, did you know that Slash’s Les Paul that he used on Appetite for Destructionwasn’t even a Gibson? And now they endorse him? I mean. If you don’t know that, you shouldn’t even be allowed to play Guitar Hero.”
Tonya: “I’m currently living with my sister. Her husband plays the bass, so he can’t afford to have a hoarding problem.”
Jim: “That guy? He doesn’t even know the difference between active and passive pickups. Heh.”
Narrator: “At this time, Jim refuses counseling. He thinks they can work it out.”
Jim: “I was teaching her how to play, but Mel Bay is so dumb. We re-started with a ‘Top 50 riffs of all time’article form an old guitar magazine out of my pile. I mean, there are only 8 notes, right? Or is it 12?
I was trying to tell these guys at the county fair that they were playing the riff for ‘Lay Down Sally’ wrong, but you just can’t tell some people things. I have a tabographic memory. That’s where you can instantly remember every guitar tab that you have ever seen.”
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TLC, I have another TV show for you. This is a comment from a guitar group gone awry because I amuse myself way too much. Who wants to do a YouTube sketch comedy show for a very specific audience?
Acoustic Explorer – 
One of those goofy Zakk Wylde guitars – Any of the trifecta of insanity will do. The 
World (and Lunar) Domination 