Holiday Hoser Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 As my first post on this forum I hope this meets the fan's approval. This tale starts at Normans Rare Guitars in Tarzana California. I had my eye on a super rare 1964 Hummingbird that had sat on the shelf for years but unfortunately it had been sanded down and a ****** black lacquer had been applied many years earlier. But I had my sites set on it and after making the trip 3 hours down from my home in Paso Robles I finally got my hands on it and the sound of this beat up beauty literally turned everyone's head in the crowded store. It is a cannon and sounds like no other acoustic I have ever heard. After a little horse trading of a 1986 Gibson Les Paul Custom and some cash back in my direction she was mine. Mark even used it for guitar of the day that afternoon!(link at the bottom of this post) Now granted the finish was less then could be desired but being a fan of Chris Stapleton's L0 I thought I could make a treat from this turd. The guitar is a 1964 with a L5 neck in rosewood that Norm assured me was one of the most rare ever produced (So much so a prime example was included in Norm's book) Ceramic adjustable bridge in rosewood as well. so I took hours scaping the poorly masked binding and polishing up the black finish. Still not content I used my heat gun to get it to a roasty 225 decrees and blasted it with a can of computer dusting spray to give it the checking I was looking for. Next I noticed in the sound hole the unmistakable orange of a Gibson label so I set out scaping with a pick to uncover the serial number. Nothing. So heated it up a little with the trusty heat gun. Again nothing so I got it really warm and scrapped with a flat chisel only to reveal someone had painted the whole guitar, save the back and sides, with a bright periwinkle blue house paint! I can only imagine this guitar in 1969 with a blue finish and and peace signs and crazy daisies painted on it strumming protest songs on Haight and Ashbury streets. I added a Seymour Duncan pickup for live gigs but the label missing still bugged me. I was able to get a copy sent from jolly old England and after soaking it in coffee and affixing it the dark interior my masterpiece was complete. Some tortoise shell buttons replaced the cracked up originals and will have to work until a set of originals can be found. Gentlemen I give you the rare Bird called Billy Blue. My "blondie" I traded. Cheers, Holiday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Haha Insanely good post It’s all how it sounds though . Look forward to sound clips if you can Good luck with the beast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Helooouuee, , , , what a story. Something very spezial 'bout a good sounding frankensteined guitar. They come close to the soul in a certain precious way. Let's hear the ebony creature soon. And welcome inside - you probably already know it's an experimentarium, , , and a GAS to be here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Very nice. Love the fretboard! Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 A friend of mine was joking the other day that if some of the guitars I own, one of which is a WWII period guitar and the only known surviving example of the model, had Martin or Gibson on the headstock I would be posting from my private, albeit small, yacht. And do it goes. It is great that you set your sites on something and followed through. While I have few rules when it comes to guitars and most anything will fly with me, I tend to avoid guitars that have been structurally altered unless it is so dirt cheap I can consider it a platform for alterations. But if you say it is a "cannon" which would be uncharacteristic of a Gibson maybe it was something that should have been done. Anyway a big congrats and play the heck out of the thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Great story...welcome to our forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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