"TrollCaster"

From James Fecteau, the creator of the killer "Eagle and Snake" Tele on the Saga Sagas page comes this awesome TrollCaster.  James explained that it was a regular Tele that he bought a new body for and carved.  The Troll reminds us of our time in Europe -- you see a lot of troll carvings in Germany.  Anyway, this Tele is awesome, and click on the photo to see if full size.

Gibson Q100

Ryan B of Tennessee wanted to know more about his Gibson Q4000  -- well, I have its cousin - a Q100.

The Q4000 headstock, neck and body horns/cutaways look exactly the same
as mine, as does the Kahler Flyer Trem and the Dirty Fingers humbucker,
the strap button positions, and the glued neck (not bolted, as he
suggests some later models were). Mine has no other pickups, though, and
just a single volume pot - the one nearest the humbucker.

The body of the Q4000 looks kind of longer than mine, but that may be
just the angle the photo was taken at.

The 'Q' designation rings true. I recall Tiger Music in Brighton telling
me it was a 'Q100', although I've never seen any literature. They said
only half a dozen or so had been imported into the UK.

The only other identifying marks are a gold 'Custom Shop Edition' decal
on the back of the headstock, and the embossed serial no. 81415531.

I'm pretty sure I bought it in 1989 or 1990 - a good four or five years
after the 1985 date cited for the Q4000. Mine cost me £300 I think
(didn't come with a case - I bought a third party hard case for it).
I've probably got the receipt somewhere!

It's a nice little guitar and in fact the action is much better than my
Explorer. I gigged with it a bit in the past (the band 'Explorers' in
Bedford, early 1990s!) .

Gary Masters
Leicestershire
UK

Gibson Q4000

We got this email in October 2006:

I have a Gibson Q something and I saw that your site had a red one.  My guitar is a Gibson q-4000/400 or one of those.  It's a custom shop guitar, made August 30, 1985

It looks like the one on your site (from Ryan B.) with the 2 single coils and a humbucker with 2 knobs and 2 switches.  Gibson won't get back to me about it for some reason, and I have not been able to find anything about it.  Thanks for your help, and please let other owners know that they may contact me concerning these guitars.

Andy
andy@3benoits.com

We're still learning, too.  Keep those emails coming in...we want to see all of those Qs!

Yngwie Doubleneck

Allegedly built by the Fender Custom Shop in 1990 for Mr. Malmsteen, this guitar is yet another ultimate shred machine.  This is a 6/12 guitar, and it appears that the 12 string neck is not scalloped.  Note the Yngwie signatures on the headstocks.

That's fine...we still think it is killer.  This would be a great project for a couple of Saga kits!  ROCK!

We love this guitar...it goes to 11!

Flat-top Les Paul Custom

Mr. Les Paul is the ultimate tinkerer, and his curiosity gave us some of the great inventions of the 20th Century!  This photo, which can be seen in its entirety on page 6 of Tony Bacon and Paul Day's Gibson Les Paul book (ISBN: 0-87930-289-5), has always tweaked our curiosity, and we are looking for your collective takes on it.

This photo was taken in Gibson's Kalamazoo, Michigan factory in 1955.  Mr. Les Paul (shown on the left, holding the guitar) and Mr. Ted McCarty (right), president of Gibson, are seen examining a new Gibson Les Paul guitar.  The guitar was reportedly a custom instrument made for Mr. Paul.  Mr. John Huis, Mr. Carty's assistant in charge of production, is seen in the background wearing a dark suit.

What is interesting about this Les Paul is that it has a flat top!  It is not carved like all of the other Les Paul Customs we've ever seen.  What happened to this guitar?  Has anyone seen it?  Let the search begin!