Sometimes I make questionable choices

May 28

LIke many guitar weirdos I am always on the hunt for something new, a good deal or a little bit of both. For me that means regular lurking on craigslist for any cool guitars, amps or other gear that might pop up. Over the years I’ve found some great stuff on there. A handful of used Orange amps for about 1/3rd the going rate. A Martin HD-28 in mint condition for under $1500. and many other odds and ends. Sometimes I flip them but usually I keep them or even rehab them back to life. There are still odd deals to be had if you really keep your eyes open. And as my confidence and ability has grown over the last few years as I have made guitars from scratch so has my willingness to take on bigger and bigger projects.

Recently I was doing my normal craiglist lurk and pushing past the overpriced nonsense when I found something truly unique…a 1958 Gretsch Country Gentleman. This was the first year of these signature Chet Atkins guitars and was an absolute beauty when fully functioning. However, this specimen was looking quite sad. Completely gutted with no electronics or hardware and a nasty headstock break to boot. I purchased it at what I feel was a very reasonable price and now I am formulating a grand plan as to how to make it functional yet again. It has a whole host of issues but I think it is do-able. The bigger question is….can I do it? Errrr….not so sure. This will definitely be pushing my skills to the outer limit (and beyond) but that is also what life is all about. Going out there, screwing up a little bit and learning. So come on this journey with me by watching this new video series I am launching to document all of this. Let’s get weird!

Blake Cantrell