Ursula Andress in "Dr. No". a Major influence !

Me with my first solid body electric guitar. A Vox Clubman from England. Traded in My Kay archtop electric at Judkins Music in Garden Grove, Ca. 1965

Howard Daniel and me Labor Day weekend, 2019, Santa Rosa, Ca.

Dead Men Don't Surf, ( AKA The Dickless Deltones) Taste of Orange County, back in the last century. (6) blonde Fender Showman amps. You don't see that every day ! Me with Kerry Chester and Ron Eglit and Steve Aschoff from the Deltones.

Billy Zoom ( the band X) proudly displaying his Gretsch Custom Shop " Billy Zoom Silver Jet". built by Stephen Stern and his crew in Corona, Ca.

The Torquays at a gig about 20 years ago.. Me, Duff Paulsen, Armin Brown and Don Parra (R.I.P,)

Tom Dumont ( No Doubt band) and Me. 2018 (?). Bolsa Chica State Beach, Ca.

Clark Kearney ( Burlesque band) 1970s with a custom double neck I built him. One piece Honduran Mahogany body, (2) Fender necks and various pickups. It was HEAVY !

Howard Leese ( Heart, Bad co. ) and me at the release party/concert for Dick Dale's " The Tigers Loose record, recorded live at the Golden Bear with the Wally Heider remote studio/truck. Early 1980s. Howard is playing a custom Strat I built ( pre- Fender Custom Shop ) and I have my '64 Fender Candy Apple Red Precision Bass

Nice 1959 Gibson ES 335 in case.

Dick Dale ( with the "Beast), Me, and Howard Leese at the "Tigers Loose " record release party.

1950s Gibson L-7 factory Conversion to an ES 350 electric.

Speedy West Jr., me and John Bryant ( Jimmy's son) at NAMM 1980s. These two sons of famous country/jazz musicians hadn't seen each other since they were little kids !

A beautiful 1964 Inca Silver Fender Stratocaster I sold for the widow of the original owner.

a Dano re-issue U-2 I converted to electric Sitar. Made 3 of these as samles, but Danelectro (Evets) didn't produce ant electric sitars until over 20 years later

A Garnet "Herzog" tube preamp created by Gar Gilles for Randy Bachman of the Guess Who. Basically, the front- end section of a black face Fender Champ Amp, this was gifted to me by Randy Bachman back in the 1980s.

ANOTHER 1958 Gibson Korina Flying V ! Nearly 5% of the total production of these creatures have passed through my shop over the last 52 years.

The current Barn Shop shortly after moving here in April 2012. Old Town Orange, Ca.

A nice Premier ( New York ) "Bantam" model that I converted to a 2 pickup model for my longtime friend and bandmate, Michelle Mangione.

One of a kind Danelectro left handed 6 string bass electric sitar built for Jim Washburn and featured at Deke's Guitar Geek Fest years ago in a tribute to Vinnie Bell.

January 2024 Guitar Show Costa Mesa

guitar show january 2024 Costa Mesa

Kirk Fletcher's ES 345 stop tailpiece conversion

1960s Kay bass. The body shape was one of the inspirations for my Danelectro Hodad design

Mike Ness ' arsenal of guitars getting serviced for the Social Distortion Spring 2024 tour

the Anvil briefcase is a perfect foundation for a practical pedalboard. I built this one in the 1970s

Anvil briefcase pedalboard connections.

Anvil pedalboard with a couple of updated pedals, 2010.

My "stack" in 1972. a bushel of tweed Fender amps, a 1955 Strat and a 1958 P-Bass. Orange, Ca.

Firebird pickup conversion to Dave Hidalgo's ( Los Lobos) Fender.

Me with my first 1961 Gibson "dot neck" ES 335. Ca. 1973. This one had a nice flamey top, and that wide, flat '61 neck. $300 bucks in the neighborhood.

My friend C.O. "Doc" Kauffman with his invention, the Rickenbacher "Vibrola" guitar.

a few Ray Massie-built amps from my collection.

Barney Kessel's Supro lapsteel he used recording with the Wrecking Crew

a pair of rare Electro Harmonix pedals.

bass side neck binding I replaced on a nice 1960 Gibson ES 175

Nice 1960 Gibson ES 175 with ( believe it or not, ) the original P.A.F. humbuckers intact !

custom built "Soest" Koa top, ash body Tele-style

back of custom build

front of custom build

My 1960s Japanese made "Pearl" bass, with the biggest neck I've ever seen on an instrument ! But, boy, does it sound good !

Tasmanian Blackwood body. the owner standing in the spot where the tree it was harvested from once stood. The rest of the wood is now in Prescott, Arizona in the collection of a former Fender Custom Shop builder.

the road case for Barney Kessel's Gibson ES 350.

Barney's son David Kessel's little Marshall amp he used recording on Phil Spector's projects.

Italian made, 1960s " Galanti" guitar. Anyone out there have the original vibrato tailpiece for this ?

Rear view of a rare late 1960s Airline ( Valco) top of the line amp.

front view of the Airline amp. KILLER tone !!

rear view of Barney Kessel's "Roger " guitar he got in the early 1950s during a tour in Germany.

Barney Kessel's early 1950s"Roger" guitar from Germany.

a sign from Barney Kessel's Hollywood music from the 1960s.

my Billy Gruggett custom built Mosrite " Torquays" model guitar and Rosac Malibu amp. Both made in Bakersfield, Ca.

My Standel amp purchased from Ric Rillera of the Righteous Bros. and Dick Dale's Deltones.

a mess of Paul Barth built guitars ca. 1960s purchased from the barn storage of Woody and Lena's Captone Music back in the 1990s.

My buddy Larry Hanson with his "Trump " (Japan) guitar, purchased a few years ago at a local garage sale in Santa Ana, Ca.

a signed photo and engagement contract from Carl Perkins.

John Doe's ( the band X) 1961 Fender Jazz Bass in for setup work.

the back of a very rare, near mint, Gibson banner era ( world war II) LG-3. one of only a few known to exist.

the front of a rare, near mint Gibson banner logo LG-3

My wacky 1960s "Royal Artist " (Japan) bass. Looks goofy, sounds great. Strung up with 1960s era Hofner short scale flatwounds. a true pawnshop special !

Original 1958 Gibson Les Paul gold top in for service.

Original 1958 Gibson Flying V ( w/ '60s era case ) in for service.

Les Paul's personal go-to modified early 1950s Gibson Les Paul. this was sent to me by the auction house several years ago for authentication and assessment pre-auction.

My "Angelo" Strat copy. Interesting guitar, anyone ever seen another ? it's the best Strat style guitar I've ever owned, including a multitude of 1950s and 1960s examples.

the "Angelo" Strat. WTH ?

One of Billy Zoom's ( the band X) re-issue Gretsch custom shop Silver Jets. This one is un-reliced, and bears the serial number of his original main guitar.

this is a one-of-a-kind Danelectro electric mandolin prototype I built, but never went into production.

another favorite. My Orville by Gibson ES 335 built by Fuji-Gen in Japan. This series later morphed into the Epiphone Elitist series. Amazing guitar !

Guild and Takamine 12 strings. You can see that Guild might have been upset about the similarity of Takamine's headstock logo. Not surprising, the Takamine played and sounded better !

close up of Guild and Takamine 12 string bodies.

Rear view of Ray Massie's 20th Century Special, Made in Compton. Ca, ca. 1953. Basically a tweed Fender Pro amp with a 12" Jensen field coil speaker. Tone for days !!

Massie 20th Century Special amp with early model Soest -designed Danelectro Hodad in blue sparkle finish ( no, I didn't name it !)

Covid era Koa lapsteel build with vintage Harmony parts.

Covid era lapsteel build with vintage Harmony parts.

Rare Danelectro Nifty 100 amp with built in echo effect. One of 3 produced as samples, never in production.

Front view, Danelectro Nifty 100. Factory sample, never produced for retail sale.

Mike Palm's ( Agent Orange) modded 5 pickup Strat. A great conversation piece !

John Doe's ( the band X) early 1960s Fender Precision Bass. in the shop for electrical work.

Eddie Bertrand ( Eddie and the Showmen ) with his replica Silver sparkle burst Stratocaster. His original was long gone. so I built this for him to sell to the Hard Rock Cafe for display.

This Neil Boyle painting was created for a Fender catalog in 1966/1967 period. This hung in an office at the Fender Factory in Fullerton until CBS sold the company in 1985, A retired Fender executive sold it to me.

A nice Rickenbacker model 365 owned by Grammy winner Bobby Carlisle getting prepped here for a fret job.

A couple of mid-1960s Fender bass neck blanks showing how early in production the date stamps were applied !

Two cool Carvin doublenecks at a Long Beach. Ca. Guitar show.

Jack Johnson's Ukulele in the shop for a check up.

another original 1958 Korina Gibson Flying V in the shop for some fret and setup work.

Early, clean example of a blonde Fender Showman 12 ( smaller sound ring cabinet with a stock JBL D-120 12" speaker)

Early Korean factory sample Danelectro '56 U-2 (1997 ?) showing the truss rod access slot. The production models were not produced with this feature at my request. Hate me !!

George Tomsco's ( the Fireballs band ) Japanese re-issue white Fender Jazzmaster after I converted it to a gold anodized aluminum pickguard to more closely resemble his original 1958 guitar.

A pair of nice pre- WWII Martin 000-18s

MIke Palm ( Agent Orange) with his Fender Jaguar in the shop for some setup work. Notice his arm cast... sometimes skateboarding and guitar playing don't mix well.

Fred Burrel, one time Chitl'n circuit drummer, all time BBQ grillemaster !

Da Man !!

Three guitars I built for Steve Vai right before his David Lee Roth tour.

Work bench at the old location at 870 N. Main St, in Orange. The shop was there for close to 25 years prior to the move to "the barn shop ".

Namm show introducing the re-issue Danelectro '56 U2. ( 1998 ?)

The front counter at the old Main St. location

My biggest influence and friend, Nokie Edwards of the Ventures. The Torquays backed him on several tour stops in Southern California.

With my first guitar influence/ teacher, Larry Hanson. He's holding the guitar he played when I met him in the 7th grade. It had disappeared for decades, and I found it and got it back for him.

Me in the barn shop #1 out in the hills of east Orange, Ca, around 1974 with a Gibson Firebird VII that I had recently purchased at a little music studio in Las Vegas. Back then. I would scour the pawn shops, music stores and the trusty Nifty Nickel ad paper, filling up my 1972 Dodge van with cheap, cool gear while my family enjoyed the hotel pool.

My logo, designed by my brother in law, Gerard Huerta. He designed the AC/DC logo as well as countless iconic images from the 1970s through current times. Look him up. You'll be amazed at his body of work.

Brian Setzer and his wife ( at that time " Christine ) stopped by the Eckhoff shop location to buy some vintage DeArmond pickups and have one of his DeArmond Dynasonics rewound on Doc Kauffman's vintage coil winder. It's still here, and gets a lot of use. Thanks Doc !

Mike Palm ( Agent Orange ) with his Phanto-Caster that we built together.

Semie Moseley (Mosrite) holding my Ventures model prototype in the lobby of the Anaheim Marriott hotel during a NAMM trade show around 1991-92. He told me he hand made it in his kitchen at his home on Panama Lane in Bakersfield, Ca.