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Throughout the years luthiers have built guitars out of a lot of exotic materials, from paper mache acoustics to all-graphite headless wonders. While all of these instruments are absolutely cool, few have the magic of those shiny metal guitars with bird-like headstocks and gleaming ruby eye crafted of aluminum named Veleno. Veleno guitars are the essence of glam! And, as it turns out, quite rare. Designed by John Veleno around 1966 the first prototype didn't go down too well with players until 1970 when Veleno was introduced to some guys who made costumes for rock stars, and they suggested he could sell guitars by going backstage at sound checks. Veleno first went to a James Gang gig, where he sat backstage, polishing his guitar. And though he and the axe garnered the attention of the people who mattered, no sale came about as a result. Nonetheless, this became Veleno’s primary sales technique, and he next took his guitar to a Jorge Santana concert. Jorge saw it, loved it, and used it at the gig. After the show, Santana made suggestions for improvement, all of which were used in subsequent Veleno guitars. The prototype had a bird-shaped six-in-line head, which Santana didn’t like, so John changed it to the now-famous V shape. Still, though, Santana wasn’t buying. Veleno’s first sale came shortly thereafter, as he polished the guitar at a T-Rex sound check. Marc Bolen walked over and fell in love with the guitar. Before the night was over, he’d bought one for himself and one as a gift for Eric Clapton (who Veleno had never heard of!). And it was an old video on YouTube that I saw of Marc Bolen playing this guitar that made me fall in love with it! Hope you enjoy the little video, please subscribe as more coming! Thanks Kylie x
