Other guitars big and small

Thunderface

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Here are some of my other guitars that I thought might elicit some kind of reaction. On top is a '95 Erlewine Chiquita travel guitar. In the middle is a '09 Michael Kelly Hourglass Limited with a spalted maple top and matching headstock, and on the bottom is a mid-80s Hondo Chiquita travel guitar. The Chiquita is most well known as the guitar Michael J. Fox uses to blow up Doc Brown's huge amplifier at the beginning of "Back To the Future."

A little more history on the Chiquitas. Mark Erlewine, who developed the guitar with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, licensed the Chiquita to Hondo for about five years, roughly from 1980-85, and when the license expired Erlewine Guitars in Austin started making them again, which they still do to this day. The bodies are made and finished in Korea then shipped to Erlewine Guitars for assembly. Also, Erlewine never offered a two-pickup version like Hondo did.

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Dr. Spivey

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Wow, that Kelly is gorgeous!

Erlewine makes some interesting stuff. Johnny Winter sure gets good sounds out of his Lazer. 8)
 

Thunderface

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I kind of stumbled onto it by accident. I have long been enamoured with the single-cut Michael Kelly Patriot Custom and discovered this one by accident. I made an "I'll never get it" lower-ball offer that was accepted, and I'm glad I did. The body is a little thinner than my Epiphone Les Paul Standard but the weight is comparable, and it has push-pull coil tap volume and tone knobs.

The Chiquitas are fun to play around with. To compensate for their 19-inch scale length, you have to string them with 13-gauge strings and tune them up three half-steps E to G. Do that and they sound like full-sized guitars.
 
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