Re: "The one that got away" stories
back around 1989, I passed on a Kramer Nightswan, instead opting for a Kramer Stagemaster. a couple of years later, the same store had a big holiday sale and moved a never-owned Aztec graphic Nightswan literally for a few hundred bucks... it was one of the first things sold and gone before I ever arrived.
thought I'd hunt down a Nightswan back around 1999.
one was an Aztec graphic that showed up shipped in a case without internal support and had cracks at the neck pocket. the volume knob had also came off and was banging around loose in there. it was sent back.
another was a Nightswan II from a California GC that arrived with no paint. turns out it played like a dream and I scored it for $350. should have kept it. but I was wanting a regular Nightswan... and one with paint.
then I found a black Nightswan in the NY area. Al Pitrelli's tech was selling it. or rather, a friend of the tech was selling it. it was a tour guitar and in player condition, but I was told Al was very particular about his neck and the frets were pristine and the fingerboard was perfect. so I waited. and waited. and waited some more. after about 3 weeks of emails and calls not being returned, I had no tracking # or confirmation of shipping. I seemed to get a response when I cancelled the transaction. haha! the dude claims he shipped it earlier that day. yeah, right. still, I refused it when it arrived and let the carrier take it back.
if you've been to look at JC Guitars, this might sound a little similar. as it was the same guitar that the same person ended up selling to
Justin. appears to be another one of those "roadie needing some money" stories. Al ended up accepting that he was ripped off and let Justin keep it. knowing there was an interesting story to go along with an artist's guitar always made me wish I'd have accepted the package and bought it anyway.
another interesting story that involves JC Guitars and a Nightswan. he has a
prototype of the guitar that became the Kramer Nightswan. it got a bit of attention a few months ago when Warmoth did a story on it
HERE. I'd known for a few years that warmoth made the parts for those prototypes. I was told that Kramer had bids from Warmoth and ESP to made the parts for the Nightswan model, and ESP had a more affordable offer... and they were already making so much more for Kramer at that time.
anyhoo... seems that there's a little controversy about that prototype in Justin's possession. it's been said that it was stolen prior to ending up in Justin's possession. one of the parties involved heard that I'd interacted with Justin before and asked me to try to mediate with Justin. meh, not my cup of tea. but when that Warmoth article came out, I did call Justin to discuss that guitar for the first time - just for my own curiosity. Justin claims to have a paper trail going back to a Rockin' Robin Guitars in TX, who I was told bought it when one of the parties involved brought it in for sale.