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HEY! WANT TO TAKE A QUICK PEEP THROUGH THE WINDOW INTO THE WORKSHOP? OK, HOP ON MY SHOULDERS BUT BE QUICK AND DON'T GET SPOTTED!
Joe Doe Folsom acoustic
Following a 1968 concert played by Johnny Cash in the penitentiary canteen, Folsom inmates decided to make an acoustic guitar for themselves and sing their way to redemption. However the good intentions didn't last as the guitar quickly became a method for hiding and smuggling contraband from inmate to inmate. The Folsom acoustic was confiscated indefinitely by Warden Leroy Buckner in 1978 and is now in the process of being restored and rebuilt having been pulled apart and searched several times.
Joe Doe Atomika prototype
Not much information available on this guitar yet, though it seems to have been a prototype made in 1973 by Pepper Joys Inc, a Dallas toy manufacturer. The company was behind several successful board games such as Yaps! and Stick It To Daddy but following a class action for burn injuries caused by the BubbleGun Toy in 1971, the company tried to reposition itself by moving into the supposedly safer and less litigious musical instrument market. It didn't work out as state files tell us Pepper Joys Inc filed for bankruptcy in 1974. More news as it comes in.
Joe Doe F**K YEAH pair
An exciting find! All I can say is this punk guitar and bass pair were bought from an auction of lost property and unclaimed evidence held by the NYPD last December. Each instrument came with an 'evidence' tag so I have been in contact with City Hall archives to find out more details of the criminal case they were part of. Watch this space!
Custom made electric guitars with stories built in
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