Stratocaster that he thought may have been a variation of Fiesta Red. It looked more like a variation of Dakota Red. The guitar was near mint with strap, cord, and all the case candy. It was on consignment and the owner had not yet made a decision to sell it. He had brought it to show me and K. C. Waite from Pioneer Music. I think the guitar blew my mind because I had kinda forgot about it until I wandered outside for fresh air a week later. I immediately called Bill Richardson at Gryphon Stringed Instruments in
Palo Alto where he was working at the time. I told him I could not live without the Stratocaster. The price he quoted me was $ 5,000 less than the Burgundy Mist Strat. On my way home I had a layover in San Jose. Bill and the owner of Gryphon, Richard Johnson, agreed to meet me at the airport and do the deal, but I had them ship the guitar to me.
The guitar showed up on a Friday and I called my friend Bob Jeniker to tell him about my find.
We were like little kids, showing each other our new toys. Bob showed up at 10am the next day and his mind was also blown. At that point, he began throwing numbers at me. I tried to stress to him, I hadn’ t even had it for 24 hours and that I thought this one was a keeper. He then made a very serious offer. I have grown to understand that if you turn down a number that is many times what you paid in opportunity costs, you have paid that amount. Needless to say, we had a deal. At that moment, one of us, I don’ t remember who, decided to remove the tremolo cover plate to search for a date. In doing so, we exposed the truth. Written in pencil, on the white primer coat, then taped over, shot red and then removed, were the words and paint number“ Roman Red T-412”. A“ custom” custom color! Yeah, of course I had a little remorse, but I was happy with the price and happy it was going to a good home.
Unfortunely, Bob lost his battle with cancer shortly after this. R. I. P Bob. But before he left, he passed it on to a mutual friend, and now I have it back again. This is one that didn’ t get away twice.
Nov � Dec 2016 CollectibleGuitar. com
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