Alrighty,

Let's see those FRANKEN STRATS that you have put together from parts

I offer up:

SHARTEK!

1. DiMarzio Body that I bought off Bill Connors during a lesson in 1984 (he had it hanging on the wall with Christmas lights wrapped around it). I think I paid $25 (Christmas lights not included)
2. A Taxi Cab Yellow custom order ESP neck that I got at 48th Street Custom Guitars for $20
3. A beat to crap Floyd that came off of one of Kirk Hammets touring ESPs (also from 48th Street Custom)
4. Three ESP PAFs (From a box of crap behind the counter at 48th street custom guitars)
5. Some Tuning pegs that I bought on the 57th RR subway station platform from a homeless guy
6. A pickguard that I created with a hot GINSU knife
7. Three Radio Shack Micro Pots
8. There is shipping tape covering the back electronics cavity that has been there since about 6 months after the guitar was finished
9. Neon Metalic Blue Neck Plate from FEBB MUSIC on Staten Island
10. Sunken Floyd Rose route was done with a hand held drill and a routing bit at 2am one weekday night
11. Sunken Floyd Rose route is colored in with a black wide tip Sharpie
12. White back tremolo cavity cover from a HONDO II Strat (I think)

This guitar has remained a work horse and almost totally unchanged since the 1987(???) time frame. I have played hundreds of gigs and recorded a lot of studio dates with it.

I love it to death...







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My wife reminded me that I should include the SHARTEK! story in this so I will


From the fall of 1983 through the spring of 1987 I lived on Staten Island.

I often had to take the Ferry into NYC for gigs, rehearsals, recordings etc. There were always a lot of Faux GANGSTAS wandering around the ferry terminal in Staten Island trying to stir up crap. So of course one night they decided that I was skinny blonde guy with a guitar and that they were going to give me crap, beat me up and take my guitar.

I had my checkerboard strat with me and there was no way that anyone was ever going to get that guitar off me but they surrounded me and this one guy decided that he was going after me...

He was all dressed in this stupid white jumpsuit with an oversized Baseball cap and this stupid pair of shutter shades. On the Hat and the pants in huge purple letters the word "SHARTEK!" was airbrushed on in Script letters. It was seriously gay even for 1985 or whatever...

So he starts roughing me up and something in me snapped... I said something like "You want the guitar??? I will give you the damn guitar" and then I started to swing the gig bag at him while holding onto the neck. I must of hit him about 4 times with that heavy Swamp Ash 1970's Fender guitar before he fell down to the ground in a fetal position...

He was yelling "damn yo... Stop... I was only playing... only playing... "

I must have looked insane about that point and just remember screaming obscenities at him and his friends.

So his one friend kicks him in the ass while he is on the ground and takes off his hat... Tosses the hat at me looks down at the dude on the ground then pointed at me and said "Yo... He's SHARTEK! now..."

So I ordered the neck a couple weeks later...