This is my GS Mini in the hands of my good friend in Chattanooga, Holt Webb:
Now, the story behind his getting it:
Holt started a project a couple years ago called "Vanishing America" (
http://www.vanishingamerica.net/). He's an amazing photographer, and his idea was to drive around the country, for five years, photographing things which would be gone in the next couple of generations. A very generous individual in San Diego bought him a motorhome and a Land Rover, and paid for both of them to be converted to biofuel.
When he would come to San Diego, he would park his motorhome up near the zoo. I would drive over and take him out for sushi, then we'd go back to the motorhome and have a couple beers. Well, one night, I pulled his guitar out of its case. It was an older Washburn. The action was horrible, and the strings were so old I thought I'd need a tetanus shot after playing it. The case also took up a lot of room in the motorhome. So, I got his parent's address from him (he was still travelling then) and told him I was going to send him something. I sent him the guitar, with the ES Go installed.
I won't get into the specifics of how I acquired this guitar, but it's one of the GS Mini prototypes that was built in San Diego.
Sadly, the project costs about five grand a month to keep on the road, and he just wasn't able to sustain it. He manages a bar in Tennessee now, but wants to put the project back on the road one day. I know, if I ever hit the lottery, Holt's going to be back on the road for a long time, because I'll give him a great big pile of money...
