The Becvar was definitely very cool. The seller has had it out at his booth for the last 2 or 3 San Rafael shows. I picked up what was IMHO the most interesting and rarest instrument I saw. A prototype (?) custom Bond Electraglide made in 1983 and sold at auction at Christie's in 1993 (it came with the Christie's Auction Catalog!) Bond Electraglides were manufactured in Scotland in 1984-1985, during which approximately 1400 were built before the company went under. They were made of carbon fiber with active electronics that included a digital readout and rocker switches for pickups, polarity, volume, bass, and treble. They used a stereo cable into a power supply, similar to an Alembic series set up, and then a regular 1/4 mono to the amp. Perhaps the most unusual feature was a black anodized aluminum fingerboard that sported steps (kind of like overlapping roof shingles) rather than frets! The prototype I found at the show is marked #014 and, unlike the production model, is made of wood except for the shiny silver fingerboard with steps. The body shape is quite unusual and it has two humbuckers with coil splits (The production Electraglides had three single coils, ala a Strat). I'm out of town, but I'll take some pics and post later this week.
Bill, tgo
