joker on reverb

[edwardofhuncote]

Thanks for posting-in with the extra info Harry and Brian, every little piece helps. Alan Thompson seems as good a suspect/guess as any. (Yep, that sounds like a classic RT answer... ) Thompson was mentioned in another recent thread as a candidate for having built a mystery guitar Stephen Stills is pictured playing. Like the "Joker" here, it has all the hallmarks of the early 70's NorCal School. http://club.alembicguitars.com/index.php?topic=25835.0

There is just something about this one though... the Omega-cut, the symmetrical horns, the extra backstraps on the headstock behind the scarf, the high-relief carve of the top. Somebody went to a lot of care building this guitar, and I can't help but think it was either a commissioned job, or a built-for-personal-use. Maybe we'll find out one day.

*FWIW, and not that I care, but the 'Suspended Listing' has been lifted, the guitar is back up. The ad has been edited, and now says something about raising money for charities. Also includes a quote from Doug Irwin claiming- "I like this guitar." (Yeah, I like it too, but unless Irwin liked it because he built it, I don't think that helps his case much) Wow.

Dear Santa... there's this guitar I like... I don't know how your schedule looks for tonight, but, uhhh... I've been pretty good this year.

[edwardofhuncote]

I was reading really old threads this weekend, ran across this one: https://club.alembicguitars.com/index.php?topic=842.0


...and immediately thought about the mysterious The Joker guitar again. Did anyone ever ask Mark Johnson about it?

[edwardofhuncote]

I figured it was about time for this card to turn up again...

https://reverb.com/item/94794080

Do we finally learn the Joker's true lineage, or does he fade to obscurity for another season?


*FWIW, this sounds like an estate situation now.   

[lbpesq]

Mystery solved, it’s his!

Bill, tgo

[flavofive]

Mystery solved, it’s his!

Bill, tgo

Haha!

Yeah, I saw this updated listing for the "Joker" guitar too - I was surprised that the updated description now completely acknowledges the ludicrous original price, although the reason given for it is a bit sad.  At least the original owner's widow seems to have a sense of humor about it, and describes her late husband affectionately (but also "oddball" and "crazy man"  ), which is nice.  RIP to him, regardless.

$9k still seems optimistic, but they're accepting offers too, so who knows what it'll go for.  I kind of hope the current seller gets at least a decent price for it, given her situation, and it is a pretty awesome and unique guitar - I certainly wouldn't mind owning it!

[edwardofhuncote]

Here are a couple detail pics I saved from long-expired ads. Fascinating how the pickups are designed to be installed or removed from this modular plug. And the engraved tailpiece, Custom Made For John Cale. Evidently a different one. Or is it Cole? Only The Joker knows.

[David Houck]

Good question Greg; an "a" or an "o"?

[adriaan]

There are three clear "o" characters "Custom ... For John" and one clear "a" in "Made". To me it clearly spells "John Cole".

[David Houck]

Yes; thanks Adriaan!

[edwardofhuncote]

I don't know if ever noticed the spelling misinterpretaion before yesterday. I looked at the picture again before posting, and thought of it. Props to Adriaan for the presence of mind to spot the other 'o's. I concur; if the engraving is true, The Joker guitar was custom made for John Cole. Still the questions remain... made by whom, and who in the world is/was he?


So weird. No one could forget a guitar like that.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Well, according to Google there was a blues guitarist named John Cole in Rochester, NY, who died of the Plague March of '20, age 79.  But all online pix of him show him with a Strat or an ES-3xx-TD.

Peter

[flavofive]

Now I'm really curious too...

Since this couldn't have been a cheap guitar at the time, there has to be a decent chance that it was a fairly "established" guitarist.  So maybe Google would reveal any semi-famous John Coles who were guitar players around the time period this guitar was built?
Which is actually still a bit of a question in my mind - I know the overall style is early- to mid-70s, but is that computer-style multi-pin connector to the pickups a bit more modern?  Maybe 80s?  Maybe I'm wrong, and these were available even in the mid-70s.

In any case, I did some Google searching for any guitarists named John Cole that might have been active in the 70s or 80s, and found a few:
There was a British rock band called The Movies in the mid- to late-70s with lead guitarist named John Cole.  Not sure if he's still around; I can't find much info about this band.  Example photos:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/khiltscher/albums/72157624754576866/with/4904910655

Blues guitarist John Cole, passed away 2020.  Seems less likely as the Joker doesn't scream "blues" to me, but who knows:  https://hsnorton.com/tribute/details/2994

This guitarist John Cole was featured in a YouTube product demo by Monoprice, and sort of implied to be a "known" guitarist, but I can't find any more information about him.  MIGHT be old enough to have commissioned the Joker? 

Anyway, I searched for as many images of guitarists named John Cole from the 70s and 80s via Google Image search, hoping maybe a single image might show someone playing The Joker live, but unfortunately I didn't see anything.

The other possibility, of course, is that John Cole was just a private player who splurged on this custom guitar, and there is little to no information on the internet about him.