People have got to stop leaving guitars in the trunk. For the last few weeks, I've been given a lot of guitars to repair and when i pick them up i can feel heat radiating from the bodies. Few things make me more indignant. I promise.

Imagine my horror when holding a markedly warm Circa 1965 3/4 scale Fender Duo-Sonic II. Concieved as a Student model in the '50s, the Duo-sonic was redesigned in the mid '60s to closely resemble Fender's other short-scale "student model", the Mustang.

This beautiful 40+ year old guitar was so hot that i streaked my finger across the body and condensation covered it. Shocked, dismayed, heartbroken, and hungry all describe my demeanor. After i chided them for leaving the guitar in the car- all morning- I agreed to re-string only under the condition that they solemnly swear never to do it again. Gleefully, they accepted. Scouts honor and all of that.

I waited for the guitar to cool up to room temp, then deep-cleaned the body, pickguard and chrome control plate, all while waiting for the lemon oil i rubbed into the rosewood fingerboard to dry. "Ahh... you're thirsty", i cooed.

The restring was uneventful at best, but still a pleasure. It's not everyday that i find myself working on such a valuable and downright cool instrument. The pack, which consisted of a mother and two or three kids (i was distracted, obviously). The 15 year old, who was interested in learning to play the guitar, stood by as his mother gave me the history of this highly-prized piece:

"My husband died a few years back and this was his guitar. He bought it new, i don't know when, but he played this thing every day. He (the 15 year-old) always loved when his dad played, so he wants to learn."

Not only was i proud to do the work, but i was glad to show them some guitar amps as well. They needed one, badly. Now, the kid really likes bands like Ozzy and Disturbed, and i flat-out told him, "You're not going to be getting that sound out of this guitar." I told him that at some point, if he's really wanting that staccato metal sound, he's gonna have to look into another model of guitar. Then i made him make another promise:

"Just promise me that, no matter what, you're never going to sell this guitar."
"Okay."
"No, no, no. I'm totally serious. This is your pension plan."
"Ohhhhhhhh. Yeah. Okay!"
"Cool."

I played some amps, and the family made me feel right at home, letting me know that they saw the passion with which i play. I told them that music is one of the greatest material joys i have in life, which is totally true. The mother remarked, "That's obvious."

I set them up with a Line 6 amp, and although they aren't my favourites they're perfectly suited to someone just getting into things; If the player doesn't yet have 'that sound' in their head, these products can be great tools to get there.

Now, even with one of the switches on the fritz, (where does that phrase come from?!) the guitar is still worth around $1,500. And at the rate the prices of these guitars are climbing, they may actually overtake their more desirable brothers because of their rarity. I can only hope they keep their word!