Myron catches 40 winks on the way to Tampere

Checked out of the hotel in Helsinki day before yesterday, drove up to Tampere and played another show with Canned Heat in one of the most beautiful concert venues I have ever seen or heard.

Check this hall out

Myron sets the stage

While Canned Heat dined, we hit the stage… and here is our set list:

Hot Tuna 43, 2013
The Acoustic Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
And Barry Mitterhoff
Tampere Concert Hall
Tampere, Finland
Wednesday, October 30, 2013

1. True Religion
2. Hesitation Blues
3. Things That Might Have Been
4. Been So Long
5. Barbeque King
6. Children Of Zion
7. I See The Light
8. 99 year Blues
9. Uncle Sam Blues
10. Good Shepherd
11. Death Don’t Have No Mercy

Beautiful evening in Mid Finland. After our set, we drove to the airport outside of Helsinki and went to sleep for three hours then back to the airport and off to Heathrow.

Sunrise at Heathrow

The flight from Helsinki to Heathrow was uneventful… and Heathrow was, as always, very crowded. The flight was a non stop from London to an Francisco as an eleven hour non stop. Old airplane, crowded… seats big enough for an eight year old… good times. We made it though and so did all our luggage and guitars. Really good times.

My first stop after we checked into the hotel was the Mifune in Japan Town. Tanin Soba and pickled vegetables. Yummy…

The pagoda in the Peace Plaza... Japan Town, SF

A quick hello to the Pagoda after dinner and then to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Morning in Japan Town

After a yummy breakfast in the hotel, Barry and I took a walk around.

Hello Kitty in the Kintetsu Center

Yeah Buddy

Walking around… enjoying being back home in the States and doing our darnedest to beat the jet lag.

Good times… Onward!

OK… now that I’m back I’ve been opening the doors to the vault where Second Chances lives… and what have I come up with? A very rare Oahu Tolana Doubleneck Steel Guitar with a working Stringtone lever on both necks. This beautiful instrument is in 99% condition and includes the original case and legs. This beauty is not cheap, but it is worth every penny. Treats And Treasure, here we come!

I've only seen two of these, and this one is in the best condition!

It really doesn't get much better than this, conditionwise

Look a the bridge covers and Slington details

Pickup switch and volume and tone controls

Peg head and mother of toilet seat detail

Even the bottom is in fabulous condition

This beauty has two six string necks… the original legs and case… it is not a lap steel… it’s a table steel. You’ll never see another one in this condition!

The price on this beautiful rarity is $1800 including tax and shipping.

I’m on the road up in Maine right now so I’m not in a position to put up new pieces right now. I’ll take care of that next week. The good news for me is that all of the following items are sold… yes I said, sold!

Beautiful Gretsch Broadcaster... mother of toilet seat fretboard

The Tenor banjo went to a very good home as did the following:

One of a kind J-190... nice back

J-190 one of a kind front... nice.... very nice

The black J-190 went to a new home as well!

Yep, we’re moving product here…

Beautiful... with legs and wrap around pickup... good stuff!

This was with Jack and me for some time in the 90's

Well, I’ll be putting up some more stuff in a day or so.

Howdy Folks:

Second Chances rears it’s head again… This time with a fine Rickenbacker Three Legged Steel guitar. What a beauty this instrument is… and here’s the good news for me… I just sold it today before I got a chance to put it up. I thought I’d post a picture anyway:

Sold kids… sold!

Well… tomorrow is our Annual Pick ‘n’ Putt and of course we’re very excited about that. Yesterday me and the gang led by my pal, Jerry Bayha, put in a 200 mile ride. Tomorrow will not be as long… but it will be just as good. A little rainy at the Fur Peace Ranch today, but not bad. Tomorrow promises to be a little clearer… no matter, we’re riding anyway!

Shiny side up!

PS Don’t forget our Good Works raffle!

OK folks, here’s something old that’s new for the Second Chances site.

I remember when my bud Jack Casady asked me, ‘Is there really such a thing as ‘mother of toilet seat’ or did you make that up?’ I did not make it up. Toilet seats mostly don’t look like that any more, but they did once. Anyway, this Magnatone is from the early to mid 50’s I do believe. The tone is funky and fat.

Mother of toilet seat, AND chrome. Ah… 50’s aesthetics…

You can see where one of the knobs on the tuning pegs have turned to dust. I know some folks who are so anal, they would save the dust in a plastic bag. I am not one of these, I will, however, include the replacement knobs I got from Stewart-MacDonald’s in Athens, Ohio. They’ve got more gadgets there than Carter has little liver pills.

Here’s the matching Amp. Yeah, I know, it needs to be cleaned… That’s why it’s affordable. It needs love… you can supply that.

Here’s the nomenclature:

Magnatone #9067 Steel Guitar & Matching Amp in Green Mother Of Toilet Seat

This is is a fixer-upper… it’s going to need a little work. It was going to be a project for me twenty years ago when I got it and then life got in the way and it just sat there. I will include a set of replacement buttons for the tuners. That way, the original gears will remain intact. One of you guitar and amp lovers out there will have some big fun restoring this matched Steel and Amp. Considering that I’m paying for shipping and insurance, this is still a nice deal for this 50’s something vintage pair. Price: $495.00

Remember, proper provenance will be provided with every piece.

I think I’ll go out to the shop and browse through the stacks to see else I can come up with.

This Item has now been sold 9/12/11.

OK, even I’m excited about this. This will be my first Second Chances offering. It is one of my Gibson J-190 Super Fusion guitars.

When the good folks at the Acoustic Gibson Montana plant turned me on to this fine instrument in 2003, I thought then as I do now, ‘What a great idea!’ It served me well for a number of years giving a beautiful tone as well as the controllable volume needed for many of the gigs that I work. It is a truly beautiful, large body acoustic/electric guitar. You may wonder why I moved from the J-190’s to my J-35 and then to my Martin M-30 and the answer is the Fishman Aura, which is a discussion for another time. The Aura quite simply allowed me to ‘amplify’ an acoustic guitar without a magnetic pickup without losing it’s so called acoustic qualities. As noted, the Fusion has more of an electric sound… I could easily see it living forever in a jazz setting. I used it exclusively on the lengthy tours supporting my Blue Country Heart project. That was when I first started touring with Barry Mitterhoff, Sally Van Meter and Cindy Cashdollar. Heady times…

Let’s talk about the guitar more…

It’s aesthetics and appointments are truly outstanding.

Look at that fingerboard… look at the peg head… This truly harkens back to Gibson’s great big body guitars from the late 30’s through the 50’s.

Included in this offering is the Pegasus Airline Case seen here as well as the original hard shell case the guitar lived in when I got it from Gibson. If you need to fly with this beauty… it’s ready to travel safely.

Look at that back… look at that pink plush lining in the case. Yeah, I know… this is really geeky guitar stuff but it all tweaks me in a good way.

This is my first Treat posting and over time, I’m sure I’ll be refining the look and efficiency of the site. As I get into this more there will be offerings of all sort of stuff, not just instruments and gear. More will indeed, bed revealed! In the meantime, today’s offering is:

Gibson Super Fusion J-190 EC black Serial # 01231027 with original Gibson case from Bozeman. also included is a Pegasus Road Case. This guitar was on the road from 2002 to late 2004

$4775.00
Includes original Gibson hard shell case, a fiberglass Pegasus airline case as well as shipping and insurance.

If this is of interest to you, clicking the above link will take you directly to the Fur Peace Ranch Company Store. Oh yeah… not only would I be willing to autograph anythings that we offer here… there will be appropriate provenance provided!

Here’s me at the Sausalito Art Fair back around 2003 or four… thanks to Angela for this picture.

More will definitely be on the way as the river of time heads towards home.

Ok folks… I’ve been thinking about this for some time. Those of you who know me know what a pack rat I am. I am surrounded not only by a lifetime of my own minutiae but also that of my parents. I’ve been wallowing in these possessions for years… not unlike Scrooge McDuck diving in his money bin. In any case, I’ve decided that it is indeed time to thin the herd. Starting next week I will be posting things that I will be selling. Welcome to Second Chances, Pre-Loved Treats & Treasures from Jorma’s (that’s me) Personal Collection. A few ground rules… this is not an auction. I will want whatever I’m asking for each item. it will be first come, first served… all things in ‘as is’ condition. I will not be bargaining. I look at it this way. I already own the stuff and I’m not paying rent on it. If it goes, I’ll smile… if not, I’ll still be smiling. As items go up on the site there will be pictures. A click on the item will bring you directly to the Fur Peace Ranch Company Store. Prices will include shipping and insurance. I will be starting with musical instruments, but as time goes there will also be books and art and whatever else I can come up with. It is my plan to have this site go hot on Wednesday, August 31th, 2011. (Thanks Frank)

That’s about it… I’m looking forward to lightening my load and living a less encumbered life. In the meantime, here is a 1994 Gibson Nighthawk Custom that I played with Hot Tuna for a number of years. It was on a Homespun Video and was played at Woodstock II.

(This item has been sold)

More will be revealed!