A whole new meaning to the term 'electric' guitar..

araT · July 10th, 2009, 10:28 AM

I submit for your shock/horror/amusement a Les Paul struck by lightning..

http://cgi.ebay.com/GIBSON-LES-PAUL-...28146004r23915

The guy left it in his music room, in its case & went out.. while he was out a huge storm rolled through.. lightning hit the tree outside his music room, jumped to the house & somehow to his guitar.. this is what's left... the strings were vaporised, what's left is still attached to the frets.

I think this thing should go in a museum somewhere, how much more rock n' roll can you get!?!

Scott · July 10th, 2009, 10:34 AM

Wiggy...

Sarah93003 · July 10th, 2009, 10:54 AM

Wow what a freaky story! I wonder if it belonged to that guy in Benjamin Button?

ishtar · July 10th, 2009, 11:00 AM

Went for over $1200.. Maybe if I borrowed my friend's arc welder, I could.....

Sarah93003 · July 10th, 2009, 11:11 AM

Yeah, I know!

Synchro · July 10th, 2009, 11:20 AM

That's amazing!!

Big Jim · July 10th, 2009, 11:20 AM

We were playing at a friends house back in the 50's and a storm came up . my buddy was playing a steel guitar lightning struck and knocked the steel bar out of his hand. we quit playing right then. when it clouds up now I don't pick.

Jukebox · July 10th, 2009, 12:35 PM

WOW!! I wonder if it would of hurt,if he was playing it?

BigJimSlade · July 10th, 2009, 12:39 PM

They say Ben Franklin was playing one of those when he discovered electricity...

mugsy · July 10th, 2009, 12:56 PM

That is too weird!

Squeaker · July 10th, 2009, 03:38 PM

Didn't Ace Frehley used to get similar results onstage with KISS back in the 70s?

dafreeze · July 10th, 2009, 07:54 PM

almost unbelievable...the listing is a good read and the pics are a trip

wonder if his homeowners/or renters insurance covered it

dan P · July 10th, 2009, 08:16 PM

If he was playing her you could say he's got smokin fingers....!

araT · July 10th, 2009, 10:47 PM

yeah, it's pretty bloody crazy isnt it! - I think if he would have been playing it he might have been OK as long as it was unplugged & he had rubber soled shoes on, if he was barefoot or plugged in he'd be as fried as the guitar!

The photos on his listing are pretty intense though! must have been a strong storm!

roadjunkie · July 10th, 2009, 10:49 PM

That's bad mojo by me. That pond where those pics of my dog were taken. Well as a kid we were swimming one day when a quick storm blew in. We all ran up the hill into my friend's house into their unfinished basement. Lightning hit the swing in the backyard bouced up into the room hit the guys uncles foot then caught my left arm threw me across the room and into the wall. You don't want to see me during a bad storm. I'm not as bad as I used to be but I can still get bad.

dafreeze · July 11th, 2009, 12:04 AM

Holy Shhhmokes Rj........I've never known anyone struck before. Were you seriously injured? Lasting effects?

Came very close to getting hit once.

I was flippin' for stockers in a trout pond ~15 years ago with my Godson and his Sister in the Rockies when a fast moving cell snuck up behind us. Suddenly felt a either a stepped leader that didn't connect or simply the sudden difference in potential of an impending bolt...could literally feel it...immense static.

Dropped our rods and started to scrunch down when a bolt struck a small pine behind us ~ 30 yards up the hill. Deafening and at first I thought we had been hit.

~ 10 years ago a jogger got struck and killed by a bolt a half mile from where I was working. He was with his girlfriend and was a little ways ahead of her when 'blammo'. Paper said she'd tried to convince him to knock off and seek shelter just a few minutes before.

roadjunkie · July 11th, 2009, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dafreeze

Holy Shhhmokes Rj........I've never known anyone struck before. Were you seriously injured? Lasting effects?

Came very close to getting hit once.

I was flippin' for stockers in a trout pond ~15 years ago with my Godson and his Sister in the Rockies when a fast moving cell snuck up behind us. Suddenly felt a either a stepped leader that didn't connect or simply the sudden difference in potential of an impending bolt...could literally feel it...immense static.

Dropped our rods and started to scrunch down when a bolt struck a small pine behind us ~ 30 yards up the hill. Deafening and at first I thought we had been hit.

~ 10 years ago a jogger got struck and killed by a bolt a half mile from where I was working. He was with his girlfriend and was a little ways ahead of her when 'blammo'. Paper said she'd tried to convince him to knock off and seek shelter just a few minutes before.

If anything it explains a lot about me then again my parents left me in the desert when I was two! We were moving back east from Washington and Oregon. They left me at a gas station. They got several miles down the road before they figuired it out. I held that one over their heads ever since I found out about it!

bandstuff8385 · July 11th, 2009, 01:14 AM

Hey Tara!

Looks like an easy way to "relic" a guitar.

1: Wait for T-storm
2: Climb on barn roof
3: Play "Stairway to Heaven"

dafreeze · July 11th, 2009, 01:19 AM

small world...left my little Brother in a cemetary once

the Family Reunion every Memorial Weekend in Kansas that keeps me from Northwoods...

~ 38 years ago the whole multiple car parade of our family left the cemetary to head back to our rented hall. As we all re-gathered, someone asked where my little brother was. He was 4.

Raced back to the cemetary and there he was, little good lookin toe headed kid with the biggest grin you can imagine started clapping as he recognized the vehicles...time or two later in life my Father regretted going back

araT · July 11th, 2009, 02:45 AM

I was nearly hit by lightning at boarding school.. similar story to yours Dave, I was walking over to the flag pole to raise the flags one morning, I couldn't have been more than 2 metres (5 feet or so) away, and I felt the static in the air like you.. my hair was starting to stand up on end.. I made a mad dash away from the flagpole, hit the ground, and looked over my shoulder just in time to see the bright pink/purple flash.. I was deaf for about 10 mins with heavy ringing in my ears, but I didn't get shocked at all.. it hit the pole.

Oddly enough I still LOVE severe weather, and will sit & watch a storm for hours.. but I'm always inside

dafreeze · July 11th, 2009, 03:39 AM

we dodged lightening...pretty cool...considering the alternative

Love, love love storms too and miss them terribly. My Son wants to be a meteoroligist because I instilled this love (as well as respect) for them in him too. Very rare here in the Coulees...can't say that about Kansas and Nebraska

araT · July 11th, 2009, 04:34 AM

Very cool

I hope he doesn't want to be a tornado chaser, or if he does, one of the "tour group" ones and not one of the ones trying to lay probes in the twisters paths..

dafreeze · July 11th, 2009, 04:55 AM

he want's to chase for research....many times he and I, from the time he was very little, would jump in my truck and run after them once they'd pass.

I used to hold him in my arms at the sliding door when he was a baby and ohhh and ahhh at them (his cousin's swishy and would dive under the bed and cry...no kidding)

Bad thing about all this is one of the best schools in the country for this is in Norman, OK. We're Huskers. I know you can't relate but...any college football fan will know what I'm talking about.

Synchro · July 11th, 2009, 10:13 AM

I love thinderstorms. We had lots of them when I was growing up in southern Minnesota. Now, living near Tucson I get to see some dandies. During the monsoon season we get some world class storms and it so happens that we are at the height of monsoon season right now.

Last night I got home as quickly as possible after work hoping to squeeze in a 9 mile bike ride before supper. I could see storms off to the east so I decided to keep it closer to home. I was about a mile from the house when I could sense that the storm was about to hit so I turned around and boogied for home. That ride back was hairy as heck with cloud-to-cloud lightning right above me. I made it into the house just as the rain started in earnest and within a couple of minutes it was falling at a 45 degreee angle. It rained heavily for nearly half an hour and the street in front of my house was flowing like a muddy river. A few minutes after that it stopped and within minutes the roads were (mostly) dry and the only reminders of the storm was sand on the roads. Riding that mile back to the house was a bit scary, fortunately I had a tail-wind.

araT · July 11th, 2009, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dafreeze

he want's to chase for research....many times he and I, from the time he was very little, would jump in my truck and run after them once they'd pass. I used to hold him in my arms at the sliding door when he was a baby and ohhh and ahhh at them

You'll have to convince him to take me for a chase one summer once I've moved to Toronto!! I've always wanted to go on one but I don't want to get stuck with one of the "tour groups" and I don't trust myself enough not to get into trouble, but it's been a dream to go on one since I was little - I've been fascinated with severe weather (particularly tornadoes) since I was a kid..

dafreeze · July 11th, 2009, 08:22 PM

No problem Tara, I've got a little influence still.

Big Schwew there, Mark. Have a dear friend and his family in Phoenix. Been out a handful of times. We always spend at least a few days fishing and camping on the rim (usually Lake Chevlon).

I found the view of distant storm cells on the desert floor, or looking down on them coming from , ie Flaggstaff, is simply phenominal. Can't see that far from where I'm from.

fretbuzzard · July 11th, 2009, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synchro

Last night I got home as quickly as possible after work hoping to squeeze in a 9 mile bike ride before supper. I could see storms off to the east so I decided to keep it closer to home. I was about a mile from the house when I could sense that the storm was about to hit so I turned around and boogied for home. That ride back was hairy as heck with cloud-to-cloud lightning right above me. I made it into the house just as the rain started in earnest and within a couple of minutes it was falling at a 45 degreee angle. It rained heavily for nearly half an hour and the street in front of my house was flowing like a muddy river. A few minutes after that it stopped and within minutes the roads were (mostly) dry and the only reminders of the storm was sand on the roads. Riding that mile back to the house was a bit scary, fortunately I had a tail-wind.

Wow, this is weird! I was riding my bike home from work last night here in Minneapolis when it got really dark, really quick. Big fat raindrops start falling and in the distance I see a few lightning bolts. I dropped the hammer and made record time! The funny thing was, by the time I got home, not five miles away, there wasn't a drop of rain on the ground. I asked my wife what she thought of the storm and she said "What storm?"

In any case, if there's somewhere I don't want to be in a thunderstorm, it's holding an electric guitar or straddling a steel bike frame!

dafreeze · July 11th, 2009, 09:01 PM

or on the water, under a tree, open area, (especially if it's higher than it's surroundings)...

Hot Rod Michelle · July 11th, 2009, 09:06 PM

Be neat to put that thing back together, just to see how it plays; i.e. if it improved the sound any.

dafreeze · July 11th, 2009, 09:15 PM

wonder if the truss rods OK. them lightening bolts can carry an amp or two

fretbuzzard · July 11th, 2009, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dafreeze

or on the water, under a tree, open area, (especially if it's higher than it's surroundings)...

...or golfing, or pole vaulting, or fencing outsite...

Synchro · July 11th, 2009, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fretbuzzard

Wow, this is weird! I was riding my bike home from work last night here in Minneapolis when it got really dark, really quick. Big fat raindrops start falling and in the distance I see a few lightning bolts. I dropped the hammer and made record time! The funny thing was, by the time I got home, not five miles away, there wasn't a drop of rain on the ground. I asked my wife what she thought of the storm and she said "What storm?"

This morning I found out that the same storm had pulled my microwave dish from its mounting. It was laying flat on the roof, pointing upward. It durn-near yanked the trim off of my house when it happened, as it was is tore up a fascia pretty good. I had noticed that my Internet service wasn't working and I figured that it got knocked out at the tower (it's happened before during monsoons) but in this case it was at my end.

One of these days I need to find a used ham radio tower to put up and then I'll put the micro-dish directly on that.