Eddie Van Halen’s amazing guitars

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Joe MacFarland

Last year, legendary rock guitarist Edward “Eddie” Van Halen was named the eighth greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine, placing him in a top ten list that included such luminaries as Jimi Hendrix (#1), Jeff Beck (#5), and Pete Townshend (#10).  His unique sound, attention to tone (more on that later), and passion for playing are hallmarks of his live performances with the band Van Halen.  This year, Van Halen is touring, and Eddie is in fine form, delivering masterful riffs on such varied songs as “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love,” “Unchained,” and “Eruption.”

Critics have written a lot about how Eddie achieves his sound, but much of it has to do with the guitar that he plays.  Today’s remarkable listings allows fans to own a piece of Eddie Van Halen history, by bidding on one of four Eddie Van Halen signed EVH Art Series Guitar #204:

 

The listing description has more on this one-of-a-kind guitar (one of four on auction this week – see below):

“2012 will mark the end of the limited edition run of one of a kind hand striped guitars, which are striped, played live, and signed by Eddie himself. There is a very limited number of these guitars left. On May 22, 2012, Eddie will play the last and final Handstriped Art Series guitar, and this limited program will conclude, and will not be repeated.”

The guitar is a single pickup Charvel/EVH Art Series Limited Edition, available exclusively through eBay.

Eddie Van Halen has had an interesting relationship with his guitars.   Eddie once wrote that “(f)or as long as I’ve been playing guitar, I’ve always been searching for a certain feel and tone…I’ve experimented by tearing apart and reassembling hundreds of guitars in different ways searching for these qualities.”  According to Wikipedia, the tone was often referred to as Eddie’s “Brown Sound” that was “full yet distinctively aggressive and articulate.”   For many years he played his self-styled “Frankenstrat” guitar to achieve this sound.  The Frankenstrat represented Eddie’s attempt to combine the physical attributes of a Fender guitar with the classic Gibson sound.

Fast forward about 30 years and you have the EVH Art Series guitars up for auction this week.  While the regular EVH brand guitars, such as the signature Wolfgang guitar, are still up for sale, these special Art Series guitars are for serious collectors.  And once they are gone, they are gone.

In addition to the guitar, you’ll get:

  1. A custom G&G Case with the EVH logo embroidered on the inside
  2. A Certificate of Authenticity signed by Eddie Van Halen
  3. A Photograph of Eddie Van Halen playing this guitar live on stage

To get you in the mood, here is a video of Eddie Van Halen performing Eruption live in 2006:

And while we can’t guarantee that buying a guitar played by Eddie Van Halen will make you sound like Eddie Van Halen, you will be a lot closer to his sound than the rest of us.

Unless, of course, you go see him in concert!

Other EVH Art Series Auctions:

Eddie Van Halen – EVH Art Series Guitar #105 (played live by Eddie on the 2012 Van Halen Tour on March 30, 2012 in Pittsburgh, PA.)

Eddie Van Halen – EVH Art Series Guitar #117 (played live by Eddie on the 2012 Van Halen Tour on April 1, 2012 in Rosemont, IL.)

Eddie Van Halen – EVH Art Series Guitar #294 (played live by Eddie on the 2012 Van Halen Tour on April 1, 2012 in Rosemont, IL.)

Posted in Remarkable Listings | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

What to do with a ghost town?

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Joe MacFarland

The words “ghost town” conjure up different meanings for different people.  For some, it means a town that time and people forgot and left to whither away and die, such as the town of Vulture in Arizona.  Other places, like the Calico Ghost Town in California, operate as tourist attractions where folks cruise the streets to experience daily life as it was in an old West mining town, stopping by the working saloon and touring the abandoned silver mines.  Finally, a ghost town can simply be a place that directors use for movie sets, such as the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

What would you do if you owned a ghost town?  Live out your vision by placing the winning bid for today’s remarkable listing, the Wild West Ghost Town for sale with 15 buildings:

 

What does this ghost town include?  Although the parcel of land is less than an acre, it packs a lot of punch.  The listing describes the buildings you’ll get if you win this auction:

“THERE IS A 2200 SQ FT RETAIL SHOWROOM (THE RED,WHITE & BLUE BUILDING WITH THE TRIANGULAR ROOF) WHICH WOULD CONVERT INTO A NICE HOUSE IF YOU WANTED TO GO DOWN THAT ROUTE – IT HAS A LARGE RETAIL FLOOR, 2 OFFICE ROOMS, A BATHROOM & A LARGE LOFT AREA. THERE ARE ALSO SEVERAL LARGE STORAGE BUILDINGS AS PART OF THE PROPERTY USED TO BE A LUMBER YARD – I HAVE ONLY MEASURED THE SHOWROOM BUT WITH THE OTHER STORAGE BUILDINGS YOU PROBABLY HAVE ANOTHER 5000 SQ FT, MAYBE MORE OF USABLE SPACE FOR A BUSINESS.

THE REST OF THE PROPERTY IS MADE UP OF WILD WEST THEMED BUILDINGS – A MIXTURE OF REPLICAS & ORIGINAL 1800S BUILDINGS – INCLUDING A 2 STORY WILD WEST HOTEL, A SALOON, DENTISTS OFFICE, LAND OFFICE, NEWSPAPER OFFICE WITH AN ANTIQUE PRINTING PRESS, SHERIFFS OFFICE WITH A BIG OLD SAFE, ETC & A FEW MORE WAITING FOR YOUR INSPIRATION. SOME OF THE WILD WEST BUILDINGS JUST NEED SOME COSMETICS TO GET THEM IN TIP TOP CONDITION AGAIN & SOME OF THEM NEED MORE WORK. THIS PROPERTY IS HUGE AND THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM FOR EXPANSION – I EVEN HAVE RAILROAD TRACKS INSTALLED ON PART OF THE PROPERTY IN CASE YOU WANT TO ADD A TRAIN CAR OR STATION!”

But that is not all. The ghost town includes two very unique items, a car up in a tree and a stunt plane that has been flown into the roof of a house.

Talk about your attention grabbers!

Although the listing notes that you could move into one of the buildings right away and set up shop, consider a couple of things before bidding.  Clifton, Kansas, where the ghost town is located, has only about 550 residents, all of whom have presumably visited the ghost town.  And the nearest, marginally larger city is over 20 miles away, while access from an interstate highway is non-existent.  All of this shouldn’t stop the savvy entrepreneur and investor; after all, the price seems relatively reasonable.

If you think ghost towns are a uniquely American invention, take a look at the site Oddee.com which lists its 10 Most Amazing Ghost Towns, not one of which is in the USA.  The most bizarre locale?  In our opinion it is Kolmanskop, in Namibia.  People abandoned this diamond boomtown in the 1950s, and it is now covered by the sands of time.

Do you know of any ghost towns worth visiting? Let us know in the comments below.

Posted in Remarkable Listings | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

What to expect when you’re in LA

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Joe MacFarland

If you’ve been pregnant at some point in the last 30 years, you probably picked up the bestselling book and pregnancy guide What to Expect When You’re Expecting.  The book contains chapters detailing what the pregnant mom might experience from month to month, as well as answers to questions they have about what the baby is like during the nine months leading up to birth.  There is also a chapter on labor, birth, and what to expect after delivery.  Of course, there is also a small chapter “For Dads.”

If you never thought a pregnancy guide could be made into a movie, you wouldn’t be alone.  But surprisingly, there is a movie coming out in a couple weeks based (very) loosely on the book, which brings us to today’s very remarkable listing, the chance to go to the Hollywood movie premiere and after-party of the movie What to Expect When You’re Expecting:

In the past we’ve talked about some of these movie premieres and meet-and-greets, but this one sounds absolutely fabulous. The reason is that the movie is an ensemble comedy, so you get to meet, well, the ensemble! From the listing:

“What do you have in common with J-Lo, Cameron Diaz, and Dennis Quaid? In just a few weeks, on Monday, May 14, 2012, you could all be together in Hollywood at the What to Expect When You’re Expecting movie premiere! Don’t miss this chance to join the all-star cast that also includes Anna Kendrick, Elizabeth Banks, Brooklyn Decker, Chace Crawford, Chris Rock, Megan Mullally, and many more for the premiere of the film at Grauman’s Chinese Theater and a fabulous after-party at the Roosevelt hotel.”

You’ll have to get yourself to Los Angeles, but once that detail is taken care of, the rest is a breeze. Your winning bid garners a ticket for yourself and three friends to the premiere and the after party, plus two rooms at the Roosevelt Hotel in case you need to take a break from all the meeting, greeting, and partying.

It’s hard to choose a favorite from this bevy of stars, so why bother?  Here’s you chance to see if the haircut that made Cameron Diaz “cry” is really that bad.

You are always in safe territory interrogating Megan Mullally, who appears to be of the “more outrageous the better” contingent.  Although she earned notoriety as the alcohol-and-drug-addled Karen Walker on “Will & Grace,” she has gone on to assume a wealth of hilarious roles, including a guest appearance as Bev on “30 Rock” and the moral-free Tammy Swanson/Tammy Two on “Parks and Recreation.”

Cornering Chris Rock at the after party could generate some intriguing conversation.  This is the comedian and actor responsible for such gems as:

“Charlie Brown is the one person I identify with. C.B. is such a loser. He wasn’t even the star of his own Halloween special.”

“…there’s no rehab for stupidity.”

“I live in a neighborhood so bad that you can get shot while getting shot.”

“Comedy is the blues for people who can’t sing.”

With such a bounty of star-gawking opportunities, you won’t know what to expect.

Here is the movie trailer:

Posted in Remarkable Listings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

eBay unveils all new iPad App 2.0

Posted on May 5, 2012 by eBay-Stories.com

(Cross-posted from the eBayInk blog)

eBay has unveiled it’s all new eBay for iPad App 2.0 in the Apple iTunes store this morning and I’m already playing with it. Building on the impressive mobile commerce legacy that eBay has already carved out for itself in just a few years- including creating one of the very first apps for the first generation iPad – eBay has built the new app from the ground up and really focused on the unique shopping experience that the tablet provides. I sat down with Steve Yankovich, vice president of eBay Mobile, to chat about the new app and how far we’ve come in just three and a half years:

With the first signs of personalization and new search functionality, the app caters to all kinds of buyers – from the shopper who knows exactly what they want to the buyer who wants to get lost in the immersive experience and browse any number of images and categories.

Key Features:
• Customizable home screen – Easily access items for watching, buying, or selling and instantly search from favorite categories
• Stunning images – Double resolution optimized for the new iPad
• Quick listings – Create a listing in under a minute
• Multiple views – Seamlessly switch between three views of search results – ranging from highly visual to very detailed
• Photo browsing – Flip through multiple images with the swipe of your finger for easy browsing
• Barcode scanner – Research items and import details right into the listing
• Photo upload – Effortlessly upload photos from your iPad 2 camera or photo library for iPad and iPad 2
• Advanced search – Target your results to listings that fit your budget, category, condition, size, color, or style
• Customer service on the go – See how items are performing, reply to questions promptly, and provide speedy response to Best Offers
• Effortless navigation – Buy and sell in “My eBay” without ever clicking away from the search screen – products are always in view. Users can now also view “More Like This” from sellers and easily transition back and forth between search results
• Watch with eBay – Quickly access the Watch with eBay™ app to browse items relevant to the shows on TV
• Availability – Download for free all over the globe in the following iTunes stores: AU, AT, BE, BE-FR, CA, CA-FR, FR, DE, IE, IT, NL, ES, CH, UK, US

I also got a first-look demo of the app itself:

It’s not just for buyers either. Sellers can quickly research sale trends, list items, and make sales from virtually anywhere. They can scan an item using the barcode scanner to easily pre-populate a listing and sellers can now revise their listings directly from the iPad app.

Like I said, I’m a big fan. I’ve become a pretty addicted mobile shopper over the past few months and even bought my first big ticket item via eBay for iPad – our new family TV – just a couple of weeks ago. I look forward to really getting under the hood

Cheers,
RBH

Read more from eBay’s Chief Blogger Richard Brewer-Hay over at the eBayInk blog, your official source for information, opinion and perspective on eBay Inc.

Posted in eBay Ink blog, eBay Products, iPad, Mobile | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments