The Pointiest of Pointy Guitars

When I was fourteen or fifteen years old, my after-school routine was set. I would come home from school, grab a soda and go to my room. I'd pull the curtains shut and grab my Les Paul. I'd turn off the lights and start up my three CD player which almost always had Garage Inc's Disc 2 (the better disc in my opinion), Ride the Lightning (both from Metallica) and the Misfits' Famous Monsters.

Then I would rock out.

I had built a stool in wood shop a couple of years prior and that was my stage (a tiny stool that was maybe nine inches off the ground and so small if I wanted to put both feet on it at the same time, I had to stand with the feet touching each other) and I mean it - I rocked out. I gave it my all every single day for a couple of reasons.

1) It was cathartic.

2) I was practicing more than the guitar and my growing down-picking ability. I was practicing performing and increasing my stamina. Here I was, a kid thrashing around my dark bedroom really going at it and by the end of my favorite songs from Garage Inc, I'd be covered in sweat, my fairly long (and blue) hair matted to my head and down to my tank-top undershirt because I was so hot.

I would play for no less than two hours but usually closer to three and come out a hot sweaty mess, my picking arm tingling and sore. I'd drink another soda, try to calm down a bit and do my homework before going back into my room to noodle around, focusing more on my actual chops and not as much on performing before going to bed.

This was the highlight of each day, this session of rocking out. I loved it.

And as great as Metallica is, it was the Misfits that always got me going the most because it was easier for me to get into the groove of playing with guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein than it was trying to keep up with the crazy rhythms from James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett. The Misfits is what made me have the best time.

Because of that and the fact that I just plain loved the Misfits, I was always interested in Doyle's guitar. I guess his was the first signature guitar that got me interested in that little section of the guitar world. It was called the Annihilator and it's origins were shrouded in a bit of mystery. A guitar company said they built it for him, Doyle said he built it himself. There were only a few of them in the world, and they were all owned by Doyle. He didn't have a signature guitar per se, he just had a few custom guitars.

Since you couldn't buy one, I looked for something as similar as possible and found the BC Rich Virgin. I never really liked the way BC Rich's felt though so I never actively pursued it.

Time passed and my tastes changed. I still love the Misfits, but I'm more concerned with playability than looks now so I'm just as comfortable playing Dig Up Her Bones on a Tele as I would be on Doyle's guitar.

Still, when I found out that Doyle had made a deal with October Guitars to release a signature model line, I felt an instant ping of desire. I got over it though because I know I would probably not play it that much and the root of the desire comes more from the fact that I've always liked Doyle's guitar playing.

Still, perhaps there's someone out there reading this, or someone reading this knows a young Misfits fan (or someone that WOULD play something so pointy) and pass along the information to them. These guitars look incredibly well made, and you just can't beat it in the pointy looks department. It looks like an arrowhead carved in Hell.

And October was nice enough to record a demo video for the world to watch demonstrating just how great it sounds.

Check it out, folks. It's a cool little guitar video and a guitar you don't see much of today. It's also a little insight into what I was doing as a teenager every day.

-Pappy