Loud Enough to Wake the Dead
February 10, 2021 2:41 PM Subscribe
Introducing the Skelecaster: yes, this dude built a guitar out of his dead uncle’s skeleton. Bone-shredding video included.
Herr Zahn would be quite pleased.
posted by Evilspork at 3:51 PM on February 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by Evilspork at 3:51 PM on February 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
...And the paperwork involved! That's not metal.
...And the bones not having any sinew left on them? That's not metal.
I bet he ends up using this in a Grateful Dead cover band in the Florida Keys.
posted by not_on_display at 3:52 PM on February 10, 2021 [10 favorites]
...And the bones not having any sinew left on them? That's not metal.
I bet he ends up using this in a Grateful Dead cover band in the Florida Keys.
posted by not_on_display at 3:52 PM on February 10, 2021 [10 favorites]
notorious for media pranks
If it is a prank, it's a very well thought out one, because the background of the skeleton having been previously used in a medical college is really the only way you can plausibly keep a skeleton like that intact and in any sort of condition to be converted to a guitar. Most half-ass pranks fail the plausibility test, and if this isn't real they really made a smart call on that angle.
posted by tclark at 4:55 PM on February 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
If it is a prank, it's a very well thought out one, because the background of the skeleton having been previously used in a medical college is really the only way you can plausibly keep a skeleton like that intact and in any sort of condition to be converted to a guitar. Most half-ass pranks fail the plausibility test, and if this isn't real they really made a smart call on that angle.
posted by tclark at 4:55 PM on February 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
How could he not mount the skull on the headstock?? With red lights in the eye sockets? Come on, man!
posted by ejs at 5:13 PM on February 10, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by ejs at 5:13 PM on February 10, 2021 [9 favorites]
From another article I read on this today:
Still, he admits his project caused some awkward moments with his mom.
“At first, she said it was sacrilegious and the work of the devil ― you know how moms are,” Prince Midnight said. “But I asked her, ‘Uncle Filip was the biggest metal head of anybody. Where would he rather be? In the ground or shredding?’”
“She said, ‘shredding.’”
posted by stinkfoot at 5:42 PM on February 10, 2021 [9 favorites]
Still, he admits his project caused some awkward moments with his mom.
“At first, she said it was sacrilegious and the work of the devil ― you know how moms are,” Prince Midnight said. “But I asked her, ‘Uncle Filip was the biggest metal head of anybody. Where would he rather be? In the ground or shredding?’”
“She said, ‘shredding.’”
posted by stinkfoot at 5:42 PM on February 10, 2021 [9 favorites]
That's...that's pretty fuckin' metal.
posted by furnace.heart at 6:13 PM on February 10, 2021
posted by furnace.heart at 6:13 PM on February 10, 2021
I don't care if he built it out of a plastic skeleton... I've helped a teenager build a solid body electric before, and I'm constantly on the lookout for cool designs should another teenager ever stumble into my workshop wanting to build an instrument with a different edge to it.
posted by straw at 7:43 PM on February 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by straw at 7:43 PM on February 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
I realize the necessary scale length wouldn't permit it, but I am mildly disappointed the neck doesn't contain more...neck.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:52 PM on February 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:52 PM on February 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
It looks just like any stock, molded display skeleton I've ever seen. He could have just taken the points for doing a skeleton shaped guitar but he got greedy.
posted by anazgnos at 8:02 PM on February 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by anazgnos at 8:02 PM on February 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
I realize the necessary scale length wouldn't permit it, but I am mildly disappointed the neck doesn't contain more...neck.
If his uncle had had the foresight to have each vertebra 1/18th of the remaining distance between skull and coccyx, it would have been obvious.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:18 AM on February 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
If his uncle had had the foresight to have each vertebra 1/18th of the remaining distance between skull and coccyx, it would have been obvious.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:18 AM on February 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
So what did he do with the rest of the skeleton?
posted by TedW at 1:36 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by TedW at 1:36 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
So what did he do with the rest of the skeleton?
Drum kit (including femur drum sticks) coming soon, stay posted.
posted by greenhornet at 3:35 AM on February 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Drum kit (including femur drum sticks) coming soon, stay posted.
posted by greenhornet at 3:35 AM on February 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
This was on r/DIWHY? And... yes apropos.
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:42 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:42 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
rib cage would seem to lend itself more to a xylophone.
posted by condour75 at 4:43 AM on February 11, 2021
posted by condour75 at 4:43 AM on February 11, 2021
“She said, ‘shredding.’”
I'd like to think she said.....
Big sigh...."shredding. Anyway, your pizza rolls are ready prince midnight"
posted by museum of fire ants at 5:02 AM on February 11, 2021 [21 favorites]
I'd like to think she said.....
Big sigh...."shredding. Anyway, your pizza rolls are ready prince midnight"
posted by museum of fire ants at 5:02 AM on February 11, 2021 [21 favorites]
Still, he admits his project caused some awkward moments with his mom.
My mother would have appreciated the ongoing utility. She wanted to be buried in a cardboard box, with a fruit tree planted above her, so that she could still contribute something. (Turned out to be too hard to do that under prevailing regulations.)
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:31 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
My mother would have appreciated the ongoing utility. She wanted to be buried in a cardboard box, with a fruit tree planted above her, so that she could still contribute something. (Turned out to be too hard to do that under prevailing regulations.)
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:31 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Something about this... resonates with me? We turn most people we love into the same kind of wall/mantle/book art projects of a living likeness, but getting to pass down a music-loving relative's skeleton-guitar would be a rather amazing and uniquely terrifying thing to inherit.
posted by klausman at 6:13 AM on February 11, 2021
posted by klausman at 6:13 AM on February 11, 2021
This dude built a guitar out of his dead uncle’s skeleton.
I feel compelled to stop by here to mention that the word "dead" in the article's title is entirely superfluous.
posted by beagle at 6:17 AM on February 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
I feel compelled to stop by here to mention that the word "dead" in the article's title is entirely superfluous.
posted by beagle at 6:17 AM on February 11, 2021 [10 favorites]
I love this and I hope it's true. I actually think bones are an awesome way to connect with the realities of death.
Of course, one of my life goals for a while has been to visit the Sedlec Ossuary and I never turn down the chance to visit catacombs, so.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:53 AM on February 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Of course, one of my life goals for a while has been to visit the Sedlec Ossuary and I never turn down the chance to visit catacombs, so.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:53 AM on February 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
I feel compelled to stop by here to mention that the word "dead" in the article's title is entirely superfluous.
In rebuttal, I posit that it would be even more metal to make a guitar out of a living relative's bones.
posted by FatherDagon at 6:58 AM on February 11, 2021 [8 favorites]
In rebuttal, I posit that it would be even more metal to make a guitar out of a living relative's bones.
posted by FatherDagon at 6:58 AM on February 11, 2021 [8 favorites]
Sedlec is so worth the visit, warriorqueen, if you're ever near Prague and enjoy death and bones and stuff. Amazing experience.
posted by mediareport at 7:00 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by mediareport at 7:00 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
And now the line from Screamin' Jay Hawkins to death metal is complete.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 7:11 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by thecincinnatikid at 7:11 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
It must be time for a new version of The Two Sisters (previously: harp, fiddle, banjo and acoustic guitar).
posted by offog at 7:35 AM on February 11, 2021
posted by offog at 7:35 AM on February 11, 2021
I feel compelled to stop by here to mention that the word "dead" in the article's title is entirely superfluous.
Not necessarily, but I grant that by the time you get to the stages of construction shown here, the “dead” part has sort of taken care of itself.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:11 AM on February 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Not necessarily, but I grant that by the time you get to the stages of construction shown here, the “dead” part has sort of taken care of itself.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:11 AM on February 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
The answer is none.
None more metal.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:17 AM on February 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
None more metal.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:17 AM on February 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Is there no equivalent of the Human Tissues Act (2004) in Florida, or in US Federal law?
(It's a law in England and Wales—there's equivalent legislation in Scotland—regulating the disposal and use of human tissues, organs, and bodies after death: while public exhibitions are possible, they require a license, and in almost all cases pre-mortem consent must be proven first. Following a horrible scandal where it turned out that a children's hospital had been retaining thousands of dead babies' internal organs because, uh, reasons.)
posted by cstross at 9:21 AM on February 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
(It's a law in England and Wales—there's equivalent legislation in Scotland—regulating the disposal and use of human tissues, organs, and bodies after death: while public exhibitions are possible, they require a license, and in almost all cases pre-mortem consent must be proven first. Following a horrible scandal where it turned out that a children's hospital had been retaining thousands of dead babies' internal organs because, uh, reasons.)
posted by cstross at 9:21 AM on February 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
I love this. I won't need my body after I die so I don't much care what happens to it, but the idea of it being somehow useful and beautiful/used to make something beautiful and bringing someone joy is very appealing. If someone made a guitar out of me (or a chair or some sort of vase or something), I'd be so pleased.
I do hope it's able to play more than one song, though. (I would also accept being made into a fiddle as an option for my remains.)
posted by darchildre at 11:06 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I do hope it's able to play more than one song, though. (I would also accept being made into a fiddle as an option for my remains.)
posted by darchildre at 11:06 AM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Guitar nerd interlude - while the neck is pretty "metal guitar" with the pointy headstock, the rest of it (pickups, bridge, and control plate) is clearly from a Fender Telecaster, a guitar far more associated with country and Americana than metal.
posted by soundguy99 at 2:55 PM on February 11, 2021
posted by soundguy99 at 2:55 PM on February 11, 2021
Far more associated with those genres, but this single-coil vs humbucker "Can you play metal on a Tele?" video tells me that metal sounds great on it. (Also, Skele rhymes with Tele!)
I usually don't nerd out on gear, so this was at my level of comprehension—not too into the thicket or snobby to lose me, and the difference between the two was apparent on first listen.
posted by not_on_display at 5:12 PM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
I usually don't nerd out on gear, so this was at my level of comprehension—not too into the thicket or snobby to lose me, and the difference between the two was apparent on first listen.
posted by not_on_display at 5:12 PM on February 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Tampa man who ‘built guitar from uncle’s skeleton’ sure looks familiar
posted by photoslob at 6:01 PM on February 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by photoslob at 6:01 PM on February 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
FWIW I absolutely don't mind if this is a hoax: in fact, maybe better that it is? While perhaps not up to the vaunted standards of Joey Skaggs et al., its a harmless story with a creative bent at a time when we could all use a smile. Prince Midnight isn't taking anything from anybody, is he?
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 6:31 AM on February 15, 2021
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 6:31 AM on February 15, 2021
Today's CBC article about this being a possible hoax is worth reading because it is hilarious and also contains photos of a man wearing the world's tallest hat.
“When As It Happens reached out to Ozare on his Twitter account for comment, he said: "No, I am not Prince Midnight, nor do I have any association with this person." He also suggested that those involved with this story should "go back to journalism school" before excusing himself to make more hats.”
posted by oulipian at 3:59 PM on February 15, 2021 [3 favorites]
“When As It Happens reached out to Ozare on his Twitter account for comment, he said: "No, I am not Prince Midnight, nor do I have any association with this person." He also suggested that those involved with this story should "go back to journalism school" before excusing himself to make more hats.”
posted by oulipian at 3:59 PM on February 15, 2021 [3 favorites]
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Anyway... Florida Man, amiright?
posted by ardgedee at 3:26 PM on February 10, 2021 [4 favorites]