Rex Bogue Bass Guitar 1976 - Hand Crafted by Rex Bogue

Rex Bogue Custom Guitar with Original Vintage Warwick Case.

Rex Bogue Bass Guitar: Bird’s-eye maple with mother-of-pearl floral vine inlay, four strings.

Warwick Guitar Case: Electric Bass Flight Case, flight case for electric bass guitar Warwick Professional LineFits most electric bass guitar models. The condition is very good, near excellent.

Located in Los Angeles CA ~ pick up or shipping option.

Price is negotiable

Only one of four guitars built by the infamous luthier Rex Bogue. This guitar, built for Al Johnson has undergone a few minor changes to the esthetics and body, noted to had been done by Rex Bogue.

Rex Bogue, was a luthier; a craftsperson who builds, repairs, and restores stringed musical instruments. Luthiers specialize in working with one type of instrument, such as guitars, violins, violas, cellos, and basses. They may also work with electric basses, ukuleles, and harps. Luthiers may also modify and tune instruments to the owner's specifications.Larel Rexford Bogue (Rex Bogue) was born in 1951 and raised in San Gabriel, California. He played in bands while growing up, rubbing shoulders with Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Bogue studied at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia and displayed a talent for music technology and electronics. Bogue experimented with lasers and was a pioneer of the live music laser show. He moved on to building innovative guitars: and was one of the early users of active pre-amps in guitars. In 1972 he approached John McLaughlin with a proposal to build him a guitar. This instrument was to become John McLaughlin's iconic Double Rainbow 6/12 double neck. Rex also did electronic work for Alphonso Johnson and Jorge Strunz, sold preamps under the Balz Deluxe and Balz Galore names, and built instruments for Frank Zappa and Miroslav Vitous. ~ Dave Marshall. "Rex burned brightly for a little while," says Bill Hoting, "and influenced a lot of people," California luthier Larel Rexford Bogue was associated with one of the most distinctive guitars of recent decades, John McLaughlin's Double Rainbow 6/12 double-neck. Rex died last February 8. Hoting was Bogue's best friend. "We went to school in San Gabriel and played in bands," Bill says. "We played with the Mothers of Invention. Zappa was a big influence on Rex," While enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, Bill explains,"Rex started messing with lasers. We did laser shows before anyone really got into it. He was way ahead of the mainstream electronically, but he wanted to build guitars. He put in op-amps with battery power supplies before anyone else. He approached John McLaughlin in about 1972 and said,"You're the greatest player I've ever heard. Let me make you a guitar."McLaughlin proposed a double-neck. At the time Rex was apprenticing in Ren Ferguson's Venice Beach shop. "I built that guitar," explains Ferguson. "Rex did the electronics. He would dream up fantasy stuff he made with parts from aerospace suppliers. He opened a shop, selling gadgets and pickups that would do everything but fly across the room. He had many ideas, but the business side was lost on him. He'd get excited about manufacturing something, get investors, then get bored and move on."Santa Monica repairman/builder Larry Brown shared a shop with Ferguson and also worked on the Double Rainbow. "That thing weighed about 35 pounds and took two years to complete," he remembers. "I fretted the necks. When Rex got paid for it, he bought a lot rum; he was a connoisseur." In a 1975 GP story, McLaughlin himself called Bogue's workmanship "impeccable, flawless." Rex also did electronic work for Alphonso Johnson and Jorge Strunz, sold preamps under the Balz Deluxe and Balz Galore names, and built instruments for Frank Zappa and Miroslav Vitous. In recent years he was something of a recluse. "He had many health problems related to his diabetes," says Hoting. "They finally got the better of him. He's at peace now, in a better place. ~ Tom WheelerJimi Hendrix guitar that was burned on stage at the Miami Pop Festival was restored by Frank Zappa. Actually Zappa only arranged for the guitar to be restored.On March 13, 1976, Frank gave the burned-out body, no neck or electronics, just the body, to the visionary luthier Rex Bogue in the San Gabriel Valley. Rex restored it per Frank’s instructions, that it be left in its burned-out state and just lacquered over, with a new neck and electronics added. While Frank did play the guitar at some shows, many times the guitar would be placed on a stand, center stage, with a single spotlight trained on it. I am assuming this was in homage to Hendrix. Rex not only did these kinds of custom restorations, but he also built custom guitars as well. Each one was a work of art, constructed of the finest bird’s-eye maple with mother-of-pearl inlay vining up the neck. Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin, and many others were clients who sought out his groundbreaking work in the ‘70s and ‘80s. ~ Bill Dunn
Rex Bogue1951-1996

ComparablesElectric basses, made specially for musicians by Rex Bogue include John McLaughlin's double-neck, Frank Zappa's Bogue-built guitar and Charles Lobue and Al Johnson