2003/2023 Veleno Ankh #5 of 6 "Chrome"

In the mid 1970's, John Veleno was approached by Todd Rundgren to build for him a custom guitar for his Utopia tour with a body shaped like an ancient Egyptian symbol called an "Ankh" and a triangular headstock. Fast forward to 2002 when John and his five children planned to reintroduce the Veleno brand. John and his son, Chris decided to recreate the iconic Ankh guitar, this time opting for the traditional V-shaped Veleno headstock. Their goal was to build six of these guitars to display at the 2003 winter NAMM show in Anaheim, CA. However, they were only able to complete one in time for the show. Unfortunately, John suffered health problems through the mid 2000's and was limited in his ability to manufacture guitars. In 2020, after John's passing, Chris inventoried the guitar materials that had been put into storage and discovered five completed Ankh bodies. This discovery prompted Chris to present the idea of finally relaunching the Veleno brand to his sisters as a family venture. They agreed and Chris set out to find a suitable manufacturer for the Veleno neck spending a year with a shop to perfect the design. Eventually 5 newly engineered machined aluminum necks were fitted on the five remaining bodies. One of these was purchased by a collector during the process and one will remain in the family. These are the only six Veleno Ankh guitars in existence and this design will never be replicated by the Veleno family again.