Bob1 of DEVO's Buick

One of the most prevalent guitarists in J.B. Player's early years was Bob "#1" Mothersbaugh of the art punk/new wave group Devo. The spudboys from Akron always had a penchant for playing oddball instruments onstage--from the beginning they brandished department store Hagstroms, Norlin-era Gibsons, and even the exceptionally rare La Baye 2x4.

Devo circa 1979. L to R: Bob Casale with Gibson L6-S, Bob Mothersbaugh with La Baye 2x4, Gerald Casale with "lobotomized" Gibson Ripper bass.

While initially used out of economic necessity (they were broke Midwesterners and the Bill Lawrence-designed Gibsons could be had for peanuts), Devo's guitars became a vital part of their artsy, uncanny valley, anti-rock aesthetic. As the band found itself on the outer currents of the mainstream, guitar builders started jockeying for endorsements. Ibanez and G&L were among the first, with J.B. Player following shortly after.

Click here for an article that goes further in depth about Devo's axes of choice. Here, the focus is one guitar that the article left out: Bob Mothersbaugh's J.B. Player Buick.

Bob had two Buicks, actually: one that he used onstage, and one he used as a prop of sorts for music videos and TV appearances.

The "prop" guitar is a stock Buick in Dakota Red with nickel hardware. It has a Strat-style hardtail bridge and a Mighty Mite Motherbucker, with volume, tone, and individual on/off/phase reverse switches for each coil. Bob used this guitar in the music video for "Peek-A-Boo".

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The "stage" guitar was mostly the same, except that it was re-routed to accommodate a Bigsby vibrato assembly. During "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA", Bob has a noise-guitar solo that involves heavy use of a whammy bar. His usual weapon of choice, the La Baye 2x4, has a Wurlitzer vibrato which is not dissimilar to a Bigsby in function. The "stage" Buick was modified accordingly.

This guitar's debut was during the 3-DEVO concert on 30 October 1982. The usage of untested experimental audio-video sync, among other technical difficulties, meant that by the latter half of the set the band was beyond livid. When Bob 1 took his solo in Mr. DNA, the guitar was his stress reliever. I believe this is the first instance where he pulled the whammy bar all the way back to snap the strings off and then throw the guitar away during this song, and it's something he would repeat at every show thereafter to this day.

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As the 1982 tour continued, Bob's guitar abuse didn't let up, and the Buick was effectively hanging on for dear life.

Despite this, Devo remained a staple of J.B. Player's early advertising.

Touring for Devo wound down sharply after 1982, and they didn't play another show for five years after. By that point, both Bobs were using G&L guitars almost exclusively. So what happened to Bob1's Buicks?

Well, we know exactly where both are. They're in a private collection, owned by Jade Dellinger, a Devo superfan and author of the band's first biography book, We are DEVO!. The following images are courtesy of him.

Here is the battered, traumatized carcass of the Buick used onstage. Nearly forty concerts' worth of damage are on display in this wreck. The guitar was bashed around so much that the entire control assembly gave out. Tape residue is visible that matches with the above photo.

This may be the best look at a J.B. Player USA headstock anyone's gonna get. This shape was available in Mighty Mite catalogs by 1980, and can also be seen on some guitars built by Wayne Charvel around the same era.

And here are the two old ladies side by side. The "prop" guitar sits in excellent condition, almost defying its age. Mr. Dellinger has said that the "Stage" guitar can't be restored much further than reinstalling the bridge without Jeopardizing its authenticity and originality.

These guitars have been used as the reference models for an Eastwood Guitars reissue, called the "Devo Peek-A-Boo Guitar". It's currently available for preorder here. What differences the Eastwood version will have remains to be seen. This is the first time any of the original J.B. Player USA models has seen a reissue of any capacity.