Vintage Ship Guitars
Fender Jaguar model built from original wood from Fregatten Jylland
(Photo: Bondo Guitars)
"Gedsercaster" - Telecaster built from original wood from Gedser Reef Lightship (Photo: Bondo Guitars)
Recently I have started a series of limited-edition Vintage Wood electric guitars and basses, made from 100-200 years old Danish ship wood. These guitars are more than ordinary guitars, they are pieces of Danish history.
I have managed to acquire original wood from some historic Danish wooden ships. The wood is dry and well-aged which gives the guitar excellent sustain and stability.
Here are some examples:
The frigate Jutland guitars
The frigate Jylland was the world's longest wooden ship when it was launched in 1860, and was also the first warship in the world born with a steam engine.
The ship was superior to other warships at the time as it could maneuver by engine power regardless of wind conditions.
On 9 May 1864, the frigate Jylland entered history as part of the Danish squadron that fought - and won - the naval battle at Heligoland.
The wood is acquired from the Fregatten Jylland's repair workshop in Ebeltoft, Denmark.
"Quiet evening in the North Sea with the frigate Jylland" (Photo: Bondo Guitars)
The Gedser reef lightship guitars
​Gedser Reef Lightship was built in 1895 and was active from 1895 – 1972.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the lightship took on a central role when it sent reports about the Warsaw Pact sailing through the Oresund with nuclear missiles to Cuba.
The lighthouse was located between East Germany and Denmark, and during the Cold War, around 50 refugees from the former East Germany (GDR) fled and came to the lighthouse. When it was realized that the GDR was monitoring the communications from the lighthouse, the message "we need more water" was sent. It was a message to Denmark that refugees could be picked up from the lightship.
Gedser Reef Lightship XVII in the late 1900s (Photo: Danish National Museum)
Warship guitars
When the English destroyed the Danish fleet in 1807, there was neither sufficient timber, time nor money to build new warships. Instead, around 200 small gunboats were built, armed with 1-2 guns each.
Denmark was poor and it was expensive to build the many gunboats. But the people of the united Danish-Norwegian kingdom were so angry with the English after the war that they wanted revenge, so the people voluntarily collected a huge donation for the new fleet of gunboats.
When the gunboats were decommissioned, the wood from some of the boats was used as bulwarks in Copenhagen Harbor, in some places right up until the 1970s.
I use some of that wood for electric guitars. It is Pomeranian pine in exceptionally good condition.