Henry Kaiser's Wacky Geisha Girl Guitar

Photos and commentary by Frank Ford

Henry said he was visiting the maker, James Larsen, in Tucson, when he first saw this guitar, which, at the time, was called "Geisha Girl." Larsen's unique instruments are known as "Girl Brand Guitars," and he has a number of them on his web site.

Henry said he told Larsen that this was a really cool guitar, and he'd buy it for sure if it had a big squid inlay on the fingerboard. He went on to say that Larsen started work immediately and stayed up all night designing and completing the inlay work. Henry followed through the next day by purchasing the guitar.