Veleno (guitar)

The Veleno guitar is a highly-regarded series of aluminum guitars built by metal craftsman John Veleno. Veleno guitars are known for their unique sound quality. Public Image Ltd. guitarist Keith Levene produced his memorably sharp (and widely imitated) guitar sound using a Veleno, as did Kurt Cobain on one song on the Nirvana album In Utero, borrowing it from Steve Albini.

John Veleno produced very few of his trademark aluminum guitars, and they are considered rare by guitar collectors .

List of notable artists who own Veleno guitars

Artists known to have owned Veleno all-aluminum guitars include:

• Mark Bolan of T.Rex
• Eric Clapton
• Greg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
• Lou Reed
• Johnny Winter
• Ace Frehley of Kiss
• Todd Rundgren
• Dolly Parton
• Sonny Bono
• Chris Pontius
• Dan Ferguson, former personal guitarist for the Sonny and Cher shows
• Steve Albini of Shellac
• Pete Haycock of the Climax Blues Band who owned three Velenos
• Ray Monette of Rare Earth
• Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, who owned three Veleno guitars
• Ronnie Montrose of Montrose and The Edgar Winter Band
• Lonesome Dave Peverett of Foghat
• Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra
• Mick Mars of Mötley Crüe
• Ed Kuepper of The Saints
• Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd. and The Clash, whose Veleno was nicknamed the "Leveno" by friends, and later stolen from his home
• Robbie Krieger of The Doors
• Mario DeMurier of The James Gang
• David Surkamp of Pavlov's Dog
• David Robinson of The Cars (Veleno guitar shown on their "Panorama" album)
• Vincent Gallo
• Johnny Depp
• Frank Hannon of Tesla
• Twiggy Ramirez of Marilyn Manson
• Eric Erlandson of Hole, who owns three Velenos

References