From GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE,

Duane Eddy’s 1960 Howard Doubleneck guitar

This futuristic Jetsons rocket ship of a guitar looks ready to go into orbit at any time.  It was made in 1960 for instrumental hit-maker Duane Eddy by a Phoenix amplifier guru named Tom “Howard” McCormick.  McCormick is known for his unique amplifiers, but little is known about his guitars. 

Duane Eddy was and still is the ‘King of Twang,’ and he is most remembered for his Gretsch and Guild signature model guitars.  In the late 50’s, however, he used to switch back and forth on stage between his Gretsch 6120 and his Danelectro 6-string bass.  McCormick reckoned Duane needed a doubleneck that would do the same thing.  Duane recalls that this instrument sounded and looked great, but he rarely used it due to its prohibitive weight.

McCormick made unorthodox guitar amps, and this guitar is no exception.  The necks are made of fiberglass with rosewood fretboards, and the backwards-Explorer headstocks predated Robin guitars by two decades.  The pickups are super high fidelity, and the dense guitar sustains forever.  Other features, such as the inside-out Strat jack mounted on the side, the six oven knobs and five switches, and hand-milled vibrato are great reminders of an era where the future was so bright, you had to wear shades.  Where are the jet packs they promised us?

I never knew that Howard made any other guitars than Duane's doubleneck, but there is a flyer for Howard guitars and amps inside the case of Duane's doubleneck.

Howard Guitar Flyer, collection of the author.

After viewing the flyer, this author recalled seeing some student model Howard guitars long ago at the fabled Chicago Store in Tucson, Arizona (long since plundered).  How many of these guitars or amps were made?  Not many, just judging by the fact that only a couple Howard amps and zero guitars have turned up on eBay in the last ten years.

Photo from the good old days of the Chicago Store in Tucson, taken around 1998.  Note blue Howard student model in foreground.  Don't worry, all this stuff is gone--the fabled burial ground of vintage gear is no more.

Duane played the doubleneck on 'American Bandstand' with Dick Clark in 1960, and a few live shows around the same time.  

Duane uses the Howard on Bandstand.  Photo is Copyrighted.

Duane found the guitar to be too heavy to use on stage, and the pickups sustained too much in a live setting.  Duane put the guitar into storage, pulling it out at least one more time for a Guitar Player article written by Teisco Del Rey in June 1993.

This guitar is imbued with unexplainable, mystical luck.  When Duane agreed to sell the Howard doubleneck to this author, the guitar was taken out of Duane's storage locker at Sound Check in Nashville and shipped on the last day of April, 2010.  Two days later the Cumberland River flooded downtown Nashville, and the Sound Check facility (a massive rehearsal and equipment storage location) flooded.  Thousands of instruments, many of them vintage and historic, were underwater. 

Read about the flood at Sound Check here.

Most of Duane's prized instruments he had collected through the years were ruined.  50 years after it was created, somehow the Howard doubleneck escaped a tragic end through a narrow crack in the door.  

Duane (ever the gentleman) has played down his losses and has asked those who are close to him to not publicize his story, because so many other musicians lost everything they owned.  However, the story, as it relates to this crazy Jetsons doubleneck guitar, makes it the luckiest guitar I know of.  Just having it around makes me feel like everything is going to be alright.

Read about Duane's contributions to the flood relief efforts here.

Little may be known of Tom “Howard” McCormick, but this author hereby declares this guitar as the coolest guitar ever made.  May the Twang be with you.

Deke Dickerson

Note: The author would really like to find Tom "Howard" McCormick's family to get the full story, see more photos, and do a proper article on the history of "Howard" guitars and amps.  Please email the author here.

With special thanks to Duane and Deed Eddy, Teisco Del Rey, and Glen Harrison.