Heartbreak in the Man Cave

Well, I have some very sad news to relate today. Last week we had an electrical fire in the man cave. A de-humidifier caught fire and smoldered for hours. The windows and doors were all closed (to promote de-humidification) and so the oxygen supply was limited.

Fast forward to the aftermath and every surface in the 2-room granny flat is coated with a thick layer of electrical soot. Every crevice, every cranny, every cupboard is full. It stinks, it's corrosive, and it's fucking everywhere. While the building interior will need to be gutted and replaced, more importantly it is looking like every guitar on the walls and in the racks will be written off, including all my builds in progress. The hollow-bodies are particularly affected - being full of soot - but the hardware and frets on all guitars have very quickly become corroded. To make matters worse the cleaner used to remove the soot is not doing the finish any favours.

So basically that's my collection of around 20 guitars, built up over 5 years of hard work, decimated in one foul swoop. To say I am totally gutted is an understatement.

Once the damage is repaired I'll slowly start re-building, but right now I think I'll go sit down and have a cry.