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A true shame. Until recently guitarists were notoriously conservative regarding instrument design and I have an immense amount of respect for people like Ken that chose to push those boundaries. Challenging guitarists to play something more progressive than the usual 75-year-old designs was a big deal in the heyday of the grunge movement and emergence of the vintage gear market. Hats off to a true American original.

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Sorry, what's the shame about? That he could not be saved, or that the funds could not be raised? Or perhaps something else,... who's to be ashamed, though?

It is indeed a great lost to (living) humanity to loose its great minds, but still his letter is an incredible example of conscious apprehension of live and its transience. And reading 'shame' several times in the comments here is at least very weird to me.

God bless this beautiful soul's transition into the great unknown.

"it's a shame" is a common English colloquialism that means "that's sad", or maybe "that saddens me". No actual shamefulness is usually implied by the phrase. Weird, but there it is.

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