Press release

Jamming with a MINI Guitar

By Tamara Warren

Richard Viets bought an old children's electric guitar at a garage sale and decided it needed a little extra MINI flair. He drives a 2008 Clubman S, and also owned a 2004 Super MINI. He took his enthusiasm and transformed the guitar into his own authentic version of a MINI edition.



He replaced the knobs with valve caps and embedded a key ring and matchbox MINI into the body of the guitar. The box for the matchbox is used as a magnet at the base of the strings. He found an epoxy paint that came close to pepper white and refinished it for that final MINI touch.



The Kansas City resident used to whittle wooden ducks but moved up to rebuilding guitars and amplifiers as his main hobby. He once worked in an amplifier shop. “I’m somewhat of an electronics geek,” he said. “I have so many projects going on.” For the MTTS occasion, he added brand new strings and is ready to jam. "I play a little bit," he said with a mischievous smile.