Live Brain Surgery! (Schoen Turbo Diddly)

Brad Carter is an actor and former musician suffering from Parkinson's disease a progressive neurological disorder. In an effort to reverse the hand tremors that had cut his musical career short, doctors at UCLA Medical Center successfully implanted a brain pacemaker during an awake brain surgery last week. While this in itself is not unusual, doctors live tweeted the operation, including Brad testing his fine motor skills by playing his guitar during placement of the electrode in his head.

The unique resonator guitar Brad is playing above is handmade by Kurt Schoen in Washington State. Schoen electric and resonator guitars are all one-of-a-kind built to order custom guitars. The Schoen cigar box style resonator guitar Brad owns is known as the Turbo Diddly. Kurt builds his guitars out of centuries-old reclaimed wood such as from antique dynamite or liquor boxes. His guitars are prized by well-known aficionados such as Bon Jovi and Led Zeppelin. Owners of the Turbo Diddly model similar to the one played by Brad Carter include Billy Gibbons, lead guitarist for ZZ Top.

Here's wishing Brad Carter a successful recovery and many more years of guitar picking on his wonderful Schoen Turbo Diddly!