RIP Robert Herndon

Don O said:
I’ve played his yellow Strat. He got the husk from SG John as best I remember. Sanded in down and rattle canned it yellow. He used a sacrifice neck for the burn video and actually burned the back of that neck. He custom ordered a neck from Warmoth and just loved it. He played that guitar out when he needed dive bombs and single coil sounds. I’ll see if it’s still around when I go visit his wife later this week. There’s going to be a service in Visalia CA as that’s where his parents and kids live. No details yet.
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Yup, at some point Rob and I went back and forth about me buying the burned-back neck for one of my early upgrade projects, but sadly never materialized. One thing I learned from that guitar was how to do great wire management and cavity shielding through the pics that Rob posted of his work on it... the fabled spraycan yellow.
 
Marc, Robert, it's hard to find words to express the loss of such a good friend, mentor and overall great human being... Please know that your Dad had a massive impact in my rediscovering my love for all things guitar in the last few years. Will always miss his presence and the knowledge he brought to the forum. My most heartfelt condolences.
 
My Robert story.

Many of you SoCal folk had the privilege of interacting in person with Robert. Swap parts and guitars. Living in the Midwest, I did not get that opportunity. What I received from Rob was affirmation. I had just posted that we have a lot of talented guitar players on this forum. Compared, I'm just an average bedroom hack.... at best. Rob responded to that. Reminded me that what I do with a guitar.... regardless skill level... is something the overwhelming majority of the population cannot do. He continued with " you put fingers on a fret board and make notes. That make you a musician." From that point, when people ask me if I play guitar I know longer respond with "I play at it." Now I just say, yes I do.

Edit: I agree with Sapient. Seeing the banner was tough. Shed a tear as I did again while typing this post.
 
I remember one night at Primo sounds, before Fire Control went on hiatus .
They were auditioning yet another bass player.
And Robert went outside to chat with him, and I asked if I could play his rig with Henry the drummer, while the rest of the band took a break.
He said of course you can.
And we proceeded to play through about 3 of my tunes.
This story is not really going anywhere, but I did want to share it.
R.I.P. my friend
 
It's hard to fathom that a guy as full of life as our Inspector could fall.
I've read through most of this thread, and am very touched by how many people he touched.
I didn't know him well, but he was always interesting.
I respect him as a multi talented hombre, who played killer guitar too.
What is remembered lives.
--Michael
 
And I come back and see this thread.... I honestly can't believe it.. I don't have any Robert stories of my own. I always did love reading about his work experience as an inspector for Fender, which really came in handy when i posted of possible issues with the tremolo system on my Jackson which he pointed to a few culprits...low and behold he was right on the money and i was able to fix the issue with an allen wrench. Loved listening to his covers. He'll definitely be missed. his experience, knowledge, and most importantly his friendship.
 
Mitch Pearrow SJMP said:
I remember one night at Primo sounds, before Fire Control went on hiatus .
They were auditioning yet another bass player.
And Robert went outside to chat with him, and I asked if I could play his rig with Henry the drummer, while the rest of the band took a break.
He said of course you can.
And we proceeded to play through about 3 of my tunes.
This story is not really going anywhere, but I did want to share it.
R.I.P. my friend
Click to expand...
I too am one of the fortunate people to have met Rob in person, and play guitar with him. I am by no means anywhere near the level he was at, I did more listening than playing. We did however talk in person as well as on the phone and in texts. Usually the conversation would start with a text from Robert, "Can we talk?" More often than not, the conversations were about non-guitar related things. I'm still trying to let it sink in that in a flash, Robert is gone.
 
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