The lucky dog who owns Mick Ronson's "Ziggy Stardust" guitar

As anyone who's been reading Ear of Newt blogs probably knows, Mick Ronson is one of our fave guitar players of all time. For the uninitiated, he's the platinum-blonde picker whose wondrous riffs lit up all those deathless David Bowie albums from the early '70s, including Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and Aladdin Sane. He then went on to make more melodic magic with Mott the Hoople's Ian Hunter, before succumbing to cancer in '93 at the age of 46.

A couple of days ago hardcore Ronson devotee, guitarist, and instrument collector Rick Tedesco posted a clip about how he came to acquire the Les Paul that Ronson used to launch a thousand killer licks. He also shows off the other Ronson gear he's come by, everything from the rock legend's Marshall amp to his old screwdriver and batteries.

It's funny to hear Tedesco recall how UPS left the priceless instrument leaning up against the side of his house when it was delivered from Down Under in a cardboard box.

I also like the story about the guy who snuck backstage at a Hunter/Ronson show in the '80s and stole Ronson's guitar strap, then--many years later--sent it to Tedesco so it could be reunited with the instrument it was meant for. As Tedesco points out, some serious karma points were scored by that dude.

You can follow Steve Newton's wacky rock 'n' roll reminiscing on Twitter at twitter.com/earofnewt.