Rob Angelo
Bloodless Coup/Ex Iron Maiden
Rob Angelo, lead guitarist with blues rock combo Bloodless Coup has become the proud owner of a Vintage® VS6MRF "The Fool" guitar. Like many fledgling guitarists of the time, the original instrument - owned by Eric Clapton whilst in Cream, and painted by Dutch pyschedelic art collective 'The Fool' - and what it represented made a huge impact fans of the bands' unique take on high volume blues rock; fans such as a mid-teenaged Rob Angelo.

"I first saw a the "fool SG" Guitar® on the cover of (legendary UK musicians' magazine) 'Beat Instrumental' as a schoolboy," recalls Rob. "I was playing in youth club bands as a 14-15 year old at the time. My first reaction was 'Jeez...look at Clapton! I was stunned by his visual image, but far more so by the guitar. I knew what it was, but the psychedelic paint job was mindblowing !! (this was 1967 after all...)'Since then, and over many years of playing in bands (including stints in early versions of NWOBHM bands such as IRON MAIDEN and PRAYING MANTIS) Rob often thought about the "Fool" guitar, but never thought that he would get to play one...then, to his delight, he found the Vintage VS6MRF tribute version for sale in the Ivor Mairants Music Centre in London, tried it ('A big CREAM medley at tortuous volume!' exclaims Rob!), and it was an instant purchase, no question.'Funnily enough,' continues Rob, 'our tour manager in Praying Mantis was a chap called Bob Adcock, who was tour manager for CREAM, back in those heady days of 1967...'