“I made an S out of it because it sucked”: Raven Slaughter was a ’70s Cleveland rock icon who sawed up a Gibson into his own custom guitar – now a hospice patient, he has visited his “old friend” at the Rock Hall

Main image–Outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, Cleveland, OH; Secondary Image–Raven Slaughter's S-shaped Gibson.

There are many ways to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For Raven Slaughter, a fixture of the Cleveland music scene going back to the 1970s, that means having his S-shaped guitar on full display at the prestigious Rock Hall.

Now in hospice care, Slaughter still makes the effort to visit his old friend, a Gibson Les Paul Junior, which he sawed up and transformed into a custom S-shaped guitar for what he deems a really good reason.