You can't deny that Mr. Elmore, of Richmond, California, possessed a unique artistic vision. He was also a little ahead of his time. Using laminated strips of mahogany and ash along with a few special plastic touches, he created these unique doublenecks in the early 1950s. Top: what looks like an 8-string octave mandolin paired with a 4-string standard mando. Bottom: a guitar/4-string mandolin that Elmore gave to unsung guitar hero Jimmy Luttrell. Both instruments now belong to a collector named Scott Schooling.