Eighty-eight-year-old Lorne Collie has been making musical instruments for more than three decades, creations that dazzle for their unique materials as much as their sound.

ThereB次元官网网址檚 a hefty bass guitar and a cello made of moose antlers, a baseball bat violin, ukuleles made of cookie tins, and guitars fashioned from pitch forks, a shovel, and a rake.

His personal favourites? A frying pan mandolin and a banjo made of a motorcycle tire rim, covered by stretched deerskin painted by his late wife.

B次元官网网址淲hen people wanted to buy them, I always said No,B次元官网网址� Collie said from his home outside the tiny and remote Manitoba community of Hilbre, about 230 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

B次元官网网址淚 wasnB次元官网网址檛 hurting for money, but what I was afraid of is that if I started selling them, I would be working myself to death to try to keep up to the orders.B次元官网网址�

Collie said he once turned down an offer of $35,000 for a moose antler electric guitar.

Now things have changed.

B次元官网网址淭hat was the policy back then,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 88 now and not as spry and lively as I used to be.B次元官网网址�

With the help of his son James who lives in Hope, B.C., Collie is hoping to sell some of his collection. The electric bass guitar is on sale for $8,000, and the cello for $6,500.

Collie said he needs the funds to upgrade his older model electric car to one with better range and speed, so he can see his large family.

B次元官网网址淚 would like to and I do quite a bit of travelling. My wife has passed on and IB次元官网网址檓 alone. IB次元官网网址檝e got 25 great grandchildren and theyB次元官网网址檙e all in Alberta and B.C.,B次元官网网址� Collie said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e got lots of reasons to drive.B次元官网网址�

Collie said he first put the antler instruments up for sale this summer, but while there were a few inquiries from Vancouver B次元官网网址渘obody came out to see them.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淵ou really have to see them to appreciate them,B次元官网网址� he said.

CollieB次元官网网址檚 instrument building began with a near-death experience that forced him to retire from his trade as a machinist.

He said he was B次元官网网址渨orking tremendous, long hours at a high stressB次元官网网址� job in the late 1980s, when he collapsed with a brain aneurysm that put him in a coma for more than a week.

B次元官网网址淭hat was supposed to have killed me,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hey wrote me off as dead.B次元官网网址�

Collie said he woke up with a clear head, and after a friend challenged him to B次元官网网址減ut strings on a shovel,B次元官网网址� he began making instruments from other odd, kitschy implements.

He said he walked into his workshop one day, saw a broken guitar on a workbench and a moose antler on another and B次元官网网址済ot the idea of putting them together.B次元官网网址�

Friends on a nearby First Nations reserve and a brother-in-law who maintains a trapline found the antlers and gave them to him.

The first antler instrument, a guitar, B次元官网网址渢urned out very, very good.B次元官网网址�

The antler doesnB次元官网网址檛 warp and itB次元官网网址檚 very strong, Collie said, adding that heB次元官网网址檚 had success with most materials, other than an ill-fated attempt at making a lap steel guitar from a snowshoe.

The moose antler bass guitar weighs nearly eight kilograms, he said, but itB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渙ne of the most comfortableB次元官网网址� instruments heB次元官网网址檚 made.

B次元官网网址淎nd it sounds good, just like a good solid-body electric guitar,B次元官网网址� Collie said.

Collie isnB次元官网网址檛 done yet with his unique instruments. He said he also wants to make a Celtic harp, but he needs B次元官网网址渇airly large antler with quite a deep curve in it.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not much of a musician,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚 can play any of them good enough to know if theyB次元官网网址檙e working, but IB次元官网网址檓 not a performer.B次元官网网址�

He likes the idea of a group of musicians getting together to do a B次元官网网址渢alent showB次元官网网址� with his creations, but if he can sell the antler bass and cello, heB次元官网网址檇 be happy B次元官网网址渏ust to know theyB次元官网网址檙e being enjoyed.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been making stuff my entire life,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚 was born for making things, thatB次元官网网址檚 for sure.B次元官网网址�