mjp
Founding member
It seems that someone has made a bass guitar stomp box just for Bukowski fans (maybe just for @Purple Stickpin).
Guitars, basses and other noisemakers
- Thread starter mjp
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mjp
Founding member
The announcement of the auction of the Black Beauty guitar notes that it “is the prototype for all Les Paul models produced by Gibson to this day.”
It is? I wonder what they used as the prototype for the Les Paul guitars that came before that one then? ;)
By the time the Les Paul Custom - the "Black Beauty" the article is talking about - came around they'd already been making and selling Les Pauls (goldtops) for a year or two. I suppose you could say the Custom is when they finally got the Les Paul right, because the first generation goldtops had a couple design flaws that made them pretty useless. But that's kind of splitting hairs. The Custom wasn't really "the prototype" for Les Pauls any way you look at it.
Every news site on earth will repeat that though, and the investment banker who buys the guitar will believe it.
Two million? No way. I don't even think it will top Dylan's Newport Strat. Those record setting guitar sale numbers are for rock star guitars. Les Paul was not Eric Clapton or Bob Dylan, despite his significance in the development of a now iconic guitar.
It is? I wonder what they used as the prototype for the Les Paul guitars that came before that one then? ;)
By the time the Les Paul Custom - the "Black Beauty" the article is talking about - came around they'd already been making and selling Les Pauls (goldtops) for a year or two. I suppose you could say the Custom is when they finally got the Les Paul right, because the first generation goldtops had a couple design flaws that made them pretty useless. But that's kind of splitting hairs. The Custom wasn't really "the prototype" for Les Pauls any way you look at it.
Every news site on earth will repeat that though, and the investment banker who buys the guitar will believe it.
Two million? No way. I don't even think it will top Dylan's Newport Strat. Those record setting guitar sale numbers are for rock star guitars. Les Paul was not Eric Clapton or Bob Dylan, despite his significance in the development of a now iconic guitar.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...-expensive-guitars-ever-sold-in-pictures.html
You're probably right about the 2, but at least a million, based on the needs and whimsies of the ultra-rich.
You're probably right about the 2, but at least a million, based on the needs and whimsies of the ultra-rich.
mjp
Founding member
Oh god. The "Bob Marley" Washburn.
Why is that in such a list? It's never been sold, and Bob likely never even played it (there aren't even any pictures of him holding it, or in the same room with it for that matter). More than ten years ago I had a long, painful dialog with the kook who owns that thing and pointed out where he was wrong on most of his points. But it was like trying to reason with a particularly stupid and delusional parakeet. Finally I said, "Fine, show me a picture of Bob with the guitar and I'll shut up and concede that the whole implausible story is true." He said he knew of a photo, was working on obtaining it and expected to have it "very soon." That was 10+ years ago. I'm still waiting.
What's really funny is that the Washburn he was trying to sell as Marley's 10 or 15 years ago isn't even the same Washburn he's showing in pictures now. Did Washburn gift a guitar to Marley at some point? Possibly, companies gave him a lot of stuff. But no one at Washburn has any record of them gifting an early production guitar to Marley, so that's unlikely.
It just goes to show that you can make any claim you'd like and most people will believe it without question, then defend their right to ignorance when you show them the truth. Find what you love and let it kill you, indeed.
- - -
Also, that list of biggest guitar sales is quite skewed, because Clapton sells so many of his guitars as charity fundraisers. People will pay more for those than they will at a regular for-profit auction, so those shouldn't even be included in any list that's trying to demonstrate how valuable certain instruments are.
Why is that in such a list? It's never been sold, and Bob likely never even played it (there aren't even any pictures of him holding it, or in the same room with it for that matter). More than ten years ago I had a long, painful dialog with the kook who owns that thing and pointed out where he was wrong on most of his points. But it was like trying to reason with a particularly stupid and delusional parakeet. Finally I said, "Fine, show me a picture of Bob with the guitar and I'll shut up and concede that the whole implausible story is true." He said he knew of a photo, was working on obtaining it and expected to have it "very soon." That was 10+ years ago. I'm still waiting.
What's really funny is that the Washburn he was trying to sell as Marley's 10 or 15 years ago isn't even the same Washburn he's showing in pictures now. Did Washburn gift a guitar to Marley at some point? Possibly, companies gave him a lot of stuff. But no one at Washburn has any record of them gifting an early production guitar to Marley, so that's unlikely.
It just goes to show that you can make any claim you'd like and most people will believe it without question, then defend their right to ignorance when you show them the truth. Find what you love and let it kill you, indeed.
- - -
Also, that list of biggest guitar sales is quite skewed, because Clapton sells so many of his guitars as charity fundraisers. People will pay more for those than they will at a regular for-profit auction, so those shouldn't even be included in any list that's trying to demonstrate how valuable certain instruments are.
mjp
Founding member
I thought you'd all like to know that I tightened the truss rod (for the first time) on a 30 year old Yamaha acoustic guitar. Guitar and mother are resting comfortably.
It's always nerve wracking to adjust the truss rod on an old guitar, but I get especially jinky doing it to an acoustic. I don't know why. They just seem fragile to me. Those thin bodies...all that tension...how do they do it?
It's always nerve wracking to adjust the truss rod on an old guitar, but I get especially jinky doing it to an acoustic. I don't know why. They just seem fragile to me. Those thin bodies...all that tension...how do they do it?
I used to feel that way, but the body doesn't really come into play with a truss rod adjustment. If it makes you feel better, if you put an index finger on the headstock and push the neck into position prior to turning the nut, it removes most all of the risk (well, except for the truss rod itself snapping). On an acoustic, that takes one person holding the body and the other moving the headstock and making the adjustment because of the nut location inside the soundhole. But on an electric, put it on the floor, put a knee on the body below the bridge, use your weak hand to push down lightly on the headstock, and adjust the truss rod nut at the headstock from right to left as you're looking on it. If you're loosening the TR, you don't need to worry so much.
Now, you probably know all this, so I'll just change the subject. What with the rotary dial phone, man? Are those things even legal? I'd love to see a teenager try to use it.
Now, you probably know all this, so I'll just change the subject. What with the rotary dial phone, man? Are those things even legal? I'd love to see a teenager try to use it.
mjp
Founding member
It's for calling old people.
Dewey Beats Truman!
mjp
Founding member
New Study Shows How Guitar Players' Brains Are Different from Everybody Else's
Well, one of the ways anyway.
Well, one of the ways anyway.
mjp
Founding member
John Lennon's long-lost Gibson guitar to go for auction.
To be auctioned off in November here in Los Angeles.
This one could go for a million. They estimate $600,000 to $800,000, but early Beatles gear doesn't exactly come onto the market every day.
If you don't have that kind of scratch lying around, you can get the auction catalog for "only" $100.
To be auctioned off in November here in Los Angeles.
This one could go for a million. They estimate $600,000 to $800,000, but early Beatles gear doesn't exactly come onto the market every day.
If you don't have that kind of scratch lying around, you can get the auction catalog for "only" $100.
Skygazer
And in the end...
Reading that reminded me of the bit in It Might Get Loud documentary with Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White) where White makes a Diddley bow; sounded hellish,:)
.A good documentary, where they met up was a bit awkward, they seemed shy and tentative, which was lovely, but I wish they had spent more time together before filming or something, but then the sweetness of it wouldn't have been there. The title was a complete misnomer, but worth a watch.
.A good documentary, where they met up was a bit awkward, they seemed shy and tentative, which was lovely, but I wish they had spent more time together before filming or something, but then the sweetness of it wouldn't have been there. The title was a complete misnomer, but worth a watch.
mjp
Founding member
I just read that in 2012 a Bigsby from a couple years after the Merle Travis guitar (1949) sold at auction for $266,500. Said to be only the 4th one he ever made.
I'd say for that kind of money people must be seeing these as important in the history of electric guitars. A quarter million is rarefied territory.
You know, I've never known a musician - at any level of skill or fame - that wasn't up to learn a new technique or trick or lick. I know Simmons and Carol Kaye were being filmed, but that would have probably gone down the same way if there were no cameras in the room. It kind of reminds me that when you get right down to it, those guys in KISS are actually musicians, which is easy to forget in the face of the reality TV, basic rawk and tired spectacle.
mjp
Founding member
And now I just inadvertently bought this.
How do you inadvertently buy something? By putting in a lowball offer that you never think will be accepted. Same way I got the coral colored Gibson Vixen in this thread (and the Bukowski book/painting in another recent thread).
Oh well, I've been looking for a clean example of this thing for a long, long time and this is the cleanest one I've ever seen, so I'm not going to cry about it.
What's so great about this? Well, it's essentially half a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus (without the chorus, which is a bit too mired in the sound of the 80s to be useful anymore). The Jazz Chorus has a reputation of being one of the cleanest amps ever, which makes it great for the reggae music that the kids are so kooky about. But the Jazz Chorus is a 120 watt 2 x 12 combo which also has the reputation of being way too fucking loud for anything but a big venue. So this is the perfect smaller version of that monster. Since I don't play in any venue.
How do you inadvertently buy something? By putting in a lowball offer that you never think will be accepted. Same way I got the coral colored Gibson Vixen in this thread (and the Bukowski book/painting in another recent thread).
Oh well, I've been looking for a clean example of this thing for a long, long time and this is the cleanest one I've ever seen, so I'm not going to cry about it.
What's so great about this? Well, it's essentially half a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus (without the chorus, which is a bit too mired in the sound of the 80s to be useful anymore). The Jazz Chorus has a reputation of being one of the cleanest amps ever, which makes it great for the reggae music that the kids are so kooky about. But the Jazz Chorus is a 120 watt 2 x 12 combo which also has the reputation of being way too fucking loud for anything but a big venue. So this is the perfect smaller version of that monster. Since I don't play in any venue.
Nice score. They make good shit.
mjp
Founding member
mjp
Founding member
1980 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe with rare "Second" Stamp. Rough but great neck.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-Gibson...ond-Stamp-Rough-but-great-neck-/281870976920?
Now that's marketing at its finest, drawing attention to a flaw and characterizing it as "rare."
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-Gibson...ond-Stamp-Rough-but-great-neck-/281870976920?
Now that's marketing at its finest, drawing attention to a flaw and characterizing it as "rare."
mjp
Founding member
Ever wonder what the first record was to use a "fuzz" effect? It wasn't a rock record, it was session player Grady Martin, playing on a Marty Robbins record.
The first fuzz box was the Gibson Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone, which was invented by Nashville studio engineer Glen Snoddy, the guy who worked on the Marty Robbins record. But that's not the FZ-1 on the Marty Robbins record. It's a faulty tube amp module on the studio console. They left the sound of the broken module in the recording, and then Snoddy spent a few months trying to emulate the sound with transistors. When he got the circuit sounding the way he liked, he took it to Gibson and they had a flash of foresight and made the Maestro.
No one bought it though. No one could figure out what to do with it. Until Keith Richards got his hands on one and used it on Satisfaction. Then suddenly everyone knew what it was for. It's worth mentioning though that the FZ-1 sound on Satisfaction was heavily EQed in the studio. You couldn't just plug one in between a guitar and an amp and get the Satisfaction sound.
Grady Martin isn't playing a guitar on that lead break on the record by the way, it's a Danelectro six string bass.
The first fuzz box was the Gibson Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone, which was invented by Nashville studio engineer Glen Snoddy, the guy who worked on the Marty Robbins record. But that's not the FZ-1 on the Marty Robbins record. It's a faulty tube amp module on the studio console. They left the sound of the broken module in the recording, and then Snoddy spent a few months trying to emulate the sound with transistors. When he got the circuit sounding the way he liked, he took it to Gibson and they had a flash of foresight and made the Maestro.
No one bought it though. No one could figure out what to do with it. Until Keith Richards got his hands on one and used it on Satisfaction. Then suddenly everyone knew what it was for. It's worth mentioning though that the FZ-1 sound on Satisfaction was heavily EQed in the studio. You couldn't just plug one in between a guitar and an amp and get the Satisfaction sound.
Grady Martin isn't playing a guitar on that lead break on the record by the way, it's a Danelectro six string bass.
^Good stuff. In a related story, those moderately distorted chords at the beginning of Street Fighting Man were played on an acoustic guitar held by Keef very close to the condenser mic on a cheap cassette player. I have a feeling that I've already posted this before, but I'm running out of material, don't you know.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USED-1991-M...643670?hash=item1a0dcc5156:g:Z24AAOSw5dNWq9Xe
Looking to possibly buy this as a gift. Description says there is a "hairline" crack in the lacquer, not in the
wood. Is it reasonable to assume that it could develop into a wood crack? Anybody have experience with
buying instruments off eBay? I know dick about it, so any opinion is welcome.
Looking to possibly buy this as a gift. Description says there is a "hairline" crack in the lacquer, not in the
wood. Is it reasonable to assume that it could develop into a wood crack? Anybody have experience with
buying instruments off eBay? I know dick about it, so any opinion is welcome.
I've bought instruments on ebay with mixed results. That seller has 100% positive feedback and over 2,000 ratings, and that's not easy to do if you're messing with people.
If you look at the crack, it doesn't appear to line up with a particular line in the grain, but it is oriented with the grain. That looks like a scratch as opposed to a crack to me. If it were finish checking (caused by moving the instrument from cold to warm climates without sufficient time to acclimate), you would expect to see more of it, so it's not finish checking. That means it's either a lacquer crack or a wood and lacquer crack. I'd contact them and express your concerns. There's no guarantee that it could develop into a wood crack, but it happened at that spot for a reason. Lacquer cracks because the wood is moving.
If you look at the crack, it doesn't appear to line up with a particular line in the grain, but it is oriented with the grain. That looks like a scratch as opposed to a crack to me. If it were finish checking (caused by moving the instrument from cold to warm climates without sufficient time to acclimate), you would expect to see more of it, so it's not finish checking. That means it's either a lacquer crack or a wood and lacquer crack. I'd contact them and express your concerns. There's no guarantee that it could develop into a wood crack, but it happened at that spot for a reason. Lacquer cracks because the wood is moving.
mjp
Founding member
Or - a crack in the finish wouldn't make the wood any more or less vulnerable to a crack in the same spot. It's just cosmetic. If it's a crack. Like PS said it kind of looks like a scratch.
I've bought and sold a lot of guitars on eBay, but never an acoustic. Curious why you're going used, and why that '91? If you want used used you can get a 60s or 70s Martin with a lot more "history" for about the same price. But maybe you don't want to give something that looks all worn out.
I've bought and sold a lot of guitars on eBay, but never an acoustic. Curious why you're going used, and why that '91? If you want used used you can get a 60s or 70s Martin with a lot more "history" for about the same price. But maybe you don't want to give something that looks all worn out.
Used because new I think msrp runs around $2600-3000. I think the older Martins lack truss rods, which
I figured made them more difficult to deal with. Other than that, no real reason. I enjoy shopping.
It's for my kid who's been playing for years and thought might dig it.
I figured made them more difficult to deal with. Other than that, no real reason. I enjoy shopping.
It's for my kid who's been playing for years and thought might dig it.
I wouldn't look at the lack of a truss rod as being a bad thing. Martin used an ebony sandwich technique early on and used a metal T-bar in the mid 20th century. I have two basses with no truss rod; one is a double bass and the other is an electric. Of course, the necks are beefy. Martin knew what they were doing, so don't avoid an older one just because it may lack a truss rod.
And you get bonus points for not calling it a trust rod. :aerb:
And you get bonus points for not calling it a trust rod. :aerb:
mjp
Founding member
Lucky kid.
I played junk when I was a kid. But then very few people start on a pro instrument.