Guitar Pickers on the endless road with
Tommy Emmanuel
& His Gibson Custom 1954 Les Paul Custom REVIEWS
• Eastwood Delta 6 • Riversong Guitar Seattle Sunset Tradition CDN Deluxe Custom • Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec Pedals NOV/DEC 2014
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The Estil Dill Stratocaster Story
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FROM ONE COLLECTOR TO ANOTHER...
Year One... Done This issue wraps up our first year of publishing Collectible Guitar magazine. Our first six issues – Wow – time flies. I remember being so excited about our first issue (1901 Martin 00-27/ Vince Gill) being unveiled at the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim and the Orange County Guitar Show the same weekend. That was amazing!
• 1959 Les Paul/Gordon Kennedy stories all come together. • 1955 Stratocaster/Tommy Emmanuel We have had a lot of great experiences and Robby Krieger. with both vintage and boutique guitars, Man, time flies when you are having amps and pedals this year. What we get fun (no matter how many hours you are to call work, some would pray for vacaworking at it right?) tions of. Our stable of writers is growI am grateful to the writers, readers, ad- ing and feature stories are surfacing more vertisers, photographers and friends who and more.
all contributed with their time, money Then each issue seemed to develop a and/or talent to making this magazine’s personality of it’s own – both with truly first year a success! special collectible guitars and with talEach issue it seems a loose plan forms ented guitarists… and then stone upon stone it starts to • Gibson Flying V/Richie Furay build. Sometimes a theme will arise (this • 1970 Sparkle Strat/Paul Reed Smith issue is “the road”). Sometimes an idea • Hendrix Coral Electric Sitar/Terry Fos- for an article will come unexpectedly out ter of nowhere… but somehow the guitar
Jan/Feb: Vince Gill
We are already gearing up for 2015 and we have a few surprises in the works for you, our readers. Come along and be part of the community. Thank you all! Bruce & Judy
Jul/Aug: Terry Foster
Sep/Oct: Gordon Kennedy
Mar/Apr: Richie Furay The GuiTar Doesn’T Fall Far From The Family Tree
Korina, Korina Richie Furay's Guitar Life ~ REVIEWS ~ DoyLE DykEs sIgNATuRE 12 sTRINg cuTAWAy By guILD shIN’s MusIc DuMBLoID TWIN pEDAL
an inTerview wiTh
GorDon KenneDy
~ FEATURES ~ WILL McFARLANE: ThREE oF ThE BEsT shoppINg DAys I’vE EvER hAD To BE (A LuThIER), oR NoT To BE (A LAWyER) McphERsoN guITARs: A LEssoN IN ExcELLENcE
vFE pEDALs... hELpINg you FIND youR souND AND MoRE... SEP/OCT 2014
MARch/ApRIL 2014
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Dobro Model 206 “The ‘Holy Grail’ of Prewar Dobros”
REVIEWS • Palir ClassiC T6 Paisley T-sTyle • 3 Monkeys - THe oranguTan Jr. • easTMan e20ss aCousTiC 8/28/14 10:51 AM
Guitar Pickers on the endless road with
Tommy EmmanuEl
The Estil Dill Stratocaster Story
& His Gibson Custom 1954 Les Paul Custom REVIEWS • Eastwood dElta 6 • RIVERsoNG tRadItIoN CdN dEluxE sEattlE suNsEt • CatalINbREad bEllE EpoCh & EChoREC pEdals NOV/DEC 2014
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Check out Collectible Guitar’s previous issues at issuu.com/collectibleguitar
Editor & President: Bruce Adolph bruce@collectibleguitar.com VP/Office Manager: Judy Adolph Street Team: Mike Adolph, Jesse Hill & Winston 4227 S. Meridian, Suite C PMB #275, Puyallup Washington 98373 Phone: 253.445.1973 Fax: 253.655.5001 www.CollectibleGuitar.com Published by The Adolph Agency, Inc. ©2014 The Adolph Agency Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any portion of this magazine may not be used or reproduced without the expressed consent of The Adolph Agency, Inc.
6 :: NOV/DEC 14 :: COLLECTIBLEGUITAR.COM
10/29/14 7:37 AM
Nov/Dec: Tommy Emmanuel & Robby Krieger
Design & Layout: Matt Kees Photographer/Advisor: Joe Riggio Customer Service: Brian Felix, brian@collectibleguitar.com Director of Advertising: Steve Sattler steve@creativesalesresource.com 626-836-3106 Advertising Sales: Drew Adolph, drew@collectibleguitar.com
FEATURES ROBBY KRIEGER & His Gibson Custom 1954 Les Paul Custom
Road Gold: 1967 Bandmaster Part 1
40
Honor Where Honor is Due: The Passing of Stanley Jay
36
52
Guitar Pickers: The Estil Dill Stratocaster Story
14
cover photo by Joe Riggio
10 The One That Didn’t Get Away The Larry Robbins Silver, MetalFlake, Sunburst Stratocaster by Rick King
on the endless road with
TOMMY EMMANUEL
24
COLUMNS 18 State of the Union The Refin Mystique by Dave Belzer 32 The Fretboard Less Traveled by Rich Severson
12 Pedal Snapshot by Phil Traina
46 A Guitar Festival is Born: The Tacoma Guitar Festival
17 All About Amps What About Recapping? by Skip Simmons
REVIEWS
State of the Union
18
34 Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec by Michael Elsner
50 View of the Day Over The Atlantic by Dave Cleveland The One That Didn’t Get Away
10
43 Eastwood’s Delta 6 Electric Resonator Guitar by Bruce Adolph
34 48 43
Riversong Guitar Seattle Sunset Tradition CDN Deluxe Custom by Bruce Adolph
48 COLLECTIBLEGUITAR.COM :: NOV/DEC 14 :: 7
THE ONE THAT DIDN’T GET AWAY by Rick King
The Larry Robbins Silver, Metal-Flake, Sunburst Stratocaster
I don’t know where my fascination for all things “metal flake” occurred. It was probably the sparkle banana seat of my first stingray bicycle. When my interest pointed toward electric guitars, I tried to buy every sparkle guitar I could find, from an Italian EKO 4 pick to a 1963 Purple Sparkle Telecaster.
photos by Joe Riggio
While attending a Seattle guitar show, about 15 years ago, the typical late afternoon doldrums had set in. Someone asked me if I had looked at the 64 metal-flake Strat that was walking around. Shortly thereafter, a gentleman approached me with a black-tolex case in hand. He explained that his father, in the early 60’s, was in a Fullerton, California surf group called “The Blazers”. The group released two instrumental surf 45’s in 1963 on Acree Records. His father, Larry Robbins, was actually the saxophone player. He said his father had dated Kathy Marshall, the “Queen of the Surf Guitar” back then. The Blazers, and the group Eddie and the Showman, often backed Kathy Marshall in her live performances. Together, Larry, Kathy and Eddie Bertrand all approached Fender to arrange to get them each silver, metal-
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flake Stratocasters. Unfortunately we couldn’t make a deal on the guitar at that show, but I left my business card with him in hopes that someday he would call. I thought about that guitar a lot over the last 15 years. Forward to the summer of 2014, when I received a late night call from my dear friend Joe Riggio, who informed me that a local vintage guitar shop just received a 1964 “Sparkle Strat”. I knew exactly what it was… the “Larry Robbins” Strat. I immediately called the guitar shop owner and we agreed on a fair price. Upon further inspection back at my shop, I realized that the custom finish work was that of Dennis Swiden. A Fullerton, California native, Dennis painted custom metal flake finishes for Fender, ran a local sound company and was often hired as the sound man for Dick Dale and the Del Tones. Dennis is responsible for painting Dick Dale’s famous gold metal-flake Stratocaster “The Beast” and the Del Tones guitars, including the Jazzmaster I spoke of in a previous article. According to a series of phone interviews by “guitarcheologist”, Mark Bonney, Dennis stated that he also painted the gold-leaf Fender Jaguar from the movie “Bye, Bye Birdie” as well as guitars for the Beach Boys and Mosrites for the Ventures and other surf groups. Dennis said he charged $30.00 for each paint job and would usually simply pick guitars up at the Fender Service Center while parking in George Fullerton’s spot. Mark asked Dennis if they were assembled guitars or just raw bodies. Dennis said they were mostly off the assembly line, but sometimes, just primed or raw wood. George Fullerton usually handled the exchange at the Service Center, but one time Leo himself provided the
bodies and helped Dennis get them into the trunk of his car. Although it may be difficult to establish the finish-
es as “Fender” color options, Dennis stated Fender offered custom options on their brochures. He painted 20 or 30 “Candy Apple” finishes for Fender for trade shows and some display pieces for a dealer in Pico Rivera. This included a metal flake Duo Sonic, advertising the band “The Champs”, who had the hit song “Tequila”, at the time. Dennis also claimed he painted the first paisley guitars for Fender, using a doily as a stencil. My dreams of an extensive interview with Dennis Swiden ended, when I discovered he had passed away in Texas last February. Denny was a true pioneer and a revolutionary. His legacy lives on in the guitars he finished. Rick King is the owner of Guitar Maniacs in Tacoma Washington. He lives in Gig Harbor with his wife Sheila, two dogs and a cat. Contact Rick: rickking58@gmail.com
10 :: NOV/DEC 14 :: COLLECTIBLEGUITAR.COM
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PEDAL SNAPSHOT by Phil Traina Pettyjohn Pre Drive $399.00PCB or $599.00 Handwired pettyjohnelectronics.com Petty john is a fresh faced company in an industry that is difficult to break into and succeed. What makes these guys any different? Steve Pettyjohn is an audio engineer who fell in love with how different mic preamps affected the tone of his microphones in the studio. The Predrive came about when he was trying to figure out how to translate that idea to the guitar. The Pettyjohn Predrive is designed to be first in the signal chain after your guitar. There are a couple different ways to run the pedal. As a straight preamp, low to medium gain, and you can add in the boost function as well. It was pretty simple to dial in the Predrive. The input, output and mix levels on top of the high and low pass filter gives you high tweakability while maintaining your hi fidelity tone. Overall it just made my rig sound better. I sense a great future for the Pettyjohn crew. The Predrive is a cool and different pedal, perfect for players who have a pedal board or need to upgrade their tone. Walrus Audio Decent ($299.00) www.walrusaudio.com The Decent at first glance may seem just like another reverb pedal…but it’s so much more. This highly tweakable ambient reverb can run the gambit from classic yet great hall reverb to over the top ambient shimmered octaves. The reverse mode takes your signal and flips it to give you a smooth playback. The Decent can add a level of texture you can’t find in most reverb pedals. Even while having a small amount of reverb in the background, my tone seemed to lift and support the sound coming from my amp. From indie rock to praise and worship the Decent has your reverb needs in spades. If you are looking for an ambient style verb that you don’t have to bank through a bunch of settings to find what you want, the Decent is your pedal. It does have a slightly larger footprint than the competition but it packs the punch worthy of a little more pedalboard real estate.
Juliet Collective Orange Cream ($150) thejulietcollective.com The Orange Cream is a simple overdrive/ fuzz pedal. It’s pretty straight forward. The most obvious difference is the looks of this pedal… it’s a cylinder. Hand crafted by the builder this enclosure is not your typical box. The Orange Cream is very touch sensitive to pick attack. One of my favorite parts of this pedal is how I could add in some of the fuzz to my drive tone. I had one issue with the pedal and that was when I rolled the volume off on my guitar it squealed at me. But to be perfectly honest it didn’t bother me that much because the tone was so usable in every other position. I would recommend possibly using a loop or just use it “volume up” all the time. Shin’s Music Tokyo Clean Drive ($450) dumbloidpedal@gmail.com There is not a lot of info out there about the clean drive. Shin Suzuki created this pedal over 20 years ago. In Japan the clean drive is one of his best sellers. It hit the US market on the coat tail of the Dumbloid pedal. After many tone hounds have played the clean drive - the praise is pretty unanimous… killer low to medium gain drive pedal. But it’s different than anything we’ve heard to date. The texture it gives and the touch sensitivity is awesome… what you give it, it gives it right back. I was able to take a darker fender style amp and add the top end and sparkle back in to comp vox style tones. I was also able to dial the tone back on my vox style rig and bring it into fender territory. It could also be an “always on” kind of pedal. If you need a really cool boost or you want to take your pushed amp over the edge the Clean Drive can do it. Shin nails the amp feel in his pedals. They are not just an effect, they become part of your sound. Thank you Vision Guitar in San Jose CA for the photo. Moog Minifoogers I came across Moog products years ago in my search for the ultimate delay, the MF104M Super delay and Analog Delay were always at the top of the “Cool Delay”
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list. Out of Asheville NC, Moog has been known for keyboard related products for years. In fact they are and were the pioneers in the synthesizer world. The Mini Moog synth was the catalyst that brought synths to the mainstream and to popular music. Fast forward quite a few years and here we are with the Minifooger pedals. These pedals are specifically designed with the guitar player in mind. They came out with five great pedals and I wanted to hit on all of them. We have a boost, a drive, a tremolo, a ring modulator and a delay. With these pedals one can control some parameters with an expression pedal, sold separately. Let’s start with the MF Boost. ($149.00) This is not your normal boost style pedal, in fact there is very little boost at all. If you have the exp pedal plugged in you can get more boost up to 18db. It really is more of an enhancer, giving your tone a 3D imaging character that is subtle, yet fantastic. The biggest affect I had with the boost is when I stacked it with other drive pedals. It really helped with the core tone I was going for. The controls are simple gain, boost switch, tone and level. The main thing worth noting with this pedal is the boost switch. When in the up position you will get more boost, in the down position it’s more of the enhancement function. The MF Tremolo was a personal favorite ($189.00) Shape, changes your wave form of the trem effect. Speed, determines how fast or slow the rate is. You can get lush almost transcendental tones to faster rotary style sounds. Depth control goes from very subtle to a drop off horse gallop. The tone control only effects the tremolo sound the dry signal is unaffected. It can make the sound more pointed or more rounded off. The expression function is tied to the speed, making it easier to dial in the tempo on the fly. I loved the tones I was getting from this box. There is nothing like a pure analog tremolo. continued on page 20
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Guitar Pickers
The Estil Dill Stratocaster Story by Bruce Adolph & Joe Riggio
I first met Larry Dill (Estil’s son) at an annual summer music festival, in the great state of Washington, where every year I produce a gear give-away of an autographed guitar, signed by the performing artists. Larry is the house photographer for the festival, so he shot promotional photos of the autographed guitar.
photos by Joe Riggio
One year, Larry told me that he was considering selling his father’s old Fender Stratocaster. I told him that whenever he was ready, I would love to talk with him about it. This conversation continued through the years, but never came to the point where Larry was really ready to talk about letting go of the fabled “Old Strat”. When our
paths didn’t cross, I always remembered egon. Larry and wondered where he was with his It seems Larry’s father had quite a musical plans to sell. family. Estil’s uncle Guy Smith was the songFast-forward to this year and now Larry writer who wrote the country classic: “Great contacted me before the festival and told Speckled Bird”, a song that Hank Williams me he was getting closer to selling it. I said claims boosted his career (it was also recordplease let me know as I know someone who ed by Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff). Estil’s can help verify what he has and I might also wife’s uncle was Parker Riley Hatfield who have a possible buyer lined up for him. We grew up in Middleton, Arkansas. Growmet and talked at the festival about it and ing up Parker’s friend and music partner started the conversation that would turn out was Chet Atkins. The family stories always to be the impeteus of this intriguing guitar claimed that Parker and Chet had identical road trip. Larry told me his father’s story and musical taste and playing styles. Rumor has how he came about buying a 1956 Fender it, they would sit on the front porch and play Stratocaster and a 1959 Fender Deluxe amp together for hours. Parker later was driving from a small music store in Newberg, Or- home from a dance and crashed his pick-up truck breaking his right arm. Parker taught himself to play left handed and carried on as a guitarist (he was that good).
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Estil was born a true hillbilly and naturally grew up immersed in Country Music. During the 1950’s, he played an acoustic guitar in the church where he lived one short block from. One night the church caught fire and burned to the ground. All of the church showed up to witness the event except Estil and his family, who slept right through it! His acoustic guitar was destroyed in the fire. His insurance company paid him $50.00 to replace it, at which point some musician friends suggested that a new guitar and amp from the Fender company might be in order. The town next store (Newburg, OR) had a music store that carried Fender products and Estil ventured over to have a look. The $50
in insurance money was only a start, when $600.00 later, (which was a lot of money back then) he came home with a 1956 Stratocaster guitar and a 1959 Deluxe amp. Larry still has fond memories of when folks would visit every week at their house. The women would usually fix food and the men would play instruments and sing. By the end of the night the whole group would join in, singing old favorites and the popular church songs of the day. As the years progressed and the “Old Strat” became more and more valuable, Estil’s plan was to keep the Strat, as an investment for retirement. He always handled it with extreme care, as it was not to be sold, but rather used as a nest egg when he got older. In the 1980’s two events changed the course of his plan. Estil worked at a machine shop and in an unfortunate turn of events, he lost three fingertips from his left hand. Two years later tragedy
struck again when he lost his right thumb in another machine shop accident. (Ouch! My fingers are cringing just writing this). Estil passed away several years ago and the gear was passed down to Larry. So, for the last 30 years or so, this Stratocaster guitar and Deluxe amp have been idle. Larry told me they were both in very nice condition. I gathered my resident vintage expert (and friend to this magazine) Joe Riggio and the prospective buyer of the gear together and the three of us drove the four-hour drive from Tacoma, WA to Sheridan, OR (a ten minute drive from Newburg where the guitar and amp where originally bought). After driving through many twisted turns and dirt roads, we finally arrived where Larry greeted us with his “tweed ensemble”. Joining the party, hosted by the Strat and the Deluxe amp was a 1959 Tremolux amp and a 1962 Fender Mandolin (a four string electric
The Estil Dill StRATOCASTER Story solid body). After the initial shock of seeing that much beauty in the same room, Joe went to work verifying the originality of the guitar and amp. Upon inspection, all points looked great; the Bakelite parts on the Strat were in unusually great condition (often times they are badly cracked or crumbled), the neck showed some usual wear between the first seven frets but it looked like Estil never hit above the 12th fret even once. The back of the neck looked brand new and aside from a very small bit of “coily-cord-left-in-thecase-reacting-to-the-guitar’s-finish” rash on the bottom and top of the body, it all painted a very beautiful picture. The only scary part was Estil had used an old label maker to place his name in the middle of the headstock. Yikes! I know everyone used to mark their names on their property back then but really? Thankfully, the adhesive from the old label had dried out over the years and it lifted from the headstock, leaving minimal signs! The body was made of one-piece of Swamp Ash, which dated this guitar to, at the latest, early 1956 (serial numbers are not too accurate during this time). Everything looked untouched and original and the story line was strong, so Larry and the three of us decided there was no need to trouble the guitar by removing the neck, at this time. The original tweed case was extremely clean as well and the Deluxe amp was equally pristine. Upon removal, it was clear that the back panel of the amp had likely never even been off of it: just a beautiful combination of guitar and amp. Oh, did I mention that the guitar had a set of very old flatwound strings on it? The kind they don’t even make any more? I’ll bet those strings are well over 30 years old.
spective buyer had today’s reality pricing in his head, where you can find some nice 50’s Strats for much less. We stated our case that prices were much different, in today’s market, and showed Larry some recent sales that reflected our stand. Larry’s argument was a good one as he stated, “Where else will you find a Strat in this good of shape?” After digesting this newly acquired information, Larry responded by putting a new price on the table, that was an honest reaction to this reality. The buyer’s response was that if he was laying out a purely cash offer, he wanted to have some amount of equity in the deal, incase the market took another hit and the collectibles market falls right along with the stock market prices. Both were good points, but the two were still thousands of dollars apart…a significant difference! The talks seemed to break down a bit, so the three of us went outside to get some fresh county air, while Larry took a personal phone call. The So now the negotiations began and let me buyer, even though we had driven over four tell you: this part wasn’t easy. Like so many hours to get there, stated that, “If the price long-time owners, Larry had been aware of wasn’t right, I’m ready to walk away from the 2008 pricing on old Strats, before the the deal”. That sobering comment hung in market crash, so he had visions of inflated the warm sunshine with a sad undertone… prices, that once were (or at least the hope Then Joe spoke up and said, “Yes, you can of settling for most of that figure). My pro-
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walk away at any point here, but I have to tell you that this is the nicest early 50’s Stratocaster I have ever seen”. Wowzers, that comment brought a new resolve into the situation… a resolve to try again! The three of us walked back into the house and Larry had returned as well. The conversation drifted to the Fender Deluxe amp and a package deal was finally hammered out, after going round and round for what seemed an eternity. Both parties met right in the middle and a mutual compromise was finally consummated. A separate deal was made on the second amp – the Tremolux (it had some issues and was certainly more beat up over the years). This just left the Mandolin, as the fourth offering, but the two sides were again quite polarized price-wise (argh.. this was hard to watch), so they both decided not to pursue the Mando any further. Hard cash was exchanged, hands were shook and the guitar and two amps were loaded in the back of the car for the trip home. On the way back all three of us couldn’t believe what great condition the Stratocaster and Deluxe where in and how that, for more than fifty years, the gear had continued on page 22
ALL ABOUT AMPS with Skip Simmons
What About Recapping? As a busy repairman, I get to talk with a lot of different musicians and fans of vintage gear. Some are touring pros, some play at home and some are collectors or dealers. Some people have tube recording gear, some have silver face Fender Twins, some have tweed Fender Champs, some have amps that are seventy years old and some have what I consider to be “new,” i.e. amps from the 1980’s or newer. It’s a big world of amps out there and I deal with all kinds of amps and all kinds of people every day. It’s not always black-and-white and I take each repair as a separate job - what does the owner want? Is the amp going out on the road or just sitting in a collection? Is it a pre-war Gibson EH-100 or a Marshall JCM 800? The goal is to optimize that particular amp for the customer. This is a bedrock principal of my amp repair philosophy. First, let’s define “recap.” Back in the nineties, when “how-to” articles began appearing in magazines, recapping meant just that - replacing every single capacitor in the amp. It did NOT mean just replacing “electrolytic” caps, which admittedly have a certain lifespan and will eventually go bad. Some authors promoted the idea that replacing a good original coupling or tone cap with an “upgraded” cap would “improve” the tone of a classic amp. The end result was an awful lot of old amps that were full of Orange Drops and other well-meaning but misguided choices and a lot of disappointed amp owners! Today, recapping is usually defined as replacing electrolytic caps only, especially the big filter caps used in the power supply. Filter caps certainly do go bad and I replace lots of them, but I don’t consider
it a “must”, especially on amps from the 1980’s or newer. Replacing them will absolutely not cause a loss of tone or make the amp sound less “vintage.” Coupling caps and caps used in tone circuits are a different story. I usually suggest leaving them in a classic vintage amp as long as they test good. Replacing them can have a BIG effect on tone. If you are interested in modifications and the sonic changes that can result from substituting components, experiment with common amps from the 1970’s or modern hard-wired amps. Printed circuit board amps are tougher to work on, but certain models like the Fender Blues Junior are also popular platforms. Servicing should always come before parts replacement and here is a service tip for Marshalls that illustrates this point perfectly. The filter caps will often have their “negative” connection made by soldering to a ring terminal that is bolted to the chassis. On JCM 800 (or older) amps, the little nut is OFTEN loose and, therefore, the filter cap has a poor ground connection. You might think about tightening it before deciding that the cap needs to be replaced! Skip Simmons is a nationally known vintage amp repairman. He can be reached at SkipSimmonsAmps.com
STATE OF THE UNION by David Belzer
The Refin Mystique missing. I have always found it easier to find a clean 100% original vintage Strat or Tele than a great refinished one, which brings me to what makes a great re-fin and where does pricing fall on one.
The ultimate for the refin buyer is to find one that only the body has been refinished and the neck was left untouched along with hopefully, all the electronics. The thinking behind that is simple. If the neck has been refinished the chances are that the contour and radius may have been altered changing the feel and playability. If the neck has been sprayed with newer lacquer or poly, it’s not going 1958 Fender Stratocaster refinished to feel, sound or play like an old guitar. It’s going to feel like There are many things a new one. Sure the finish can in this world that be aged (that’s a whole subject collectors will acquire on it’s own) but aging a finish and restore to their is not the same as if someone original condition to actually played the guitar and increase their value. And naturally wore it in. Remember then there are vintage if a body has been refinished guitars, which are in their that means someone probably most valuable condition did not just paint over the when they are in their old finish, but they probably most original condition, removed the old finish. That and any restoration or involves sanding off old paint modification decreases as well as some of the wood. If the value. Not everyone this is not done carefully, one knows this, so with good can actually change the contour intentions, some owners of the body. A good eye can have unknowingly spot a body refin from across overly optimistic. These days the real decreased the value of the room if over sanding has changed answer is that I can try, but it’s unlikely their vintage guitar by refinishing the contours. that one will turn up easily. A good refin body or changing the parts, thus creating Of course if the electronics have been an alternate option in the vintage market gets snatched up pretty quick. – the refin. Many of us are looking for that old altered or changed that too will not I am often asked by buyers if I can refin vintage guitar that is reasonably only affect value but the sound of the find them a great refinished 50’s or 60’s priced, all to mostly original (except for instrument too. Stratocaster or Telecaster, one that is the finish) and plays and sounds killer. Back in the day before the value of a great playing and sounding guitar Well, I have to say I have been doing vintage guitars began to skyrocket, that had only the body refinished and this now for well over 35 years and I can the general rule of thumb was a good, everything else correct. Most of the probably count the guitars I have come mostly original, refinished guitar was time, I tell them I will keep an eye out across that fit that description on one about half the value (give or take) of a and if I find anything I will let them hand. The more I think about it, maybe clean original one of the same model. know, but the reality is that I am being it’s even one hand with a finger or two Now that was all well and good back 18 :: NOV/DEC 14 :: COLLECTIBLEGUITAR.COM
1950 Fender Broadcaster refinished
1951 Fender Nocaster refinished
when a 50’s black guard Telecaster was 8k-10k. Paying 3k to maybe 5k was reasonable for a great refin and players could afford that. Now, fast forward to 2004-06, when clean original blackguard’s where fetching upward of 60-70k. Did that all of a sudden make the price of a refin 30-35k? No, it didn’t. Even though some people might have thought that and tried asking those inflated prices, it never happened. From what I remember at the height of the frenzy, maybe 12k to 15k was top dollar for a good refin. Maybe it would be 20k for a very rare model (no-caster, broadcaster, 1954 Strat) with original parts.
changed? That’s a biggie with me! I have passed on a number of 50’s Gibson’s just because of that. All these things and more play a part in determining the value. Of course, how the guitar plays and sounds is just as important towards the value. I will be the first to admit that on a number of occasions I have paid a premium for a great sounding instrument just because of the sound, especially with regards to acoustic guitars, overlooking originality and condition. Being in Los Angeles for 25 years has taught me that producers and artists could care less how a guitar looks if it sounds awesome.
So, there are lots of things to look at in regards to refinished guitars, but one of the From my prospective, and I think I most important things to know is how to speak for most dealers, the majority of be able to tell if it is a refin. Check out the refinished guitars are valued by the sum pictures…could you tell these guitars have of their “original” parts. How much is a been refinished? Next month, I’ll share pickguard for a black guard Tele worth more on what to look for. in the current market? I can remember David Belzer is one of the top 5k at the height of things. How much vintage guitar authorities in are the original electronics, tuners, the world, with over 30 years bridge, screws, case, etc worth on their of experience in vintage. His own? Is the neck refinished? Does it knowledge of vintage guitars is have the original decal? Has it been re- only exceeded by his passion for playing them. fretted? Which, if done well is probably For more information or to a plus for playability, especially with contact him directly, visit www.burstbrothers.com regards to a Fender. Has the nut been
PEDAL SNAPSHOT continued from page 12 MF Drive ($179.00)
selling ring mod in the world, the legendary MF-102. You can create crazy textures from octaves and chorus styles to dissonance notes to robotic and octave fuzz. The controls frequency, tunes the oscillator, which aids in the creation of the different voices and textures. The mix knob mixes in the effected signal with the dry signal. When you “dime” the mix knob, things can get pretty electronic and random. The tone knob, is similar to the trem in how it only applies to the effected signal. This knob is a filter that lets you dial in just the right amount of texture to not overtake your initial tone. The expression input works with the frequency control and again allows you to go past the original parameters.
The MF Drive is a filter based drive pedal. The use of FET amps and Moog’s ladder filter make this drive very unique. You can get quite a bit of db bump out of this unit. The control layout is pretty familiar overall with a couple gems. The controls are gain, output, tone and filter, with a drive and peak switches. Peak creates a +15dB boost at the filter cutoff. It is extremely useful for accentuating mid-range or high frequencies. When paired with an expression pedal, Peak unlocks a whole new range of performance sounds. I would say the most unique and usable feature of this pedal is the filter aspect. And Finally the MF Delay ($219.00) It is very interactive with the tone control. This delay is The MF drive gives you some added low end interesting. It and you can coax British grind, American really is different tube tone, cocked wah and even fuzz tones than most analog out of this pedal. The MF delays I have Drive is very enjoyable to used. But Moog play. nailed the MFThe MF Ring ($159.00) 104M tone in this smaller package. The MF Ring is an analog ring modulator based off Bucket brigade and compander circuit gives of one, if not the best you up to 700ms of delay you can get pretty
wacky with. I would classify this more as an ambient style delay. It is great for creating atmospheric tones. If you are looking for defined digital type repeats this is not for you. If you want to create a big tone without being too washed out. Or you are looking for a darker ambient quality this has your name written all over it. The controls are time, which controls the quickness of the repeats. Feedback, controls the number of repeats. Mix, which blends the clean and effected tone. The Drive, is up to a 22db boost that boosts the input and output. This pedal can go from quick brighter slap back tones to dark endless oscillation. It is definitely a blast to play the MF Delay. Overall the Minifooger pedals were different and quite possibly one of the coolest pedal series to come out in the past couple years. The price point is very reasonable for a US made all analog stompbox. I recommend checking them out and start getting creative with your guitar. www.moogmusic.com Phil Traina "The Gear Concierge" www.thegearconcierge.com Livin ' the dream in sunny California with my beautiful wife and daughter.
ANTHEM SOUND TO THE STAGE ™
BRING YOUR STUDIO
AWARD-WINNING ACOUSTIC MICROPHONE & PICKUP SYSTEM
“The Anthem is the only pickup I've ever used that doesn't sound like I’m using a pickup...and that’s a good thing.” Critter Fuqua / Old Crow Medicine Show
LEARN MORE: LRBAGGS.COM/ANTHEM
This is the stuff legends are made of. For over 50 years, the VOX AC30 has become synonymous with remarkable tone. That distinguished, all-tube sound and signature chime has been forever woven into the tapestry of Rock n’ Roll. Today, it continues to serve as the voice for emerging artists and luminaries alike. Pictured: VOX AC30C2, Korg SDD-3000 Digital Delay Pedal, & Gibson Explorer
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The Estil Dill StRATOCASTER Story we appreciate Larry Dill’s help in telling this story.
continued from page 16 never really left that ten mile radius. Who would of thought that this small town of Sheridan, Oregon held such treasures? Two months later, the buyer had agreed to let me tell the story of the road trip for Collectible Guitar and since Joe is also our main photographer for the magazine, he took the guitar and performed a more in-depth inspection, this time removing the neck and pickguard, so we could showcase this beautiful Stratocaster with the photos our readers want to see. To everyone’s surprise, the inHow Tweed it Is! A trunk full of tweed. side of the pick-up cavity revealed that wonderful piece of masking tape signed: “Mary 8-4-55” The neck and body were also dated: 1955! How cool was that? It didn’t change “7-55”. the value that much dollar-wise (in fact in It was one year older than both the seller strangely: the Vintage Guitar Price Guide and the buyer had originally thought... a shows some 1956’s are priced higher than 1955’s… go figure :) but what it did do was put the buyer’s guitar one year closer to the very start of Leo’s big adventure with the iconic Stratocaster guitar. A splendid design that still rings true today- more than half a century later! It is good to honor the man Estil Dill and
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Next time you drive by a small country town in the middle of nowhere have hope… a treasure may just lie within.
Larry Dill (Estil’s son) on the right, and publisher Bruce Adolph
Photo by: Forrest Gibson
the d-Law
Scott Law playing his signature model Mahogany/Italian Spruce Dreadnought New album: Black Mountain out now
“We weren’t going for a signature model from the outset, we just ended up designing a killer guitar with my name on it.” - Scott Law
©2014 SANTA CRUZ GUITAR COMPANY
on the endless road with
Tommy Emmanuel
by Eric Dahl
Tommy Emmanuel is a guitar playing/fingerpicking musical phenomenon and a C.G.P. (Certified Guitar Player) as designated by Chet Atkins. He began playing guitar in his native Australia at the age of 4 along with his guitarist brother Phil. After winning virtually every award possible in his homeland he moved on to Nashville, TN where he became close friends with one of his guitar heroes Chet Atkins. Tommy was kind enough to allow Collectible Guitar into his Nashville home to take photos of meaningful guitars from his collection and answer questions that guitar enthusiasts want to know!
but as a player we didn’t copy Dwayne, we just listened to him. Whereas there was a band from England called the Shadows, they were like the Ventures and they were the biggest band and biggest name in guitar music in Australia in those days. We listened to them and tried to copy and learn their songs. If you played one of their songs the crowd lit up! It was presurfy kind of music like “Wipeout” and all that sort of thing. So you’re talking 1960, 1961… around that time. That’s when we really got going. The main influence at that time was country music. Everything from Jimmy Rogers to Hank Williams to Ferlin Husky, people like that. We were really big into American Country music.
CG: We’ve talked before about Chet Collectible Guitar: What was the first Atkins naming you as a Certified Guitar song you remember hearing as a child? Player. How does that feel as one of the Tommy Emmanuel: The music that was few left and how do you think you have played in the house when I was a baby was carried on Chet’s legacy? Hank Williams and Jim Reeves, they were TE: I wouldn’t say I’ve carried Chet’s the two main artists that my parents loved legacy because everybody has their own in those days…and Marty Robbins. I think road to go. But Chet showed us the way; the first song I learned to play chords to he showed so many of us the way. He alwas “Little Green Valley”. (Tommy sings ways encouraged me to do my own thing “I see a candlelight down in the little green – which I’ve always done. He showed me valley”). It was in the key of D, I rememthe fact that when I played I didn’t actuber it well. My mother played it on the ally sound like him, I sounded like myself. lap steel guitar and taught me the chords. That was a big encouragement to me beThen we had Hank Williams doing “Move cause I was afraid I’d just sound like a bad it on Over”, “Cold, Cold Heart”, “Manversion of him. Being a CGP is a responsision on the Hill”, “Wedding Bells”… all bility in its own way; it’s a responsibility to those classic Hank songs. That was what the next generation of guitarists coming. we listened to everyday. So my calling, I believe, is to keep writCG: And you came from a very musical ing songs and creating a body of work that family? young people can go to and reference and TE: Yeah, well I’m one of six children. be inspired by it (I would hope). The same My father wasn’t musical at all, but he way that I was inspired by, and still am, loved music, he was insane about music. by Chet’s and Jerry Reed’s body of work. When my brother and I first started play- Merle Travis is part of that as well. Merle ing (and we could actually get our way Travis came before Chet so he’s just as imthrough a song together) I was 4 and he portant. Without Travis’s songs, Chet may was 6, my father had tears in his eyes not have written the way he wrote and every time we played. He’d say, “Play it then if Chet hadn’t come along and Jerry again, play it again!” We learned stuff like saw him, he may not have been inspired “Forty Miles of Bad Road”, “Apache”, to write the way he wrote. It’s all like a “Town Hall Shuffle” by Joe Maphis and line isn’t it? It’s like a chain and that’s na“Guitar Boogie” by Arthur Smith. That’s ture at work. Its things getting handed the kind of stuff that we were into when on from generation to generation, father we were kids. We didn’t really get into to son, mother to daughter, that kind of Dwayne Eddie because his records, to our thing. My hope is that young people can ear, were very well produced and featured look at me and say, “Well, if he can do it, I saxophone and backing vocals – he was can do it”. Because that’s what I felt about kind of Pop. We loved his twangy sound, Chet when I really got into his playing…
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all the difficult stuff like “Yankee Doodle” and “Dixie” at the same time. I honestly thought as a young man, “If he can do it, I think I can”. And I want the young people to feel the same way about what I do. If I can make a go at it in my life, coming from nowhere with no training, then you can do it too! CG: So you’ve taken your gift, used it to travel around the world and play your music, but now it seems that as you have become even more popular you are giving back more with your teaching. TE: Now we have the great technology of DVDs and mp3s and all that sort of stuff. It’s so fantastic now that we can film the instruction for a song. A person can get on their computer and they can play it in slow motion. They can watch just the right hand or just the left hand or a different angle from over the top or whatever. They can watch the right hand while they’ve frozen the left hand. CG: I tried out one of your instructional videos like this and found it very helpful with the bass thumb technique that you do.
TE: That’s the most important thing – the thumb. Chet always said you’ve got to have a steady thumb. What he meant by that it was like having a good drummer that you can really rely on - who lays the groove in for you. If there’s anything that I think I’ve handed on to people, I’ve tried to make them aware of how important time, groove and feel is. Chet did the same thing in his own way but he was really subtle about it. I remember one time I was in Kuala Lumpar in Malaysia and I had five hundred students at a workshop, it was massive. We had to hold it in the concert hall where I was playing that night. I’m talking to all these people and I had said to Chet just before I went on to teach… I rang him and I said, “Hey Chief, I’m in Malaysia and I’ve got five hundred students… you’ve got a lot of fans here, have you got a message I can give them?” And he said, “Yeah, tell them to tap their foot”. That was it! But I could trace my fascination with groove back to when I was a kid, because when my mother did the washing I came out to dance with the washing machine. It hypnotized me and she said sometimes I went to sleep stand-
ing up next to the washing machine because I didn’t want to leave it alone. I was standing there moving to the chunk ka, chunk ka, chunk ka and she said I would go to sleep standing up. CG: What is the funniest story you have from living with Chet when you came over from Australia? TE: Every time I came here (Nashville) to visit or to work I would stay out at the house (Chet’s home). It was a lot of fun between Leona and Chet because they were like two naughty kids and they were always sassing each other. They were loving to each other too, a loving couple. I
remember one time Chet came down and woke me up pretty early and he says to me (in his best Chet Atkins impersonation voice), “We’re going down to Cracker Barrel as usual”- thinking it’s Saturday morning right. “Do you all wanna come with us?” Next thing I hear Leona’s voice down the hallway, “Its Friday dumb-ass!” He got the days mixed up, he was up in years and he thought it was Saturday morn-
ing and he was getting ready to go to Cracker Barrel. (laughing) CG: When did you move to Nashville permanently? TE: I came here (Nashville) in 1980 to meet Chet, that was my pilgrimage and we became instant friends. It was just like we’d known each other all our lives. He was just so kind and so sweet and we just stayed in touch. But I had a lot of work that I had to do and I didn’t get back here until the 90’s. By that time, I had established quite a successful career in my own country. I won every award there was to win and I had platinum albums and I
photos by Marty Fitzpatrick COLLECTIBLEGUITAR.COM :: NOV/DEC 14 :: 25
TOMMY EMMANUEL had been on TV. But I didn’t realize that he was actually following everything that I was doing (people were keeping him informed). So when I call him and start talking to him about what he had been doing he said, “Uh I hear you’ve been on TV, congratulations”. He knew what I was doing and it was building towards coming over more. I came to Nashville for a Sony Country Music Showcase at CMA week and it was a country music showcase of Australian artists. All the other artists were singers, so I was kind of the token instrumentalist. They put me on first, which was a good idea because everyone was still sober. I played two nights down at the Ace of Clubs. Chet came down the first night, just he and his daughter Merle ‘cause he’d never seen me play a show. He came up afterwards and he said, “Well, I’m suitably underwhelmed” – which was a compliment right. He said I’m going to get these Columbia people down here to see you tomorrow so expect a bigger crowd (we were both signed with Columbia at the time). He made sure the record company people all came down the next night, so they were all in there and they didn’t have a clue… they were all pretty blasé about me, they didn’t even know who I was. They went out of their minds when I played and as Chet said, “They threw babies in the air.” It wasn’t a week later when I was home in Australia when I got a call from Chet saying, “These Columbia people they really
want us to work together. Would you like to do something?” I said, “Absolutely!” At that moment I set about to write “Mr. Guitar” which made it on to the album. And I rang him back ten minutes later and played it to him over the phone. CG: What did he say? TE: He loved it and said we’ll do that for sure. That title was never used before for a song and I was looking on every ones records to make sure nobody used that title. People here in America love that song and there’s another I wrote called “Dixie McGuire” which was one of the first song I ever wrote. I originally wrote that song with a dream that maybe Chet would record it and my dream came true… but the difference was we recorded it together! CG: Thank you for allowing Collectible Guitar to come into your home and take photos of all your great guitars. TE: Oh, this is just the tip of the iceberg. CG: Now Chet actually gave you a very nice guitar that we’re showing in the magazine, what is the story on it? TE: Chet use to play this resonator guitar called a Del Vecchio which was made in Brazil. (A guitar brand that was founded in 1902 in Brazil and is best known for their resonator guitars.) It had a particular sound and was just a beautiful instrument. I wanted something like that, but I didn’t want a Del Vecchio, I wanted something that sounded a bit more like Django. He (Chet) said to me why don’t you try a small bodied Martin because they have the quality of a Django sound but also have a little bit of that nasalliness that the resonator has. He said let’s go down to Gruhn’s (a famous vintage guitar store). So we got in the car and went down to Gruhn’s in downtown Nashville. Chet is immediately sassing George (Gruhn) about a deal as soon as he walked in. He said, “Now I want you to look after this boy and give him a good deal, he’s a friend of mine”. So I tried four different Martin 017’s that he had, and one in particular… the action was a little high on it but the sound was spectacular. I told Chet this guitar is what I would love. And George told me a bit about it and where it came from and all that. Then Chet beat him down on the price and said, “He’s not paying that price… you can forget it!” CG: I didn’t know Chet was a haggler?
Martin
TE: Yes, he was a good haggler and then he ended up buying it. He wouldn’t let me pay for it once he haggled the price down. Because George thought I was going to buy it. Chet just wrote him a check and there he goes and he gave it to me.
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Maton
CG: And what year is the Martin that Chet Atkins bought you? TE: This is a 1930 and the first thing I did with it in ’96 was I recorded an album in Los Angeles called Midnight Drive. I played acoustic on it and I used that guitar on several tracks… it sounded spectacular. On that album there’s a song that I wrote called “How Many Sleeps”. I rang Chet about the song because I wanted him to play on it. And he said what’s “How Many Sleeps”… what does that mean? I said when my daughter was really little and I was touring a lot we had this game we’d play where we would say, “How many sleeps before daddy is home?” And we’d start counting down, there’s only eight sleeps to go… there’s only seven sleeps to go – like that. I told him that story and he was really touched and he said I’d really love to play on that track. I told him I was hoping he would. He said, “What do you want me to do?” I said, “I’d like you to double the melody with your Del Vecchio and then I would like to do a little trading licks at the end.” I was out at Randy Goodrum’s house and we recorded the track and I did the main part with my Maton TE1, which is a cutaway rosewood guitar that sounds beautiful. Then I got Chet out and he brought his Del Vecchio and the action was not sitting right for him… he wanted a bit more height to really get under the string. So he just whipped out his wallet and took out his American Express card. He cut it up with scissors and
Maton
put it under the saddle. He raised the action with the power of his credit card! He didn’t care about stuff like that. Then we setup the mics and I talked him through the melody part of the song. He got a part down really nice and then I said the chorus is D to B minor and G to A, just a little turn around. We just did a couple of passes where I opened with a lick and he answered and I used that little Martin on that. There’s a track on my album called “Reggie’s Groove” which Robben Ford played on and it’s this guitar. I had Robben sign it for me. CG: So, how long have you been playing Maton guitars? TE: My first electric guitar was a Maton, from 1960. It’s in their factory in the museum; there’s a whole wall of my old guitars there. There’s a lot of experimental guitars and stuff there too, because we experimented a lot back in the 80’s. My first guitar was what we called an MS500, which the MS stands for Master Sound 500, but now they just call them Master Sounds. What they are is basically Maton’s version of a cross between a Les Paul and a Rickenbacker. They’re right in the middle there somewhere and they’re really great sounding guitars. George Harrison had one and Keith Richards played a MS500 as well a big bodied one. Now the acoustics that you’ve been photographing today, not the one with the kangaroo on the headstock but the older one, that’s the original Mouse and that guitar is from ’92. Maton was experimenting with that model and I said why don’t you try it with maple, because they were using Blackwood (which is a nice wood and an indigenous Australian wood). They were experimenting with the woods and then the pickup (what we call the AP5 mic sys-
tem in the guitar) became the definitive Maton pickup. Now Maton has an AP5 Pro, which is the latest technology, so it’s the next step up, it has parametric for the microphone as well as EQ for the pickup – so you’ve got double choice there. And then the mic is on this arm connected to the preamp inside and you can move it and it’ll stay there. This guitar with the endless road written on it really started it all. I think the first time I played it was on a Christmas show. I said to the guy that was announcing the show, it was a TV show, that this is an all new Australian instrument and all the electronics and everything inside this is all Australian technology. So he made a note of that and when he announced me he said everything about this guitar is from Australia and then I walked out with a radio system (wireless) and an orchestra playing and it sounded beautiful. Amanda and Angelina, my daughters, also signed the guitar. That guitar became much more than just a guitar to me. When I went through a divorce in 2002, it was a very difficult time in my life personally. I clung to my music for my life and wrote all over my guitar. You know in Forest Gump when he gets up one day and just starts running? It was the same for me. I had to play and I had to write on my guitar and I don’t know why. But I wrote all over it. I wrote my feelings down and then years later I took a piece of sandpaper and took it all off and just got my daughters to sign it. I wrote “Endless Road” on it because I’d been through the valley and I got out the other side, I was ready to meet life head on. I started again. It’s like you get knocked down, you get up and you get going. But that period was like two years. It was hard, but I learned a lot from it and it made me a much better person… and a better father
and a better husband. CG: Let’s talk about the guitar you call #1. It has a lot of mojo with the glued on kangaroo on the headstock and everything. TE: The first guitar, the one that I wrote on, I thought I could never give that guitar up. I got so inside it that it became a part of me. It was like if it wasn’t with me, I’d be looking around. I’d go to a restaurant and I was like, “It’s here, its okay”. I found out years later that Segovia was the same, wherever he went his guitar had to be close to him. There I am thinking this guitar is never going to be replaced. So in April of 2003 I went to the Maton factory to play for the opening of the new factory continued on page 30
COLLECTIBLEGUITAR.COM :: NOV/DEC 14 :: 27
TOMMY EMMANUEL continued from page 27
and their custom shop. And it was a big event with lots of people there and they got a lot of press out of it and everything, but they surprised me with two new guitars. One of them was the guitar I now call #1. It looked pristine, I took it off the guy and plugged it in. Oh my God, I said, “I cannot believe this, this guitar is my guitar and no ones getting this… it’s mine.” I played one song on it and I was gone. I found the greatest guitar that I could ever imagine – sound wise and feel wise. CG: Now how did #1 end up with the metal Kangaroo on top of the headstock? TE: This was at a show in Australia and there was an old digger, like an old exarmy guy and I was signing autographs afterwards. He was dressed really nicely with a tie and a suit and everything. And he reached for his lapel and pulled out this gold kangaroo pin and said to me, “I want you to have this and keep it wherever you go… a little bit of Australia”. Funny thing was that it struck me deeply because the last thing my mother ever said to me, before she died, was always be proud to be an Aussie. That was always important to her for me. I took it and my guitar tech in those days - Ross Clunes (a well-known Melbourne guitar tech) said, “Do you want me to put it on the headstock?” I said, “That’s a great idea”. So he clipped off the pin part and super glued it to the headstock. It wasn’t until the next day after the show that people were writing asking, “What’s this gold kangaroo and how can we get one for our headstocks?” I ended up getting a whole bag of them and I sent them to people all around the world. Then Maton got so many requests for it they decided to make it part of the headstock. So now they have a pearl kangaroo inlay where my pin was on the headstock.
the piece of wood flew out again… and another piece joined it too, so it gradually kept getting bigger and bigger. It didn’t really affect the sound either and I couldn’t tell any difference. CG: Besides Maton electric and acoustic guitars you also have a Larrivee acoustic, how did you come to own that one? TE: This Larrivee guitar was given to me by John Larrivee himself. I was aware of Larrivee guitars but they were not that well known in Australia. They were known as the greatest Canadian guitar. One of the joys of my life was getting to know John Larrivee and what a brilliant man he is… a person that understands nature and the environment and how the world works. CG: And he actually saw you perform at a show correct? TE: Yes, I was playing with Chet down at Café Milano in Nashville and he was in the front with his family. And he never heard of me but he came up afterwards and introduced himself and he said, “Where are you staying?” I told him out at Chet’s house and gave him the address. The next day a taxi turned up and asked for me and delivered a guitar. I opened the case and it was this beautiful Larrivee with a cutaway and all the pearl work on there. There was a note under the saddle and the strings and it said how much he enjoyed
CG: Also on that same guitar you have a piece that is broken off of it? TE: Yes, that was in the city of Canberra (which is like our nation’s capital; it’s our political capital). I got a great response there it was such an amazing audience that night and I was really getting into it. I remember I was doing this drum solo and I was hitting on the mic and banging away and the crowd was going nuts. And I hit it just a little too hard and bang… this piece of wood just flew straight up like that. I looked down and there was a hole in the guitar this big (Tommy holds his fingers to the show the measurement), about a quarter of an inch wide and an inch and a half long. After the show we go back to the hotel and super glue it back in, then the next night I start getting into it again and bang
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Larrivee
the music and meeting me. He wanted me to have this guitar as a gift – there were no strings attached! So it was a nice gesture. I still play it and it’s beautiful. CG: I recently saw you pictured with a Gibson model acoustic, was that a loaner or is it yours? TE: Yes, it’s a J45. I bought that twelve years ago from the factory because I’d always wanted a J45. I didn’t want any fancy schmancy… I just wanted the base model mahogany with that tobacco sunburst. It’s gorgeous, but it’s come to life in the last year, its twelve years old now and I’ve done a lot of string changes with it when I’m home. I play it a bit but just in this last year I’ve noticed it’s just gone “boom”. I like to have some of the guitars that were part of history. I’ve got some Martin D28s, I’ve got the Gibson J45, I’ve got the Larrivee and I’ve got the Telecaster. Those guitars are a big part of my life. The rhythm player from the Shadows, the guy that inspired me in the first place, played a J45. CG: Talking about the pickup systems in your guitars, now are you mainly using the Maton AP5s? TE: When I’m touring I have three Matons on the road, two 808s, which is the Mouse, I have a Yellow one and an Orange one. (Per a later discussion “Mouse” is the name Tommy gives to all of his Maton 808 models – as The Mouse that roared like a Lion). I call them Yellow continued on page 44
THE FRETBOARD LESS TRAVELED by Rich Severson
Triad Inversions “Blues in E” Here’s a little piece that will help you learn closed inversions of major chords. When you learn inversions of chords, it opens up the fretboard and creates melody between the inversions thus adding melody to your rhythm playing. When
I refer to a chord in closed inversion that simply means we are using 3 adjacent strings to play that chord. This differs from the traditional meaning of closed inversions.
In this fingerstyle piece the basic chords for the progression are notated as either (E), (A) or (B). In bars 1&2 of (E) we will be playing E to A on every other beat but keeping a low E string as a foundation. Bars 3&4 we switch to A to E, still with the low E string. When the blues progression moves to (A) bars 5&6, we play A to D keeping a low A string in the bass. The progression then moves back to (E), bars 7&8, again E to A with the low E string In bar 9 the progression moves to (B) where we play B to E. Here we lose the bass note. Bar 10 (A) back to A to D. Bar 11 (E) back to E to A with the low E string. Finally in bar 12 (B) we change it up and play B to A, losing the bass note. Sorry for the long explanation but it’s necessary for you to thoroughly understand the piece. You can find a video lesson on this piece at http:// www.99centguitarlessons.com/ triads.html Hope you have fun with the piece and take the time to work out the inversions of other major chords. Till next time, may God bless your hard work, Rich Rich Severson, guitarist, clinician, author, band director, former GIT instructor. To preview Rich’s music and guitar educational products go to www.GuitarCollege.com and www.99CentGuitarLessons.com
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PRODUCT REVIEW
Catalinbread Belle Epoch & Echorec by Michael Elsner
Two of the most iconic delay units in history would be the Maestro Echoplex and the Binson Echorec. Although most of us have not had the experience of playing through one, we are familiar with their sound as it has been imprinted into the DNA of rock and roll since the early 70s.
heads adjusted the delay time. The Pedal
Immediately I felt transported right back to the mid-70s. The Belle Epoch’s delays have a rich warmth to them, and the tone of Fortunately for us, Catalinbread has the high end frequencies are painstakingly, and faithfully, recreated continuously colored, giving these two delay units into their Belle it an authentically vintage Epoch and Echorec pedals. tape delay sound. I recently came across these pedals It’s hard not to immediately when I was in search of something that start playing your favorite would give me warm, vintage influenced Led Zeppelin riffs once this delays. As much as I tried with my own pedal is on! Play through a various delay pedals, nothing was work- clean amp, pluck some triing. I had resolved to run the final tracks ads, set the Echo Sustain to through tape emulation plug-ins, until around 11 o’clock, and you have instant a friend suggested I try some pedals he Eric Johnson delays! had just purchased. There are two specific parameters that Belle Epoch I love on the Belle Epoch. The first is History Modulation. This controls the random The Maestro Echoplex is the delay unit wow and flutter in the delays, which that ‘set the standard by which every- originally resulted from the little mething else is measured.’ When the origi- chanical nuances and inconsistencies nal Echoplex hit the market in the early of an EP-3. Setting the Modulation 1960s it was a tube based circuit, how- amount around the 10 to 11 o’clock ever by the time the 3rd variation, the positions colored the delays in such a EP-3, was released in 1970, the circuitry subtle, and vibey way. was all solid state. Players such as The Edge, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Johnson, Jimmy Page and Brian May relied heavily on the EP-3.
My second favorite parameter is the Record Level. Think of this as the level at which you’re recording to the tape. At lower settings, the delays are light and airy, while at higher settings the repeats become thick and saturated. Be careful with this one though, as it’ll surely cause a few hours of inspired riffing! The delays on the Echo- Echorec plex were History created by recording to The Binson Echorec differed from a magnetic the Echoplex in that it used a recordtape while ing drum wrapped in magnetic wire. c h a n g i n g This rotating drum had a record head, the distance followed by 4 playback heads, resultbetween the ing in 4 delay times based on their disrecord and tance from the record head. With these p l a y b a c k 4 playback heads, the Echorec allowed for 12 combinations of delays, with a
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maximum delay time of 300ms. This, in conjunction with the Swell (feedback) control, created a thick, multi-dimensional sound, and was crucial to David Gilmour’s sound. Pedal I’ve owned my share of delay pedals over the years, but nothing has inspired my playing quite like this pedal. This is easily the most fun I’ve ever had with a delay. In the past, when I’ve wanted more ‘adventurous’ delay sounds, I’d run two delays in series. The first delay tapped to tempo with the second delay at a preset delay time. I’ve always loved this sound as it gives a less linear delay trail, and with Echorec’s delay time from 40ms to 1000ms, it takes this concept to the stratosphere. By modeling the original’s 4 playback head design, you get a sophisticated variety of delay trails. The 12 position Program Select allows you to select between 12 different playback head configurations, and this is where the pedal really comes to life! You’ll also get a lot of mileage from the tone knob which, as its name implies, controls the tone of the echoes. At the 12 o’clock position it’s fully flat, but as you turn clockwise your repeats become bright and thin, while as you turn coun-
ter clockwise, you’ll get darker repeats. This allows you to create some amazing sounding delays. Final Thoughts Catalinbread’s Belle Epoch and Echorec pedals each have a definitive vibe all their own. The Belle Epoch, hands down, beats any other stompbox delay unit I’ve tried that claims to recreate an authentic tape echo. The Echorec is by far my favorite delay pedal yet. I have never played through a delay pedal that adds so much mojo and vibe to a track as quickly as the Echorec does. If you’re looking for something more varied and complex in a delay, the Echorec is your unit. For a more linear delay, with a great overall sonic character, go with the Belle Epoch. Of course, you can pick up both and have the best of both worlds too!
“…some of the most magical pickups we have ever heard.” –The ToneQuest Report TM
The EchoRec is $229.99 The Belle Epoch is $199.99 www.catalinbread.com Michael Elsner is a guitarist/songwriter/producer whose written for shows including American Idol, Amish Mafia, EXTRA, The Sing Off, and So You Think You Can Dance among many others. www.michaelelsner.com
Lollar Guitars PO Box 2450 Vashon Island, WA 98070 (206) 463-9838 See our complete line of custom pickups at: www.lollarpickups.com
& His Gibson Custom 1954 Les Paul Custom by Rick King
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ROBBY KRIEGER
After selling vintage guitars for over 30 years, I have met many famous musicians, celebrities and collectors. I usually keep my cool, but when I was asked to interview Robby Krieger (guitarist of the seminal Los Angeles band The Doors) I got a little nervous. I had met him once at a guitar show in Southern California about 20 years ago and I was an utter “dork” then. Unable to speak, all I could say was, “Thank you for your music…” When I spoke to my editor for the interview, he assured me everything would be fine. What lies before you is my talk with Robby Krieger. What you won’t be able to hear is my anxiety as I attempted to power through my very first interview with a man I have respected and adored since I was eight years old. Rick: Our magazine is all about the “Then and Now”, the “Vintage and the New”, so I would like to talk about some old news regarding guitars and then talk about your new Gibson Custom 1954 Les Paul Custom guitar. Robby: OK. Rick: At what age did you start playing music? Robby: I was kind of a late bloomer. I didn’t start guitar till I was 15. I played trumpet when I was younger. Rick: What was your first guitar?
flamenco record I ever had. It’s them. I don’t know what hapcalled “Dos Flamencos”. It has pened to them. After a while, I two guys playing flamenco to- went to Gibson ES 355s. gether. I always loved that record. Rick: Yeah, I have seen a photo Rick: What was your first elec- of you playing a 355. tric guitar? Robby: At that point, I had Robby: It was a Gibson SG when I was 17 or 18. I was playing flamenco and folk and I heard Chuck Berry one night… he just blew me away. I was lucky enough to see him on a good day. He had Johnny Johnson and a great band and it was just amazing.
given away all my SGs because I didn’t care about them anymore. You know in those days, guitars weren’t collectable. It was just like a tool. [laughing] Rick: What sparked your interest in the 355? Was it one of the Kings playing one or something?
Rick: Who were some of your Robby: Well, to tell you the other inspirations? truth, it was what Chuck Berry Robby: I always liked Wes was playing when I first saw him. Montgomery. He is one of my fa- I just thought, “Wow, a red guivorites. Are you talking rock and tar, I want one just like that!” But I bought an SG because it was roll more? cheaper. And I used to go see LarRick: No, just in general. ry Carlton and all those guys and Robby: Well, I listen to Mike they had 355s or 335s so I bought Bloomfield a lot, in the Butter- a ’66 I believe and a ’64. I still field Blues Band. And I liked John have those. They’re great guitars. Hammond Jr. Do you know who Rick: And you also played a Nathat is? tional Town and Country. How Rick: Oh yes! did that come about? Robby: You know I listen to all Robby: That was actually Ray the old blues guys, all the Kings Manzeric’s brothers’ guitar. (Albert, Freddie and B.B.). Rick: Those have great pick-ups Rick: So, I was going to ask you for slide playing. about your first good electric guitar, but it seems like when you Robby: That’s exactly what I bought an SG at 17, that would used it for. They are a little noisy but if you can get the buzz out of be it? [laughing] it… sounds great. Robby: Well, that would be 1966 I believe. Unfortunately, it got Rick: You also played a ’54 Les stolen about a year later. I bought Paul Custom. a ’67 SG and I don’t know what Robby: Yeah, the Black Beauty. That is what the new Gibson Cushappened to that one either! Rick: So that SG that you tom Shop guitar is based on.
Robby: My first guitar was bought in ’66, would that be your Rick: I saw a picture of you a Mexican flamenco guitar. It ’64 SG Special with the P-90’s? playing a 1960 “Burst”. What was a great guitar. It was a Juan can you tell me about that? Robby: Yeah. Ramirez P. He was the nephew of Robby: I got that one from Drew Jose Ramirez, the famous Span- Rick: So that guitar was stolen? and Dave, the Burst Brothers. Where was it stolen from? ish maker. Rick: What year did you buy Rick: So what sparked your in- Robby: I don’t know, out of our that? rehearsal space. terest in that style of playing? Robby: Must have been 6 or 8 Robby: My dad had some fla- Rick: And the same thing for years ago. Yeah I love that guitar. menco records. In fact about an the ’67? I got a decent price on it. It’s held hour ago I found the very first Robby: Yeah, I had 3 or 4 of its value pretty good.
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ROBBY KRIEGER Rick: Is there any other things. The best guy I heard use favorite guitars that you an Echo-Plex was Randy Califorcan think of ? nia. I wasn’t a big effects guy at all. Just liked to plug straight in. Robby: I am not a big collector. I really don’t Rick: What gauge strings did have that many guitars. you use back then? I have one of those San- Robby: I used 9-42s. tana guitars, the PRS. I have a ’59 Fender Strat Rick: What type of slide did you use? Metal? Glass? that is pretty nice. Rick: That was going Robby: They didn’t have slides to be one of my ques- back then. I liked to use cheap tions. Have you ever California champagne bottles. played a Fender? Rick: Have you ever used a pick? Robby: I am getting Robby: Not back then, but you more into Fenders. For know… later. I use a pick about ¾ certain sounds, you re- of the time now. I read an article ally need a Fender. I with Wes Montgomery. He used have maybe 30 guitars. to have a big callous on his thumb. I have a cool L5 Wes He said if he had to do it all over Montgomery model, I again he would use a pick. I am have a couple of Johnny sure there is a lot of stuff I could Smiths. I have a Martin have done with a pick. Acoustic. Rick: There are things that you Rick: Are there any can do with your fingers, and guitars you wish you you’ve certainly proved that. had back? And there is stuff you can do with Robby: [laughing ner- a pick. The good thing about it is vously] Well obviously, there are no rules. [both laugh] I wish I had my first SG. Let’s talk about your new Gibson Custom 1954 Les Paul CusRick: I think I knew tom. How did it come about? the answer to that. Robby: Pat Foley (from Gibson Robby: I just got a cool Artists Relations) either, saw the guitar from Dave and guitar at my house or in the footDrew, a ’61 SG Les Paul age of the Doors playing at the Standard. Hollywood Bowl and suggested Rick: What amps did we make a model of that guiyou use on the ‘60s? tar. That is how it started. Then Pat came out to my house. The Robby: To record I used guitar was in the attic. It hadn’t Fender Twin Reverbs, been played in years. He brought but in person we had Edwin Wilson with him and he these horrible amps from scanned every crack and crevice our sponsor, Acoustic. of the guitar with a laser. It’s an They made great bass amazing little gizmo he had. He and keyboard amps, but their guitar amps left a didn’t have to take the guitar apart at all. The guitar is actually over at lot to be desired. the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Rick: What was the right now. I am going to get it back fuzz pedal you used? in a couple of months. Robby: It was the Gib- Rick: How much input did you son Maestro (FZ-1). I have in the design of this guitar? also used a little WahWah, I wasn’t a big Wah- Robby: I really didn’t have that Wah guy. And I used an much input. I just wanted them Echo-Plex on a couple of to make a copy of the guitar. I 38 :: NOV/DEC 14 :: COLLECTIBLEGUITAR.COM
ROBBY KRIEGER wanted them to copy it, but I huge Doors fan since the first didn’t want them to copy the neck time I heard Light My Fire when exactly. It’s like a tree trunk neck. I was 8 years old. A few years Rick: What was the inspiration ago I viewed the sound stage performances of the Toronto for the neck profile? show in 1967, the Danish TV Robby: You know, I didn’t re- in 1968 and the New York PBS ally have one. I just didn’t want a performance in 1969. I was utbaseball bat. Whatever they did it terly blown away by the way you worked out great. guys play together as a band. Rick: Is there going to be a lim- Your dynamics were so amazing. I looked at your guys in a comited number of these made? pletely different light. It was alRobby: Yeah, it depends upon most as if in those performances how much wood they have for the you were somehow all mentally necks. But between 150 and 200 is connected. I thought to myself what I’ve heard. how could they play so instincRick: And 50 will be exact cop- tively? Is that because you guys ies, inspected and autographed rehearsed all the time? Or was it by you? just the players’ chemistry? Robby: Yes they will. Robby: I think it was just the Rick: What pick-ups did they players. We kind of always had that ability to do that. The funput in the guitar? ny thing is, those films you talk Robby: The one in the bridge is a about, we never really had a film P-90 type and the neck pick-up is a of us that caught us on a good day. Seymour Duncan. I had replaced my neck pick-up when it went out Rick: I would debate that! years ago and it actually sounds Robby: I think the best perforreally great. It’s one of those small mance was the black and white Seymour Duncan’s. one at the Round House in EngRick: When will the guitar be land. To me, that’s the closest to how we were live. When you’re available to the public? being filmed, you’re very self-conRobby: Very, very soon. In a scious. week or so. Rick: Again, I was just so Rick: I am sure every Doors amazed by how well you played question has already been asked together. of you time and time again, but I have a question. I have been a Robby: Well, one thing was,
with Ray playing the bass on his left hand, it was really only three of us playing. We had so many different influences it all just came together magically it seemed. Rick: And in a sense, you all had non-rock backgrounds in your playing.... your flamenco style, John Densmore’s jazz, Ray Manzarek’s classical influences. Robby: And the Chicago blues. Rick: It came together to form this great psychedelic thing that was greater than itself. Those three performances were so consistent even though Jim may have been transforming. You guys were so strong right off the bat. Robby: Thanks man, I really appreciate it. That’s the key to a rock and roll band… greater than the sum of its parts. Rick: I wanted to ask you one last question. What guitar did you write Light My Fire with? Robby: That ’64 SG. Rick: Cool. Robby: That and a Magnatone amp. Rick: Oh, awesome! Thank you so much Robby. It’s such a pleasure talking to you and like I said, I’ve been a fan for years. Robby: Bye. Rick: Goodbye.
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Road Gold - 1967 Bandmaster Part I by Michael Elsner
I love traveling around this amazing country we live in, especially through the backroads and small towns that make up this great land. As someone who’s fairly new to the world of collecting vintage gear, these small towns have been a great avenue to get started in finding what I refer to as ‘Road Gold,’ an unexpected great deal on a collectible piece of gear. You just never know what kind of collectible you can score in a small town. I was recently touring through the south with a country artist, and thanks to modern technology (an iPhone and craigslist app) after one particular gig, I took a few minutes to relax and see if there were any goodies for sale on craigslist in that town. Within just a few minutes, I found an ad for a Vintage Fender Bandmaster. There was no year stated in the ad, but it was a blackface, and the dimensions of the cabinet were that of the 1967 “Big Box” cabinet that was released with the Bandmaster for only a few months. Most of us have a story of two of ‘the one that got away,’ so even though the asking price was decent, it was not a price I was willing to pay. At the time, I really wasn’t in the market for a new amp, much less a vintage amp, but that little voice inside my head told me I had
to make an offer. We were leaving early the next morning, and since it was already late, there was a high probability that the seller wouldn’t even get the email until after we had left town.
sure everything worked. Can you imagine the oddity of that sight if you’re pulling into your local small town pharmacy parking lot early on a Sunday morning on your way to church?
Surprisingly, the seller e-mailed back within just a few minutes with a counter offer. Knowing that this was a spur of the moment purchase, and still not fully sure if it was a wise investment, I responded and held firm at my initial offer. I figured, at the very least, I could always bring it back to Nashville and flip it for a small profit.
The amp worked and the deal was made, but here’s where it gets really interesting and eye opening. When I asked the owner about the history of the amp, he told me that it had been sitting in his closet for a long time. He was a few weeks away from getting married, and needed to make room. His wife-to-be wanted the closet space for her shoes. Fortunately for me, that Bandmaster occupied a lot of shoe space! He had the amp on the local craigslist for over 4 months, and in that time I was only the third person to inquire about it.
The seller responded that he couldn’t meet my offer, to which I e-mailed him back letting him know that we’d be bussing out early in the morning incase he changed his mind. Around 7am the next morning, again to my surprise, I received a text from the seller agreeing to my offer. Now started the whole process of figuring out the logistics of how, when, and where to make the transaction. As luck would have it, our bus was taking a back road to the main interstate which just so happened to pass through his town (he lived in an adjacent town to where we were playing). I informed our driver and the guys in the band of this opportunity, making sure we could stop for a few minutes, and they agreed. Being unfamiliar with the area myself, the seller picked a strip mall parking lot along our route to meet. Upon meeting, we pulled the amp head into the bus’ front lounge, plugged it in to get power, and connected it to the speaker cabinet outside to make
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They say timing is everything, as well as “location location location.” Sometimes, like in this situation, both of those elements line up and make for a great deal. There isn’t a high demand for vintage gear in small towns, so these deals are out there if you are looking and are lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Stay tuned for Part II in the next issue, where I’m going to tell you about the amazing work reknown tube amp guru Kye Kennedy did to turn this little amp I found out on the road into musical gold! Michael Elsner is a guitarist/ songwriter/producer whose written for shows including American Idol, Amish Mafia, EXTRA, The Sing Off, and So You Think You Can Dance among many others. www.michaelelsner.com
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MERMAN Transparent Overdrive VFE Pedals The MERMAN gives you more control over the classic transparent overdrive. The original circuit uses three signal paths to achieve its unique, yet transparent tone. The MERMAN gives you control over the mix of these 3 pathways, plus an extra control to fine tune the compression!
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DEERING The Great American Banjo Company
Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops with her Deering John Hartford banjo
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“DOBRO ROOTS” A Photo Tour of Prewar Wood Body Dobros” by Steve Toth with Foreword by Jerry Douglas. Hard Cover Book and CD, Full Color with High Resolution Original Photos, 216 pages This is the first and most definitive work devoted solely to the Dobro guitars produced by the Dopyera Brothers and the Regal Co. during the initial years of production from 1929 to 1941.
$55 Amazom.com, Barnes &Noble and other book, music stores and online retailers
PRODUCT REVIEW
Eastwood’s Delta 6 Electric Resonator Guitar by Bruce Adolph
Eastwood Guitars really has done a good job of bringing back many of the unique classics (albeit left-of-center) vintage guitars with their modern day reissues. Besides their passion for the instruments that help shape modern music (sans the big three – Strats, Teles and Les Paul body styles) Eastwood has resurrected more forgotten guitar body shapes and sounds than you can imagine and having them made overseas keeps them at an affordable rate to boot! When you see their list of available models at their website you will be as impressed as I was. I don’t know how they can keep such a wide variety of guitars along with all the different color options in their warehouse straight. Plus they carry a lot of lefthanded guitar models for the often over looked lefty’s side of the market. Quality and affordability is Eastwood’s mantra. For this product review I requested a special one, even for Eastwood. The Delta 6 electric resonator guitar… and it comes (in my opinion) in one of the coolest guitar body colors you can get… seafoam green. The Delta 6 is based on the 1967 Mosrite D-100 Californian resonator guitar and for the money it has a lot to offer. If you don’t have the $1,500.00 to spend on a vintage Mosrite, you can get a lot of versatility out of the Delta 6 for 1/3 of the price. Eastwood has also added a Piezo bridge pick-up to to give you that quasi-acoustic flavor (they call it two guitars in one) or you can simply play it straight with the P-90 neck position pick-up for that steely dipped-in-
blues resonator guitar sound. To add to the fun, there is a blend knob and you can dial in just the right vibe you are looking for… smart idea here Eastwood folks! I have been in the hunt for a swampybluesy resonator guitar and oddly enough this Delta 6 fills the bill quite nicely without breaking the bank. Being an electric resonator guitar you can plug it in and use your effect pedals to get those extra sonic nuances out of this instrument as well. “Fun, fun and
more fun” is what I would of called this model, but Delta 6 works too, as it is a reference to the Mississippi Delta blues. When you play an electric resonator you naturally drift into a 12 bar blues… it just happens. The fretwork, binding and overall playability was fine on this model, plus it came out of the box set up well too… that shows some class from Eastwood. All guitars are checked out in Canada and set up professionally before they are shipped out. The laminated maple body, with set neck and a spider resonator cone all come together to make this uniquely voiced guitar a good value for the money. Retail $589.00 MAP $ 469.00 www.eastwoodguitars.com Specs you should now… • Body: Laminated Maple • Colors: Seafoam Green • Pickups: P-90 Neck, Piezo Bridge • Switching: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 1 Pickup Blend • Controls: Blend Pot • Bridge: Trapeze Tail • Neck: Bound Maple, SET Neck • Finger Board: Rosewood, Dot Markers • Scale Length: 25 1/2” (648mm) • Width at the Nut: 1 5/8” • Hardware: Gotoh style Style Nickel/Chrome • Strings: #9-#46 • Case: Extra • Unique Features: Spider Resonator Cone with Piezo Bridge pickup
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TOMMY EMMANUEL TE: I’m singing as well and I’ve got a couple of lines (Tommy shows the chart with his vocal lines marked on it). This is Bobby Bare and Brenda Lee’s part and it’s gonna be great! And Ray Stevens is going to sing on it as well. I played “Guitar Boogie” for him (Jerry Reed) the first time I met him, ‘cause Randy Goodrum said you’ve gotta play that “Guitar Boogie” for him! After I played, he had his big sunglasses and he took them off and looked at me and said, “You didn’t learn that, Gibson you were born with that!” And then he continued from page 30 thought about it for a second and he said, Mouse and Orange Mouse because that’s “It’s in your Ethos”… that’s the word he the color that they look like and they used. (laughing) both have the same system with the mic. Then I have what we call the T1, which CG: Who are your favorite musicians is the dreadnaught with a cutaway, and I now or who inspires you musically? have big strings on that and have it tuned TE: Well I’m trying to learn from everydown a whole step. Those guitars are over body. I mean I’m really interested to learn in Kansas City, Missouri right now with from young songwriters who are very sucmy tour manager, so when the bus leaves cessful… everybody from Justin Timbertomorrow night, we’ll pick him up on the lake to Ed Sheeran. I’m fascinated with way to Iowa and everything will be there. what those young people are doing and I CG: You’re always smiling and en- want to learn from them. There are a lot gaging the audience when you play gui- of great guitarists out there. Larry Carlton tar, what are you thinking about when is still playing his heart out, George Benyou’re playing? son is still touring – I don’t know how old George is, he must be 70 and he’s still out TE: I just want to show off my good teeth! I think every night of my life I’m there doing it better than ever! There’s just always trying and I’m always listening so many… Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. I’m and I’m always trying to do it well. I think still looking to write a hit record. I would when I play things that touch me it makes like to write a song that changed people’s me smile and the fact that people are hav- lives, like Pharrell’s “Happy”. How that ing a good time that blows my dress up! came along and just blew people away, How could you not, you’re playing music some kind of hook, some kind of song for a living. How lucky are you? It’s true! that finds it’s way into your daily life. CG: Do you still practice guitar when CG: I think you have, although maybe not as mainstream, but you have fans you aren’t in the studio or touring? from all over the world. TE: Yes, all the time. This morning I’ve been doing interviews and I haven’t had a TE: Well thanks. I get really wonderful chance to play yet, but I’ll probably play emails from people that say I start my day with one of your songs and I’m off on the the rest of the day. right track and that means so much. CG: And you’re headed to the studio right after this interview to record on a CG: You have been honored with a Jerry Reed tribute album with his daugh- number of titles in your career such as Certified Guitar Player, Order of Auster Seidina correct? tralia, and a Kentucky Colonel. Which
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of these titles pleases you most and do any of them come with a royal scepter, key or other divine ruling device? TE: Being a Kentucky Colonel is really nice because it’s to do with fund raising and I’m supporting education and hospitals through the Kentucky Colonels organization. It’s a chance to give and every time I send a check I get a wonderful letter back. It’s a big part of my life, Kentucky… the first Americans I got to know were from Phelps, Kentucky. They taught me the song “Kentucky” and those guys were big Chet fans. Plus, Ricky Skaggs is from Kentucky, so how can you go wrong? CG: What is your dream guitar that is not currently in your collection? TE: I’d like to get a slightly bigger version of the Martin all mahogany guitar that was louder and had more bass but wasn’t but wasn’t as bassy as the D35 or D28. To play Django kind of tunes because the next project with Martin Taylor I want to use a guitar that has that sound. I’m thinking I might go to Chris Martin (owner of Martin Guitars) and get him to build it for me. Like a double O size all mahogany guitar that’s loud but has a lot of complexity to it as well. I’ve played a few I really like but unfortunately they weren’t for sale, so I know they can build it. I know that Collings could build it or Bourgeois, there are just so many great builders out there, Santa Cruz Guitar Company makes great guitars. I do have some guitars that are spectacular. That’s the next kind of thing I’m looking for. I could do away with everything and just use the Maton, I know I could use that universally on any kind of music… it’s a brilliant guitar. CG: Do you play much electric guitar now? TE: Oh yes, in fact I believe it was last year when I shot a video in this room where I multilayered a video. I played a rhythm part and then I multilayered other guitars on top of it and put it into split screen. Then on one tune I played my electric with my amp in here just wailing away – it’s on You Tube it’s called “The Journey”. CG: What is the latest project? TE: It’s an album called The Guitar Artistry of TE and it was the idea of the Japanese record company. They really wanted a cross section of music from my earliest solo album to the latest live stuff and they wanted some new tracks as well. So I ended up recording two new tracks and there are 24 tracks on the two albums. But I’ve also finished my new solo album, and continued on page 47
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A NEW GUITAR FESTIVAL IS BORN by Bruce Adolph
As I write this I am 35,000 feet in the air flying home from Dallas, Texas and the Arlington Guitar Show. I have been to the Dallas Guitar Festival several times before but this was my first trip to “Guitar-lington” as they call it. The vendor tables were primarily full of vintage guitar vendors, both brick and mortar stores and serious vintage dealers. There were some boutique guitar, amp and effects pedal makers but not as many as I had thought would be there. The Dallas Guitar Festival seems to have more of those mixed in with the vintage vendors. However, “Guitar-lington” was full with some classic vintage instruments and it was a joy to be there in the midst of them all. As well as publisher of Collectible Guitar magazine, I know something of producing guitar shows, as I have produced nine of them in Washington State in the last 5 years (the Seatac Guitar Shows in Kent in the fall and in Bellevue in the spring). The fall show just wrapped up its 23rd year, it was started by my friend and co-promoter in the Kent show - Gordy Kjellberg.
attendee and that he would love to bring a similar event to the Tacoma Dome. I perked up in the conversation. Tom further stated that since I already was doing guitar shows in the region, would I be interested in co-producing an event together? I said, “Let’s talk!” and we set up a meeting. It also turns out that Tom has a passion for all things guitar like I do. We soon realized that if we combined both of our resources in marketing and industry relationships, that we had an opportunity of doing something big in the guitar community for the Great Northwest and beyond. I secured the domain name and the first annual Tacoma Guitar Festival was born! Our date is Sunday, May 17th, 2015 and it will be held at the Exhibition Hall attached to the Tacoma Dome in where else but Tacoma, WA. We will have 150 vender booths (10’ x10’ pipe and drape) as well as a stage for guitar workshops and live music performances. Some local guitar heroes will be on hand and we will have a good mix of vintage stores, dealers, private collectors, equipment companies, boutique builders of guitars, amps and pedals as well as accessory companies too. We wanted the Tacoma Guitar Festival to feature regional companies/stores as well as national NAMM companies too.
Earlier this year I got a call from Tom Alexander, the new booking manager of the Tacoma Dome. He had recently moved to his role of booking artists for the large and famous venue (the Tacoma Dome) from the Dallas area, where he Already we have several Gold and Silver had a similar role there. Tom told me that sponsorships signed up and have sold 50 while in Dallas he had attended the Dallas of the 150 exhibit booths. Indigenous Guitar Festival for the last five years as an Northwest sponsors (Lollar, The Guitar
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Store, Riggio Custom Guitars, TV Jones, Guitar Maniacs, Veritas Guitars, Synergy Sound and our very own Collectible Guitar magazine) and national brands (PRS, Visual Sound, D’Addario, SKB, Marshall, Mighty Brite and Studio Dome to name a few) have signed up. One of the many benefits of partnering with the City of Tacoma (they own the Tacoma Dome & Exhibition Hall) is that they have marketing resources via Ticketmaster, local newspapers plus regional radio and television stations. That coupled with my marketing resources in the region (snail mail and email lists, FaceBook pages, etc.) will give this Tacoma Guitar Festival the largest promotional push/campaign the Northwest has ever seen. What this means is that we can reach out to the greater guitar community at large and draw local and national entities together to the City of Tacoma for one full day of “all things guitar” like has never been seen before! I hope you can sense how excited we are to produce this event. After returning from “Guitar-lington” in Arlington, maybe we should call our new Tacoma Guitar Festival simply “Gui-toma”? Ha! Whether you are a guitar nut like us, or want to be a vendor along side of us… come and be a part of it! www.TacomaGuitarFestival.com Any questions feel free to contact me at bruceadolph@mac.com
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TOMMY EMMANUEL - continued from page 44
it will be out as soon as Kim is finished mixing it. It’s all new songs, it’s all done, probably out in the New Year. And then John Knowles and I are half way through our project of love songs. We’ve got a few things of us up on Face Book and You Tube playing together just to give people a taste of what’s going on. I’ve been using my 1934 Gibson Kalamazoo which has a beautiful story. The guy that wanted me to have that guitar, he was dying of cancer and his dying wish was for me to have that guitar. So his family rang my agent in the Netherlands and said that he was home in bed and that was where he was going to die and would it be possible for me to come around and get that guitar. I asked if I could come and see him and they said yes. I went to his house and we spent a beautiful morning together. He actually really came to life, he came up out of bed and under his bed he pulled out the Beatles Complete book and opened it up. I started playing and he started singing and he sang like an angel! He’s on his deathbed with cancer and he just wanted to sing and tears were just falling down his face while he’s singing. All his family, his wife and kids were all there and his mother and then he told his wife to go and get that gui-
tar and she brought it out and it was in a rag bag. Just a rag bag and it’s so beautiful. I’m using that on the album with John. It has such a voice, it’s a cross between the Del Veechio and the Django sound.
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like to say? TE: The guitars that we’ve talked about are a big part of my life and I don’t just keep them around to look at. I play them all the time. Don’t get too attached to them however as the real message is that the music comes from you. So you could give me any guitar and I’m going to make music on it, because the music’s in me. But these guitars, they’re not fancy… they’re not expensive, but they do the job for me. And I always remind myself it’s just a hunk of wood, don’t get attached to it. But my old telecaster and other guitars I have… (with out sounding arrogant), I could have any guitar I wanted but I don’t need expensive guitars. I don’t need things that really look showy. There’s a certain sound I’m looking for and when I find it, I just stick with it!
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PRODUCT REVIEW
Riversong Guitar Seattle Sunset Tradition CDN Deluxe Custom by Bruce Adolph
Usually when I do a product review I don’t have this many innovative things to talk about… sure, quality tonewoods and bracing techniques matter, as it shapes the sound - but rarely do we get to talk about someone designing guitars out in left field. The kind of approach that makes you scratch your head and say, “Hey, maybe they have something here?” Mike Miltimore, the Passion Igniter/CEO of Riversong Guitars is a friendly man who has been shaking things up in Canada as a young entrepreneur. He has won awards from his native government for his company’s accomplishments. I don’t think it will be much longer until those of us south of Canada start hearing more and more about Riversong Guitars. So for the sake of brevity (as I only have so much room to write here) the following is a crash course in the unique design aspects that come
from Mike’s passion for building guitars… hang on for the ride. 1). To eliminate neck tension the neck extends all the way through the body and incorporates the end block as structural support. This allows them to use less bracing, giving the guitar a deeper and richer sound due to the increased resonant area. 2). Unlike traditional guitars with fret boards glued to the top of the body. Riversong Guitars feature a solid neck that runs all the way under the fretboard. This eliminates the 14th fret hump that happens when the body expands or contracts differently then the neck.
5). Coming off the nut there is no sideways tension, resulting in better tuning 3). The action is raised or lowered by stability and tone. adjusting the neck angle. This eliminates 6). Due to Riversong’s unique removthe need to adjust your action by sand- able neck design, they are able to exing your saddle. Their novel approach tend the fretboard to two full octaves. has an integrated strap pin used to finely Traditional designs can’t do that due to adjust the angle. Wow – you can adjust servicing constraints (traditionally built the whole neck angle yourself… easily! 4). Their build process uniquely uses just 1/3 of the kerfing of a traditional build. Plus, the direction of grain on their kerfing matches that of the top grain, thus allowing it to expand and contract with the top… giving less tension. Over all, this means less mass and tension in the corners, which translate to more resonant area. 48 :: NOV/DEC 14 :: COLLECTIBLEGUITAR.COM
acoustics need to access the inside of the body for repair and maintenance).
guitar for percussive elements I also think this resonant top/body build will I told you they were different! But be- give you a better performance than othfore I can pick this baby up and play it I ers. have to comment on the Seattle Sunset This model comes with a B-Band T65 finish on this model. I have never seen Preamp /pick-up system. such an interesting finish on an acoustic Oh, yeah, if you feel like your intoguitar! Being from Seattle myself I am nation is a little off… no worries just a bit swayed by the name selection of adjust the neck forward or backwards. the color but I am more impressed with Wow! “the look”. The top looks like a beautiThe wood maple leaf logo fret markful bowl of sherbet ice cream and the ers will remind you of what country back’s striped maple colorings are drop this guitar was hand crafted in… “Oh dead gorgeous. The back and sides are Canada!” 3A Chillwakian maple and the top is 3A Sitka Spruce. The fretboard is made The Seattle Sunset Tradition CDN out of walnut. The rosette is also a de- Deluxe Custom retails for $5,349.00 luxe wood inlayed river rosette. www.riversongguitars.com The sound is wild. It is hard to explain. The mids are bright. I know that is an odd thing to say. The whole tone is very present… I see where they say it is a resonant instrument… it is! The maple back gives it a bright tone but it is at the same time rich. I am intrigued. There is a bloom to the chords and your solo notes ring/sustain. It doesn’t sound like a typical Martin, Gibson or a Taylor for that matter… hats off to Riversong as this guitar has it’s own voice. I keep trying to place it but it pretty much stands alone. I like the second soundhole port in the top of the side and maybe that is why I hear both bright and rich tone as your ears are hearing two different sources for sound. The neck is a thin profile and is unfinished. It feels great. If you are a guy who likes your acoustic to have fast and low action you can dial that neck angle in to get that. If you are in the mood for some fingerstyle and want to raise the strings a bit higher off of the soundboard, you can do that too. The fact that you can decide and change the height of your strings between songs is crazy versatile. Also being able to play up to the 24th fret on your B and E strings is a new and wonderful experience. The nut width is 1.65” and the scale length is 25.5”. You have to get used to the round wood disc sunken about an inch below the soundhole (it diffuses the sound and keeps the highs pure). It is pretty cool to peer into the guitar and really see all of those design elements we discussed earlier in action. If you like to slap your
VIEW OF THE DAY by Dave Cleveland
Over the Atlantic
Greetings, I hope this version of “View of the day” finds everyone doing great and loving life. This issue’s article is going to talk about the reality of what it means to record in the year 2014(almost 2015). There are things we can do today that were completely impossible to do in days gone by. Can you imagine the Beatles or the Rolling Stones being able to Skype while recording their records? Just the fact that we can upload huge sessions through Dropbox is amazing. I remember a time when we had courier’s delivering ADAT tape all over town so you could work on a project at your house. Now you just load it onto a space in the clouds and others can partake of the digital magic you record at your house in your pajamas! But now we are getting closer to the reality of recording in real time while the producers and all the players are in their separate studios. I know it can be done but the cost is not yet consumer friendly. So, about the picture… This is a photo of my desktop the other morning. Wednesday, October 1st at 5:16am to be more specific. The producer was my longtime friend David Ebensberger. He has lived in Belgium with his wife Angie and 2 of his 4 children for 3 years. David and I used to be the champions of FedEx-ing ADAT tapes all over the country. He would cut the tracks in Nashville and send the single ADAT with a 2 mix on it for me to overdub on. This was back during my touring days. Here’s the scene: I would get to the hotel and literally run off the bus to the front desk. The ADAT tape would be waiting. Then I would scramble to my room to set it up for recording. Many times the queen bed would have to go up on its side to block out either traffic or the heating and air conditioning unit. I
many others. You can see me to the right with my phone snapping the shot.
would then grab all my gear and proceed to learn the parts and record them back in three different keys. That’s right, three keys! We called them Tri-Lo’s. Original, up a minor third and down a minor third. Anyway, as soon as I finished, I would head to the front desk again to overnight the precious Adat tape back to David. It was crazy but fun. So when I took the photo last week it really hit me as to how far we have come with technology. Look closely at each part of the photo and you will see how cool it is to be recording nowadays. I’m sure many of you can relate.
The coolest thing about our “over the Atlantic” session was this software called Source Live. It allows me to send a high quality Mp3 stream directly to Dave so he can listen through his studio monitors. In the past guys have just listened to the audio through the computer microphone or a cell phone. But now you can feed directly off of your DAW to their rig for a more realistic recording experience. All David had to do was respond to an email invitation and it took him to the live streaming address. So cool, so fun! I know there are other ways to do this but the folks at Source Live really make it easy. I like easy. You can also see the wave of apps popping up on the screen and then to the far right a list of folders of the songs we were recording. It’s just an awesome time to record! I love how technology can work for you and with you. Would I rather be in a studio with the producer and the musicians? Yes, for sure. But a lot of times, in the world we live in, it’s just me in front of my screen trying to be creative. So, why not get the producer in on the action? Having the producer or artist listening in has saved me going down the wrong musical road many times. Plus, you’ve got someone to talk to in between takes.
The first thing that jumps out at me is the chart. I guess I go there first because that’s where all the musical information is. As you can see, I was able to crunch the full chart on to the left side of the screen. Next is the audio software. The software that I gravitate towards is Studio One by PreSonus. I just like the way it works. I also have PT 10 and Logic Pro. I like to mix it up. We were just starting on the song so only the 2 mix was in the window. Hey, it’s 5:16am and I hadn’t I really have enjoyed sharing with you over the last year. even had a coffee! My default template tracks are all la- Wishing each of you the absolute best. beled GTRS. Right under the recording software is David. Looks like I caught him with his eyes closed. The app we use for video chatting is called Hangouts. There is a bunch available… Facetime, Skype and
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Dave Cleveland is a session guitarist from Nashville. He’s recorded for Miley Cyrus, Martina McBride, Stephen Stills, Judy Collins, Whitney Wolanin & Girls Generation. He recently wrote the tv theme for Mud People and Mustang Millionaire.
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Honor Where Honor is Due: The Passing of Stanley Jay by Gabriel J. Hernandez Let me be completely honest here. This month’s column was going to be about how to buy and sell guitars online – what to do, what NOT to do, what to look for, how to find a good deal, and how to know if the person you’re dealing with is a legitimate and (more importantly) a knowledgeable and reputable dealer. All of that changed Oct. 23, 2014, when I received word from a good friend that Mr. Stanley Jay, longtime owner and proprietor of Staten Island’s world renowned Mandolin Brothers, Ltd., had finally succumbed to Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a disease he’d been valiantly fighting for the last four years. He died the afternoon of Oct. 22, 2014, and was just 71 years young. Needless to say he left us way too soon. Personally, I have yet to make the pilgrimage to the Mandolin Brothers, Ltd. store, which first opened in 1971. And I’m genuinely saddened not only to hear of Mr. Jay’s passing, but also because I now may never get the chance to visit his celebrated store. According to a story published on the Staten Island Advance web site, www.silive.com, which ran the day of Mr. Jay’s death, his family is unsure if the store will continue to remain open. According to the story, Mr. Jay’s daughter Alison Reilly said “… the store has stopped ordering new instruments and has sold much of the existing instruments. The gaps in the walls where instruments used to hang will likely continue to widen unless a new owner buys the shop, she said.” In the same story, the Advance also cited an earlier conversation with Mr. Jay’s son Eric, who said they’re “…hoping to find someone who can take over the business. There has been interest from potential buyers, but nothing concrete.” I’m being somewhat selfish here, but I hope they find a way to keep it going,
and without having to sell it. Because Mandolin Brothers, Ltd is a genuine American institution, and Mr. Jay was its founder, impresario, promoter, governor, head custodian, Big Kahuna, etc. Believe me, I get it. But the field of vintage American fretted instruments without Mandolin Brothers, Ltd., would be like General Motors without Chevrolet, or McDonalds without the Big Mac. You get my point …
Penn State University in 1965 with a degree in Education and English then earned a Masters degree at Wagner College in 1967 in the same field. He completed two more years of post-graduate work at Columbia University Teachers’ College, where he finished all requirements for an Ed.D in The College Teaching of English, with the exception of his dissertation. From there he not only opened Mandolin Brothers Ltd., in 1971, but nine years later met Ned Steinberger and helped create the Steinberger Sound Corporation in 1980. They sold the company to Gibson Guitars in 1987, and many of the Steinberger instruments created under Mr. Steinberger’s and Mr. Jay’s leadership are considered today some of the most desirable and collectible guitars of their type and style.
Before I continue, though, let me also say this: while I certainly do not and cannot compare myself to Mr. Jay, his accomplishments, and his vast knowledge of vintage American fretted instruments, I believe our backgrounds do have some similarities. And it is those similarities which initially attracted me to his company and web site, and his extraordinary style of presenting instruments for sale online … all of Either way, if the family decides to stay which play a huge part in how I now open – which, speaking for anyone who make my living, and how I actually do knew Mr. Jay or Mandolin Brothers, it. Let me explain … Ltd., is genuinely hoping this is the I’ve played the guitar for nearly 45 case – you can bet I will definitely visit years, but figured out very early in life on my next trip to New York City. The I wasn’t going to be a rock star. My love funny thing is that when I was thinking for guitars, however, never diminished. about this next column and how I was On the contrary, it grew to the point going to describe going about finding where the instrument has played a and identifying a reputable online major role in my life in some fashion dealer, the very first person and web for much of the last 45 years. During site that came to mind was Mr. Jay and this time, I also managed to earn a the Mandolin Brothers, Ltd. web site, B.S. degree in Journalism from the www.mandoweb.com. University of Florida and have worked Even though I never met Mr. Jay in as a journalist, writer, copy writer, person, in order to understand my sincere marketer, advertising guru, etc., which appreciation for what he did and how eventually led me to Nashville, TN, he did it, you have to first understand and Gibson Guitars, where I worked his background. He graduated from as the company’s web editor until I was
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What Does Music Mean to You? To us, it means preserving the rich history of instrument manufacturing, marketing and music making. Learn more about the NAMM Museum of Making Music, its exhibits and events, including the upcoming exhibition, “What Music Means to Me,” at MuseumofMakingMusic.org. Have a historical instrument that you’d like to share? Drop us a line at (760) 304-5809. The NAMM Museum of Making Music & NAMM Foundation:
Join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook: @MuseumMaknMusic
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laid off in 2009 due to the country’s economic woes. Not being able to land a job as a full-time writer, I began buying and selling guitars – which is something I always dabbled in, though mainly to build up my own collection as opposed to doing it for a living. In a very short time, I was able to turn my passion into a business, and today Blues Vintage Guitars, Inc. manages to stay firmly afloat among a sea full of vintage guitar dealers of all types and sizes. The reason I bring all of this up is because my inspiration for writing the in-depth instrument descriptions I write today – and ever since I started doing this for a living – came in part from reading the wonderful and incredible instrument descriptions written by Mr. Jay for his Mandolin Brothers, Ltd. web site. If you’ve never read one, simply visit www.mandoweb.com and click on any of the instruments for sale on the site. For me, as a writer and voracious reader, there’s nothing better than to read something written by someone that has a pure, absolute passion for what he or she is writing about. My favorite writer of all time is Ernest Hemingway, and the sheer emotions and intensity that come across in just about everything he ever wrote are the reasons why. Just like Mr. Hemingway would make you feel like you were standing next to him as he reeled in a 1,000-plus lbs. Blue Marlin aboard his beloved Pilar, Mr. Jay’s instrument descriptions made you feel like you were holding, looking at, and playing the instrument you were reading about. Though I’m sure it’s a pleasure to visit his shop, you didn’t necessarily have to go there to buy an instrument. All you had to do was visit his web site and read
greatness of the superstars that have relied on him for their fretted tools – Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Jimmy Buffett, Judy Collings, The Edge (U2), Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Bela Fleck, Lauryn Hill and Lenny Kravitz (to name a few) – you know that Mr. Jay will definitely be missed. But most of all he will be missed by his beloved family, which includes his wife of 40 years, Bea Jay, his sister, Andrea, his daughter, Alison, his son, Eric, and two grandchildren.
his descriptions, and if one of them struck your fancy you could absolutely bank on the fact that that’s what you In his obituary published by the Staten were going to get when your instrument Island Advance, his wife Bea said, “Stan loved his family above everything else arrived at your front door. in his life. He was a business person As I stated previously, I never had the who always put the customer’s needs pleasure of meeting Mr. Jay, but I did first. There is a sign over the door to have the honor of speaking to him on his office that reads ‘Dream Fulfillment the phone several times over the last few Center’ since that’s what he provided years about some of the instruments guitarists – both famous and casual – that have come across my desk. And who visited from every State and every I can honestly tell you that every time country on earth. He made people I spoke to him he was exceptionally happy.” gracious with his time, information, knowledge, and (most importantly) his Let’s all hope the Jay family can find attitude in sharing it all. Additionally, the resources and strength of mind it I happen to know many people in this will take to keep Mandolin Brothers, business that have met him and done Ltd. open without having to sell. They business with him over the years, and really need to keep making “people even those that were fortunate enough happy.” Because I don’t think there are to call him a friend. Of all these people, many people in our business that can I can honestly tell you that not one has fathom the vintage American fretted ever uttered a bad word about him or instruments industry without it. I know his business. And trust me folks, that I can’t. in itself is an anomaly and absolute God speed, Mr. Jay … may you finally rest in peace, sir. blessing in our industry. The backside of the t-shirts sold by Mandolin Brothers, LTD., say it best: “The World’s Most Comfortable and Complete Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Banjo and Mandolin Store.” I’m sure the majority of the people that have walked through the front doors of Mr. Jay’s little guitar shop on New York’s Staten Island since 1971 would agree, as would the countless number of satisfied clients that have purchased instruments from him over the years. And when you consider the sheer
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Gabriel J. Hernandez is the owner of Blues Vintage Guitars, Inc., a shop in Nashville, Tennessee, specializing in the buying and selling of vintage and newer high-end guitars and gear. He is also an accomplished writer, having earned a B.S. in Journalism from The University of Florida in 1988. Over a 25-year career he has worked as an investigative journalist for several news organizations and publishing companies, as a staff sports writer for The Palm Beach Post, and most recently as the Web Editor for Gibson Guitars at the company’s worldwide headquarters in Nashville. Hernandez has played guitar since the age of six, and been fascinated (some say obsessed) by the instrument – and music in general – ever since. You can reach him any time at 1-615-613-1389, or visit his company’s web site at www.bluesvintageguitars.com.