West Coast Blues Thread - Version 2.0

[Strat-O]

Thinsocks - Look cool huh? It came out at NAMM recently. I guess it was Fenders response to the Gibson Les Paul amp. That's a great deal if it sounds cool. It would have to sound cool, how could it not?

[Scott Miller]

Nitecreepers... nope, I didn't know it was released. Actually, I've never heard the band; just individual members here and there.

Richard Rodriguez is a fine singer, very relaxed, one of those singers that makes you smile. We had a year of high school together in Watsonville, but we don't remember each other.

Thom Merida hosts the rhythm roundup every year, a track from which was on Jimi Bott's live collection.

They're definitely wired into the good old skool blues. They have the right idea, getting the best rhythm guys around here; June Core, Marc Carino, Marty Dotson, and bringing in a ringer like Chris Andersen now and then.

[Thinsocks]

Thinsocks - Look cool huh? It came out at NAMM recently. I guess it was Fenders response to the Gibson Les Paul amp. That's a great deal if it sounds cool. It would have to sound cool, how could it not?

Yeah, it sure does look cool. At $250 I'm not holding my breath on how it sounds though. Still, it's almost worth it for that hip looking cab.

[Poppa Stoppa]

Skilback thanks for that cool version of Huckle Boogie!

PS I've been puzzling over the harmony on the head on the Pee Wee Crayton original and can't work it out, 'specially the second part over the II/V chords - nice to hear these guys had the same difficulty! It's like Bill Jennings guitar playing - you know there's a harmony going on but can't hear it clear enough to grasp it.

[TwoFeets]

Yeah, it sure does look cool. At $250 I'm not holding my breath on how it sounds though. Still, it's almost worth it for that hip looking cab.

Pretty cool - thanks for the heads up!

They're already showing up on the MF site for $199, ETA 2/1.

[mikelaw]

Did you guys hear, Britney Spears shaved her head bald!

[Dave Orban]

Did you guys hear, Britney Spears shaved her head bald!"Give me back my wig..."

[S.W.Erdnase]

Yeah, it sure does look cool. At $250 I'm not holding my breath on how it sounds though. Still, it's almost worth it for that hip looking cab.

Did you guys read the ad copy?

We added a higher-gain preamp circuit to let the overdriven tone exceed that of the original, and we added a choice of high- or low-gain inputs

Can't those edjeets LEAVE it alone? What next? "We changed the circuit to solid state and got rid of the tubes to improve the sound!"

Okay, okay, maybe it'll be sweet, but it's not stock is it?

[afenderman67]

well, i did it, i finally caught up with you guy's on this thread , ive reading it for 2 months off and on!

my name is chris and i love the blue and play in a blues band out here in CA. i want to play more of the swing and jump blue styles.

i've been talking with jetlag for about 2 years off and on, and he's been a big help for some gear tips.

i'm glad to be on board! chris

[DonM]

http://www.corneliastriewski.de/IMGP2495.JPGhttp://static.flickr.com/41/85095823_accf10e19f_o.jpghttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42584000/jpg/_42584825_britneyspears_grab203b.jpghttp://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/OtherEntertainment/2007/02/17/People_Britney_Spears_1.jpghttp://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/OtherEntertainment/2007/02/17/People_Britney_Spears_1.jpg

[groove_king]

Paging Mr Mola, TwoFeets to the front courtesy counter, please ...

Rob, just letting you know I've PM'ed ya ...

[Echo Are]

We added a higher-gain preamp circuit to let the overdriven tone exceed that of the original, and we added a choice of high- or low-gain inputs

I was thinking this may have something to do with the fact that the original Champ 600 used a 6SJ7 tube in the preamp, and maybe Fender wanted to cut costs by using a 12AX7, which is readily available from JJ, Sovtek, etc., and is a higher gain tube than the 6SJ7(right?). It doesn't look like anyone is manufacturing new 6SJ7s, so probably Fender had no choice but to make the preamp circuit a higher gain one than the original.

[TwoFeets]

Paging Mr Mola, TwoFeets to the front courtesy counter, please ...

Rob, just letting you know I've PM'ed ya ...

Hey man, PM'ed ya back!

[aja]

Who cares if Britney shaved her head ? I can't believe thats breaking news
everywhere.

[TwoFeets]

Who cares if Britney shaved her head ? I can't believe thats breaking news
everywhere.

Well, the relevance to the WCB thread.... I heard Mike Law gathered up the clippings and is having a wig made for himself out of 'em.

[Strat-O]

Ricky King - I've emailed and PM'd you over the last week or so, did you get those?

[Strat-O]

So I got this thing from Guitar Player magazine in the mail about the blues. Like a special issue dedicated to blues, sort of. Really weird since I don't subscribe to Guitar Player. I thought it was pretty cool though that they were 'selling' the concept of blues to the world. It kind of looked like it was related to Guitar Centers "King of The Blues Guitar" competition, or whatever its called. Had some nice historical information for people to delve into.

Anyway, a short interview with Bob Margolin is in there, and Bob is using a Victoria Regal. I tried one and couldn't get a tone out of it. Talked to Marc Baier some and now I get the impression that something must've been up with it. Anybody else tried one of these and had any luck?

[GOLDENSTRAT]

Strat-o . a friend just got one of those (Regal) and it sounds really fat and warm to me. fred

[TwoFeets]

Hey, an H-44 went on Ebay yesterday for $1300.

Did you ever think that kind of dough would be a bargain?

[jimfog]

Had a thought last night while digging through some of my jazz books and instructional stuff....

WHY hasn't anyone done a definitive, well-written killer book and/or DVD on West Coast blues styles. I mean, geez, almost everything else has been covered. How many cheezy "blueezzzzz-rock" books do we need.

Come to think of it, I've never seen any great REAL electric blues guitar instructional......you know, one that covers backing a harp player, Chicago style, real-deal turn arounds....essentially all the different, unique and quirky pieces that make this stuff INTERESTING.......

Someone needs to commision Watson, Ramos, Dave Specter, or?????

Hell, maybe the folks here could do it as a group project.......we each take a "chapter" and e-publish it?

Anyway.........just a thought.

- Jim

[valcotone]

Jim, This is the closest thing I've seen to what you're describing: http://www.swingblues.com/

[safecracker]

Hey guys! Just jumpin in. I've been reading this thread for a long time, but just decided to join in after my experience two weeks ago at the 2007 IBC. I met and jammed with Ryan Hart, Eric Ducoff, and Sean Carney at the after hours jam at Blues City Cafe. All of them are really nice guys. I especially want to thank Ryan for letting me honk thru his Bassman. That was my first time to play with pros and I'll never forget it.The quality of the stage sound, and performing with real pros is the ultimate high. If anyone wants to see pictures from the jam they're at photobucket.com under safecracker_photos.

[KBR]

I have a Chicago Blues Instructional DVD w/ chord Charts, and a cd as well as DVD.
Cheap, too.

Also DVDs on ALBERT COLLINS iN REGULAR TUNING, FREDDIE KING, RHYTHM GUITAR
KBR

[Strat-O]

Goldenstrat - But does it do RAW? I mean, its supposed to have the Valco connection with reverb and tremelo and a 15" speaker. You just want to like it, you know. I couldn't get raw out of it, but others say it does RAW great. Valco's are raw. Wonder what I missed.

[Poppa Stoppa]

Stringmaster did ya try your Dano through a pumped-up little amp yet? Neck & bridge tones come to life, as well as that cool out-of-phase tone.

I can't quite work out what the Regal does yet. A friend told me it's single-ended (ie one power tube) and can put out about 6w max, but I have heard the name 'Regal 2' floating about and also that it can output up to 35w with different tubes. The website is not clear. Anybody know for sure?
Hey, an H-44 went on Ebay yesterday for $1300.

Did you ever think that kind of dough would be a bargain?There was a hint of a warning in the description which said something like 'these are ideal for slide and this is no exception'...

[rjkohrs]

Didn't Duke Robillard and Keith Wyatt make instructional videos for "swing/jump blues" ?

[Stringmaster]

Poppa:
The Dano sounds great through my Juke, the bridge pickup isn't wimpy anymore, like it used to be. If I set my amp to where the high end with the bridge pickup doesn't tear your head off, the middle position is still good, but the neck is too muddy. Conversely, if I set the amp to get a tone to my liking with in the neck position, there is too much treble on the other combos--I find the tone controls pretty useless on the guitar-too much output lost by turning them down, and loses definition. Still playing with it though.

I saw a Regal II in a shop the other day, but didn't play it--the store owner told me that the original, one tube model was discontinued in favor of the two power tube model--which can also be run with one power tube. I'm sure I'd like it, but I've already got those bases covered.
Thanks, DD

[Short Bus]

Jim, This is the closest thing I've seen to what you're describing: http://www.swingblues.com/

+1 or more on the swingblues.com. It's helped me understand it at least. I just need to get my brain and fingers talking to each other.... :crazy

[straightblues]

+1 or more on the swingblues.com. It's helped me understand it at least. I just need to get my brain and fingers talking to each other.... :crazyI liked that series as well. It surely helped me to understand what I was doing a little bit more and is well worth the money. It is very good for the West Coast Style.

[straightblues]

Can anyone try to give me a definition of West Coast Blues? My 8 year old was asking me about it yesterday and I realized I don't have a very good definition. When I started thinking about it, it also struck me a strange that one of my favorite West Coast Style Bands, Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers, were called the Chicago Flying Saucer Band when I first saw them in the 70's so one of the icons was really associating with the Chicago sound. Who do you guys think started the West Coast sound and when was that?

[Scott Miller]

"...definition of West Coast Blues"

What it comes down to for me is having a little more air in the snare drum. Not sure what that means, but that's the sound. To me. I'm a huge proponent of the "drums defines the sound of the band" school of thought.

[GOLDENSTRAT]

Ha! you are sure to get lots of different opinions on that. I would venture that the current band configurations mirror chicago blues but WC would have more swing element and even some "jazzy-lounge" - a smoother more "uptown" element, IMO. Nat King Cole's and Charles Brown's trios were some of the first popular WC bands with far-reaching influence. T-Bone and Pee Wee had big bands with horns at one time but the bass/ drums/guitar/harmonica - maybe piano or sax set-up seems to be the norm of today. Now, everybody slam my idea. fred

[GOLDENSTRAT]

Strat-o, sorry, I only played the Regal for 30 seconds. My friend says it can run on or two power tubes, it came with 2 6L6s.
Ricky King, how are you liking that Vega/Valco? Has it had a cap job? Mine is almost loud enough for gigging with no pedals but is set pretty wide open to get there. fred

[rhartt1234]

[quote=safecracker;2152661at the 2007 IBC. I met and jammed with Ryan Hart, Eric Ducoff, and Sean Carney at the after hours jam at Blues City Cafe. /quote]

It was a pleasure to meet you and thanks for coming to Memphis.
Here are some videos from that night.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=VHProject

[Thinsocks]

Anyone interested in one of the new Airline reissue H-44's? I'm selling a single pickup gold/orange for a friend. $325 + s/h.

[sideman]

rjkohrs - yes, Duke Robillard did a video that I found helpful on some points: http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7034785.

[TwoFeets]

Anyone interested in one of the new Airline reissue H-44's? I'm selling a single pickup gold/orange for a friend. $325 + s/h.

I am - toss me an email....

[Dave Orban]

Anyone interested in one of the new Airline reissue H-44's? I'm selling a single pickup gold/orange for a friend. $325 + s/h.
I'm also interested. Let me know if still available.

[aja]

I haven't seen fretshop around has anyone else ? Fretshop if your around
do you have a diagram for making a strat out of phase ?

[Scott Miller]

Rusty Zinn was at Mike Phillips's jam last night.

"I'm a reeeebel. Sooull reeeebel..."

It's West Coast Reggae, yes mon.

June Core is a badass reggae drummer.

[Dave Orban]

I haven't seen fretshop around has anyone else ? Fretshop if your around
do you have a diagram for making a strat out of phase ?He's been sidelined with bronchitis, I believe...

[rhartt1234]

I'm not much of a bootleg collector/trader. But let's say, hypopthetically, someone had this...

[valcotone]

I'm not much of a bootleg collector/trader. But let's say, hypopthetically, someone had this...


You rang? Would you prefer audio or video? :)

[Strat-O]

That's a cool show.

[Echo Are]

Johnny Cat told me last night at the Murphy's Law(Mike Phillips')jam that Rusty Zinn's been in a reggae head space lately. It came through in his playing. Fine guitarist, excellent singer. His rig was a white SG Custom into a CryBaby wah-wah into a Super Reverb. He played a couple tunes wherein he really nailed that "check-eh wah" early-'70s reggae rhythm.

[mikelaw]

You rang? Would you prefer audio or video? :)

dvd please :)

[straightblues]

I am looking for some 10 inch speakers for my tweed Bandmaster clone, which has 3 10 inch speakers. I want some vintage Alnico Jensens but I can't swing the dollars they are demanding these days. What other vintage speakers should I consider? Right now it the amp has Webers in it and they are good, but they are very effecient and loud in this amp. I am really looking for a vintage speaker that is less effecient. Any ideas?

[GOLDENSTRAT]

i can help with dvd. e-mail me. fred

[Schwalbe]

I am looking for some 10 inch speakers for my tweed Bandmaster clone, which has 3 10 inch speakers. I want some vintage Alnico Jensen's but I can't swing the dollars they are demanding these days. What other vintage speakers should I consider? Right now it the amp has Webers in it and they are good, but they are very effecient and loud in this amp. I am really looking for a vintage speaker that is less efficient. Any ideas?
Which Weber's are in it? How well broken in?
You might consider the Signature series Weber's. The Sigs are reported to be less efficient, supposedly because they use the standard stamped magnet instead of the Weber machined magnet. Maybe a smooth cone vintage series if that's not what already in there. Something like a 10A125-O. CTS AlNiCo tens might be cool but they're probably not a bargain anymore either.
You might not need to replace all of them if your looking for earlier break-up. Consider just one vintage Alnico Jensen in the top center position.

[nmontz]

Straightblues....

I say the cts alnico 10's out of an old super reverb. You should be able to get pairs for a little over $100...probably cheaper if you go with the wierd goldish 70's or even silver frames. I'm not above going around and buying blown jensen frames. Especially if they look great, and then having them reconed with vintage style kits (not weber). This statement usually brings out an arguement, but when having a vintage frame re-coned I think it especially helps not to have them remagged. I have some recones that sound really good and then I don't worry about baby'in them.

I agree with Schwalbe that throwing one vintage speaker in there that gives it up might help....or a pair of something with one weber so you have plenty of bottom end.

Play some bass through your webers...see if that breaks them in and opens them up. :-)

[musicofanatic5]

"Play some bass through your webers...see if that breaks them in and opens them up".
It's true! We used to use my reissue Bassman on this quiet (but with drums) gig for both upright and Fender bass (as God and Leo Fender intended it!). After a halfa dozen or so gigs, it really sounded "older". Kirk Fletcher used to request it when he came around (he liked with the ss rectifier).

[Strat-O]

Your best bet for new 10's is the Weber Signature Series. Their regular line 10's are just too hi-fi sounding, too much juice. Especially in a 4x10 amp. You'd have to resort to a distortion pedal if you ever hoped to get any breakup at a halfway reasonable volume. Way too loud. For me anyway.

Now playing bass through some new Jensen P10R could work. I don't know about that myself. I really don't like the new Jensens 10's but maybe with a little special attention they could work.

:confused:

[TwoFeets]

I am looking for some 10 inch speakers for my tweed Bandmaster clone, which has 3 10 inch speakers. I want some vintage Alnico Jensens but I can't swing the dollars they are demanding these days. What other vintage speakers should I consider? Right now it the amp has Webers in it and they are good, but they are very effecient and loud in this amp. I am really looking for a vintage speaker that is less effecient. Any ideas?

The blue frames that used to come in the tweed Bassman are well-regarded too, if you can find a set.

[mikelaw]

those blue frames are just eminence's i think robby.

[valcotone]

The older AlNiCo MojoTone MP10Rs are great too. I have a set from '95 in my 3x10" Bandmaster clone and they are part of the reason that amp sounds so damn good.

[jetlag]

The old mojotonee P10Rs came in two versions - a lower wattage model with a paper (vintage) voice coil and a modern higher wattage version with the kapton voice coil. I think both were different from the blue fender eminence but am positive the vintage model was. Nate scoffed at the stock eminence speaker and claimed his mojotones were different. Anyway, the lower wattage mojos were pretty nice.

Straightblues - I'm with Nmontz. I'd try some CTS alnicos, try a pair and leave one weber in on the bottom. I have a bandmaster with old P10Rs in it and I borrowed a local player's weber P10Q's to try. They were loud as hell, uber-efficient, thin in the mids and heavy on the highs and lows. I have old P10Qs and these sound nothing like them. After that experiment I invoked a "must outnumber weber speakers 2 to 1 rule" - at least to get the tones I like.

The CTS alnicos are notoriously inefficient, roll highs and lows and suck more midrange out of an amp than you knew existed. So if that sounds good, then go for it.

If you want something with a little more snap than the CTS, more like old jensens, look on ebay for old rola or hepner alnico 10's and get a good look at the slug magnet. Make sure it isn't tiny.

[dukeh62]

Hey guys...

Just wanted to report on this...

I received a last minute call last week to fill-in for our own Nick Adams on a Racky Thomas gig. Playing with Racky is always a special treat for me, but the highlight of my night? Our own Jon Ross on DRUMS!!!! Can this guy get any more ridiculous? Bass, drums, guitar, mandolin....what the???? Meanwhile, I was up there struggling just to play anything remotely interesting!

[Strat-O]

You know, I don't think I've heard the straight cone Weber P10R's. I think they are 10A100's. Then theyre's the 10A100T's with some ribs. Anybody heard either of these speakers?

[straightblues]

Wow thanks for all of the input on the speakers.

The amp has three different Webers, none of which are broken in yet:

The blue pup: 10 inch Celestion Blue type Alnico speaker.

10A125-O: a smooth cone Jensen type Alnico speaker

10F150: this is a ceramic speaker like a Jensen C10N (this speaker is for bigger bottom end).

These speaker sound very good and I am sure they will sound better as they are broken in. But they are just a little too loud and in your face in this particular amp. I want to be able to turn the amp up a little more to get a little more breakup from it. (Yes I realize tweed Bandmasters stay pretty clean, I just need a hair more breakup.)

The CTS sounds like a good sollution. I could pull the Blue Pup and try one out.

[pete kanaras]

T-Birds @ Rockaplast 19

only footage with keith in the band i've ever seen. man i miss him. i'd love to find some video of keith with the tailgators, that would be sweet

a buddy has audio of the first 3 gigs the 'birds ever did in dc. 2(i think)at desperados and at another joint. very early on, i think the 1st gig was before girls gone wild was even released. 10 years and waiting tommy, still waiting!

[bluesbreaker59]

Wow thanks for all of the input on the speakers.

The amp has three different Webers, none of which are broken in yet:

The blue pup: 10 inch Celestion Blue type Alnico speaker.

10A125-O: a smooth cone Jensen type Alnico speaker

10F150: this is a ceramic speaker like a Jensen C10N (this speaker is for bigger bottom end).

These speaker sound very good and I am sure they will sound better as they are broken in. But they are just a little too loud and in your face in this particular amp. I want to be able to turn the amp up a little more to get a little more breakup from it. (Yes I realize tweed Bandmasters stay pretty clean, I just need a hair more breakup.)

The CTS sounds like a good sollution. I could pull the Blue Pup and try one out.

I have the Jensen reissue P10R's in my Vicky Bandmaster, and honestly I find them to be perfect, they are broken in well, because I play at about 7 most of the time. The sound great clean or overdriven, and because there are 3 of em, there is plenty of bass there too!!! Seriously, I'm a fan of Weber's usually too and vintage Jensens, but these sounded so good, I didn't want to mess with it.

[Strat-O]

Weber's seem to be loud as crap, across the board. Can't figure it out. I guess its because 99% of the folks out there are trying to make an amp something it isn't; as in making a small cheap amp sound huge and expensive. Maybe I'm wrong.

The signature series speakers I've tried are more subdued and sound better to me. I wish they had some signature 15's.

[TwoFeets]

Believe it or not, I re-speakered a '69 Super Reverb with a mix of reissue Jensen C10Q's and C10R's and, side by side with another '69 with original CTS alnicos, the one with the new, ceramic Jensens sounded GREAT. They're pretty inexpensive. Why not try a set of C10R's and play the hell out of them for a little bit and break them in?

[bobgoblin]

Wondering if any of youse guys could help identify this Kay guitar:

Kay (http://c.im.craigslist.org/1s/F0/GriSPuf33vKQQEBXVSCd8HH8uVHV.jpg)

Also, I've posted a tune I did w/a small combo a few weeks ago, hoping some of y'all would like a listen:

End of Session Thing (http://thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=218669)

[Strat-O]

Hey man, I can't access your clip. How about a link directly to your Soundclick page?

Is it possible to wire up 3, 8 ohm, 10" speakers to something close to 16 ohms total impedence?

[bobgoblin]

Strat-O: here ya go! bobgoblin on Soundclick (http://www.soundclick.com/thedearlydeported)

[jetlag]

Is it possible to wire up 3, 8 ohm, 10" speakers to something close to 16 ohms total impedence?

Strato - you could wire up two speakers in parallel and then wire that pair in series with the remaining speaker for a total 12 ohm load. It would be weird though - the speaker pair wired in parallel would only be seeing 1/6 of the power of the amp (for each spkr), the remaining lone 8 ohm speaker would be seeing 2/3rds of the power and would thus need to be rated accordingly.

[TwoFeets]

Wondering if any of youse guys could help identify this Kay guitar:

Kay (http://c.im.craigslist.org/1s/F0/GriSPuf33vKQQEBXVSCd8HH8uVHV.jpg)



I think that Kay, and the Silvertone-branded Kay cousin, was called the Aristocrat. Was available for several years with a variety of different pickups, the humpback ones, the mini humbuckery-looking ones, etc. Big enormous neck with no trussrod. Suffers the usual neck set issues with these budget jazzers.

http://cgi.ebay.com/KAY-style-17-VINTAGE-40s-SPRUCE-TOP-ARCHTOP-free-ship_W0QQitemZ130075643336QQihZ003QQcategoryZ2384Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://vintageguitarpro.com/1950ssilveraristocrat.shtml

[bobgoblin]

Thanks, TwoFeets!

[bluesbreaker59]

BTW, the new John Nemeth cd, IMHO, is just ok. I really hate that he made a remake of his own song "Let Me Hold You", the version on the new cd lacks the raw power and energy that was found on the previous disc "Come and Get It". In fact, I found most of this cd, to lack that raw, explosive power that Nemeth had on his last disc, I'm not sure why either, but it seemed to me he was trying to sing to "pretty" on this one, whereas the last disc, it seemed like he was trying to channel Otis Redding, Roy Brown and early Ray Charles.

[ES350]

Yep, that's an Aristocrat; big guitar, 26 inch scale, 18 inch body. Interesting control wiring on those guitars and they used a fiber XLR jack to hook up the harness...

[HappyValley]

"Play some bass through your webers...see if that breaks them in and opens them up".
It's true! We used to use my reissue Bassman on this quiet (but with drums) gig for both upright and Fender bass (as God and Leo Fender intended it!). After a halfa dozen or so gigs, it really sounded "older". Kirk Fletcher used to request it when he came around (he liked with the ss rectifier).

When I bought my Clark Tyger w/3 Weber P10 Qs, I was told to play a portable CD player through it for a few days with the bass up to break in the speakers. That amp still sounds killer and I've heard no complaints about the speakers from anyother guitar players. I don't think you want a NEW speaker to be too mushy out of the box.
straightblues- -Are you sure your bias is right? How bout your choice of tubes? They have an effect on overall tone as well.

I agree that the Mojotones from the 90's were great speakers (made by eminence I 've heard). I had 4 of 'em in a Super Reverb and a 1X 12 in a Brown Deluxe and they ALL sounded great.

[TwoFeets]

FYI for all you WCB threaders - a buddy of mine is thinking about selling a pair of cool vintage Guild thinlines he owns. Toss me an email if you're interested, I'll find out his asking prices and more details.

'57 T-100 Slim Jim, missing pickguard, original "Franz" P90 type pickup, possibly non-original tailpiece, otherwise straight, great condition, playability... no issues.

'61 T-50, same as a Slim Jim but non-cutaway, like a ES125T. Single original "Franz" P90, all original, no issues.

[musicofanatic5]

Yep, that's an Aristocrat; big guitar, 26 inch scale, 18 inch body. Interesting control wiring on those guitars and they used a fiber XLR jack to hook up the harness...
Yeah, the modular control unit is the best thing about those gtrs. The p.u.s are crap. Hate the neck: narrow f.b. and almost squarish back contour. Squarish also are the un-esthetic shoulders on the body. Any Kays I've had that I liked at all have had the neck replaced (usually with some sort of pre-'57 Harmony neck).

[musicofanatic5]

FYI for all you WCB threaders - a buddy of mine is thinking about selling a pair of cool vintage Guild thinlines he owns. Toss me an email if you're interested, I'll find out his asking prices and more details.

'57 T-100 Slim Jim, missing pickguard, original "Franz" P90 type pickup, possibly non-original tailpiece, otherwise straight, great condition, playability... no issues.

'61 T-50, same as a Slim Jim but non-cutaway, like a ES125T. Single original "Franz" P90, all original, no issues.

Speaking of cool Guilds, I like this one! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170083551219
L.P. size hollow body, comfy, lightweight. If every Guild I've ever played didn't have a pencil sized neck, I'd be all over this one (sigh!).

[TwoFeets]

Speaking of cool Guilds, I like this one! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170083551219
L.P. size hollow body, comfy, lightweight. If every Guild I've ever played didn't have a pencil sized neck, I'd be all over this one (sigh!).

He has one of those too, but it's not for sale. He also has a CE100D, and a '57 X150 (single pickup X175). I had a '59 X175 but I agree, the neck was very pencil-ish, and the Franz pickups and the way they're wired, were too Gretschy for me, and not Gibby enough, if that makes sense. I could have changed it but I was worried about boogering it up.

[TwoFeets]

Does anyone have an unused Tele bridge pickup kicking around? Like, a cheapie that you replaced with a boutique or higher end pup? I just bought an Esquire project out of the classifieds, but it has no bridge pup with it. I'd like to have something on hand to get me off and running until I can afford something like one of Don's.

[Dave Orban]

Does anyone have an unused Tele bridge pickup kicking around? Like, a cheapie that you replaced with a boutique or higher end pup? I just bought an Esquire project out of the classifieds, but it has no bridge pup with it. I'd like to have something on hand to get me off and running until I can afford something like one of Don's.
I'm pretty sure I do... Probably a SD Broadcaster

[valcotone]

He has one of those too, but it's not for sale. He also has a CE100D, and a '57 X150 (single pickup X175).


I had a '59 CE100DP Capri with the deep body and two white Franz pickups for a year or so but it just didn't do it for me... it was pretty jangly sounding and was missing the warmth of a Gibson P90 archtops (to my ears anyway). These must be pretty rare guitars because I never seem them for sale in VG magazine. The 60's ones with the Guild humbuckers are way more common.

On the other hand, a local player uses one with great results.

[Stringmaster]

My '54 X550 is my longest companion, and will never go anywhere. I absoluetly love the pickups--and I assume they are the "Franz" pickups referred to. I like them so much that in the past I've had some P90 underwound a bit to emulate their tone--so each to his own--thy work for me! I even used this guitar in a hardcore Honky Tonk band--you can almost get a fat Tele type sound out of the bridge pickup, and of course it's a great Rockabilly guitar too.

Here she is:
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/2541/guild1um5.jpg

And not meaning to beat this clip to death--here's a sound sample:

Juke1210 Classic-Guild X550/Pentode (http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=482706&songID=3939471) 1954 Guild X550, with Guild P90's--Neck Pickup

DD

[TwoFeets]

That's a beautiful guitar, man!

I'm a lousy Honky Tonk and rockabilly player, for a guy who played for 6 years in a rockabilly band.... LOL





My '54 X550 is my longest companion, and will never go anywhere. I absoluetly love the pickups--and I assume they are the "Franz" pickups referred to. I like them so much that in the past I've had some P90 underwound a bit to emulate their tone--so each to his own--thy work for me! I even used this guitar in a hardcore Honky Tonk band--you can almost get a fat Tele type sound out of the bridge pickup, and of course it's a great Rockabilly guitar too.

Here she is:


And not meaning to beat this clip to death--here's a sound sample:

Juke1210 Classic-Guild X550/Pentode (http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=482706&songID=3939471) 1954 Guild X550, with Guild P90's--Neck Pickup

DD

[TwoFeets]

Juke1210 Classic-Guild X550/Pentode (http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=482706&songID=3939471) 1954 Guild X550, with Guild P90's--Neck Pickup

DD

Oh yeah and nice stuff there too!

Dave, check your email...

-R-

[Dave Orban]

My '54 X550 is my longest companion, and will never go anywhere. I absoluetly love the pickups--and I assume they are the "Franz" pickups referred to. I like them so much that in the past I've had some P90 underwound a bit to emulate their tone--so each to his own--thy work for me!

Here she is:
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/2541/guild1um5.jpg
Beautiful guitar...! :dude

Is that a repro guard...?

[Stringmaster]

Thanks for the + comments! No, it's the original guard. I put the Bigsby tailpiece and bridge on, but have the original TP--I go back and forth, but mostly leave the Bigsby on. The logo is somewhat unusual on this one too--has a full triangle under "Guild", instead of just being underlined--I've only seen or heard of a few other X550's--Gonzalez owns two of them.
DD

[TwoFeets]

Thanks for the + comments! No, it's the original guard. I put the Bigsby tailpiece and bridge on, but have the original TP--I go back and forth, but mostly leave the Bigsby on. The logo is somewhat unusual on this one too--has a full triangle under "Guild", instead of just being underlined--I've only seen or heard of a few other X550's--Gonzalez owns two of them.
DD

Waddya know, I still have a pic of the X175.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h183/itchytwofeets/rocket7.jpg

[aja]

Nice guitar Dave. Some people don't like gold but it looks really nice on that.
BTW: I'm going to Guitar Center after work to buy a Squier '51 I need a
guitar fix.:drool

[jetlag]

My '54 X550 is my longest companion, and will never go anywhere. I absoluetly love the pickups--and I assume they are the "Franz" pickups referred to. I like them so much that in the past I've had some P90 underwound a bit to emulate their tone--so each to his own--thy work for me! I even used this guitar in a hardcore Honky Tonk band--you can almost get a fat Tele type sound out of the bridge pickup, and of course it's a great Rockabilly guitar too.

Here she is:
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/2541/guild1um5.jpg

And not meaning to beat this clip to death--here's a sound sample:

Juke1210 Classic-Guild X550/Pentode (http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=482706&songID=3939471) 1954 Guild X550, with Guild P90's--Neck Pickup

DD

Nice guitar swingmaster. On the back pup - EXACTLY! My bud has an old guild, I think a X175. It's back pup is exactly as you describe - it sounds like a 200 lb hollowbody telecaster. Just a killer tone and one of the hands down best rear position "P90" tones I've ever heard. I love those pups in the back spot.

[aja]

I meant nice guitar stringmaster.

[Stringmaster]

Nice action shot Two-Feets! BTW, the neck on my Guild isn't pencil thin--it's no Stratotone neck, but it's in line with the Gibsons from the 40's-50's. I bought it in around 1983 I believe. It's amazing how much you can crank this guitar up, without feedback. I always kind of wanted an Aristocrat, to give me a similar sound in a smaller package, but never found one that I liked at a price I wanted to pay.

[btg]

I had an X-175 with Franz pickups but sold it and still regret it. It was a great guitar. I also had an Aristocrat that while I liked the concept of the guitar it left a lot to be desired as far as playability and feedback like a banshee. Would like to find another x-175 or X-500 though.

[RickyKing]

Hi,
I have some project things some of you may need.
Please check these out,no reasonable offer refused.

http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/RickyKing_album/

Thanks!
BTW The Vega/Valco 1X15 Sounds Great!
And my little music exchange will be getting out soon.
I have been in rehabing my house mode and away from the thread for awhile.
I recently sold a pair of those Guild P-90's to a guy...He was real happy to get them! Real Hard To Find! Also,The difference in Mojo and Fender Blue 10"
speakers is Mojo's had a felt dust cap and Blues a paper dome...FWIW.
If I could find some NOS Mojo's with the Kapton coil I would buy all I could.
One of my favorite's,the new Emi legends are most likely the same.

[TwoFeets]

Yikes. I hit the wrong button and realized I'm the #3 contributor to this thread now.

I REALLY need to get a life.

[dddelta]

BTW: I'm going to Guitar Center after work to buy a Squier '51 I need a
guitar fix.

aja, I'm thinking of getting a Squier '51. Mostly for just messing about on and playing around at home.
I'd be interested to hear what your thoughts on it are.

[straightblues]

aja, I'm thinking of getting a Squier '51. Mostly for just messing about on and playing around at home.
I'd be interested to hear what your thoughts on it are.Do it. They have a raw nasty tone to them that is perfect for blues. I put a high output pickup in the neck and now I use mine almost exclusively for dirty slide work.

[HappyValley]

Note to all gear types such as us- a recent phenomenon has occurred in the greater Boston area: Deals on cool stuff EVERYWHERE!! Boycott ebay & the net for amps and axes ;)!!
I went to no less than 3 random guitar/music stores TODAY and found more cool shi-ot for under $500 than you'll catch on the web. Support your local used gear retailer, save $$ ON SHIPPING AND ACTUALLY FEEL AND PLAY the item!! (And no, I'm not in the selling racket.)
I saw BFSR's, tweeds and Fender RI strats for WAY cheaper than the online and auction seller prices....

[GOLDENSTRAT]

A little off-topic, I just got dsl and have heard the light --- now yall must stream WWOZ - New Orleans community radio - serious funk!!!! fred

[Thinsocks]

Hey Folks, - I hope nobody thinks i'm trying to turn this into "Frank's Capitalist Corner", but I just put some killer blues records up on Ebay that you guys may be into. It's mostly all comps - "Memphis Aggressive Guitars" w/ Pat Hare & Willie Johnson, a comp w/ Jody Williams and LC McKinley's 50's Blue Lake sides, a comp w/ Brownie McGhee's 40's electric jump blues stuff, a Willie Egan comp w/ Pete "Guitar" Lewis and Lloyd Rowe, Eddie Taylor comp of 50's Vee Jay sides. All the money from the auctions will go directly to the "I Could Use Another Guitar Fund". Thanks.

[musicofanatic5]

Note to all gear types such as us- a recent phenomenon has occurred in the greater Boston area: Deals on cool stuff EVERYWHERE!! Boycott ebay & the net for amps and axes ;)!!
I went to no less than 3 random guitar/music stores TODAY and found more cool shi-ot for under $500 than you'll catch on the web. Support your local used gear retailer, save $$ ON SHIPPING AND ACTUALLY FEEL AND PLAY the item!! (And no, I'm not in the selling racket.)
I saw BFSR's, tweeds and Fender RI strats for WAY cheaper than the online and auction seller prices....
So, where you talking about, Nick? Mr. Music? Where else?

[safecracker]

A little off-topic, I just got dsl and have heard the light --- now yall must stream WWOZ - New Orleans community radio - serious funk!!!! fred
You're right on about WWOZ. I've been listening to it for about 2 or 3 years now. They consistently blow me away with the local musicians they frequently play. Shawn

[Scott Miller]

"...a recent phenomenon has occurred in the greater Boston area: Deals on cool stuff EVERYWHERE!!"

Huh. Guitar Showcase here in San Jose suddenly has about a dozen small vintage tweedy things. Not exactly deals, but reasonable. Many of them sport the sought-after "feathered" look.

[Poppa Stoppa]

aja - I have found the Feb '87 Guitar Player article by Dan Armstrong showing how to rewire a strat to add O-O-P and in-series tones. I'll scan it & send tomorrow.

Anybody else that would like a copy, please drop me a message.

...now yall must stream WWOZ - New Orleans community radio - serious funk!!!! fredCool sounds! Actually serious hillbilly right now, but cool nonetheless. Clearer on i-tunes than windows media player

[Dave Orban]

Anybody see this...?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280084600156&rd=1&rd=1

It's a '58 Silvertone H62 crossover model, that just went for $2,025...! :eek:

[aja]

Poppa thats a cool mod I can't wait to get it done. Thanks again.
I called three music stores to find a squier '51 and none of them had one.
So I just gave up and spent my money on some other things. Then I decide
on my way to the mall to stop quick by Daddy's Junky music just to get some
strings and to my amazement their was a squier '51 just laying against a bunch of amps !! I had allready spent the money I had allotted for it so I
couldn't get it. It sounded great when I played it though. Maybe another
time.

[straightblues]

their was a squier '51 just laying against a bunch of amps !! I had allready spent the money I had allotted for it so I
couldn't get it. It sounded great when I played it though. Maybe another
time.
These things have been discontined so if you really want one, you better buy one sooner rather than later. There may not be a next time. Most of the major retails have already sold out of them.

[aja]

Its no big thing if I can't get one. Thanks though.

[Poppa Stoppa]

Holy crap check out Kai Strauss (& the big geezer on his Kay bass) here:
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=HaWaUUASm98

[jetlag]

Poppa - great clip! I really like those guys, Kai's a great player and that hulking Turk is Erkan Ozdemir. Erkan's has always been the "tour manager" when Lee has gone overseas and Lee says he's a sweetheart. He's nice enough to arrange the tours such that you fly in and out of Amsterdam (if you know what I mean). Cool old Kay basses aren't they?

Hey Ricky, Nick - I met a couple from your neck of the woods last night. Really nice people, they own a bar you guys play at. Ricky - it's your weekly Thursday night haunt. These folks were really into your stuff, gushing about you - that's so cool to be able to work for people like that.

Well, I think it'll be alright if I get beer trucked now - I got to play Bloodstains On the Wall, some Hank Sr and some Merle with Lazy Lester this weekend. Not to mention some Jimmy Reed and Jimmy Rodgers stuff too. I really dug just hanging out with him - getting to hear him play guitar and sing (mostly country) up in the dressing room. And talk about huge acoustic harp tone! Then we did about a two hour set. Lester calls tunes off " shuffle in the neighborhood of G" and when he says "funky thang in the neighborhood of F" he means low down, not a back beat! After about an hour, Lester brought up Lee on harp and played our other guitarists Harmony Meteor. That was cool - he's pretty bad ass and really low down on guitar. He plays alot of Jimmy Reed sounding stuff both high and low parts and plays nice little double stop melodies for solos - really his guitar approach is similar to his harp approach. And it was nice having him doing intros so we knew not to do a backbeat on "funky" tunes.

I found out later how fortunate we were when he honored our request for Bloodstains - the promoter that brings Lester into the Midwest alot said that was only the second time he's heard Lester do it. Wish I had the recorder running, but sadly didn't have the time. I was pretty disgusted when people were coming up to Lester requesting Son Seals, Muddy, maybe even SRV - but enjoyed how Lester dealt with it. He played country stuff!

[aja]

Cool stuff 'bout lester. He's awesome. I was just listening to him. Bloodstains
is one of my favs. He reminds me of Slim harpo too.

[HappyValley]

Hey Ricky, Nick - I met a couple from your neck of the woods last night. Really nice people, they own a bar you guys play at. .


Cool!!
Hmmm...who pray tell? Not Fred & Lattie from Harry's? Mitch from the Strange Brew? Or maybe the Onset Blues Cafe folks...? I think that's where Rick does his Thursdays.

[Strat-O]

Does anyone know who is playing in John Nemeth's touring band? He's got a long tour coming up!

[djeshkov]

Anybody see this...?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280084600156&rd=1&rd=1

It's a '58 Silvertone H62 crossover model, that just went for $2,025...! :eek:

Shocked,i got lucky to get myself the same guitar 59' for 650$ two month ago!

[aja]

Hey Poppa,
Did you change the pot and the capacitor when you did that mod ?

[Poppa Stoppa]

aja - I couldn't find the recommended pot so I kept the one in there. I don't think I changed the capacitor either. It was 10 years ago now though!

[aja]

Do you remember if you liked the way it sounded ?

[Poppa Stoppa]

Still got it, it's great!

[Thinsocks]

Does anyone know who is playing in John Nemeth's touring band? He's got a long tour coming up!

I know Watson is doing it, but I'm not sure about the rest of the band.

[bluesbreaker59]

I know Watson is doing it, but I'm not sure about the rest of the band.

Is Junior going to be with him on the midwest swing too? I really want to see him again. I'm going to see John either way, but if Junior is there that will just make my year.

[Scott Miller]

"Does anyone know who is playing in John Nemeth's touring band?"

Mike Phillips on bass for at least two weeks of it, probably a month. On drums... check it out... Jimi Bott! Mike Schermer on guitar. Schermer and Nemeth are a really great combination; it takes a lot to keep up with John, and Schermer delivers the goods forcefully.

[Scott Miller]

As for the Midwest, Mike (Phillips) didn't say anything about going overseas, so I'm guessing at least part of the the Domestic group will have Schermer. You will totally dig him; he's really versatile, having played with Maria Muldaur and Howard Tate, and his main man is Albert Collins, so he's got plenty of bite.

[safecracker]

As for the Midwest, Mike (Phillips) didn't say anything about going overseas, so I'm guessing at least part of the the Domestic group will have Schermer. You will totally dig him; he's really versatile, having played with Maria Muldaur and Howard Tate, and his main man is Albert Collins, so he's got plenty of bite.
I'm a huge Nemeth and Watson fan. Do you know if Nemeth will tour the southeast? Thanks, Shawn

[aja]

Cool big thanks Poppa. Is Nemeth's cd good ?

[safecracker]

Cool big thanks Poppa. Is Nemeth's cd good ?
To me, Nemeths' new cd Magic Touch and his last one Come and Get It are both killer. The newest is on Blind Pig and is produced by Anson. Nemeth is the best new singer to hit the scene in a long time. IMHO. The guys' control over his voice, his tone, and abilility to sing in different styles,ranges,octaves,etc.,just thrills my soul. He blows a good harp too.

[jetlag]

Cool!!
Hmmm...who pray tell? Not Fred & Lattie from Harry's? Mitch from the Strange Brew? Or maybe the Onset Blues Cafe folks...? I think that's where Rick does his Thursdays.

Nick, I didn't remember their names but I'm about certain it was the folks that own Harry's. They really liked you and Racky too.

I was told that the midwest band will consist of Junior, his bassplayer right after Kedar (Vance??, sorry the name escapes me), and Wes Star. John is putting an east coast tour together too, but it didn't sound like Junior was going to do that one. That could always change though. Oh, and I don't know if they will bring keys or not. I forgot to ask. But I'd say it's a safe bet on Junior in Des Moines.

[zappafrank]

..............

I was told that the midwest band will consist of Junior, his bassplayer right after Kedar (Vance??, sorry the name escapes me), and Wes Star. John is putting an east coast tour together too, but it didn't sound like Junior was going to do that one.....


I do believe you mean Mr. Vance Ehlers, but I could be wrong-o....I've actually sat in with him twice with 2 different bands---that would be Little Charlie and the Nightcats AND Jr. Watson's own band---crap---who was the idiot that let me sit in with EITHER of those bands????? Yikes!

I guess that means I can also get hit by the beer truck anytime now....

ac

[bluesbreaker59]

Cool big thanks Poppa. Is Nemeth's cd good ?

Come and Get It is KILLER

Magic Touch is "growing on me", but the biggest disappointment was the re-do of "Let Me Hold You", track 10 on both discs.

The version on Come and Get It is raw, powerful, and sends chills down my spine every time I hear it. The version on Magic Touch lacks energy, and comes across a bit "lame" compared to the other version.

But both discs are great and Nemeth and Watson make a killer combo.

[jetlag]

I do believe you mean Mr. Vance Ehlers, but I could be wrong-o....I've actually sat in with him twice with 2 different bands---that would be Little Charlie and the Nightcats AND Jr. Watson's own band---crap---who was the idiot that let me sit in with EITHER of those bands????? Yikes!

I guess that means I can also get hit by the beer truck anytime now....

ac

Ding, ding, ding. AC, you win the door prize. That's the guy. Not only a fine upright player, but a really nice guy when I approached him at a Watson gig. That sounds really cool sitting in with those guys!

[Scott Miller]

One of the coolest things that RJ did at his jam was duets with Vance on string bass. Vance just works that thing all over the place.

[RickyKing]

+1 on Vance,sat in 1 time with Jr's band and he and Jimmy M. just rocked...

[TwoFeets]

On an aside, can someone explain to me why vintage spec on Teles calls for a .047 capacitor, but solid shaft Tele pots (a la those sold by Fender) come with .022? What's the difference? Should I prefer one over the other?

[HappyValley]

+1 on Vance,sat in 1 time with Jr's band and he and Jimmy M. just rocked...

Ricky!! Ditto to that my brutha.....both those guys were a joy to hear/play with/hang with etc. I heard Mullenieux isn't really even playing much at all anymore, sadly.

BTW,Coffee tomorrow sometime? We can mess with my new 80's Tokai strat! Got some cool info to run by you....
Musicofanatic- Mr. Music, Cambridge Music and Rock City Guitars in Somerville had some happenin small amps and guitars for 'relatively' short bread. Nothing I particularly NEED right now, but cool nonetheless.

[Strat-O]

Nemeth is coming to Georgia. Sure hope Watson is playing with him.

[RickyKing]

Nick,I PM'ed you...check your box. BTW I have a recording of you @Ricky T's
Playing w/Vance & J.M. It is great!

[HappyValley]

Nick,I PM'ed you...check your box. BTW I have a recording of you @Ricky T's
Playing w/Vance & J.M. It is great!


My man! I PM'd you back...
sure could use a copy of that blackmail recording though, ...:eek: LOL

[Scott Miller]

"I heard Mullenieux isn't really even playing much at all anymore..."

I see him now and then around here. He sat in for the last whoop-de-doo number at one of Hummels' blowouts. He (Jimmy) has about the cutest damn little two-year-old you've ever seen, so what else does a guy need? Shoot, he might be a three-year-old by now. BTW, Jimmy does a great job singing Lazy Lester songs.

[HappyValley]

"I heard Mullenieux isn't really even playing much at all anymore..."

I see him now and then around here. He sat in for the last whoop-de-doo number at one of Hummels' blowouts. He (Jimmy) has about the cutest damn little two-year-old you've ever seen, so what else does a guy need? Shoot, he might be a three-year-old by now. BTW, Jimmy does a great job singing Lazy Lester songs.


That's great to hear, Scott; Tell him Nick from Boston says "Hi". Jimmy is a great dude & helluva drummer.

[rhartt1234]

Lil' Ronnie & the Grand Dukes are playing not too far from me Friday. I've been aware of this band for a while and I have one of their CDs. Great band.
Does anybody know who is in the touring band?

[Cleanhead]

Little Ronnie is a great guy and a decent harp player and singer... I agree that his albums have been top notch... the reason being; however, is that Mike Dutton was the driving musical force behind that band for many years (a fact that seems to go unrecognized/noticed by CD reviewers)... He helped write and arrange most of the tunes... It also didn't hurt that Anson produced a few of the CD's... Mike is no longer with Ronnie (he filled in for Pete in the Shambells when Pete went on the road with Rockin Jake) so do not expect the same level of guitar playing... that said, Ronnie usually hung around with top notch players so maybe Pete can help out with the current line-up...

hope that helps...

K.

[dukeh62]

Any of you see this thing? Now this shows some promise...

http://www.myrareguitars.com/tuxedoatnamm.html

[rhartt1234]

Mike is no longer with Ronnie (he filled in for Pete in the Shambells when Pete went on the road with Rockin Jake) so do not expect the same level of guitar playing... that said, Ronnie usually hung around with top notch players so maybe Pete can help out with the current line-up...

His website has a young guy Robert Fraham on guitar. He's pictured with an ES-5 and a goldtop so he can't be all bad. But it looks like the site hasn't been updated in over a year. I don't know who would go on an East Coast tour with an out of date calendar in your website.

[valcotone]

Any of you see this thing? Now this shows some promise...

http://www.myrareguitars.com/tuxedoatnamm.html


Eric, you dog!! I was just stopping by here to post a link to this one. It's a hollowbody and looks pretty cool IMO, and if they did the pickups justice it might be a winner... or Lollar-time! :crazy Maybe the tailpiece is a little long though...

http://www.myrareguitars.com/tux3.jpg

[Dave Orban]

Eric, you dog!! I was just stopping by here to post a link to this one. It's a hollowbody and looks pretty cool IMO, and if they did the pickups justice it might be a winner... or Lollar-time! :crazy Maybe the tailpiece is a little long though...

http://www.myrareguitars.com/tux3.jpg
Cool! :dude

[straightblues]

Who is making that black guitar with the P90's guys? It looks nice, I agree the tail piece may be a bit too long.

[Scott Miller]

Pahdun muh ignortnz, but what's wrong with a long tailpiece?

[Dave Orban]

Pahdun muh ignortnz, but what's wrong with a long tailpiece?I think it just looks a bit out of place on that guitar... the old ones had a shorter tailpiece, if I recall correctly...

Probably a lot easier to source the "standard" longer ones, though...

[pete kanaras]

my old bud lil' ronnie always has a good unit behind him. always puts on a good show and is into all the same stuff we all are. mike and robert are two of my closest buds around here. yes, mike left when "do watcha do" came out and about a year ago robert stepped in full-time. these days mike is kicking ass and taking names in the shambells(they could'nt have found a better guy to take my place)and also with catfish hodge. and robert is simply one of the finest young blues guitarists in the nation, in my road-hardened opinion. he is a bad young mofo. he and his girl jaime have been doing my once-monthly cat's eye gigs for awhile now and we always have a ball. i wrote the liners to his first album, came out when he was 18, and i'm very fond of both of them. i talked to robert just this morning; he's driving to myrtle beach for some gigs in the area with mitch kashmar, with ronnie's band backing.

[dukeh62]

my old bud lil' ronnie always has a good unit behind him. always puts on a good show and is into all the same stuff we all are. mike and robert are two of my closest buds around here. yes, mike left when "do watcha do" came out and about a year ago robert stepped in full-time. these days mike is kicking ass and taking names in the shambells(they could'nt have found a better guy to take my place)and also with catfish hodge. and robert is simply one of the finest young blues guitarists in the nation, in my road-hardened opinion. he is a bad young mofo. he and his girl jaime have been doing my once-monthly cat's eye gigs for awhile now and we always have a ball. i wrote the liners to his first album, came out when he was 18, and i'm very fond of both of them. i talked to robert just this morning; he's driving to myrtle beach for some gigs in the area with mitch kashmar, with ronnie's band backing.

Thanks Pete! Do you know if Mark Stevens is making this trip with Ronnie?

[pete kanaras]

i dunno eric, i have'nt talked to mark in quite awhile

[Thinsocks]

$899 seems kind of high for that Airline/Kessel. Looks cool, but I bet it weighs a ton. Here's a pic of the original.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/frankiethetut/BARNEY.jpg

[Dave Orban]

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/frankiethetut/BARNEY.jpgMuy mojo...! :dude

[valcotone]

The Eastwood/Airline comes with a hard case, and it's a full-hollowbody... so I hope it's under 8lbs... I might just try one out!

Frank - thanks for posting that pic of the original!!

[Thinsocks]

The Eastwood/Airline comes with a hard case, and it's a full-hollowbody... so I hope it's under 8lbs... I might just try one out!

Frank - thanks for posting that pic of the original!!

The owner of Eastwood actually sent me that pic last year when he was thinking of making a re-issue. That's the actual guitar they used to model the re-issues on. Anyway, all that heavy Asian maple (and the heavy coat of poly that seems to be on all Eatswoods) makes me think it's going to be over 8lbs. The Airline H-44's were way heavier then they should have been.

[bluesbreaker59]

Hey are there any good deals on big, fat hollowbody's with P90's (or similar) these days? Something off the beaten path. Something for that really nice , warm, dry tone that Nick Curran gets.

[HappyValley]

$899 seems kind of high for that Airline/Kessel. Looks cool, but I bet it weighs a ton.

You took the words from both RickyKing & MY mouth when we saw this Airline posted; reminds me of the Dean Korean attempts at an Es-5/ 175 type box. (They gave one to Ronnie Earl and it hardly left the case...HUGE neck width <not depth!>and way annoying heel).
In the Lil' Ronnie category...wasn't Ivan Appleruth playing with him for awhile? Great player...used to work at lindy fralin's shop if I recall....; Anyway, great band, great records.
Funny; Mark Stevens never mentioned his stints with Racky Thomas (on our 1st record and played w/us for a year or so) OR Troy Gonyea on his bio....hmmmmm. He's the best around IMHO..great dude, too.

[dukeh62]

Funny; Mark Stevens never mentioned his stints with Racky Thomas (on our 1st record and played w/us for a year or so) OR Troy Gonyea on his bio....hmmmmm. He's the best around IMHO..great dude, too.

Yeah Nick. He's on both our records...called me after the second session and raved about how much fun he had. Then he skipped town and has never even heard it!!!! Sure would love to catch up with him. I sure miss that guy!

[mikelaw]

i miss him too, super sweetheart!

[HappyValley]

i miss him too, super sweetheart!


Also one of the best pranksters around; He had this super annoying, high pitched whistle that was designed to fit perfectly in the exhaust pipe of any motor vehicle, but would only activate at certain MPH.
He'd put this thing in, lets say , a bass player's car at the end of the gig and we'd all wave goodbye in the parking lot...as the car sped away from the lot you'd hear the increasing " scrreeeeeeeeeeeeeech" of the whistle a block or so up the road, knowing that it was driving the "victim " nuts. We'd be on our backs laughing.

[Thinsocks]

Also one of the best pranksters around; He had this super annoying, high pitched whistle that was designed to fit perfectly in the exhaust pipe of any motor vehicle, but would only activate at certain MPH.
He'd put this thing in, lets say , a bass player's car at the end of the gig and we'd all wave goodbye in the parking lot...as the car sped away from the lot you'd hear the increasing " scrreeeeeeeeeeeeeech" of the whistle a block or so up the road, knowing that it was driving the "victim " nuts. We'd be on our backs laughing.

Ha-Ha. I had one of those when I was in High School. More fun then should be allowed for $1.99. Stuck it in one of those huge 80's Ford pickup trucks that belonged to my friends dad. Man, that thing shrieked and then shot out and tore up the new vinyl sideing on his parents house. His mom was pissed! Hmmm... may need to buy some more of those.

[mikelaw]

anyone in here have a baritone electric? i am tinkering with the idea of getting one. not sure which is the best to get for modern cheaper models...

[musicofanatic5]

Curmudgeon report:
it seems to me that all this Eastman stuff goes only so far, and comes up short evert time. When they first imported a mandolin line, I was hearing a lotta noise on 'em, and anxious to check 'em out. So far I've played about a dozen different ones and they were all spectacularly mediocre. Played a couple of their acoustic archtops that were pretty blah (the elec. hollowbodys were alright, sep'fo the thin, thin, "jazz" neck). When I saw photos and read their catalog description of their "H44", I knew I didn't even need to check one out. And this B.K., especially with the real one to compare to...all I can say is whatta shame. That tailpiece looks ridiculous, and what would be so wrong with a cheap wooden bridge like the orig.?
It would have been really cool if they could have slapped together some poplar 44's, whipped up some ratty-ass, "messy coil of wire lying around a magnet" style original-type p.u.s, shoot a thin finsh on it, and really done it right. Even if it sold for something closer to a grand (what with originals going for $2300!?!?), it would probably sell better than their half-baked fake. C'mon Eastman; step up to the plate and make it real!
re Mark Stevens: "He'd put this thing in, lets say , a bass player's car at the end of the gig". Let's say, Todd Carson, maybe, Nick? Yeah, exhaust whistles, fake puke, fake crap, fake hillbilly teeth; Mark was a gag shop's best customer. He's been pretty good at making himself invisible.
Hey, Mike, in the past I have seen reasonably priced baritone conversion necks in Warmoth's "bargain bin". Bolt one onto a cheap Tele body and twang low. Checkitout.

[dukeh62]

Also one of the best pranksters around; He had this super annoying, high pitched whistle that was designed to fit perfectly in the exhaust pipe of any motor vehicle, but would only activate at certain MPH.
He'd put this thing in, lets say , a bass player's car at the end of the gig and we'd all wave goodbye in the parking lot...as the car sped away from the lot you'd hear the increasing " scrreeeeeeeeeeeeeech" of the whistle a block or so up the road, knowing that it was driving the "victim " nuts. We'd be on our backs laughing.

I was also victim to one of the most realistic fart machines you've ever heard in your life after a gig I did with Mark. The whole band crashed at someone's house afterwards, and I swear to god I thought the kid ate about six pounds of franks n' beans. Finally after about two hours he pulled it out of his pocket and "spilled the beans." The funniest part? We still laughed just as hard every time he pressed it for the next 2 hours. Proving that there's nothing funnier than fart noises...every time!

[Dave Orban]

The funniest part? We still laughed just as hard every time he pressed it for the next 2 hours. Proving that there's nothing funnier than fart noises...every time!To men...

Women, for whatever reason, don't seem to appreciate them nearly as much. Proving something else entirely...! LOL!

[TwoFeets]

Curmudgeon report:
it seems to me that all this Eastman stuff goes only so far, and comes up short evert time. When they first imported a mandolin line, I was hearing a lotta noise on 'em, and anxious to check 'em out. So far I've played about a dozen different ones and they were all spectacularly mediocre. Played a couple of their acoustic archtops that were pretty blah (the elec. hollowbodys were alright, sep'fo the thin, thin, "jazz" neck). When I saw photos and read their catalog description of their "H44", I knew I didn't even need to check one out. And this B.K., especially with the real one to compare to...all I can say is whatta shame. That tailpiece looks ridiculous, and what would be so wrong with a cheap wooden bridge like the orig.?
It would have been really cool if they could have slapped together some poplar 44's, whipped up some ratty-ass, "messy coil of wire lying around a magnet" style original-type p.u.s, shoot a thin finsh on it, and really done it right. Even if it sold for something closer to a grand (what with originals going for $2300!?!?), it would probably sell better than their half-baked fake. C'mon Eastman; step up to the plate and make it real!
re Mark Stevens: "He'd put this thing in, lets say , a bass player's car at the end of the gig". Let's say, Todd Carson, maybe, Nick? Yeah, exhaust whistles, fake puke, fake crap, fake hillbilly teeth; Mark was a gag shop's best customer. He's been pretty good at making himself invisible.
Hey, Mike, in the past I have seen reasonably priced baritone conversion necks in Warmoth's "bargain bin". Bolt one onto a cheap Tele body and twang low. Checkitout.


Hey Jon - I might be mistaken but I think you're confusing two different manufacturers here as the same one. Eastwood is the company that does all the kitschy weird electrics like the H44 and Airlines and all that. Eastman is another entity that deals in imported archtops and the like.

I agree though, they share the trait of being spectacularly mediocre. All the Eastwood solid bodies I've played are like boat anchors, and all the Eastmans don't do anything for me that an Epi for 1/3 the price couldn't do.

[HappyValley]

re Mark Stevens: "He'd put this thing in, lets say , a bass player's car at the end of the gig". Let's say, Todd Carson, maybe, Nick? Yeah, exhaust whistles, fake puke, fake crap, fake hillbilly teeth; Mark was a gag shop's best customer. He's been pretty good at making himself invisible.

I own two fart machines, one which is remote controlled and am in the process of purchasing fake crap that is designed to be draped over the edge of a toilet bowl.
Oh, and I'll be 39 in 28 days. What have I become....

Help Me?:( LOL

[pete kanaras]

All the Eastwood solid bodies I've played are like boat anchors

yeah, i'd have to agree with all the eastwood statements. i hoisted a couple in seattle last year and put 'em back on the hook right away. looking at them they seem like they're close, yet they're soooo far away in almost every important aspect. it baffles me too; it would take Nothing to spec those guitars for the customers they seem to be aiming 'em at; guys like us who are just freaks for this shit! it seems like they're consulting the wrong people or something, i dunno. skinny necks, ridiculous weights, etc. basswood and poplar are very cheap, and you can recalibrate a cnc machine for a larger neck profile in about 12 seconds. thin poly finishes and so on. c'mon eastwood, smell the coffee. so dissapointing.....

[jetlag]

I got my Dad the remote controlled fart machine for Xmas a few years ago and it's become a staple for "special" occasions. I'll have to look into the draping poop. That sounds like a big step above the usual dog poop looking thing that you put in the corner of the bathroom. Is there any corn in it? All of this talk reminds me of Scott Campbell - I wish I still got to play with him from time to time.

Mike, if you start looking at bari guitars - the dano LP shaped ones are kinda long and unbalenced. If you decide to pop for a dano, I'd get the new longhorn dano they brought out. The balence is much better and overall, it's a lot more manageable due to the shorter overall length. I hesitate to pop for a bari guitar because I won't drag it out to gigs very often, but have thought on several occasions about getting one of those necks Jon was talking about. Or even a dano bari neck to put on my RI dano U2. Not sure if you then have to buy a more robust bridge or what.

[afenderman67]

Hey are there any good deals on big, fat hollowbody's with P90's (or similar) these days? Something off the beaten path. Something for that really nice , warm, dry tone that Nick Curran gets.


i play a Dearmond X155 with the dearmond gold tone usa pickups that i really like, you can get some good blues tone out of it as well as some rockabilly tones! of course i play it through a victoria bassman with a ri fender reverb tank, this helps alot!

they stopped making them awhile back ,but you can find them for around $500-$800.

chris

[TwoFeets]

I own two fart machines, one which is remote controlled and am in the process of purchasing fake crap that is designed to be draped over the edge of a toilet bowl.
Oh, and I'll be 39 in 28 days. What have I become....

Help Me?:( LOL



Anyone remember the movie Top Secret?

Agent #1: You dropped your phony dog poop. (picks it up and offers it to agent #2)

Blind Agent #2 (posing as a pranks and tricks vendor on the street corner): What phony dog poop? (walks away)

[RickyKing]

:eek::crazy:NUTS????? I won't grow up...I don't wanna go to school...Happy Early B-Day N.A.!!

[Short Bus]

Junior Watson is selling a Valco Silvertone 1432 amp

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1959-Valco-Danelectro-Silvertone-1432-Amp-NR_W0QQitemZ230097260210QQihZ013QQcategoryZ121161Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Scott Miller]

I got my limited edition Duke Robillard Outtakes and Oddities CD available only from his Web site... I got it because the drumming and overall groove on "Pony Blues" just slays me.

The rest of it is probably really great stuff if you're a Duke Robillard fan which I'm kind of not. Do we all have our blind spots? Yes. But, there is a great variety of really awesome playing, and some oddball stuff that might never get past the suits. Although there is this one song that sounds like some gawdawful theme for the NBA playoffs on TV, which is in fact what it is. Horrifying.

But that groove on "Pony Blues." Wow.

[dukeh62]

I got my limited edition Duke Robillard Outtakes and Oddities CD available only from his Web site... I got it because the drumming and overall groove on "Pony Blues" just slays me.

The rest of it is probably really great stuff if you're a Duke Robillard fan which I'm kind of not. Do we all have our blind spots? Yes. But, there is a great variety of really awesome playing, and some oddball stuff that might never get past the suits. Although there is this one song that sounds like some gawdawful theme for the NBA playoffs on TV, which is in fact what it is. Horrifying.

But that groove on "Pony Blues." Wow.

I got this recently too. Some of the most enjoyable stuff I've heard from Duke. Great mix of stuff...tones are some of his best in a LONG time too.

[musicofanatic5]

Thanks for pointing that out, Twof; two different companies, yeah. Eastman, East wood, Eastwhatever. I bet they're in the same chinese "inst factory district" though.

[mikelaw]

jon, why dont YOU make the guitars bro! you seem to be able to do everything else!

[Scott Miller]

Maybe posted already, maybe not but you can't get too much T-Bone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n47XH2xoKgs

I like the band's dynamics. And T-Bone's horn parts on the guitar.

[monstermike]

Just thought I'd share -

I modded my Gibson 335 (actually a 333 with everything changed out). I realized that what I've grown up listening to is 345s/355s with the Varitone knob. Now, most guys never touched the switch, but the #1 position is nothing like a real bypass - it's still filtering out volume and mids. It's only recently that Gibson makes Varitones with a bypass position, and they aren't voiced like the old ones anyway.

Here's my solution based on looking at schematics:

100k ohm resistor between the pickup switch and the output jack
.001 capacitor and 1.5 H choke between the output jack hot and ground.

For the choke, I used the primary coil of a Mouser mini-transformer.

Voila! No longer does my 335 sound like Larry Carlton and Cream's Farewell Concert - now it's B.B. at the Regal and Freddy at The!!!Beat all the way. I'd recommend trying it with any bucker guitar that's too
"rock" (maybe set up with a push/pull switch if you need the original sound).

335s are for session guys. 345s and 355s are for bluesmen.

[jimfog]

Just thought I'd share -

I modded my Gibson 335 (actually a 333 with everything changed out). I realized that what I've grown up listening to is 345s/355s with the Varitone knob. Now, most guys never touched the switch, but the #1 position is nothing like a real bypass - it's still filtering out volume and mids. It's only recently that Gibson makes Varitones with a bypass position, and they aren't voiced like the old ones anyway.

Here's my solution based on looking at schematics:

100k ohm resistor between the pickup switch and the output jack
.001 capacitor and 1.5 H choke between the output jack hot and ground.

For the choke, I used the primary coil of a Mouser mini-transformer.

Voila! No longer does my 335 sound like Larry Carlton and Cream's Farewell Concert - now it's B.B. at the Regal and Freddy at The!!!Beat all the way. I'd recommend trying it with any bucker guitar that's too
"rock" (maybe set up with a push/pull switch if you need the original sound).

335s are for session guys. 345s and 355s are for bluesmen.

Interesting, Mike........I'll have to check that out.

I find a very similiar effect by doing the "Peter Green mod" and flipping the neck magnet.

and hey.......aren't those 333's killer?? I'm loving mine, and I've NEVER been able to hang with 'buckers......and that back hatch sure makes it easier to do mods like you are, no?

- Jim

PS.....Philly any time soon???!??

[musicofanatic5]

jon, why dont YOU make the guitars bro! you seem to be able to do everything else!
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mike. I'm sure I'd fall short in the marketing department, if not earlier in the chain. But I'll tell you what: if you can find a machine shop that can make the p.u. cases (I don't have a punch press), that would be a huge stumbling block overcome. In considering such a venture, I've always seen the lack of a nice, thick, juicy Brazilian r.w. f.b. as a bit of a deterent as well.
Didja look into the Warmoth bari necks?

[monstermike]

Interesting, Mike........I'll have to check that out.

I find a very similiar effect by doing the "Peter Green mod" and flipping the neck magnet.

and hey.......aren't those 333's killer?? I'm loving mine, and I've NEVER been able to hang with 'buckers......and that back hatch sure makes it easier to do mods like you are, no?

- Jim

PS.....Philly any time soon???!??

I've already got the PG mod happening, so this is in addition to that. And yes, the back hatch is essential to my being able to do this!

Dunno about Philly. I miss playing there - Musico Jon can attest to some of the good gigs we've had in the city that booed Santa.

[jimfog]

Dunno about Philly. I miss playing there - Musico Jon can attest to some of the good gigs we've had in the city that booed Santa.

Well....if you can get anything booked, you've certainly got a place to crash down here, if you want.

In fact, if you needed, or it would make it easier, I have JUST the band to back you up for a gig (or hell, maybe a 2-3 date Mid-Atlantic run)....seriously. I'd just like to see you get out there behind this newest cd........hit's a good'un!

- Jim

[HappyValley]

I've already got the PG mod happening, so this is in addition to that. And yes, the back hatch is essential to my being able to do this!

Dunno about Philly. I miss playing there - Musico Jon can attest to some of the good gigs we've had in the city that booed Santa.
Mike- check your private messages box.

[mikelaw]

i saw some on there jon! i am guessing that is the only trick to keep it cheap then hu? pop a bari neck onto a normal tele or strat. seems simple enough!!!!!!

[groove_king]

Monstermike,

Thanks for sharing your 335 mod. I have a Dot RI that I'm thinking of swapping out the dark muddy stock 'buckers with Lollar Imperials. I might end up doing your mod while I have the guts out.

My turn to share an epiphany - I have a replica 5E7 Bandmaster with Weber P10Q speakers. It's a great amp, but sometimes it's a bit 'in your face' and modern sounding. I wanted to get it a bit spongier and organic so I popped a couple of Sylvania NOS 5751 tubes in place of the 12AX7s.

This really bought the amp to life. The highs were tamed a little and the feel of the amp became much spongier, just as I had hoped it would. The overall volume was bought down just enough to make it extremely workable. I used my Edwards Gold Top with Duncan P90s and the best tone was had with the guitar's volume just backed off from 10. If I wanted more volume, I'd just pick harder.

I love the fact that you never stop learning about this stuff!

Next stop - I've got some Lollar 50s wind P90s on the way that I'm going to drop in the Edwards Gold Top. Time to travel to Hubert Sumlin/ Freddy King country!

[musicofanatic5]

Dunno about Philly. I miss playing there - Musico Jon can attest to some of the good gigs we've had in the city that booed Santa.
Ah, the old North Star! A while back, I ran across a video from one of those gigs. Tough crowd, but I was working 'em pretty good between songs!

[Poppa Stoppa]

Monstermike,

Thanks for sharing your 335 mod. I have a Dot RI that I'm thinking of swapping out the dark muddy stock 'buckers with Lollar Imperials. I might end up doing your mod while I have the guts out.Dang - I sold my Dot RI 335 two weeks ago because the tone was so un-happening for this stuff! Mike's mod might have been the saving of it!

[pete kanaras]

Ah, the old North Star!

ah indeed jon, what a great room. used to play there with guyger in the early 90's. in fact there's a bootleg out there of an excellos gig that turned out to be my nighthawks "audition" tape. loved that room!

[HappyValley]

Monstermike,

Thanks for sharing your 335 mod. I have a Dot RI that I'm thinking of swapping out the dark muddy stock 'buckers with Lollar Imperials. I might end up doing your mod while I have the guts out.

My turn to share an epiphany - I have a replica 5E7 Bandmaster with Weber P10Q speakers. It's a great amp, but sometimes it's a bit 'in your face' and modern sounding. I wanted to get it a bit spongier and organic so I popped a couple of Sylvania NOS 5751 tubes in place of the 12AX7s.

This really bought the amp to life. The highs were tamed a little and the feel of the amp became much spongier, just as I had hoped it would. The overall volume was bought down just enough to make it extremely workable. I used my Edwards Gold Top with Duncan P90s and the best tone was had with the guitar's volume just backed off from 10. If I wanted more volume, I'd just pick harder.

I love the fact that you never stop learning about this stuff!


Groove King- I, too, have a RI 335 and plan on doing Mike's Mod; a long time ago I replaced the CRAP stock HB's with a pair of Harmonic Design Classics, popped in a push-pull for the out of phase thing and faced the pickups pole peices towards each other ala Fats and Peter Green which seems to bring out the mids and tames the lows & highs.

Funny you should mention the tube thing; I had the same experience with both my Bandmaster (Clark Tyger) and Pro Jr.; A buddy of mine gave me a bunch of NOS preamp tubes to play with last week and the results are amazing.

Too much fun, huh?
:BEER

[HappyValley]

How could I forget!! Last night my wife & I attended a benefit for a great local guitar player and good buddy o'mine, Joey Pappas, whose wife is very sick. It was a great crowd of local blues musicians,fans & family members.......

....and Jerry Portnoy, Ronnie Earl, Darrell Nulisch and Mudcat Ward!!!
Jerry played with Joey's band , the Paramounts and sounded like both Walters and Junior Wells at once. Incredible....I've never seen him so animated and powerful before.Joey was kind enough to hand me his strat and play with Darrell and Ronnie when they got up. It was a memorable experience to say the least; Ronnie was on FIRE- we did an Otis Rush style slow blues in D minor- need I say more? Between Darrell's voice and Ronnie's solo...my God- I was just hanging back comping & doing sparse fills ala Eddie Boyd's 5 long years.
(I got some solo room on a BB style shuffle and on a march in E...but I couldn't have cared less. Being on a big stage with the folks that inspired me to pursue this stuff so many years ago was a treat in itself.)
Darrell played my wife and I some tracks from his upcoming ALL blues CD on Severn. Killer. Lotsa harp and deep blues.

Best of all, there was a capacity crowd there and I think a lot of $$ was raised for the Pappas family. Blues folks really have a way of stepping up to help each other out, I'll tell ya.

[RickyKing]

Sounds like a good un' Nick...Just about Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters,only better! I hope this helps J.P. & Family out.

[nmontz]

Man....now I get it why I just never dug my dot ri 335. It was as beautiful as all get out. But never had that sound. I hung on to it for 5 or 6 years before I finally gave up on it. Makes sense to me now as Mike mentioned that 345/355's are blues guitars. My dot did have the cream tone...but B.B. fooogettaboutit!! Did I say it was good looking? I sold it for a song too...and the guy was a tool. I still have some pics of the geetar though. Gibson's quality control was interesting....it was clearly labeled an es-135. LOL!!

http://showcase.netins.net/web/tricountybands/335.html

Someday maybe I'll hunt another one down and try that out.

[groove_king]

Backalley

Dude, sharing the stage with Ronnie AND Darrell! Man! My favourite Ronnie albums are the ones he did with Darrell. A friend of mine once commented that Darrell Nulisch's voice and Ronnie Earl's guitar are two halves of the one voice.

What preamp tubes did you have to try in your Tyger? What were the results of your messin' about?

[Scott Miller]

I just got back from seeing Andy Santana etc., a very great band, where else can you hear a Willie Eagin song followed by "Late Freight Twist," but most of all, Joey Ventitelli is my new favorite drummer. Every little thump whap bonk chunk bap has a reason and a purpose and a meaning.

[HappyValley]

Backalley

Dude, sharing the stage with Ronnie AND Darrell! Man! My favourite Ronnie albums are the ones he did with Darrell. A friend of mine once commented that Darrell Nulisch's voice and Ronnie Earl's guitar are two halves of the one voice.

What preamp tubes did you have to try in your Tyger? What were the results of your messin' about?
To be honest, it was one of the more intimidating moments of my musical existence; I get along great with both of them offstage, and I've played with both of them SEPERATELY in various capacities, but like you said..the two of them together is amazing enough and with Ronnie in his peak Earl-Zone?!! What's a man to do?? I just laid back and comp'd like the good schoolboy I am, not speaking until spoken to.:rolleyes:

My buddy gave me an old GE 12AY7, and a BUNCH of old 12ax7's including RCA, Sylvania, Westinghouse. Initially I placed the Westinghouse 12AX7 in the 12AY7 slot and got a HUGE Willie Johnson tone w/the amp only on 5! I ultimately went back to the GE 12AY7 (more headroom)and placed the Westinghouse one slot over where I had an old GE that needed a rest. I played the amp out tonight and was thrilled with the tones I got out of both my LP Special and 80's Tokai strat.

[groove_king]

To be honest, it was one of the more intimidating moments of my musical existence; I get along great with both of them offstage, and I've played with both of them SEPERATELY in various capacities, but like you said..the two of them together is amazing enough and with Ronnie in his peak Earl-Zone?!! What's a man to do?? I just laid back and comp'd like the good schoolboy I am, not speaking until spoken to.:rolleyes:

Yeah, but what a way to be intimidated! :) Don't 'spose there's a recording of some description hanging around? :)

My buddy gave me an old GE 12AY7, and a BUNCH of old 12ax7's including RCA, Sylvania, Westinghouse. Initially I placed the Westinghouse 12AX7 in the 12AY7 slot and got a HUGE Willie Johnson tone w/the amp only on 5! I ultimately went back to the GE 12AY7 (more headroom)and placed the Westinghouse one slot over where I had an old GE that needed a rest. I played the amp out tonight and was thrilled with the tones I got out of both my LP Special and 80's Tokai strat.

I don't know how loud you guys get, but give a pair of NOS 5751s a try. Like I said, it dropped the overall volume enough to sound fat but still sit nicely with the rhythm section (old school drummer and upright bass). It was a perfect match with my Gold Top Les Paul w/Duncan P90s. I didn't get to play my 54RI Strat at the gig (the LP was just sounding sooo good), but I will play it at this week's gig.

[HappyValley]

Yeah, but what a way to be intimidated! :) Don't 'spose there's a recording of some description hanging around? :)



I don't know how loud you guys get, but give a pair of NOS 5751s a try. Like I said, it dropped the overall volume enough to sound fat but still sit nicely with the rhythm section (old school drummer and upright bass). It was a perfect match with my Gold Top Les Paul w/Duncan P90s. I didn't get to play my 54RI Strat at the gig (the LP was just sounding sooo good), but I will play it at this week's gig.

I HOPE, for purely selfish reasons, of course,there's not a recording hanging around!! YIKES!! (At least one that could pick up on stage left!! LOL).

We're really not a loud band, at least we weren't. There have been various rhythm section additions/subtractions that have contributed to probably a little volume increase over the last few years....I've been told by some that we were TOO quiet before, if that's even possible. Racky's main harp rig was a tweed Pro Jr., my amp was a 60's brown Deluxe and the upright player, Todd Carson, was just plain low volume, in a good way.
Our current lineup is constantly fluctuating,with subs, etc. so on any given night the dynamic & volume can change. Kind of a bummer, actually....but it's the state of the pickup blues gig world we're in today, at least in New England.

[straightblues]

I don't know how loud you guys get, but give a pair of NOS 5751s a try. Like I said, it dropped the overall volume enough to sound fat but still sit nicely with the rhythm section

Hey Groove King:

I play a Les Paul with P90s with my Bandmaster as well. I would love to drop the volume just a little. What slots are you putting the 5751's in? What is in the third slot? I put in a pair of CTS speakers in my last week and they brought down the volume and got the amp breaking up a bit earlier. They are a nice match for the amp. What speakers are you folks using in your Bandmasters? I have the two CTS alnico matched up with a Weber Cermaic jensen clone. They are working will together.

[groove_king]

Hey Groove King:

I play a Les Paul with P90s with my Bandmaster as well. I would love to drop the volume just a little. What slots are you putting the 5751's in? What is in the third slot? I put in a pair of CTS speakers in my last week and they brought down the volume and got the amp breaking up a bit earlier. They are a nice match for the amp. What speakers are you folks using in your Bandmasters? I have the two CTS alnico matched up with a Weber Cermaic jensen clone. They are working will together.

Hey straightblues,

I just swapped out the stock 12ax7s with NOS Sylvania 5751s. The 12ay7 remains in the third slot. I read somewhere (can't remember where) that although the 5751 has a similar gain response to a 12at7, the 5751 handles more like a 12ax7 electronically. They certainly sound great in my Bandmaster. Give it a shot and report back here on how you get on.

I have Weber P10Qs in my Bandmaster. They were suggested by the guy who built it. I think they break up just fine, but a friend came to my gig last week and commented on how clean my sound was ... I mean, I don't have Willie Johnson type grind, but there's some balls to my tone, no doubt ... to be fair though, he'd never seen a blues band before ... :rolleyes:

[dddelta]

I just love this kinda stuff...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-5KoP4o4Xc

The album he did with Steve Guyger is just great!

[Dave Orban]

I just love this kinda stuff...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-5KoP4o4Xc

The album he did with Steve Guyger is just great!
Does anyone know whether that massive harmonica holder has a mic as a component...?

[TwoFeets]

We're really not a loud band, at least we weren't. There have been various rhythm section additions/subtractions that have contributed to probably a little volume increase over the last few years....I've been told by some that we were TOO quiet before, if that's even possible. Racky's main harp rig was a tweed Pro Jr., my amp was a 60's brown Deluxe and the upright player, Todd Carson, was just plain low volume, in a good way.

I think we play at a reasonable volume, and we actually pick up gigs other people can't because we're able (and willing) to play quieter than most bands. I think people have become so accustomed to bands playing at ear-splitting "pay attention to US!" levels that when a band comes in and doesn't shout in their face, they're not sure how to react.

Our philosophy, in both bands, has pretty much been to play at a volume where people in front of the stage can comfortably listen to us, but people towards the back of the room can carry on a conversation without having to scream at each other.

The only thing you do run into issues with playing at that volume, is with separation. If you're not mic'ing everything, people sitting at stage right have a hard time hearing what's going on at stage left.

[Dave Orban]

I think we play at a reasonable volume, and we actually pick up gigs other people can't because we're able (and willing) to play quieter than most bands. I think people have become so accustomed to bands playing at ear-splitting "pay attention to US!" levels that when a band comes in and doesn't shout in their face, they're not sure how to react.

Our philosophy, in both bands, has pretty much been to play at a volume where people in front of the stage can comfortably listen to us, but people towards the back of the room can carry on a conversation without having to scream at each other.
Amen...! :dude

[rhartt1234]

Does anyone know whether that massive harmonica holder has a mic as a component...?

Yes. It's similar to this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=290087166148&rd=1&rd=1

[Dave Orban]

Yes. It's similar to this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=290087166148&rd=1&rd=1

Interesting!

Thanks, Ryan!

[GOLDENSTRAT]

MikeLaw, check your PM's. fred

[jetlag]

I remember there was some talk and/or questions about the newish Victoria Regal and Regal II here some weeks ago. A fine Canadian-by-way-of-Denver guitarist by the name of Steve Gerard brought a Regal II in last night to our Sunday night gig. I just so happen to use an ABC box, so I plopped it into my rig. I thought it sounded really good. I had it turned up to 7 - 9 and up there it broke up really well and had a pretty good tone. Nothing to sell the old amps over, but a nice sounding new amp. It was loaded with a 5Y3 and two NOS 6V6s so the wattage was less than when you run them with 6L6s. With that settup it was in between the volume of my tweed pro and my tweed deluxe. The amp had a weber 15 that only had a couple weeks on it, so it hadn't really loosened up yet. But still, I thought it was a really good sounding current production amp that comes with the convenience of built in 'verb and trem (both of which I didn't get to try). Really versatile power options too - when you consider you can run a myriad of tube options in it. Wish I had the chance to replace one or both of the 6V6s with a 6L6 to see what it did, but I wasn't able to last night. Oh, and they look cool too.

[btg]

Anybody know where I can get some black dogeared P-90 covers that will fit an ES-330.

[GOLDENSTRAT]

Jetlag, i've played with Steve several times, he is very nice guy and had something to do with production on a tv show series , (maybe in the 80's?) that had Anson and the Rockets ( I'm sure there were more that I haven't heard of). My buddy got the Rickenbacker "Bassman" that Thinsocks sold so I got to hear that last night- sounded great!!

[valcotone]

SPAMARAMA!

I'm selling my Tokai LP Special w/ P90s.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180092377814

[aja]

Backalley your my hero. That would've been cool to see you and Ronnie play
together.

[aja]

Mike Morgan is a new hero influence of mine now too. I'm sure its old news
to a lot of people on here but that guy is awesome. He's like a combo of
Ronnie and Anson.

[btg]

Mike Morgan is a monster I first some him in 1987 when he was just starting. Saw him once with Darrell Nulisch in the band. He is one of those guys who is a lot better live than on his recordings. For some reason his recordings seem a little flat to me upon repeated listenings where as Anson's stuff holds up better. As a matter of fact I had I Like The Way You Work in the CD player over the weekend.

[btg]

On another note check out the Mel Brown DVD on Electro-Fi. Talk about great taste and phrasing this guy has it. Watched the DVD three times over the weekend and will watch it again tonight.

[jetlag]

Jetlag, i've played with Steve several times, he is very nice guy and had something to do with production on a tv show series , (maybe in the 80's?) that had Anson and the Rockets ( I'm sure there were more that I haven't heard of).

I heard that too. I have those American Blues videos, but apparently they edited alot of stuff out. Our bass player has been working him for outakes of those two videos (Anson and Little Charlie). And your right, Steve is a really nice guy.

[jetlag]

Mike Morgan is a new hero influence of mine now too. I'm sure its old news
to a lot of people on here but that guy is awesome. He's like a combo of
Ronnie and Anson.

If you are into Mike, he has a new CD coming out on Severn. Maybe it's out already, I haven't checked. Anyway, Lee McBee sang on four tracks. He did that this past Nov./Dec. (can't remember) so it should be out or close to it by now.

[Scott Miller]

Well now, a somewhat surprising and disturbing item from the JJ's calendar:

"Special Benefit Jam in Memory of Gerald "Ironhorse Cowboy" Haynes"

I know some of you, or at least Fretshop, knew him He played bass for Sonny Rhodes for a while, also Queen Ida, Luther Allison. A fun guy to jam with.

[Strat-O]

Jet - What you classify the tone to be kinda like?

[jetlag]

Jet - What you classify the tone to be kinda like?

Strato - the Regal II was kinda fender tweed like but with less high end. Some people that use terms like "swirl" and "chime" might say it had less sparkle. But remember the setup - 5Y3 and two 6V6s with a new weber alnico 15. It might have had more highs if it were running a GZ34 and two 6L6s (which I tried but it's tube sockets were tighter than a ....... so I didn't try to jam my tubes in it). Victoria's site says they borrowed elements of old valco amps - old valcos have real mellow highs, so I can see that. So it was kinda like Valco meets tweed - except flatter sounding. The flatness was probably due to the newish weber speaker. It would have been interesting hearing it thru my Pro's cabinet. I would also like to take another stab at it this summer when Steve comes back this way. If I do, I'll let you know. I want to hear it with a well broken-in speaker, with one power tube, then with 1 6V6, 1 6L6. The coolest part is you don't have to buy matched tubes - so you can put NOS singles in it. That's a real cost saver these days with NOS tube prices as they are. I think in it's highest power configuration, it's about the power of a 5E5A. Cool amp. I bet it's trem is great.

[Strat-O]

There's one here locally that I might try and borrow this weekend. See what its like.

Anybody know how come some old Fender tweed amps are lacquered and some not? When did Fender start lacquering all the tweed amps? How come some look like Chia-Pets...did they use a thinner lacquer back then or something?

[jimfog]

Hey are there any good deals on big, fat hollowbody's with P90's (or similar) these days? Something off the beaten path. Something for that really nice , warm, dry tone that Nick Curran gets.

Hey.....just bumping this......I'm curious, too what's out there and recommended in this realm.

I know, I know......I really should-a bought Two Feets' Fatdog!!!!! duh-oh!!!


Also.....anyone had much experience using a Gretsch 6120, or similiar axe, for blues? Too polite?

- Jim

[nmontz]

Almost every 50's tweed I have ever seen had a coat of lacquer on it. Some coats are heaver than others...some ambered and some didn't...but it's there....or some of it is left. It was to protect the tweed from water stains and to keep it from freying as much as possible...although with wear they do. When fender ri'ed a tweed series amp in the 80's they didn't. They had some kind of synthetic tweed which turns green when you put lacquer on it. That nitro lacquer is wicked stuff...which if you have ever messed with it you know why. I suppose it was another cost saving measure too not putting it on. The newer amps like the bassman ltd, the 57 twin and the 57 deluxe are lacqured again. I have been lacquering my new cases just for the heck of it....but I'm not sure if I have found the magic potion to where my cases look like the retweeds Gregg Hopkins has done for me

I think "Mighty Fine Dancin" with Mike Morgan and Lee Mcbee is a darn fine record. I think it would hold it's own with most of the great blacktop stuff.

[bluesbreaker59]

I think "Mighty Fine Dancin" with Mike Morgan and Lee Mcbee is a darn fine record. I think it would hold it's own with most of the great blacktop stuff.

I think Mike Morgan is THE SHIT... that is all...

Actually he's one helluva nice guy too, and what a great tone on that Epi through either the beat to hell / drug behind a truck Tweed Bassman OR his new Vicky 35310!!!! Mike is just great IMHO, I even like his voice, its getting better all the time, but he's sure as shit no Lee McBee

[mikelaw]

i want it sean!!

[Birdseye]

Here's another bit of spam, only because it might be of particular interest to wc types: might be letting go of several amps, I'll know for sure tomorrow if I decide to pull the trigger on yet another old Fender amp. I'll need to unload my Victoria Pro, loaded with an old Jensen P15N, '60 vintage IIRC with the mag bell cover. Also will be selling a british Vox 90's ac15 with Celestion blue. Last time I thought about selling it, one of you guys was interested, but that was a while back. Both amps are near mint, drop me an email if you're interested.

[Poppa Stoppa]

Couple of Hersheys for anyone?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320089136900&fromMakeTrack=true

[mikelaw]

Couple of Hersheys for anyone?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320089136900&fromMakeTrack=true

this item is literally within 5 minutes of where i live. i dont understand WHY its on the UK ebay listings??

[musicofanatic5]

Yeah, well, that's one way to get a coupla those p.u.s...I've tried to mount one of those on every archtop I've had, always with mostly unsatifactory results. But, you can slide those p.u.s into some interesting positions (want your D'Angelico to sound like Robert Cray? You know where to put 'em!) for mucho sonic variety. You'd havta do a lot of "rigging" to make the mounting stable, plus it's dangerous. Those are two, deadly sharp, pointed, spring loaded needles up at the top! They've drawn my blood in an installation mishap or two. Hey also, those pots are same miniatures that are on a Gibson McCarty fingerrest-the one where the can is inside the little bakelite knob, with just the lugs on the other side. So for the parts monkey, there's two H-44 p.u.s and four of those groovy pots...prolly worth a couple two, tree hunnerd bucks, eh? We oughta be sure that one of these freako contraptions gets saved in some museum before we go rippin' 'em all up though; who's in charge of that...?

[Poppa Stoppa]

this item is literally within 5 minutes of where i live. i dont understand WHY its on the UK ebay listings??It's not, but I can choose to view UK listings or listings world-wide. It must work the other way too because it was one of you guys who discovered the Watson H62 on ebay last year, which was an hour from me.

On the Silvertone 2-Hershey rig, what's with the blob of glue on the top of each knob? I've seen that before but I thought it must have held a cover on or something.

[safecracker]

Mike Morgan is a monster I first some him in 1987 when he was just starting. Saw him once with Darrell Nulisch in the band. He is one of those guys who is a lot better live than on his recordings. For some reason his recordings seem a little flat to me upon repeated listenings where as Anson's stuff holds up better. As a matter of fact I had I Like The Way You Work in the CD player over the weekend.
Mike Morgan headlined our annual fall mini festival here in birmingham(Magic City Blues Society), and was incredible. I am a big Lee McBee fan and was wondering how the show would be without him. Mikes' vocals have gotten a whole lot better since his earlier cd's w/out Lee. Talked to him backstage, nice guy. Played a Epiphone w/New York mini humbuckers thru a real '59 Bassman w/ a tape delay and sounded incredible all night. Bass player was playing a hollow body Kay with one pu and was just great.Forgot his name,(big guy w/ grey hair), but he told me he was a guitar player that switched over to bass due to carpal tunnel syndrome.I was in Blues Heaven that fall evening last year. Shawn

[aja]

the Mike Morgan I'm on awe of right now is "Ain't worried no more" with Lee McBee. I don't know what part of his career that fits into but it is seriously
good. I sat with it for about a 1/2 hour or so learning stuff last night.

[safecracker]

the Mike Morgan I'm on awe of right now is "Ain't worried no more" with Lee McBee. I don't know what part of his career that fits into but it is seriously
good. I sat with it for about a 1/2 hour or so learning stuff last night.
Right now,we are working on Mike and Lees' Big D Shuffle off of Blacktop Instrumental Dynamite. Helluva deep groove.

[Poppa Stoppa]

Re: Mike Morgan, another great groove with an awesome guitar part is 'Cause I Love You' off Live In Dallas. I borrowed some of that to play on 'Scratch My Back' or 'I'm Ready', Red Devils style.

[btg]

Safecracker - was the bass player Bill Campbell. If so he is the one of the original Texas bad a** white boy guitar players along with Joey Long. Bill Campbell taught Jimmie, Denny and Derek alot. As a matter of fact Jimmie has mentioned Bill as one of his main influences in several magazine articles.

[zappafrank]

SPAMARAMA!

I'm selling my Tokai LP Special w/ P90s.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180092377814



get thee out, damn temptor!!!

That is nice---who wants my Airline H44 so I can bid on this thing??

so Sean---email/PM me all the nitty gritty on that puppy---

ac

---I was lucky to see Mike Morgan and the Crawl w/ lee back in the mid to late 80's---they were def playing the right stuff-----great band and players---I really dig McBee's '44', too----

[safecracker]

Safecracker - was the bass player Bill Campbell. If so he is the one of the original Texas bad a** white boy guitar players along with Joey Long. Bill Campbell taught Jimmie, Denny and Derek alot. As a matter of fact Jimmie has mentioned Bill as one of his main influences in several magazine articles.
Barry, I think his name was Bill. His bass playing was absolutely perfect. His sound with that hollowbody bass was to die for. We may be long lost relatives. My name is Shawn Gober. I've got to come to Carrollton, TX sometime this year for some recertification at a safe company to continue to do their warranty work. I really am the safecracker.lol. Never been to Texas, but I'm looking forward to it for the music scene. Looked up Carrollton on the map, was'nt too far from Dallas. Shawn

[safecracker]

get thee out, damn temptor!!!

That is nice---who wants my Airline H44 so I can bid on this thing??

so Sean---email/PM me all the nitty gritty on that puppy---

ac

---I was lucky to see Mike Morgan and the Crawl w/ lee back in the mid to late 80's---they were def playing the right stuff-----great band and players---I really dig McBee's '44', too----
Never seen Lee McBee before. Listening to Soul Deep as I write this. From that '44 cd, we're working up "I'm Gonna Love You". Killer tune. I've been covering Mike and Lees' version of Frankie Lee Sims tune "Frankie's Blues". For a few years now.Love that song.AC, I REALLY dig your work on the Jimi Bott cd you play on. I would have loved to have been there that night. Paul Delay just kills on there too. Shawn

[rjkohrs]

ac,
pm/email me the particulars of your Airline 44......
randy

[mikelaw]

bill campbell IS sick! my boy Chris Ruest from DFW will probably have Bill with him on his new cd! they are probably going to work on it this year. check chris out, he is a BAD a$$ player! He plays with Wanda King alot(freddie's daughter!) He recently sent me a photo of him playing freddies old es-335 at wanda's home during rehearsal! WOW hu??? unreal! 'yea i forgot my guitar, mind if i use your dad's for rehearsal??' :)

One of the best guitarists out there IMHO.

www.myspace.com/thechrisruestband (http://www.myspace.com/thechrisruestband)

[valcotone]

bill campbell IS sick! my boy Chris Ruest from DFW will probably have Bill with him on his new cd! they are probably going to work on it this year. check chris out, he is a BAD a$$ player! He plays with Wanda King alot(freddie's daughter!) He recently sent me a photo of him playing freddies old es-335 at wanda's home during rehearsal! WOW hu??? unreal! 'yea i forgot my guitar, mind if i use your dad's for rehearsal??' :)

One of the best guitarists out there IMHO.

www.myspace.com/thechrisruestband (http://www.myspace.com/thechrisruestband)


I got to play with Chris at a blues jam in Austin a little while ago. He is a fine player! We were blasting through a couple of Epiphone Valve Juniors in a small BBQ joint on the East side of I35. Good times!

[btg]

Skilback - were you at T.C.'s? Thats a real cool, funky place with a bunch of great players. Chris is good I saw him backing up Robin Bank$ alot when she was in town

[Thinsocks]

Anyone here play a Epi Riviera? I played one for the first time over the weekend and really dug it.

[nmontz]

Speaking of Mike Morgan...I've seen him and HashBrown use sunburst Riveras. I thought they sounded killer. Mike Morgan's I though sounded especially good. Nice and thick....he seemed be able to get it to sound however he wanted...from the thick texas shuffles on the back pup, to a great neck tone on a jump blues instrumental.

Of course you have Magic Sam and Otis Rush using red ones.

I also saw a pic of Alex Schultz using one.

I think the main beef is that they have a thinner width at the nut. The mini buckers are supposed to sound real good.

Here is a youtube clip of hash brown on one. Sounds goooooood!! Looks like H-bomb Ferguson and Drew Allain playing bass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLBulIaOTyc

[valcotone]

Skilback - were you at T.C.'s? Thats a real cool, funky place with a bunch of great players. Chris is good I saw him backing up Robin Bank$ alot when she was in town


Nah, I played with Chris (not that he would remember me) at Big Ben's BBQ, but that jam has moved elsewhere I believe (The Jackalope?).

I've been to TC's a few times, what an amazing place...it's an old-school roadhouse with all the trappings you'd expect. I've seen such great music there with Nick Curran, all the T-Birds including Kim, Kirk, and Ronnie with Jay Moeller, not to mention the regular Monday night gig Little Elmore James (http://www.myspace.com/littleelmorereedbluesband) with Mike Keller, Mark Hays and JP Whitefield... whew!

[dukeh62]

Anyone here play a Epi Riviera? I played one for the first time over the weekend and really dug it.

Frank, a friend of mine here has a 60's Riviera that I've been lucky enough to play on many an occasion. It's one of the most magical guitars I've ever played.

[Strat-O]

Hey Mike, I had not heard of that guy. Thanks for the link.

And thanks for that rundown on the Fender tweed/lacquer thing.

[zappafrank]

Pssst---skilback---

I sent you a 'kicking the tires' PM--

ac

[btg]

Hash Brown has let me play his Riviera onstage a couple of times and it is a great guitar. Very versatile. I did not notice the neck being narrow which suprised me. If I found a good one that I could afford I would buy it in a second.

Safecracker - we almost have to be related somehow. Let me know when you are coming to Carrollton. It might as well be Dallas. I can tell you where to go maybe meet you there I can swing loose.

The bass player in the Hash Brown video is Drew Allain

[KBR]

I have worked a Gig with Bill Campbell and myself on Guitar...He is a Great Player. He helped Jimmie and Stevie.

I have a 5lb 15 ounce Hardtail Strat with 2 Mini Humbuckers (ala a Riviera) and Use it a lot.
Clean Neck pup good for Octaves, Jazz, and a wicked Tele type w/ better mids for bridge pup tones.
See ya soon, AC.

[zappafrank]

.........AC, I REALLY dig your work on the Jimi Bott cd you play on. I would have loved to have been there that night. Paul Delay just kills on there too. Shawn

Hey Shawn, that is super nice to hear!----Just make sure you are not actually listening to the cuts that Suburban Slim and Marco Savo are playing on----because THOSE guys scare me!!--

Really man---thanks a lot for the kudos---:BEER

ac

[zappafrank]

I have worked a Gig with Bill Campbell and myself on Guitar...He is a Great Player. He helped Jimmie and Stevie.

I have a 5lb 15 ounce Hardtail Strat with 2 Mini Humbuckers (ala a Riviera) and Use it a lot.
Clean Neck pup good for Octaves, Jazz, and a wicked Tele type w/ better mids for bridge pup tones.

See ya soon, AC.

Yep---so I hear---you are finally coming through on that 'threat' of moving to Portland---:crazy ---jeez---NOW where am I gonna get a gig??!!---between KBR, Savo, Suburban Slim, PARIS Slim (talk about another blues-guitar encyclopedia dude---sheesh!), Terry Robb, Robbie Laws, Jim Mesi, etc...etc....and many others, I might just have to say 'F' it and start playing anything BUT blues!!! Anybody into starting a Warrant/Winger cover band???? Can I borrow your tights???

ac

[mikelaw]

KBR, i think mini's in a semi hollow and mini's in a strat would be COMPLETELY different though right? imho that is.

I would love a riviera. mini's are brighter and more compact sounding then regular hb's. More musical too imho. especially in a semihollow frame, get some screaming lows ---chunky!

[Scott Miller]

As I have probably raved about before, I love the minis in my '65 Broadway. The only thing that keeps me from playing that thing all the time is... big fat archtop with a banjo neck. Gets kind of uncomfortable after a few hours.