Heaping-Helping Serving of Crow?

Well...let's hope I am not eating Crow. Kelly Guitars are played by Lou Reed. But... aha... the ones that are supposedly good, do cost $1300 (for their 'Esquire-Style' guitars)... so my comment about under-$1000-Cabo-Guitars might be ok. I am also investigating TV-Jones pickups... when I can get a chance to 'snag' a Kelly Guitar I will... and maybe I will drop a TV-Jones pickup into it. Kelly did a nice job with their headstock logo for my mind... so maybe that means they will also sound great. On a note here... Harmony Reviews and on-line searches lead most people to comment that Kelly Guitars beat-out the average 'Relic' guitar by Fender... this may be true. I went to Guitar Center the other day, and played some of their $1900 Fender Relic Guitars. They are nice if you have never had better, but I don't think most of them would cut it on stage. Kurt Linhof mentioned to me that some older 50's guitars needed time to age well... and many improved over time..., but some also stayed just as dead... well... some of those 'Relic' guitars are dead wood for my mind... let's hope they come to life one day....Guitars I favor that I know are alive: Fender Masterbuilt Guitars from Fender, Kurt Linhof Specials, and Nash 60's 'T' Series guitars... if you have any amount of money between $1500 and $9000, there is something out there for you. (And if not, trade a few of the Harmony Guitars you don't feel you need right now?)

Beach Guitars ...

Pepi (my friend) wrote to me today... he asked what I thought about Kelly Street Guitars... ie. in this age of so many private guitar-makers, have I evaluated them? It would of course be cost prohibitive to buy and evaluate every one on my end. I know that Fender and their custom shop are putting out excellent guitars, period. I also know that Kurt Linhof is also putting out excellent guitars, and people like Keith Richards and Joe Walsh own them. (If you can currently find one, certainly consider buying one..they are hard to get right now though, until he makes his next 'batch'). I also know, that if you have $1600, Nash is making great guitars (for my mind, get his '60's 'T' series with the Rosewood Necks... ). How about an unknown maker though... how does one make the decision to risk a buy.... here are my own criterion:
1. Have respected players taken them into their 'guitar collections' as regular players?
2. What information do you have on the maker, from on-line blogs/ Harmony central reviews?
3. I have found out the hard way, if a guitar costs under $1000, it probably is the same as going to Cabo and buying a guitar.
Kelly Street says his guitars are made of 100 year old wood. I don't know if that means anything. If artists play his guitars, and feel it does, then it does.... However, should these guitars meet all expectations, I will certainly keep everyone posted if someone has one and wants to give their opinion... and if it truly rocks, I want to purchase one for my own 'stable'. Hope this has helped Pepi! Remember, I am a jet-pilot/ humble musician, not Keith Richards.. but I feel I do know something about guitars... at least let's hope so.

Wax your Pickups... Not Your Surfboard!

I just got a Yuriy Shishkov 'Twisted Tele'... ok... I got it on EBay... but I have become an EBay expert (not something to banter around). I was playing this Tele, with the Bigsby™ on it, and happened to notice some strange wax on the bridge pickup. It was smooth all the way around, and then had a lump of wax on the top, that looked like a candle that you might have dropped. The was was yellow-white, so it was definitely nothing I had seen before. My question was... had the guy I bought it from on EBay changed anything on it? Well... here is the answer; since this Guitar has a Bigsby™ bridge, there is a lot of metal around the pickup. This metal vibrates, and can cause microphonic feedback. Because of this, Fender coats these pickups in wax (yes... wax... candle wax, or paraffin with 20% beeswax...). Fender pickups, the vintage ones, used to be potted this way. It also protects the pickups from the elements. The wax is brushed on usually. Tape is sometimes also used to 'pot' a pickup, and prevent feedback problems. Another way pickups are potted is with epoxy, or thin laquer. This is not the way you want them potted... pickups done this way are 'shiny'...and you cannot unwind the winds after this has been done. The wax, however, is non-toxic, easy to deal with, and can be undone again for repair work or rewind. Fralin does their pickups this way. To recap... what is microphonic feedback? Well... get your un-potted bridge pickup and tap on it for an example.

Addendum

Apparently Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone is keeping the Monkees out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Errol Flynn also never got an Oscar....

Part 2

Anyway, so my initial reaction that it might have been a real Monkee driving me downtown was definitely offset by the fear that I had someone else. Michael mentioned a movie that came out a few years ago about a manufactured band, and I mentioned how obviously, the mainstream idea is that the Monkees were 'manufactured' by Hollywood. So was Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, and other notables for my mind, who couldn't sing or compose. What do you do... did you do it well? That is all that matters. Errol Flynn came up... because he used to live across the street from me, long before I moved here. He always wanted to be a writer...and was slightly ashamed that he was only a 'matinee idol', who never really (as he apparrently said) 'Won a war single-handedly'. If we all live to be 100, we should realize that what we are and what positive effect we have on the world is all that really counts. I told Michael I was a jet pilot, and he told me a story of how once he was taught in a matter of hours to solo a Sopwith Camel Biplane...and they are 'mushy' on the controls at slow speeds. We spoke of Robby Krieger... and how impressed I was that the other 'Doors' had wanted to 'sell out' to Cadillac with one of their songs, but Krieger wouldn't do it. Not even for millions. (The Doors signed a pact at one point that any one of them could 'veto' the sale of their songs). Krieger eventually must have given in though, because I heard a Doors song on TV the other day... either in a commecial, or in a series... I told Michael I found this was disappointing. He said the Monkee's had a song in Shrek, and it had really helped them. He brought up Video production, and how California was the biggest producer of Videos, in the Valley. I mentioned that I would have to explain to my wife that a 'Monkey had helped me put my bag into the limo'...(cliche, I know)...then felt badly...mentioning as an excuse that when I fly jets I also have to carry bags for the clients, (besides fly 5 million dollar planes safely)... I asked him if Charlie Manson actually tried out for the Monkees, and was corrected that in fact Manson had tried out for the Beach Boys. I also mentioned a house I had seen recently, belonging to either Jan or Dean (of Jan & Dean), and Mike said it had to be Dean, because Jan died...then when we arrived, and it came time to get the bags out, he got my bag out for me (I couldn't find the latch). He also had told me he still lifts amps with his Roadies when on tour. He's a 'cool' guy to meet....

Mike Nesmith

Met and spoke with Mike Nesmith yesterday. Also had Jury Duty. Live in LA, so rather than deal with the 1+ hour drive from West LA to Downtown the next day (for 7:30 roll-call)... I decided to get a towncar and stay overnight at the 'Standard'. Car came 8:15pm, and nice guy; 50-ish looking guy in a suit, tie, with short greyish hair, helps me get bag into car and drives me off. First off, I ask him if he has ever done Jury Duty... he says Yes... he did it four times, once only had to call on the phone only, another time had to go to courst, but not called on a panel, and twice more went in.. but not chosen...even though he really tried to get on a case, and be agreeable. He is driving, and we go by Mary J. Blige's house, and I happen to mention that the car outside waiting in the road is for 'Mary J. Blige', at which point he mentions he used to be in a band in the 60's. I say... ok.. which band (expecting the usual... sax player for 'Mountain'...actually, Mountain are great... try 'Blood of the Sun'). He says...'Have you ever heard of the Monkees?'... I say...'The NEW Monkees?'...he says... 'No, the old ones...'65,'66 etc. So now I am worried.. I am being driven around in a car by a man with a identity disorder. 'Which Monkee?' I ask... and he replies...'Mike Nesmith'. Ok, next great question from me (a man being driven around in a Towncar by Mike Nesmith)....'Why are you driving a towncar?'. As we all know, Mike Nesmith's mother was the 'Liquid Paper' inventor, so unlike other '60's bands, he has no need to drive a car for a living. He also invented 'MTV', is a great success in Video production, and is the originator of Country-Rock as a genre...etc, etc, etc. He replies...'My son lives in a Condo downtown, so my friend who owns the car company lets me take a car of his and do a run for him on the way downtown the same time'. Now I am becoming convinced it is Mike Nesmith...sure as heck looks like a slightly older version. Fit and healthy though for 65 years old... hmmmmm...old waves of doubt creep in again. Fate listens to you at all sorts of odd times... I prayed every night to get out of Jury Duty...still got it....meanwhile, three months ago, I told my session player friend on a whim (as we listened to Mike's song 'Joanne' on my iPod player)... 'Boy... if there is really someone I would like to meet..it's Mike Nesmith..but guess I never will.... I am still not telling him how he is one of my favourite musicians... because I am sure it is not really him. (Was there an episode of the Monkees/ Head, where Mike dresses up as a chauffeur). (I also later read about how he has been a prankster since childhood, and I also verified once I got done with jury duty, that this man was indeed Mike Nesmith). More tomorrow....and the end of the story...by the way... he is a really nice guy...

EVH 'Frankenstrat'

I just watched a middle-aged guy on youtube™ take a 25K Frankenstrat and rip on it... I mean, he does sound great... all the way down to the harmonic notes like Eddie. He sits cross-legged, with athletic socks on, with little movement, apart from a cool, calm and focused attention to his playing. It occured to me you can do a lot with very little energy expended...I guess all the extra-Eddie jumping on stage and train-wrecking into David Lee-Roth (the better version of Van Halen...ok, now I am going to get 300+ arguments on that one) was not necessary to the sound so much. These guitars are officially at 25K each. You might EBay one for 23K. If half of the profits go to the artist, and they made 300 of them (officially)... and...cost to build them in parts is around $300 (give-or-take). I guessed 3-days build time (if they do them in batches)...that's 27 hours of the Masterbuilders' time, at $175 per hour... we have a cost to build them of around 5K. So thats 9K (let's say) to the artist from each one... artist-being-Eddie... 300 X 9K = 2.7 Million dollars....this of course is all beer-talk... I have no idea... but part of me needs to work out how my world spins... I know these guitars DO sound GREAT (as a PLAYER speaking)... could I go into a pawn shop and find one as good...it would take 30 pawn shops, and lots of time, and the guitar would cost me around $900. It might not look as good though. Now...let's see... ten pawn shops, walking...3 weeks...5 hours a day..at $12 and hour...including Starbucks on the way.... ..... ....

New Masterbuilders....

The newest Masterbuilders are Jason Smith and Stephen Stern... how many names have since left the custom shop, that allowed the 'new guys' to come on....I just found out that Elliot Easton used to use Alan Hamel and Ronee Pena...remember them? This was around 2000-2001. Christopher W. Fleming is the only 'Senior Master Builder' listed on Fender's site... so I guess he is the one currently in charge. Yuriy Shishkov is born in Russia. He studied under John English, and has a site in Russia, and many followers there. You can tell he studied under Mr English... his style of 'relicing' a guitar is identical for my mind to John English and Fred Stuart's style. Of note is that when John English made the 'Blackie' guitars (along with a couple other Masterbuilders), he conformed completely to the style everyone there used to do the Blackie's... Yuriy's guitars (at lease the one I have played) have a lot of punch, the kind Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes seems to like. I have owned 3 guitars from the collection of Rich Robinson... he seems to like fairly heavy guitars (8lbs), with a '70's type of finish (thicker), and a real punch in all positions (listen to the Crowes for the sound). Rich would like Yuriy's guitars....

Guitar Chef...

Installment#2: I Want to Be A Luthier.
I once bought all the parts to a 1963 Strat on EBay... neck was $1700, Body Cost $1800, Original Green Pickguard was $700, Original Pickups were $1300, Bought all-original pots, and electronics. One guy told me the truss rod was shot, but then another said it was ok. I then took all the parts down the hill to a guy who used to work assembling guitars for Fender. He put all the pieces togther, and it rocked. vs...
I go to the grocery store, buy steak, vegetables, gravy, 'taters, etc. Take them all to Wolfgang Puck, and I get him to make me dinner.. guess what.... it probably rocks!
Any similarity? Not to push a point... we all have our specialties in life, and practice will make perfect (or as my Tae Kwon Do instructor used to say...'Will make you better than what you were yesterday'). It takes work...lots of it (not to sound like Mr Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver™) to get good at something... unless you are born gifted or something. If you want to buy all your parts on EBay (and take some risks there), and then have an EXPERT assemble them, that is one good way to enjoy 'making' your own guitar! Good news....I kept the 1963 'parts' Strat for a year, enjoyed played it a lot (it had major SRV mojo too), and then sold it for exactly what I paid for all the parts and the 'putting together'.

Build Your Very Own Guitar!!!

Recent google info has suggested to me that there is a new sphere of 'homebuild your guitar' info being posted... apparently, one of the 'Best parts' of 'building your own Stratocaster' is 'you can make it your very own'. Here are other things I have done: 1. I replaced my own car brakes, after being quoted a lot of money. They actually worked. 2. I went to the museum and decided I could paint like Basquiat... result...my 'hazardous items bin' became full of 'paintings'. 3. I decided to 'customize' my own leather jacket... result... I think I saw it on a homeless man last week. All joking aside, I want to save everyone lots of wasted money, parts and also time. Also the severe disappointment that follows failure. Eddie Van Halen is the ONLY person I know who put together his own guitar, and pulled it off. Ok, maybe Bruce Springsteen too... but I don't know the full story, and whether he might have had his 'tech' do it for him. People who spray guitars at the Factory have had not only training, but also years of practice... one hour in our garage is unlikely to yield happy results, except more wood for the fire later... sorry... I know this is tough news... the idea sounded so good. I will finish with the story of a 'friend' who tiled the floor of his own kitchen... he got all the right materials, tiles, little 'plastic bits' for spacers... he measured twice and cut once, then called my brother the contractor over to gloat. My brother simply took a metal ball bearing out of his pocket, placed it on the tile floor, and let it roll to one corner....sorry guys...

The Guitar Zone

"In the game that is life there are six ways to roll a seven. Tumble the dice down the felt and what are your odds of winning? Remember... the house always has the odds... but if you are lucky, you can beat the house. As a student in the game of life, a lesson to be learned... in the Guitar Zone". When you buy a guitar from a Guitar Dealer, who is to be trusted? You send them a personal check, and talk them into another $100 off, since you are not using credit cards, and you also get them to pay for the shipping too... will they get your guitar out to you on time....at all? Ok... melodramatics for the skittish in the Guitar Zone...I sent a lot of money a year ago to a guitar dealer who I saw on-line. I had googled the vintage guitar I wanted, and he came up, with nice color photos of my future guitar and all. I also found him in my Guitar Magazine, as a regular advertiser. I then called him, and he was the nicest guy on the phone, and I sent my check. He promised the guitar would go out after the check had cleared... instead, after a week... he took off to Cabo. I called his store (a big store)... and got one of his many assistants.. who kept telling me that nothing was wrong, but my guitar was 'locked up' and the boss was in Mexico. The assistant apologized, and did admit the situation was weird, especially since my check was fully cleared now, and I had no guitar. Next, I went to Google, and did what everyone out there should do... I googled "Guitar Store's Name.... followed by the word "complaints"..."..I did get some people complaining about the sales help being aloof, (unless you are from a well-known band making a seven-figure salary), but nothing else. This partly put my mind at ease...long and short of this... I eventually got my guitar, after another week, 6 nights without much sleep, and I also got one free t-shirt, with the name of the guitar store on it for my troubles (my dog Elvis is sleeping on it). So I spent my 3 weeks in the 'Guitar Zone', but you don't have to... remember, also google "Name of the guitar store... and other words too, like ....bad, cheat, dishonest, loser....". I am not being negative, these words are only for everyone to know what to put in to get info out, to avoid a one-way trip to the Guitar Zone. Happy shopping...

Is it Real... or is it NOT...(Saturday's Post)

I am seeing a large amount of 1950's Tele pickups for sale on EBay... listed as "Apparently Rewound, but doesn't look rewound at all"... or a similar statement. This is not the first time I have heard about this... the ability of some pickup rewinders to actually do such a good job, it is almost impossible to tell the difference in HOW THEY LOOK. They go by names like "Johnny" apparently.. and become famous under these monikers.... for their ability to rewind a pickup and make it look like one from the 50's or 60's that is supposedly untouched. But as we all know (from our guitar reading), changing the number of winds can drastically change the sound (as Fender discovered a long time ago). Before winding a pickup, the unit is sprayed with clear-coat (as an insulator). Then the windings go on, and finally a 'secret' wax process (from the Fender book's term) is used as a final step. Combine the output of these 'master pickup forgers' with the Masterbuilder's ability to almost completely mimic an original '56 Tele (for instance), and what are we looking at? I know, I can still tell the difference fairly easily between an original '56 paintjob, and a 'relic' job, but every year they get better... but I can't tell a perfectly rewound pickup! (And apparently neither can these dealers selling them on EBay). What can I recommend? Well, one outfit I know of can detect (or has the best ability out there to detect) a rewound pickup of this type... the Vintage Room in Hollywood. I can say this, because I am familiar with them, and have known them for some years. I know Gruhn could also probably detect one of these pickups, but I haven't had any experience dealing with them yet! And all this doesn't mean they might not sound great... or even better sometimes, than the original...it's just nice not to be fooled, since the original untouched pickups cost much more.

The Transformers!

When we were all 17, we loved to make things our own... skateboards, hats, jackets, hair.... and, er... Guitar. We liked to do the Eddie-Van-Halen... change the color (with Rustoleum?), change bridge to a Floyd-Rose, add a humbucker, quick-release strap locks etc. Sort of like buying a VW and changing it into a Lexus,no? Waster of money maybe...yes. Teenage ideas one thing, but we are wiser now. Why not buy the gear you want from the start? People at Fender have made it easier for us: Fender has a Tele with humbuckers for those who miss a Les Paul (1 or 2, your choice),and a Tele with a Bigsby Vibrato (for those who miss a Strat). We are born and raised to be individualists, and make things our own... but here it is better to buy-it-right first time. If I take my Telecaster and put my own Bigsby on it, and change my humbucker to a Lollar, put titanium nut on the neck, and then install fat frets, maybe it will indeed be my dream guitar... cost to build this 'Dream Guitar'... (if the Tele was a custom shop guitar) might be over $4K. Value of said guitar now (when I want to sell it for something new...well...that depends... where did my twin brother go?

EBay...

"How Do I Buy A Guitar on EBay?". Think about it... I just saw a custom Masterbuilt Strat (with my recommended SN# from John Cruz on the Back) go on EBay for $3300. The same guitar is for sale on another Music Store's site for $6600, and on another Music Store's site for $4700. Still quite a savings, right? Ever been to Vegas? Played 3-Card Monty? Ok... I'll stop asking questions... what I mean to say is... I bought a white Paul Reed Smith Guitar, from 1987, on EBay. It was supposedly all stock, and "custom made for a PRS emplyee...", and the name of the employee was even provided (in marketing). Now, I couldn't find the person's name anywhere at PRS (I used to know PRS himself, though another friend, when I bought many of his guitars in 1986). I bought the guitar, and played it. It sounded pretty flat all around (nice way to put the sound of it). Long and short of it, the insides had been hand-wired by a guy with a home soldering iron and no brains. I think the pickup selections were pickup #1, pickup #1, and pickup #1, and it was a home-installed pickup (PRS guitars from this period should have a 'T' (for treble) and a 'B' (for the bass one) on the reverse of the pickups, just as a real '58 Les Paul pickup has a little black and gold sticker on the back... onto those another time). Also, the 'luthier' who had worked on it, had drilled out the place where the 'sweet switch' used to be. When confronted (by me) with this information,, he denied...denied...denied....that the guitar was anything but perfect. Lesson to be learned in the Twilight Zone... buy from a dealer, unless you want to gamble, and haggle.

"Best Playin' Guitar Ever!"

How many times have we heard this? Go to EBay... a store is selling 17 guitars, and they are all the winners. "This guitar has the twang", "Led Zeppelin all-the-way", "Keith Mojo", "Screaming Bridge Pickup". If there were that many great sounding guitars out there we'd all be in guitar heaven. The fact is, THERE ARE NOT THAT MANY GREAT SOUNDING GUITARS OUT THERE. In the hundred plus instruments I have probably owned (I try to get them in my house, and then in the privacy of home plug them into my own amp, and get everything just the way I need to, in order to evaluate the guitar as a 'keeper'... or not). You can't sit in Guitar Center Hollywood, while Eddie Van Halen Jr is repeating his riff over and over again next to you, and get a good read on a guitar. To the point... if the maker is good, I find the percentage of really great guitars can vary. For upper-tier Custom Shop Guitars, it may be roughly 1 out of 6 that you test drive (assuming nobody got there before you). For MIM Fenders, it might be 1 out of 20 or even 30. There is also the mystical power of the man in front of you... the true salesman... if you try it in the store. He or she can literally 'hypnotically effect' your ear. "Now isn't that just the best guitar in the world... Woody and I play it every evening after the doors shut... and I don't know why it hasn't sold yet... in fact, I was going to finally take it home with me tonight!". So you try it again, in case there is something you missed... and ... "damn!"..."if you aren't right"... well... sort of.

Who is Greg Fessler?

Greg Fessler is a current Masterbuilder at the Fender Custom Shop. He was trained by Gene Baker, who went on to start Baker Guitars. He took over from Gene making guitars for the likes of Robben Ford, and Journey's Neal Schon. He also builds guitars for Jeff Healy. (Larry Brooks, another Masterbuilder, also built a Double-Neck 6/12 String Strat for Jeff Healey, with pre-amp, that I owned myself a couple years ago). Larry Brooks was also the Masterbuilder who journeyed to Kurt Cobain's house in the Hollywood Hills to discuss the Jagstang. Greg Fessler works along with John Cruz, Dennis Gluzska, Yuriy Shishkov, Mark Kendrick, Todd Krause, C.W. Fleming, Art Esparza and other Masterbuilders who are currently with the custom shop (some are literally getting their 'Masterbuilder' titles and 'moving up', as I speak, from being a 'teambuilder'. Teambuilders work under the close supervision of the Masterbuilders). Each Masterbuilder seems to have their own relationship with various artists who demand their services. Of the previous generation of Masterbuilders, Fred Stuart went on to start his own shop, and of course John English passed away recently (R.I.P.).Another founding Masterbuiilder, John Page, was building guitars for the likes of Elliot Easton in the late 80's. Of interest, I have noticed that there were more 'birds-eye maple' necks back then, but now people seem to prefer more straightforward actual duplication of original 50's and 60's Tele's and Strats (sight, sound and feel)... And that is what the current Masterbuilders are focusing on right now!

We Play'em.... that's it.

Went down to Vintage Guitar Center in Hollywood today... as I say, each day is a learning situation... always stay open to NEW things to learn, and this is one of them. Musicians play music, but we don't know all about guitars. We may know our particular instrument itself, like we know our old lady, but hopefully not Sam's old lady down the block. Tiago works in the Vintage Room, and was friendly and very helpful (also, they are all super knowledgeable). First off... Vintage Guitar Center in Hollywood (the Vintage Room) verified that before they sell any guitar they thoroughly check it out (pickups..ie. ohm readings, wiring, pots, neck, struss rod etc). I have also previously been given a disc with photos of all the parts of your guitar (when I once bought a '57 Strat from them years ago... by the way, it was a great playing guitar). So it is highly unlikely an instrument bought from them will falter in some odd way... even 10 months later... even if it was actually gigged. The price you pay is probably an extra 20 percent over Cheapie.com. If you buy Vintage, this place is the only way to go, and like people always tell us; pay the bit extra! (Don't be like my Dad who put our house on the market and told the painter to only put one coat of paint on it, because he was selling it...guess who was looking a peeling paint 2 years later?) To the point: in A.R. Duchossoir's Fender Telecaster Book (Tiago said it is one of the best Tele Books out there, and luckily I own one too).. on page 63, the book points out that Tele's from '53 to '67 have a DIFFERENT set-up (this will be on your test). "In 1952 the assembly was modified by Leo Fender to incorporate a real tone control, but in doing so Leo DISCARDED any two pickup combination. The post-52 wiring thus provides the following settings: F= neck pickup alone with pre-set bassy sound but NO tone control. M= neck pickup alone with PROPER tone control, R= bridge pickup alone with PROPER tone control." Now, after '67 "The wiring was finally modified to provide a more TRADITIONAL (read FAMILIAR) 2-pickup switching: F= neck pickup alone WITH tone control, M= both pickups together WITH tone control, and R= bridge pickup alone WITH tone control". I give this 'techie' info like medicine for all musicians out there to learn a little about "How them things work"... maybe in this small way, we can all get a little more sleep at night.

Nasa... We Have a Problem...

Well... I warned everyone, including myself... it's happened. My '56 Tele has 3 pickup positions, muddy, muddy, and ok, trouble is the ok is meant to be where one of the 'muddy's' is, and the tone knob flops back and forth without accomplishing anything. Got it from Vintage Guitar Center in Hollywood, who sell to the best...thank God did not get from anyone else. Got it last November (still less than a year ago). I went in, and chose another Tele initially... a '59. Played that through their amp (a nice old Tweed), and it sounded good, but I still didn't like some funky paint flaking (which is normal on a guitar that old) which was on the neck. I then checked out this '56, played it acoustically, and in a rush said "Wrap her up". The guys down there charge a premium, and are all really nice guys to deal with, and customers like Dave Navarro expect to get what they pay for (being Hollywood). I took it home, and since the fretboard looks as if it had been played on a gig every day for the past 50 years, it's more a guitar to get out and baby, than play every day. Truth be told, I put it into a large flight case (earthquake proof and rat-proof for LA) and left it there for 9 months. (I play my younger guitars, not my old lady's). Well, session player friend of mine came over yesterday (Mick), and I put her in his arms to play... er...he said...'Now Pete... this ain't right...'...... and Dutz that I am (Dumb Putz)... looks like I own a '56 Tele that has had a heart attack somewhere...anyway... if this ends up that I own a nice player, worth much less that I paid, then follow this advice: "FORGET OLD GUITARS FROM THE 50'S... THEY ARE TIRED, AND FALLING APART..like an old relative, and that is normal...IF YOU ARE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, AND HAVE THE MONEY, GET YOUR TECH TO SORT IT OUT, AND THEN PLAY IT A LOT....AND WRITE OFF THE BIG, BIG LOSS...BUT UNDERSTAND, ALL THESE GUITARS ARE ON THE EDGE OF NEEDING EVERYTHING EVENTUALLY REPLACED, LIKE A '56 CHEVY WOULD... pots, pickups, wiring, 3-way selector switches, fanbelt, and also those little diodes etc.... ". If Guitar Center is my pal, and tell me to bring it down and either: 1. Find a little loose wire and fix her up, or 2. Tell me they have another '56 (heck, I'll even take a '57) and offer it to me to make good, then I would say "BUY OLD '50'S GUITARS, BUT ONLY FROM VINTAGE CENTER IN HOLLYWOOD"..... meanwhile, stand by...NASA is looking at the problem.....Happy Sunday.....

Sunday's Post on Saturday...Tone vs. Playablility

Just played my John Cruz '56 Tele... what a machine! Neck has very little nitro left... it's always me saying to myself... if I was terminally ill, which guitar would I play every remaining day of my life, rather than leave them to someone after I am dead? Then I took out my Linhof guitar, built by ex-Masterbuilder at the Custom Shop, Jay Black. The Linhof is truly a working musician's guitar...and Kurt Linhof admit's that... he only sells to pforessionals... grease-lightning action and neck... whatever I play on the '56 with it's thick clubby (and wonderfully authentic neck), goes almost twice as fast and ripping on the Linhof. Custom shop guitar has that '50's Blues tone... guess if you are playing the blues, it need not be fast... On Monday will talk about current custom shop Masterbuilders, and who took over for who, when the older guys retired. The Masterbuilders today offer different guitars, whether you want to admit it or not, than those that came before them....we are all creatures of the media... was just reading that in 1975 nobody wanted to get within 10 feet of a fifites tele, and you couldn't give them away... sort of like the current situation with Jaguar's and Jazzmasters from the 60's... but I still agree with Mr Nash of Nash guitars... it's hard to make a Jaguar or Jazzmaster that sounds good like a Tele or Strat...

Saturday's Post... Hold the Cheese...

Advance notice to the Custom Shop from your public....Stop Forearm Wear! (I don't mind saying this, after my stellar review of the Masterbuilt Tele I just got from the hands of Masterbuilder John Cruz). Fatsoundguitars is the first to really recognize this problem, and specially order "One Off" Custom shop guitars, WITHOUT the bad forearm wear. Nobody is perfect, and the Masterbuilders at Fender have almost got it down, just for some reason, the Forearm Wear looks artificial on their Relic models still... a little like a beltsander attacked it. I would say to look at the few authentic 50's and '60's guitars with forearm wear (most don't actually get it)... and compare them to the almost 'automatic' Forearm wear all the relic guitars are coming with now... so... special order... please hold the cheese....

How Loose Do You Get Before You Travel?

Do you loosen all the strings before sending a guitar to someone? Do you make them so loose they hang like string off the guitar neck? Why? I see the guitar as a perfectly balanced instrument when the strings are properly tuned... the truss rod equally opposing the strings and making a balanced STRONG unit. Lets look at this another way... some people say to loosen
all the strings a bit before storing a guitar beyond six months. Maybe tell that to the man who put his guitar under his bed in 1959, and went back to get it in 1976... with absolutely nothing wrong with it. Most people do not put their guitar back into it's case expecting it to not come out again for a long time, so they keep the strings in tune when they put it away... and I don't see thousands of ruined guitars. What I do hope for though is to get a guitar from my dealer and not have to tune it before I can play it...my advise, play your guitars, treat them as right as you can, then put them away... also... ship 'em in tune....

John Cruz Tele...

I just got my John Cruz tele. This one is number 67*, last one I had was number 524... he got better. Now I actually am getting scared... Mr Cruz could (if he wanted to) sell this guitar in a Vintage Center as a real 1950's Tele... he would have to dry the finish a bit, and give it some final touches like a myriad of tiny scuff marks (which would damage the finish if he had already done it, but also let us know he CAN ACTUALLY RECREATE a 1950's tele). Also would need a $300 authentic serial-numbered neck plate. Tons of little cracks in the paint are super accurate, and I can finally say REAL looking. The weight is exceptionally light, and the guitar is the most resonant Tele I have held in years. The neck would actually fool me TOTALLY that I was playing one of my 1950's Tele's, if I didn't see the guitar. Nice clubby and very ACCURATE neck. Nice heavy volume knob, just like the 50's ones (it fell off, but that was a simple screw tightening situation). When you think of it, how does a person make a guitar that not only LOOKS like a 1950's Tele, but PLAYS like one and FEELS like one. It is getting to the point where one would have to look inside to find out if it is really Vintage... and no, I know. I have had these things for real, and held them, smelled them (yes, sorry, I actually read that this is one way experts check these things to see if they are real). Oh, and Abby (Ybarra) did the bridge pickup... Sweet!

Talking About the Custom Shop...

J.W. Black and John Page were instrumental in helping Fender give birth to the custom shop in the late 80's and throughout the 90's. At first it was the Japanese that wanted totally original recreations of the instruments of the 50's and early 60's... and proved to be their main clients initially. J.W. Black stayed with the custom shop until the late 90's, and then left in 2002, after spending a few years in quality control. What does he do with his time now? Amongst other things, he makes amazing guitars for 'Linhof' Guitars ('Built on Earth', as it says on the reverse of all his headstocks). Serial numbers are also stamped/ etched onto the bridges (just like early Broadcaster/ No-Caster/ Esquires). There are at last count less than 100 right now in the whole world, and they are already in the hands of players like Keith Richards (2 I believe), Joe Bonamassa, and Joe Walsh has #0001. I have owned 4. Be forwarned though, Mr Linhof builds for professional musicians, with the realistic attitude to match. He basically has Mr J. W. Black make tools for the professional. All of his guitars I have played so far had light ageing, smooth as silk actions, beautifully dressed frets, and great resonance (even not plugged in). Of all the Masterbuilders who left Fender to strike out on their own, this is the only man who's guitars I would mention at the moment. Mr Linhof has quite a background of his own too... including being a Rock 'n Roll Celebrity himself...

Looks Aren't Everything but...

... they sure help. With each new guitar purchase a musician has judged an instrument, based on sight, sound and of course price. What if a 1973 Les Paul sounds great, but weighs way too much? How about a guitar that sounds and plays amazingly (like the neon-refinished 1953 Blackguard I got for $5000 a few years ago and sold again), but looks ugly? The question is "Why does Ronnie Wood love his Zemaitis Disc Front so much, and does it actually play well too (besides look great)? We sit down with fellow musicians and lament about the tone, the sustain, and how that is all that really matters. We become the purist..but admit to yourself... each decision about a guitar is about many different things we judge each guitar's worth on... including how it LOOKS (admit it). I just evaluated two guitars by the same maker... I was looking for the one out of four that sounded the best (for ME and my ear). As usual, the one that sounded the best, looked less attractive, and the one that ...well... you got it. I chose based on sound, and played that guitar for a while, but in between playing, as I was running my hand over the finish, I decided that the one with the better finish sounded just as good UNPLUGGED, and it was only lacking a bit when put through my amp.... and I missed it..the look. So may we all have the luck to find an instrument that LOOKS, PLAYS and FEELS like Blackie, but without Blackie's price.

Sorcerer's Apprentice....

Fender is the one who currently gets it all exact (or as close to it) when recreating original 1950's Tele's (and Esquires, No-Casters & Broadcasters, and Strats)... why... amongst other things, they have some original machinery to re-create original bridges like they did for the reissue Strats. There are many, many new, independent makers out there now; Nash Guitars, Linhof Guitars, Hahn Guitars, Greenwich Guitars (not currently making them, and looks like not again), and K-Line Guitars. These independent builders generally use Fender, or even Warmoth parts (who make necks with 1/4" black phenolic dots).
They get hot new 'independent' pickup builders to either supply, or custom wind them pickups (Lollar, DiMarzio, VooDoo and Van Zandt pickups for instance), hand paint, and wire and assemble guitars. Greenwich Guitars still sells Lollars custom wound to their spec's (I own a new set, and they are made to look vintage too). It appears that it's not about the parts that go into the guitar, but the Sorcerer's Apprentice assmbling those parts... like a chef with the same food, but either tremendous skill, or no skill.
I can vouch for this. I have played one of these guitar makers guitars, with 'thin nitro' finish, Lollar Pickups, that also somehow got a 'rave' on the Harmony Review site, and it was so poor I only kept it one hour, before rushing to get it back into it's box, before it's bad mojo got into me. Eddie Van Halen went out to his garage and made his Frankenstrat.. tape, screwdriver... Mom calling to come in for dinner.. and it's apparently sheer magic... but musicians are known to be multi-talented (can sing, dance and act... Like Mick Jagger). Whats the point here? Don't trust reviewers on Harmony (who can be anyone, including the guitar-makers sister), don't trust the 'thin nitro finish' or the pickup maker to guarantee a great guitar (which might be for $700.00, which should make you wonder)... you need to play it, and talk to other people... or maybe just drop me a line...

Pepi's Corner

Here is what Pepi has to say about another Fender Guitar:
The Closet Classic to my understanding came out in 2000 when the Custom Shop
figured it could do its own relicing rather than sending it out to Cuenetto
who had been doing all the work up to that point. His guitars from 1995-1999
have been going for big bucks: a guy in Europe just grabbed a 1996 on Ebay
for about $3,500 and had to pay import taxes as well, and another 1995 went
for similar money. So this is a 2000 that a guy bought to collect and put it
in his closet for 7 years as he's not a player -- has the same strings on it
when he bought it. The Cuenetto Nocasters had a more powerful bridge pickup
than the 2000; the new version is intended to be just like the old 51s with
the right shape body, a big fat neck, and a funny wiring where the neck
position is just a highs roll off and really pretty useless -- but not back
in the day when there was a common signal problem and I guess this solved
it; but today it's not necessary and can be rewired. The neck lipstick
sounds really nice and the bridge typical Tele pickup is nice and twangy.
Both are very transparent, more so than my other Teles: Tom Andersons,
Linhof, G&L, and a 77 Fender with Lollars. Harmonics are right in your face
the way I like em. It's not as warm as these other guitars, in particular
the Linhof that has the Humbucker and the reverse Tele bridge pickup which
sounds incredible. The middle position that combines these Fralin pickups on
the Linhof is the warmest tone I've ever had out of this Victoria 2012 and a
65 Vibrolux. These pickups are also really quiet. The neck is chunky U like
the old ones, but this one is not as chunky as some of them that I've picked
up along the way. It's an aquired taste as after about 15 minutes the size
of the neck gets comfortable. The tone pot is odd in how it works as it
doesn't go from low mute to sharp. The frets are fine: I'm usually a meduim
jumbo guy but these thin frets are really fast. The guitar has 9s on it so
I'm surprised that the tone is so good as I find that heavier strings ring
better. It has a nice acoustic unplugged sound which is an important sign of
a good sounding electric. The idea of the Closet Classic is that it's an old
guitar that has been taken out every once in a while and so it's not worn
like a relic but has cracks in the thin finish, etc. I think the thin finish
is also key to the tone. Eric Johnson turned me on to that idea that the
thinner the finish the better. The guitar was $1900 with the special order
birdseye maple neck and for that money it's fantastic and I'm looking
forward to playing it more. I just plugged it in to the amp with an old Klon
Centaur because I heard that these pickups aren't good for pushing it but it
sounded great! I'm a fan of the Custom Shop pickups as I have them in a
Strat and they really sound great. I think that all these highend pickups
are smoking: Fralin, VooDoo, Lollar, etc. It's just an issue of personal
taste at that point, but they are so much better than the old noisy jobs
that get great tone but carry a lot of baggage from the old world with them
that's not so nice... You can only wax a pickup so much... There's an
original 1951 Nocaster for sale on Ebay for $160,000. I'd love to play it
and see how close they got it. Now obviously the wood on that beauty is old
and sweet, but I was pretty happy to get a guitar that had already aged 7
years as literally a closet classic."

The only thing I can add to what Pepi has to say is I would wonder what all that
would sound like through a Louis Electric KR12 Amp...Check out this!(Designed for Keith Richards).
I have a KR-12 Amp and can recommend them!

Fndr 86 3/4

Pork Bellies, Light Crude.... Guitars??? Everyone has a say in what is going to happen with the guitar market... my answer... Who Cares? The vintage guitars from any time before 1990 are now way over-priced if you consider yourself a musician... in fact, no musician in his right mind is investing his money into guitars, unless your band just played Dodgers Stadium. Why buy a '56 Strat for 35K, a '53 Blackguard for 49K, and also take the additional risk of it being faked in some capacity... and there are no gaurantees of it sounding good either. I have owned over 5 of these (before they went up), and they all had crackly pots (volume), and 3-way selectors that sometimes didn't engage any pickups in position... also, how about the risk of theft, or dry winter air on the neck of your new investment, as your New York apartment heat comes on? Get a Fender Masterbuilt Guitar, WITH THE SERIAL NUMBER of the builder on the back of the headstock, and Abigail Ybarra pickups, and put it anywhere you want to put it without all the worries. If you want to invest in something, invest in Pork Bellies...and no... I don't work for Fender...

Chinese Take-Out

China is everywhere... including Guitars. Check out Schecter's S1 Elite... they have a long list of artists who not only endorse their guitars, but play them. I have owned 2 China made guitars... one bolt-on travelling guitar, and one Brian May by Burns. They both sported that gold "Made in China" sticker on the back of the headstock. First off... if you stand back 10 feet, they looked like good 'ol "Made in USA" instruments... pick them up, and they feel heavy, more like a Jackson from the '80's, without the feel. Both fretboards could have been the same guitar... nothing special, and labor intensive to play (for my mind). The Briain May .09 string kept 'pinging' in the nut, due to very bad placement during assembly. Both guitars sounded 'flat', like they were a toy guitar you bought for your 10-year-old nephew for his birthday... so we are talking great beginner guitar. They certainly beat the cr*p out of the toy guitars on the beach in Cabo... that said, I am happy to report China can make 'em look like guitars, but they still can't make 'em to play like guitars...oh, and the travelling guitar never stayed in tune ...

Bla, Bla, Bla...

I got a Les Paul '53 Goldtop first... since all my friends a few years
ago swore by them.
After that, I traded the '53 goldtop for a '57 Strat... this was all
before they skyrocketed...I loved the bar on it. I thought at the
time that Tele's looked like
chunks of wood (like many others)... like a paddle for a
boat...slowly, I started to wonder why I saw so many of the country
and blues people playing them (to say nothing of Springsteen or Keith
Richards). Next trade was for a '52 Tele. Had that for a while, then
traded the Tele for s '58 Blond Strat. Swore I was done with Tele's,
since no bar...to make a long guitar story short... after falling in
and out of love with the Tele, I am back in the Tele/ Esquire Club
again for puts.
I love Steve Vai, Satriani...used to know a guy called Ralph Perucci,
friend of PRS... he is now with the band Alien Cowboys (google
them)... a sight for sore ears, if you miss guitar solo's and bands
where there are guitars playing on the tracks...think Springsteen's
new single may be about that (Radio Nowhere)...of course love the
Stones, 60's groups like Country Joe and the Fish... and of course,
my namesake (lead in the band Moby Grape) Peter Lewis. Also love the
Monkees...so go ahead...shoot me.

What Are Nash Guitars All About?

Here is his site...(http://www.nashguitars.com/).. he gets parts, mainly I think from Fender aftermarket people like Warmoth I hear, and assembles his guitars himself. He lives in Washington state. He puts in pickups like Lollar pickups and some others good pickup manufacturers... I bought a guitar that shall remain nameless with Lollars, from ANOTHER guy who put together his own guitars, and used Lollar pickups on his guitars also... and it was a very poor guitar indeed...I sent it back... so it is not
necessarily all about the pickups, it's also about who is putting the guitars together...however, Mr Nash has a way of working magic, and all his guitars truly resonate and some are truly amazing. Some claim this is due to the nitro on all his guitars being so thin... some say if they got a guitar and put no paint on it at all it would also resonate...I disagree... Mr Nash can work magic. If he doesn't like a neck, he will (I hear) take it off the guitar and try another from off the wall of his shop, until it 'works' for him. His guitars go for about $1700.00 apiece. Fender does not allow him to call them telecasters, or stratocasters, or use the word 'Relic' when describing them, so Mr Nash refers to them as 'T' series, 'E' series, and 'S' series guitars. He also does not apply any decal to the headstock, and instead leaves that up to the owner to do. He ages them to various degrees. If
you have $1700, buy one, if you have $2900, buy a Linhof (the necks play better and feel better for my mind on a Linhof, Mr Nash has only done a good job with his Rosewood Necks... those actually do play very well...his Maple necks feel 'sticky', and look a little 'gummy'. The shape is good, but as I say, sticky feeling.If you have $4800, get a John Cruz Masterbuilt Fender Tele (along with the Linhof and a Nash!).
If you have more... as I have recommended before... get a Jeff Beck Esquire or Andy Summers Tele from Fender... they are
the very best...and hey... for those artists who think other artists will not play these guitars... John Mayer is playing a Jimmy Hendrix Tribute guitar from Fender, on page 41 of Vintage Guitar Magazine... who cares what it 'is'... it's all about HOW IT PLAYS!

Jay Black, Ex Senior Master Builder....

Pepi, my friend who just got his Linhof (built by Ex-Senior Masterbuilder at the Custom Shop, Jay Black, who has
built for many of the famous) had this to say: "Got a Linhof today, number 57 made by ex-Fender Custom Shop masterbuilder
Jay Black: cool black stressed finish, smooth maple neck, humbucker in the neck position and typical Tele pickup in the bridge. This guitar is incredible!! Plays like an old pal that you've chatted with for years and has all the twang and warmth of the old Fender Teles. These are sure to get attention -- well I guess they already have given that some really heavy cats are playing them like Joe Walsh, John Mayer, Joe Bonamassa, etc. Funny how there's a million boutique Strats out there but not so many Teles when it's the Tele that all the monsters turn to. Glad to have this one in the house!!". Pepi is right, except these guitars
built by Jay Black, for Linhof, have NOT, for some odd reason, got much notice, except amongst real players... reminds me of
1987, when I was telling people about Paul Reed Smith...er...but back to the Fender Custom Shop...

Why Buy High-End 'Collector Guitar'???

OK... Jeff Beck Esquires (only 150 of them out there), Blackie's, Andy Summer's Tele's, EVH Frankenstrats... all over-priced guitars made for rich jerks to put in their display cases? Or NOT... Trouble is, Fender is putting their best efforts into THESE guitars...
Abigail Ybarra is HAND WINDING pickups for some of THESE guitars. (She has made pickups at Fender since the
late 50's, and is apparently a wizard... I can attest to this. She makes them for Tele's and Strats, but the Tele/ Esquire ones only
come on the serial-numbered Masterbuilt Guitars that have them... like John Cruz 50's tele's, and the Jeff Beck Esquire... for instance... they CANNOT be bought separately, unlike those for the Strats. The Strats ones are 'signed off' by Abby, but not HAND WOUND by her, like the ones on the tele's/esquires.) OK... tech stuff... but who do the artists turn to when they want TONE? If you go to Fender and order one of these guitars to your spec's, custom... it will cost you 10K... if you get a Jeff Beck, they are now going for roughly 9K market value, and the John Cruz Tele's (with his serial number on the back of the headstock) are going for roughly 5K. Which is the better deal? These guitars play better than ANYTHING currently being made by Fender... how do I know... I PLAY them. They also FEEL like the old guitars! Now, let's compare this to BUYING a vintage Fender Tele
from 1956... guess what is in them.. rubber bushings, on one of the pickups, and plastic pickguards that are over 50 years
old, and pickups which will eventually read LESS ohms, which means less SOUND... yes, some may still be fine in 30 years,
but if you are 23 years old now, and in a band, this means something... to say nothing of the reliability problems with old
instruments... Rubber and Plastic will eventually degrade, and sometimes destroy other things on the guitar, like the finish...
sort of like leaving batteries in something in a closet..for a few years...I know Gibson guys who have Goldtops, which had
tuners with plastic that was fine one year, and rotting the next... these things are approaching the end of their useful
lives, and will require replacement parts and maintenance... now if your Keith Richards...well... guess he can afford it....