Louise KR-12

My favorite (and only) amp is the KR-12 by Louis Electric... view a demo by another owner of one of the prototypes (Sturgis Nikides) here... (while the link lasts), and see how great these amps are to play through...  the KR stands for Keith Richards... who it was designed for.... mine also has a 100 year old, oiled-pine cabinet.

Zombies

Everyone here loves guitars... and the only thing we love more than guitars must be Keith Richards... who once pulled a gun on Ronnie Wood, over Ronnie's drug taking.  Ronnie was apparently freebasing, so Keith went off to get his gun, and Ronnie explains all in his memoir.  Keith had a derringer, and yelled "You f*cking b*stard Woody"... while pointing the gun at him.  Ronnie says he had a .44 magnum with no bullets in it at the time.  So he pulled it out.... Keith has to be one of the most famous Tele players in the world today... whether he is actually alive or not is in dispute, as another post I just read online puts forth the proposition that Keith is... a Zombie....

Supro Dual-Tone

Mr Rob R. of Desert Springs California correctly mentioned that one of the mysterious white guitars that David Bowie plays is a Supro Dual-Tone...  Guitar Player Online says it was originally designed as a campfire polka guitar (I am paraphrasing... read the article...love the polka bit)... but then people like Link Wray and Jimmy Page discovered them.  You can read all about it (I did)... it's the flagship solidbody electric of the Supro line, with 2 pickups and dual volume and tone controls (hence the name 'Dual-Tone').  It's art deco styling probably appealed to Bowie... if not also it's sound.  It apparently yields jazzy tones, and sounds best with the treble pickup selected, and tone control rolled off.  The article linked here says the guitar then sounds like a snarling pack of howling werewolves...enough for me... I am off to EBay.... Mr Rob R. of desert Springs receives a years supply of Lucky Charms for his answer....to my nagging question. (Thanks Rob).

Bowie, Rush and Lyrics/ Peter

 I just spent 20 minutes trying to find out what the white guitar David Bowie plays in some of his concerts is... whenever I go to a Bowie concert, it is really hard to read the name on the headstock.  I know there are people out there right now, who are saying 'Hey man... what's wrong with you... everyone knows that's a _______'.  I might have known once what the guitar was, but then quickly became distracted with another guitar, promptly forgetting the name again.  It's sort of like when you have been singing a song in your head, with all your own lyrics... like Geddy Lee's song with Rush... the one where he sings... 'Limelight... traffic light.....'... actually, the song is 'Fly By Night' , and the actual line is.. 'Moon Rise... thoughtful eyes...' ... I am sure listening to it on a state-of-the-art '68 Country Squire Station wagon radio didn't help... now off to continue my quest to find the maker of the Bowie guitar... promise not to buy it.... Rush rocks... glad they decided to have a few more 'goodbye tours'....

Neck Radius

What fretboard is right for you?  Are you a rosewood or maple man (woman)?  How about radius neck?  Do you want any 'curvature' at your nut?  Or do you want a fretboard that's relatively  flat (from High E to low E)?  I had a Charvel which I tried for a while, with a beautiful birdseye maple neck, and a compound radius neck... this means it had a curvature that was more round (like a baseball bat) on top of the fretboard, near the nut, and a more flat curvature near the body end of the neck.  Set up like this, the top of the neck is more suited to rhythm and chording, while the bottom of the neck is more suited to bending or lead playing... it's sort of like having your cake and also eating it too.  I still prefer the traditional neck that is the same radius all the way along the fretboard...  like my Jeff Beck Esquire, which has a curvature of  9.5" along the whole fretboard... remember, from my earlier posts, that the higher the radius number is, the 'flatter' the fretboard will be. 

Bet Guitar Performance

Tell me if you agree... that this is one of the best guitar performances ever (youtube)... it's Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits... and that is the title the clip was given.  You can think of blues greats, and many other amazing performances... that would compete with this... but I think it's definitely way up there... heck, I'm playing it again...

Great Screaming Bluesy Pickups with Lots of Funk

What's your pickup? I have boxes full of pickups in my closet... John Birch Humbuckers, re-wound GVCG tele pickups, wound by Lindy Fralin... brand new Lollar pickups... you name it... I even had some tv jones pickups, until I realized they were not my specific taste... but if I suddenly change my tune, and need them, I can always go to their website. Brian Setzer (who's music I really like), Billy Gibbons (ZZ Rocks), Brad Paisley (!), David Gilmour and Joe Walsh have been known to use them.  Also the Arctic Monkeys... my favorite pickups are Tele pickups wound by Abigail Ybarra (who has been at Fender since the 50's... initially she worked in another department, then went to pickup winding).  She does Tele pickups (currently NOT available except on John Cruz Tele's and also the Jeff Beck series.  She also does 60's Strat sets, which are available separately).  I also love Lollars... and if anyone out there has any crazy Texas pickups you want me to try, I'd love to give it a go... my Tele's love great screaming bluesy pickups with lots of funk...

David Gilmour, the Beatles & Other Guitar Groups

Do you categorize your current music groups into "Those with real guitarists" and "all others"? Seems like some groups (including David Gilmour) do a great job of still giving us "the licks we want"... whereas other groups (which will remain nameless, but many) seem to be totally lacking a guitarist.  Check out David's "On an Island"... from his album by the same name.  David loves Strats, and owns Strat #0001... nice to see a great instrument in so deserving hands.

Great Performances

How many guitars do you own?  How many of them do YOU think sound great?  How many of them do OTHER PEOPLE tell you sound great? I think only ONE of them matters... the one YOU like.  Most of my guitars are nice... play ok, look even better (sometimes).  There is one acoustic and one electric though that really RINGS (a Beck Tele & a Versoul Kenny Burrell). They are the ones that another musician would agree sounded great... that ANY musician would agree sounded amazing.  I have no idea what really goes into a guitar that sounds wonderful, and has sustain that lasts for ever... vs. one that is dead and has zero sustain.  It's all wood... and all the same pieces put together... from the same factory.... but like the great steak you had the other day on the bar-b-cue, something just went very RIGHT when it all came together... like a great performance. I have no idea what that unknown quantity is... and I never will... but I can still tell one from the other.