I WAS GOING TO PUT THIS PARTICULAR THREAD INTO THE 'A BILL NELSON MISCELLANY' BUT THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE NICE TO GIVE IT ITS OWN SPACE. I HOPE TO ADD MORE IMAGES TO IT AS TIME ALLOWS BUT MY INTENTION IS TO PUT TOGETHER A PERSONAL COLLECTION OF GUITAR AND GUITAR RELATED IMAGES THAT HAVE A PARTICULAR RESONANCE WITH MY BACKGROUND AND HISTORY AS A GUITARIST. IN THIS THREAD YOU WILL FIND CLUES TO MY LONG TIME INFATUATION WITH THE GUITAR, THE ECLECTIC AND ECCENTRIC, THE WIDE RANGING AND UNUSUAL, AND THE THINGS THAT HAVE COLOURED MY IDEAS AS A PLAYER OVER THE YEARS. HOPE YOU WILL ENJOY IY! COUNTRY GUITARIST JOE MAPHIS WITH AN UNUSUAL ARCHTOP AND STANDEL AMPLIFIER. IN THE 1960S I BOUGHT AN ALBUM OF JOE PLAYING ALONGSIDE FELLOW COUNTRY GUITARIST MERLE TRAVIS. HERE'S ANOTHER PICTURE OF JOW WITH HIS DOUBLE NECK GUITAR, ONE NECK BEING A NORMAL SIX-STRING AND THE OTHER AN ELECTRIC MANDOLIN. WHO ARE THESE WEIRDOS? NEVER HEARD OF THEM BUT THAT GUITAR LOOKS VERY SIMILAR TO MY ISANA BLACK PEARL ARCHTOP SO I SUSPECT IT'S GERMAN AND FROM THE SAME FACTORY. ISANA 'BLACK PEARL' GUITAR. I OWN AN IDENTICAL ONE. 'SAMANTHA' FROM 'BEWITCHED' WITH A VERY PSYCHEDELIC ARCHTOP AND A RATHER FETCHING MINI-DRESS! ME WITH GUITAR DESIGNER EXTRODINAIRE, JOHN BACKLUND. THE GUITAR I'M HOLDING IS ONE OF JOHN'S DESIGNS AND MANUFACTURED BY THE EASTWOOD COMPANY. AS YOU CAN SEE ITS SHAPE IS SIMILAR TO THE ONE 'SAMANTHA' IS HOLDING IN THE PREVIOUS PHOTO'. THIS WAS A BAND I LISTENED TO WHEN I WAS FIRST STARTING OUT ON GUITAR. PETER JAY AND THE JAYWALKERS FEATURED FOUR GUITAISTS WHO ALL PLAYED VOX PHANTOMS. THE STRANGE LOOKING VOX AMP IS AN EXTREMELY RARE BEAST AND WASN'T VERY SUCCESSFUL. IRINICALLY, THE ONLY OTHER EXAMPLE I'VE EVER SEEN WAS OWNED BY A GUITARIST IN A LOCAL YORKSHIRE BAND. CALLED 'THE FONTANAS.' AND HERE ARE 'THE FONTANAS'. YOU CAN JUST SEE THAT STRANGE VOX AMPLIFIER BEHIND THE LEGS OF THE BASS GUITARIST, (MIDDLE OF THE THREE GUITARISTS.) THE GUITARIST AT THE RIGHT WAS JOHNNY WELLSBY, WHO I KNEW WHEN I WAS JUST STARTING OUT ON GUITAR. HE WAS A FEW YEARS OLDER THAN ME AND WOULD BOAST THAT HE WAS 'THE FASTEST GUITARIST IN WAKEFIELD.' MY DAD USED TO CALL HIM 'BIG HEAD'! THE MAN WHO REALLY INSPIRED ME TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT PLAYING THE GUITAR, THE GREAT DUANE EDDY WHOSE SINGLE 'BECAUSE THEY'RE YOUNG' I LOVED WHEN MY MOTHER BOUGHT IT FOR ME, OVER 50 YEARS AGO.
