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.
CONTINUING THE DUANE EDDY THEMS...HERE'S. A COOL POSTER.
I LOVE ARCHTOP GUITARS, ESPECIALLY ONES WITH NO CUTAWAYS, LIKE THESE...
WHEN I WAS A SCHOOLBOY AT INGS ROAD SCHOOL, IAN PARKIN AND MYSELF WOULD OFTEN WALK FROM THE SCHOOL AT LUNCHTIMES, TO THE WAKEFIELD MUSIC CENTRE, (WEBSTER'S,) ON KIRKGATE WHERE WE WOULD STARE AT THE GUITARS IN THE SHOP'S WINDOW. THERE WERE NEVER ANY FENDERS OR GIBSONS, ONLY EUROPEAN BRANDS AND ENGLISH ONES. ONE GUITAR THEY HAD IN THE WINDOW WAS THIS FOUR PICKUP EKO, AN ITALIAN MODEL.
A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE REAL THING...
ANOTHER GUITAR THAT WAS IN WEBSTER'S MUSIC CENTRE WAS THE FUTURAMA 3. HERE'S AN ADVERT FOR IT.
AND HERE'S THE REAL THING...
A VERY CUTE GRETSCH ADVERT...
THIS IS JIMMIE WEBSTER, A GUITARIST WHO ALSO WORKED FOR THE GRETSCH COMPANY AND HAD A HAND IN DESIGNING THE 'WHITE FALCON' MODEL.
NOT SURE WHO THIS LADY IS BUT THAT'S A VERY NICE LAP STEEL GUITAR SHE'S HOLDING...
A DOUBLE NECK STEEL GUITAR AND POSSIBLY SPEEDY WEST PLAYING IT, (OR MAYBE ONE OF BOB WILLS' STEEL PLAYERS.)
THE MUNSTERS ROCK OUT. COUPLE OF NICE ARCHTOPS TOO.
AN AMUSING ATTEMPT AT A ROCKET SHAPED GUITAR...
COUNTRY JAZZER, GRADY MARTIN...
AN OLD ADVERT FOR GUIYLD GUITARS WITH DUANE EDDY ON THE LEFT.
MY TRESURED LES PAUL AUTOGRAPH...
MY CAMPBELL AMERICAN TRANSITONE GUITAR, CUSTOM PAINTED FOR ME BY THE GREAT NICHOLAS DEL DRAGO...
SCOTTY MOORE PROVIDED ANOTHER EARLY GUITAR MOMENT FOR ME WHEN MY MOTHER AND FATHER BOUGHT A SECOND HAND RADIOGRAM FOR OUR HOME AT 28 CONISTONE CRESCENT. IT CAME WITH A COLLECTION OF 78s AND 45s AND AMONGST THEM WAS ELVIS PRESLEY'S 'JAILHOUSE ROCK.'
SCOTTY'S SOLO ON THAT RECORDING THRILLED ME AND, ALONG WITH DUANE EDDY'S 'BECAUSE THEY'RE YOUNG', WAS ONE OF THE RECORDS I WOULD MIME TO WITH A CARDBOARD GUITAR IN FRONT OF MY BEDROOM MIRROR, PRETENDING I WAS PLAYING THE SOLO...
IN THE LATE 1950s, EARLY '60s, THIS WAS THE ONLY UK MAGAZINE THAT CATERED TO GUITARISTS. B.M.G. WAS A FAIRLY 'SQUARE' MAGAZINE BUT I JUST TO GET THE OCCASIONAL COPY. BUT THEN 'BEAT MONTHLY' MAGAZINE CAME OUT, AIMING AT THE NEW GENERATION OF POP AND ROCK N' ROLL MUSICIANS. I BOUGHT IT EVERY MONTH.
AND HERE'S THE FIRST ISSUE OF 'BEAT MONTHLY' FROM 1963...
I'VE POSTED THIS ELSEWHERE BUT IT REALLY BELONGS IN THIS THREAD. BERT WEEDON'S 'PLAY IN A DAY' TUTOR BOOK. NICE HOFNER ARCHTOP BERT!
THE LATE GREAT BUDDY HOLLY WITH THE GUITAR AND THE GLASSES THAT INSPIRED HANK MARVIN.
THIS WAS AN ALBUM I REALLY LOVED BACK IN THE '60s. IT WAS BY THE CEDRIC WEST GUITAR ENSEMBLE AND FEATURED FOUR GUITARISTS PLAYING BEAUTIFULLY TOGETHER...
CHET WAS A TREMENDOUSLY GIFTED GUITARIST AND HUGELY INFLUENTIAL ON SO MANY PLAYERS OF MY GENERATION. I HAD TONS OF HIS ALBUMS AND STILL HAVE.
THE FANTASIC PLAYING OF DJANGO REINHARDT IS SO INSPIRING BUT ALSO HUMBLING. AN ABSOLUTE MAGICIAN.
THIS GUY IS PLAYING A GRIMSHAW GUITAR.
GRIMSHAW WERE AN ENGLISH COMPANY AND MADE SOME VERY GOOD, AND NOW EXTREMELY RARE AND COLLECTABLE, GUITARS.
MY FIRST GUITAR WAS THIS PLASTIC 'ELVIS PRESLEY' MODEL MADE BY THE SELCO COMPANY.
ACTUALLY, MY BROTHER IAN HAD BEEN BOUGHT A VERY SMALL TOY GUITAR ON WHICH I'D FIGURED OUT THE FIRST FEW NOTES OF 'THE THIRD MAN' THEME. MY DAD THEN SHOWED ME A COUPLE OF UKELELE CHORDS ON IT AND DECIDED I SHOULD HAVE A TOY GUITAR OF MY OWN AND SO BOUGHT ME THE SELCO; 'ELVIS' MODEL. IT WAS MADE OF PLASTIC AND HAD JUST FOUR STRINGS BUT IT WAS A START.
TODAY I HAVE TWO, RARE, EXAMPLES OF THIS LITTLE GUITAR TO REMIND ME OF HOW IT ALL BEGAN.
THE ABOVE TWO 'EPs' WERE THE FIRST RECORDINGS I OWNED BY' THE SHADOWS' WHO WERE A HUGE INFLUENCE.
MY MOTHER BOUGHT ME THESE RECORDS FROM BOOTS STORE IN WAKEFIELD AND TO THIS DAY I CAN REMEMBER HER BRINGING THEM HOME FOR ME. I COULDN'T WAIT TO PUT THEM ON THE RADIOGRAM AND LISTEN TO THEM.
THIS WAS ANOTHER ALBUM I LOVED WHEN I WAS A YOUNG ASPIRING GUITARIST. 'THE SPOTNICKS' ACTUALLY WORE SPACE SUITS WHEN THEY PERFORMED!
ANOTHER IMPORTANT BAND IN MY EARLY GUITAR PLAYING DAYS WAS 'THE VENTURES.'
WHILST A SCHOOLBOY, I MET IAN PARKIN AT INGS ROAD SCHOOL AND WE BECAME GUITAR PALS, BOTH IN THE EARLY STAGES OF LEARNING HOW TO PLAY.
THE FIRST TIME WE PLAYED TOGETHER WAS AT MY PARENTS HOUSE AT CONISTONE CRESCENT.
I CAN REMEMBER IT VIVIDLY. IAN AND I WERE IN MY BEDROOM WITH OUR GUITARS AND WE PLAYED THE VENTURES 'WALK DON'T RUN'. BUT AT FIRST WE BOTH PLAYED THE CHORDS. THEN WE BOTH PLAYED THE MELODY.
THEN I HAD AN IDEA. WHY DON'T ONE OF US PLAY THE CHORDS AND THE OTHER PLAY THE MELODY?
SO, IAN PLAYED THE CHORDS AND I TOOK THE MELODY.
THAT WA`S THE FIRST TUNE WE EVER PLAYED TOGETHER AND WAS THE MOMENT WHEN I BECAME A LEAD GUITARIST AND IAN BECAME A RHYTHM GUITARIST.
The first Peter Jay & The Walkers track to appear when I look them up in YouTube is a track with the soulful Terry Reid on vocals ...
@Alec That's a slightly later incarnation of the band. My memories of them go back to a track titled 'Totem Pole' a classic early 'sixties instrumental. I used to play that tune with Ian Parkin when we were schoolboys. Nice use of a glockenspiel to double the guitar melody, and produced by the legendary Joe Meek.
@Bill Nelson Totem Pole does have a Duane Eddy sound to it and the glockenspiel makes it almost Christmas and that Joe Meek production is so recognisable
It also sounds like The Shadows and The Ventures. These types of instrumental rock bands must be what The Beatles were going for in 1961 with the track Cry For a Shadow ...
Beautiful guitars Bill! One of my faves Grant Green played a GibsonES but in the 70 s had a custom D'Aquisto New Yorker made for him and I remember seeing it on a few of his album covers. I always thought it was sharp!
Oooh...a Grant Green fan. A woman after my heart. Grant Green is absolutely one of the tastiest players I have heard. I love his take on the Carpenters 'We've Only Just Begun'.
A stunning guitar, Radium Girl.
I too love Grant Green's playing.
D'Aquisto was a pupil of John D'Angelico if I remember correctly.
Nice guitar collection pics Bill. This is the first guitar my mom gave me. She said, "Volodymyr, you first clean up house."
Ahahahah freaking wonderful
A VENTUTRES ALBUM I BOUGHT WAY BACK IN THE 1960s AND WHICH I STILL HAVE...THE VENTURES 'IN SPACE.'
THIS IS THE FIRST GUITAR I HAD CUSTOM MADE FOR ME. IT'S A VIELLETTE-CITRON.
IT WAS BUILT By JOE VIELLETTE AND ARNIE CITRON IN WOODSTOCK, USA, IN THE 1970s. IT'S A STEREO WIRED GUITAR AND FEATURES DIFFERENT WOODS: BIRDS EYE MAPLE, ROSEWOOD, FLAME MAPLE AND EBONY.
IT ALSO HAS A BRASS PLATE ON THE REAR ENGRAVED WITH MY NAME AND THE DATE IT WAS COMPLETED.
IT COST RATHER A LOT OF MONEY BY THE STANDARDS OF THE '70S BUT WOULD COST A HELL OF A LOT MORE TODAY.
THIS IS A GUITAR MADE BY THE 'MINARIK' COMPANY. I BELIEVE THEY'RE IN LAS VEGAS.
THEY MAKE EXTREMELY OPULENT GUITARS WITH LOTS OF MOTHER OF PEARL AND ABALONE DECORATIONS. WORKS OF ART. I'D LOVE ONE OF COURSE, BUT THEY'RE A LITTLE OUTSIDE MY PAY GRADE!
ANOTHER MINARIK MASTERPIECE.
THIS IS A 'ZENITH' ARCHTOP, IDENTICAL TO MY VERY FIRST 'PROPER' SIX STRING GUITAR.
MY DAD BOUGHT ME ONE SECOND-HAND IN THE LATE 1950s.
AS I UNDERTSAND IT, 'ZENITHS' WERE MADE. BY EPIPHONE AND IMPORTED INTO THIS COUNTRY BY BRITISH GUITARIST IVOR MAIRANTZ WHO HAD A LONDON MUSIC SHOP. THERE WAS A LABEL INSIDE THE GUITAR WHICH HAD IVOR MAIRANTZ'S SIGNATURE ON IT.
IT WASN'T AN EASY GUITAR TO PLAY AS IT HAD A HIGH ACTION AND HEAVY STRINGS.I FOUND IT HARD WORK, ESPECIALLY AFTER MY LITTLE PLASTIC SELCOL 'ELVIS' FOUR STRING GUITAR. NEVERTHELESS, IT GAVE ME THE CALLOUSES I NEEDED TO MAKE SLOW PROGRESS!
WES MONTGOMERY ADVERTISING GIBSON GUITARS IN THE 1960s.
A VERY YOUNG MERLE TRAVIS WITH A STUNNING, (AND EXPENSIVE,) GIBSON ARCHTOP.
THE 'SPACE MARINER' GUITAR THAT I DECORATED FOR A NELSONICA PRIZE RAFFLE.
THE LIVE PERFORMANCE RIG I USE FOR THE CLOTHWORKER'S HALL CONCERTS.
MY LIVE EQUIPMENT FROM ANOTHER NELSONICA PERFORMANCE.
SIX OF MY LESS ORDINAIRY GUITARS...
The EKO is such a cool-looking guitar and the logo and ad is so cool as well.
The Minarik Trinity is so amazing to behold. Magical and it's also similar to the Quiet Bells cover artwork.
Bill, you are definitely into the guitar aesthetic and there seems to be a very wide range that you admire. I'm curious if there are any guitar designs that do nothing for you or turn you off? I suspect that the type of guitar you pick up -- its aesthetic look and sound -- will bring out certain qualities in your playing. The guitar determines the music to some extent and you are the portal or instrument from which it flows. For myself, if I walk into a music store with a long line of guitar hanging on the wall, the guitar chooses me. Like a beautiful woman it wants to help me bring out what I want to convey. You must never fight with your guitar while playing music. If you fight, she is not for you. There are certain guitar players that can charm any guitar -- like you can charm a woman -- to fall in love with them. What that is I don't know -- some uncanny ability to win the guitar over and make it do anything for them. It maybe the most wretched looking guitar but it will be singing like a bird.
Duanes sound was massive Peter Gunn still does it for me ..not a fast player more a less is more player and boy does he make every note count .
CAN'T RECALL WHAT MAKE THIS ACOUSTIC GUITAR WAS THAT I OWNED IN THE LATE '60s. IT MADE IT'S WAY ONTO THE 'NORTHERN DREAM' ALBUM. I THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN ARIA.
BUT THERE I AM, ALL THOSE YEARS AGO, PLAYING ON A LITTLE HILL THAT WAS PART OF THE LANDSCAPE OF A COAL MINE NEAR LUPSET ESTATE IN WAKEFIELD, NOW LONG GONE..
. THIS IS A PHOTOHRAPH OF MY GIRLFRIEND OF THE 1960'S, LYNNE HOLLIDAY, TAKEN IN THE FRONT GARDEN OF MY PARENT'S HOME AT 37 WOODHOUSE ROAD ON EASTMOOR ESTATE, WHERE WE LIVED AT THAT TIME, (HAVING MOVED FROM CONISTONE CRESCENT.)
LYNNE IS HOLDING MY GIBSON 345 GUITAR IN ITS ORIGINAL SUNBURST FINISH AND WITH ITS PICKUP COVERS STILL IN PLACE. ALSO SPORTING ITS ORIGINAL MACHINE HEADS AND BEARING THE 'W. N.' GILT INITIALS ON THE SCRATCH PLATE THAT I'D APPLIED. (THERE ARE STILL MARKS ON THE SCRATCHPLATE TO THIS DAY THAT SHOW WHERE THE INITIALS ORIGINALLT WERE, THANKS TO THE GLUE THAT ATE INTO THE PLASTIC.).
LATER, TOWARDS THE END OF THE 1970s, I HAD THE GUITAR REFINISHED IN A CHERRY RED SUNBURST AND REMOVED THE PICKUP COVERS TO EXPOSE THE COILS, A FASHIONABLE THING TO DO AT THAT TIME. BUT I'M PLEASED TO HAVE THIS OLD COLOUR PHOTOGRAPH OF IT IN ITS ORIGINAL STATE.
HERE I AM AROUND 1972, PHOTGRAPHED IN THE LIVING ROOM OF 27, ANDERSON STREET, PLUMPTON, WAKEFIELD, THE FIRST HOUSE I EVER OWNED WHEN I WAS MARRIED TO MY FIRST WIFE SHIRLEY.
I'M PLAYING A BEAUTIFUL WHITE GIBSON SG CUSTOM, WHICH WASN'T MINE BUT WHICH I'D BORROWED, THOUGH I CAN'T RECALL FROM WHERE.
THIS MUST HAVE BEEN RIGHT AT THE VERY START OF PUTTING BE BOP DELUXE TOGETHER. THAT GUITAR WOULD NOW BE WORTH A FORTUNE!
HERE I AM, PHOTOGRAPHED AT 'TWILIGHT PROPERTY' IN CLIIFE, NEAR SELBY, THE COTTAGE I BOUGHT WHEN I FIRST MARRIED MY SECOND WIFE JAN.
THIS WAS MY ENTIRE GUITAR COLLECTION AT THAT TIME, A FRACTION OF WHAT IT IS NOW, THOUGH MANY OF THE GUITARS IN THIS PHOTO' HAVE LONG GONE.
That acoustic looks like an unusual hummingbird copy (minus the hummingbird on the pick guard) nice!
You also lost the tache along the way Bill :)
The lady with the lap steel above is Ginny Wright in 1950.
https://www.facebook.com/WhyILoveNationalGuitars/photos/ginny-wright-with-her-national-electric-lapsteel-guitar-in-1950-she-had-hit-coun/1236879329795548/
"She had hit country records in the mid 1950's doing duets with both Jim Reeves and Tom Tall. Years later, in the 1960's, and after, she gained a cult following in Germany, with solo albums and more duets with Tom Tall. In 2003, she was inducted into the Louisiana Hayride Hall of Fame. "
FURTHER TO THE ZENITH GUITAR STORY ABOVE.
I FOUND THIS ZENITH GUITAR FOR SALE ON REVERB TODAY. IT'S VERY CLOSE TO THE ZENITH I HAD BUT I DON'T RECALL MINE HAVING THE BLOCK FRET MARKERS, THOUGH I MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN.
HOWEVER IT DOES HAVE THE IVOR MAIRANTZ SIGNATURE INSIDE, WHICH WAS EXACTLY THE SAME AS MINE.
THE SELLER STATES THE GUITAR WAS ACTUALLY MADE BY FRAMUS, NOT EPIPHONE AS I STATED, (THOUGH I READ SOMEWHERE THAT IVOR MAIRANTZ COMMISIONED THEM FROM EPIPHONE.)
THE GUITAR IS NOT IN GREAT CONDITION AND NOT A 'SMOOTH' PLAYER', (TO QUOTE THE SELLER,) BUT IT'S FAIRLY INEXPENSIVE AT £295. I'M KIND OF TEMPTED, IF ONLY FOR NOSTALGIA'S SAKE. HMMM...WHAT TO DO....?
THE ZENITH MANTIONED IN MY POST.
THE CERTIFICATE INSIDE THE ZENITH WITH THE SIGNATURE OF IVOR MAIRANTZ.
HERE'S A PHOTOGRAPH OF MY 'CONTINENTAL' TRI-CONE RESONATOR GUITAR.
HER'S ANOTHER SHOT OF THE 'CONTINENTAL' RESONATOR, SEEN HERE LEANING AGAINST MY RARE SHAFTSBURY AMP FROM THE EARLY '60S. THIS AMP HAS TWO ELLIPTICAL SPEAKERS. QUITE UNUSUAL.
THIS IS MY IBANEZ 'EVERLY BROTHERS' ACOUSTIC GUITAR, A DECENT COPY OF THE MORE EXPENSIVE GIBSON 'EVERLY BROTHERS' MODEL.
I BOUGHT THIS IN THE MID 1970S AND IT FEATURES ON SEVERAL BE BOP DELUXE TRACKS. ONE THAT IMMEDIATELY COMES TO MIND IS 'BEAUTY SECRETS.'
I’m guessing the Ibanez ‘Everly Brothers’ guitar was played on the track ‘Jean Cocteau’ ?
@Alec Yes, it was. 😉
One of my favourite jam along to acoustic tracks. Was the Ibanez also on Crystal gazing per chance ? , sounds very similar in tone .
DOCTOR BILL LOOKING RATHER LIKE THE ELIZABETHAN MAGUS DOCTOR JOHN DEE!
THAT'S MY GRETSCH ANNIVERARY GUITAR I'M HOLDING. BET DR DEE DIDN'T HAVE ONE OF THOSE THOUGH! 😅
Funny, Bill, how you look just like the bloke in the early '60s in The Gibson Four, the pic of you holding the Burns 'Vista Sonic' ...
Also the 'tache part of your beard looks like the shape of a frown and yet because your eyes aren't frowning it doesn't look like a frown.
John Dee. A True & Faithful Relation of what passed for many. D. Maxwell, for T. Garthwait: London, 1659. John Dee (1527-1608). English alchemist, geographer and mathematician. Portrait. Image taken from A True & Faithful Relation of what passed for many yeers between Dr John Dee and some spirits His private conference with Rodolphe Emperor of Germany, Stephen K. of Poland, and divers other princes about it. The particulars of his cause, as it was agitated in the Emperors court . Originally published/produced in D. Maxwell, for T. Garthwait: London, 1659 . Source: 31.g.8,.
https://tinyurl.com/y79gzzry
There's also the old-times blues player John Dee Holman ...
https://musicmaker.org/artists/john-dee-holeman/
https://tinyurl.com/y8bpn9aa
http://www.esotericarchives.com/dee/monad.htm
http://www.esotericarchives.com/dee/monad.htm
Great guitar thread Bill! Keep'em coming.
THIS NEXT BIT DEALS WITH BURNS GUITARS, A BRITISH COMPANY WHICH STARTED IN THE LATE 1950s AS 'BURNS-WEILL' GUITARS BUT MOVED TO BEING 'BURNS' GUITARS WHEN JIM BURNS LEFT THE ORIGINAL PARTNERSHIP AND STRUCK OUT ON HIS OWN.
BURNS GUITARS FEATURED IN MY SCHOOLBOY MUSIC SHOP WINDOW GAZING. THEY WERE WELL MADE INSTRUMENTS WITH STRIKING VISUAL DESIGNS.
TO BEGIN THIS SECTION, HERE IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF MYSELF FROM THE EARLY 1960s WITH A BURNS 'VISTA SONIC' GUITAR. I'LL TELL THE STORY OF HOW THIS CAME TO BE IN THE TEXT UNDERNEATH THE PHOTO'.
IM THE ABOVE PHOTO' I'M HOLDING A BURNS 'VISTA SONIC' GUITAR. I WAS A MEMBER OF 'THE GIBSON FOUR' AT THIS TIME.
THE REASON I'M PLAYING A BURNS AND NOT MY GIBSON WAS BECAUSE THE GIBSON HAD BEEN SENT TO THE GIBSON FACTORY IN AMERICA TO HAVE A NEW NECK FITTED.
I'D SUFFERED AN ELECTRIC SHOCK DURING A SOUNDCHECK AT A GIG THAT WAS TO BE HELD IN THE CELLAR OF THE OLD QUEEN ELIZABETH GRAMMAR SCHOOL IN WAKEFIELD. THE WIRING IN THE CELLAR WAS OLD AND HAD BEEN DAMAGED BY WATER SEEPING INSIDE THE WALLS FROM MELTING SNOW IN THE YARD ABOVE. I RECIEVED A SERIOUS JOLT OF ELECTRICITY AND PASSED OUT, FALLING FROM THE STAGE ONTO THE CELLAR'S HARD STONE FLOOR.
WHEN I CAME TO, MY GUITAR HAD BEEN DAMAGED BY THE FALL AND ITS NECK HAD SEPARATED FROM THE BODY.
LUCKILY, MY DAD HAD ALREADY INSURED THE INSTRUMENT AGAINST DAMAGE AND WE WERE ABLE TO SEND IT TO GIBSON IN AMERICA FOR A PROFESSIONAL REPAIR.
KITCHEN'S MUSIC SHOP IN LEEDS, (WHERE MY FATHER ORIGINALLY BOUGHT THE GUITAR FOR ME,) ARRANGED FOR THE GUITAR TO GO BACK TO GIBSON'S AND THE SHOP LENT ME THE BURNS GUITAR FOR THE DURATION OF TIME IT WAS AWAY. I SEEM TO REMEMBER IT WAS THREE OR FOUR MONTHS BEFORE I GOT IT BACK.
SO, THAT'S WHY YOU SEE ME PLAYING A BURNS GUITAR AT THAT POINT IN MY HISTORY.
HERE'S A PHOTO' OF A SUNBURST VISTA SONIC, THOUGH THE ONE I USED WAS BLACK.
ANOTHER SUNBURST VISTA SONIC. THERE WERE SLIGHT COSMETIC DIFFERENCES OVER THE YEARS.
THIS IS A BURNS 'SONIC' MODEL, A SMALLER AND CHEAPER VERSION OF THE MORE UP-MARKET 'VISTA SONIC.' I ACTUALLY HAVE ONE OF THESE LATE ';50s GUITARS WHICH I BOUGHT A FEW YEARS AGO AT A LOCAL ANTIQUE FAIR FOR £60. IT'S NOW WORTH A LOT MORE!
THE ABOVE PIC IS OF MY OWN BURNS SONIC GUITAR. IT HAS A VERY SMALL BODY, (AS ALL SONICS HAD,) BUT A VERY GOOD SOUND. THOSE PICKUPS ARE THE SAME TYPE THAT BRIAN MAY FITTED TO HIS ORIGINAL 'RED SPECIAL' GUITAR.
ANOTHER BURNS GUITAR, SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO THE VISTA SONIC, THOUGH I'M NOT SURE IF IT'S A LATER DEVELOPMENT OR A DIFFERENT MODEL.
LATER ON TOWARDS THE END OF THE 60's, BURNS WAS TAKEN OVER BY THE BALDWIN COMPANY AND THE ABOVE PHOTO' IS OF A SEMI-ACOUSTIC M,ODEL THEY RELEASED WHICH IS, TO MY EYES AT LEAST, A VERY COOL LOOKING GUITAR.
FOR A WHILE IN THE 60's, THE SHADOWS MOVED FROM USING FENDER GUITARS TO BURNS GUITARS. BURNS DEVELOPED 'THE MARVIN' MODEL, NAMED AFTER GUITARIST HANK MARVIN, SEEN ABOVE PLAYING IT.
HERE'S HANK DISCUSSING THE MARVIN MODEL'S DISTINCTIVE SCROLL HEADSTOCK WITH A GENTLEMAN I PRESUME TO BE JIM BURNS.
AND HERE'S A PHOTOGRAPH OF MY OWN BURNS 'MARVIN' GUITAR WHICH WAS REISSUED IN 2004.
HERE'S A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE BALDWIN SEMI-ACOUSTIC WHEN IT WAS FIRST INTRODUCED BY BURNS WITH A BURNS BRANDING...
FENTON WEILL GUITARS WERE THE FORERUNNER OF BURNS GUITARS AND, WHILST SOMEWHAT CRUDER IN THEIR DESIGN, SHOW ELEMENTS OF JIM BURNS' LATER IDEAS. HERE ARE SOME PHOTOGRAPHS OF FENTON-WEILL GUITARS:
YOU CAN CERTAINLY SEE ELEMENTS OF THE LATER BNURNS DESIGNS IN THE ABOVE PHOTO' OF A FENTON-WEILL MODEL.
ANOTHER FENTON-WEILL GUITAR, THIS ONE HAS A MAPLE FRETBOARD AND RED POSITION MARKERS.
ABOVE IS ANOTHER FENTON-WEILL MODEL WITH AN OFFSET BODY SHAPE.
THIS FENTON-WEILL HAS A VERY SMALL BODY, SIMILAR IN SIZE TO THE LATER BURNS 'SONIC' MODEL.
The Fenton-Weill Deluxe got me reading an article about British solid-body electric guitars that includes information about it.
The shapes involved in the Fenton-Weill remind me of the artwork of Jean Arp.
Shirt Front and Fork by Jean Arp, 1922
https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/photos/marvelous-objects-jean-hans-arp-0
'Relief concret N' by Jean Arp
https://tinyurl.com/y9ewkpyr
https://tinyurl.com/y79sz9st
Always loved that scroll headstock .
Bill, just wondering if you've ever checked out this guitar solo ...
Hendrix style, a lefty playing a righty.
Be interesting to figure out all the left handed players who play/played right handed guitars.
Sadly, and probably more indicative and reflective of the times and 'acceptable' attitudes back then, I couldn't see one black person in the audience.
Otis Rush's style is like a cross between B.B. King and Albert King. His phrasing owes a lot to both of those players though it's not quite as sophisticated as B.B. or as viscerally 'electric' as Albert's. Nevertheless, an important purveyor of the blues.
My favourite Albert King track is 'Cold Feet', a 'talking' blues where Albert gets a Stax funk- soul backing, deliciously groovy as Albert relates the story of how his woman keeps giving him the cold feet treatment. The guitar playing in this track is quite simple and almost minimal but as sharp as a Japanese knife. There's one moment in the solo where Albert hits a really high note on his guitar and exclaims, "whooo-eeey!"
Get's the hairs on my neck up every time!
I play left handed. I was only a young boy in the 60s and hadn't started playing, so I don't really know what was available left handed. Even now for me it's a real disadvantage in terms of what's available, so it's always nice to visit a music shop with a few lefties in. The other disadvantage is that a right handed player can go into a music shop and play several guitars of the same type before choosing the best one. This isn't possible as a leftie :(
Sounds like another Led Zep err coincedence
❔
TIME TO LOOK AT '60s VOX GUITARS AND 'THE PHANTOM RANGE IN PARTICULAR. HERE'S A PHOTIO' OF THREE VOX PHANTOMS LEANING AGAINST A VOX AC 30 SUPER-TWIN AMP, AN AMP I MYSELF USED IN THE 1960s.
AND HERE'S A VOX CATALOGUE PAGE FROM THE LAT '60S.
Such great shapes. Am always reminded of Brian Jones whenever I see a VOX Teardrop Guitar.
The Phantoms are ultra-cool looking as well, but ... I always think of Hanna-Barbera cartoons when I see them (Josie and The Pussycats, The Jetsens, The Fintstones, etc.).
Josie and The Pussy Cats
The Impossibles