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Re: dB'S guitars and gear question

Yeah, that Beatles gear book belongs right beside the book on Beatles recording sessions. Very beautiful.

Here's as much of my gear history as I can recall, in the dB's. When I moved from Memphis to NYC to audition, I brought my Gretsch Roc-jet and Peavey Classic amp, and my little Ampeg (see multi-media). The Roc-jet had a Hi-A pickup at the bridge and was undoubtedly the most uncontrollable, unpredictable guitar I ever owned. The bridge floated so much that it never returned to where it needed to when you changed strings, much less if you hit the vibrato bar. Suffice to say, it went away as soon as I got the chance, and I replaced it with a Rickenbacker hollow body. I'm not familiar with the Rick numericlature, so I can't tell you much other than two pickups, no vibrato, and that fleshy sunburst. It played okay, but once again, the bridge would fall off when you changed strings and all the saddles would get mixed up. (I'm obviously a stop-tailpiece kind of guy.) Next was the little red Hamer with the big chunk out of the finish. That was a swell guitar. It was solid and had those nice humbucking pickups... I also came into ownership of one of those Epiphone single-pickup solid bodies with the 'batwing' headstock. Chris can be seen playing that in the picture above. Gene put together a '64 Stratocaster for me around the time of Like This. Cream finish, very very nice. I held on to that until after the band broke up, but I got into my Guild electric fixation about then. I'd seen Thunderbirds played by Zal Yanovsky and Muddy Waters and I thought they were the coolest looking instruments. Starting with a couple of Guild Jet Stars of differing configurations (some with the 6-inline headstock, some with three and three; some with the Hagstrom-style vibrato, some with the most solid chunk of a stop tailpiece imaginable), I eventually amassed four Jet-Stars (think LP Jr.), two Polaras (think LP Special, with two p-90's) and two Thunderbirds. My mail Jet Star had a replacement Seymour Duncan mini-humbucking pickup, and it was great great great. Unlike the LP Jr., the Jet Star's pickup is dead in the center of the guitar. Very versatile, and that guitar just sang! By then, amp-wise, I'd gone through the Peavey, a Gallien-Kruger 2-12 combo and eventually to a hundred-watt, half-stack Marshall. (I remember a show we did at the Hard Rock Cafe in Stockholm when I used a tiny Marshall combo amp. Oddly, the club itself had Marshall Bluesbreaker combos lining the wall as PA speakers, dwarfing my little combo!) As far as pedals go, the only effect I ever used regularly was an Electro-harmonix Small Clone chorus pedal. I really enjoyed the sound of that pedal and was heard to remark on more than one occasion that the 'chorus pedal is God's gift to the untuneable guitar." Other than the acoustic Gibson with the cutaway on the back cover of TSOM and a totally beat Yamaha FG-75 parlor size guitar, I don't recall what other stick guitars I owned. I had a vintage Oahu lap steel that I used for stuff like the break in "I Lie".

The keyboard of choice was a little red Acetone combo organ owned by Chris that we would sit on Will's trap case and wheel around. Chris still owns the Acetone and when I visit with him and his family, I spend a little time with organ privately... it had the rocker on/off switch which we used to great advantage when we'd cover "Tomorrow Never Knows" to evoke the 'seagull' sounds on the original. I bought a Fender Contempo organ at one point, but it was too fragile to get much use.

These days, I play an off-the-rack blue sparkle Fender Telecaster with Lindy Frailin pickups. With the Hooties, it goes through a Blue Tube pedal into a reissue Vox AC-30 (ahhh). At home it goes through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I have an old Framus solid body from the sixties that I use for slide. My acoustic is a 1969 Guild D-25 found for me by my friend David Jenkins in LA.

I have owned and played the same DaVinci 12-bass accordian that I bought in the dB's from Accordian-O-Rama in 1983. It is the greatest little box I've ever played, very warm and sweet.

I play an Ovation mandolin, an Applause electric ukulele, a half dozen melodicas (a couple are Hohner, the rest are weird).

Everyone else would have to check in with their gear, if they recall it. That was a fun exercise with one cup of coffee in me, Adrian, hope it answers some of your questions. Love backatcha from marginally overcast Daniel Island, SC, just outside of Charleston.

Re: dB'S guitars and gear question

Dude,thank you so much for that run-down-that was sweet!
Those AC30 reissues are wicked(and so darned powerful and loud).I've got two(both alnico blues and those danged stands),one in the U.S. and one with me over here.I take it you got the one with 'bluebacks'also.
The bridge on my '64 Tennesean is one of those moveable wooden ones but what a sweet-sounding and attractive guitar.Especially when it's on bright mode.Speaking of which,when I bought it it was in excel. condition.It's still in great condition but due to playing it live a lot over the last coupla years,it's sweat-streaked on the finish.
Is there any product to take those streaks out of an otherwise beautiful dark burgundy finish? The Bigsby on it rules too,btw.
Also put on a Bigsby B-5 on my c58 Rick325(unlike Lennon,I kept the superior factory bridge and oven knobs on the blonde and gold guitar.Ain't paintin' it black either).However when I finish using it(not a lot lately),I have to pull up on the arm so it's in tune.As with a lot of Ricks,it's tuning- sensitive.
So you never got into Hofner 6 strings that much-another beautiful yet fragile instrument.I've always wanted a sunburst Club 50 but am content with a 500/2(T.Weymouth model)bass and a Hofner 12 string circa '70. I did get around to picking up a second hand J160E in the early 90's and got a sweet deal on it.I notice from recent photos I've seen,this is Costello's choice model now.
I'm trying to get away from using distortion these days.I particularly love the guitar sound on Rain and that's pretty much my favorite guitar sound these days.The quintessential one,imho.
I'm guessing you like XTC also-have you ever noticed how the guitar lick at the coda of Towers of London sounds remarkably like the one at the coda of Got to Get You In to My Life? I've always loved that lick.
Thanks for the info and advice,
Adrian



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