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Featured here are two sweet Tele Customs in Sunburst. On the left is my 1984/85 re-issue, when the only Teles being built were exactingly reproduced in Japan as Fender began it’s move from Fullerton to Corona Ca. On the right is my student Jerry Maizlish’s American Vintage re-issue. Click on the pic to see if you can you tell the difference? I cannot. Sadly, I am remembering the two 1965’s I owned in my youth. Oh well…
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Bill Hooper and the Improbables
Private
Green Turtle
Hunt Valley, Md.
Highly recommended by my nephew and guitar consultant Seth Connors, I bring you, direct from England, 2 all tube Marshall’s with amazing punch and sustain. These are Series two models and no longer in production. They can both drive extension cabs or deliver just 1 watt each for recording purposes and massive distortion amounts.
5 watts never sounded so great. Both amps feature nothing but vintage Marshall tone. I’m pairing them with a Mooer AnaEcho pedal and the new Electro Harmonix clean boost with overdrive pedal, “Soul Food”. I can switch from one to the other or run them both together with the ART ABY box. If I throw in my Jangle a Box compressor or a half size Mooer Reverb pedal I’ll be set for anything!
Pedal board designed and built by Seth Connors.
I was lucky enough to own an original 1968 Paisley Tele in the late seventies and I never forgot it’s light weight spanking tones that seemed to be present at darn near any volume. Years passed and I ran across some information about Fender’s brief but productive shift to Japan and the amazing re-issues they were making while the Fender plant was shut down in Fullerton California and moved to Corona. I own a few Tele’s from that era and the only one I’ve left completely stock is the Paisley. It feels and sounds just great the way it is. Pictured side by side with mine is another 1st year re-issue owned by my friend and fellow teacher and awesome bluegrass legend, Randy Stewart. Fender has twice re-issued these Paisley Telecasters since 1984 but the pickups are not as lively, the pots are smaller and he wiring is less than code. I can’t afford to return to 1968 but 1984 is just fine with me.
I know I have too many steel guitars. When you sit behind one of Bud Carter and the late Larry Agan’s ETS steels you just feel at home. This one came my way via the Steel Guitar Forum and it needed a few tweaks so … I sent it off to Mabank Texas for Bud to set up. It should re-arrive at my house by mid next week. While not as striking as my red metal flake ETS from an earlier post, it’s still a great instrument that I’m lucky to own. Now I have two identical steels for work and for travel. No surprises!
My wife Nancy actually found this cool mahogany Martin on a local list serve. “Women in Music” was the theme and 440 guitars (mine is #283) were made with profits donated to Women’s breast cancer research. Each guitar was signed by C.F.Martin IV. I’m told that 49 were made as deep body 00-16 models. The body is dreadnought thick, 1/2″ thicker than standard 00 models. The braces are scalloped and the fingerboard and bridge are ebony. It is loud and sweet!
After selling old blue, my BMI steel guitar posted last, I searched for another light weight single neck 10-string guitar that I could afford. I found this “sold but unplayed” 3 pedal, 4 knee lever JUSTICE guitar direct from renowned builder Fred Justice. It’s only the second one of this model he’s ever built. It’s got a light weight maple body and neck, unpolished end plates and economy brushed chrome parts on top but underneath… It’s all JUSTICE!
Solid, reliable, great sounding including a “George L” E-66 pickup. I’m still lending an eye towards a Mullen Discovery or a Zum Encore (both similar guitars but more $$). For now however, this great sounding steel does the trick. Fred answers every call, walks you thru the set up and calls you back in a few days to see how you like it! Just the best service you could imagine.
I’ve owned this great BMI S-10 pedal steel for at least 20 years now and it seems that the time has come to say goodbye. Used on countless recordings and live dates, this steel has become a part of me… A very heavy part of me!
With the advent of the new light-weight pedal steels like my ETS shown in an earlier post, these old heavy-weights are becoming the “stay at home” guitars of choice for older, less traveling players.
I so loved my new ETS that I began researching various other company’s offerings. I needed another steel for my studio as well as one for home and traveling to the few events that I still play each year. I found an S-10, 3×4 (3 pedals, 4 Knee levers) made by renown builder Fred Justice in Arizona. I will feature that guitar in my next post.
“Old Blue” will be making a trip to a northern California Pedal Steel shop soon and I’m sure it will find a good permanent home with little or no traveling from show to show. My friend Ben Reed (who I borrowed, then bought the steel from 20 years ago) has given his blessings and the new Justice pedal steel has arrived so, the time has come. 20 years ago my BMI steel was a good-buy and I’m sure its new owner knows that he got a “good-buy”.
ETS stands for East Texas Steel and that’s where this guitar was made in march or april 2013. This wonderful Pedal Steel hasn’t even arrived at my door yet, but I couldn’t wait to post these great pictures from the Pedal Steel Forum. It will arrive hopefully sometime this week from a great Steel player and nice man in Mississippi, Billy Carr.
It weighs only 42lbs in it’s case! All aluminum body with maple neck and George L pickup and 9 coats of laquer. Standard Emmons set up with 5 knee levers and 3 Pedals. I hope my other steels don’t get jealous, but I’ll be playing this lightweight for years to come.
OLYMPIA CLASSICAL GUITAR
Tacoma guitars, pre-Fender buyout, Imported Classical Series
Cut-away, under bridge electric pickup withRosewood back and sides, solid spruce top, Aquila strings.
I’m hoping that this year will be my year of the acoustic instrument. I purchased a concertina earlier in the year and am currently shopping for OM style acoustic guitars and a newer pedal steel (often played with acoustic instruments). I ran across this fabulous F-style Eastman Mandolin! I’ve had many cheaper quality mandolins throughout the years. This individually hand-crafted all solid wood mando is light and loud and years ahead of my abilities. If the phrase “the right tool for the right job” is correct, I ought to be pretty proficient by years end.
To my knowledge, this is from the first 400 Limited Edtion of the “love ’em or leave ’em” Antigua Tele’s from Fender Japan since the early 1970’s. Last year Fender Mexico re-issued an FSR batch with a distinctly different “hue”. This “Antigua” color that Fender created in the very early 70’s was brief and without a doubt the most unusual factory choices ever! Includes Fender “Noiseless” pickups.
This Graffiti yellow Strat Plus is one of the LOUDEST, most responsive, most dynamic guitars I own. I got a hot tip from my “Ace” guitar playing nephew (thanks Seth) that this long sought after guitar was available and in our area. Within 24 hours of that call, the deal was done! It’s condition was 9 out 10 and a screamer right out of the case. I used it at an open mic jam shortly after I set it up and I knew it was the one!
The yellow color was modeled after the 1949 Ford in the movie “American Graffiti” (hence, the name), and designed to hopefully to catch Jeff Beck’s eye in developing his new signature model. It worked! I am told that no signature Jeff Beck Models actually came in this color, but the idea must have clicked. He played various Strat Plus style guitars with a slightly different pickup combination (2 single and 1 double coil) for many years. This is one of the most rare and vibrant colors that Fender made. I’ll still search for the Daphne Blue and Razzberry models, but I am nearing the end of my wish list in this guitar.
“Compare and contrast”… that’s what I always say. Inca Silver vs. Pewter, who can decide? Both guitars are near perfect condition ( even though I love my weathered models too ). They ring like only a Strat Plus can. Rosewood fingerboards on both guitars, though I have NO preference.
Yes, I have a lot of these particular guitars. Yes, they must be my favorite. Most of all… Yes, there are more to come!
I’m guessing 1974/1975 Near Mint MUSIC MAN 210/ 65 watt amp with 12ax7 tube phase inverter. Weight= 1 ton (kidding of course, but extremely heavy). Clean tone and loud as hell!
A tip about an auction led to my purchase of this very cool, very “in need of repair” pedal steel. It has a solid curly maple body, single neck E9th extended tuning, 8 pedals and 5 knee levers! Yes it’s way more steel than I need, but it was so much fun searching for parts (it was missing 4 pedals and rods plus all of their parts) and a case to fit it perfectly (Thank you Jerry Fessenden). The cleaning and polishing alone took over a month, then the tweaks and adjustments another 5 weeks or so and… what you see here is one of the prettiest, best playing, steels I’ve owned.
What a great find! I purchased this guitar a few years ago with a few small seperations on it’s back.
Ace repairman/luthier/banjo superstar Chris Warner went at it and made the seperations virtually invisible.
Then, since Chris had refinished the entire backside of the guitar with a warm glossy nitro, I rubbed out the Satin finish on the top and everywhere else. I called up old friend and former Gibson rep, Hank Ettel and he sent over cream pickup surrounds and matching knobs and toggle switch. The pickups had already been swapped out with new Gibson PAF’s and a nicer bridge piece (ABR1) and… I have one of the nicest sounding and playing Gibsons in my collection!
From Texas? From Japan? Heck, we didn’t know! Robin was and maybe still is a great Texas guitar company. In 1985, however, no one was really sure where they were being manufactured when ROBIN GUITARS first showed up at the NAMM trade show.
This ROBIN Medley Custom in Sparkle Magenta is certainly one of their first. My sources tell me that Billy Gibbons got number one at NAMM and mine was a left over from the show!
Where the serial numbers should be is a metal badge that says “Limited Edtion”.
I purchased it in 1985, when I was in the dance rock band RECKLESS, from Campbell’s Music in beautiful downtown Spry, PA also the home of my teaching studio for 37 years.
It was a “shredder” to beat all “shredders”! Locking Kahler tremolo, neck thru-body construction, ebony fingerboard and killer tone. Updated recently with IBZ dimarzios, thanks again Seth.
I honestly don’t know why I’ve kept it all these years. I guess that band and those times were just such a wonderful stage in my life!
Who knows, maybe purpley shredder guitars will stage a comeback!
I’ve always wanted to feature guitars from friends and family so here is a great example to start with! Very soon to be Brother-in-Law and guitarist extraordinaire Danny Weiss has traveled around the world with this great 1938 Martin D-28. As the guitarist and vocalist of Tony Trischka and Skyline, Silk City and Reckon So he has played this guitar as his main instrument for decades. Recently set up by luthier and well known banjoist Chris Warner at Campbell’s Music in York, PA, I got the great oppurtunity to play and photograph this fine guitar!
