Gretsch Corvette

Exhibit I:  1967 Gretsch Corvette

Just the Facts

The Gretsch Corvette was Gretsch’s entry level solid body. Gretsch was primarily known for large hollow body guitars, but periodically made a few solid bodies with various results. The Duo- Jet, which looks kind of like a Les Paul was pretty successful and was played by George Harrison, but most successful Gretsches were hollow bodies.

The Corvette was introduced in 1961 and finally discontinued in 1978.  Quite a few were made, but it is rare to see them in original condition, because a lot of guitar players bought them cheap and then modified them with different pickups, different tuners and so on.

The particular guitar is a 1967 Corvette.  It has Hi-Lo Tron single coil pick ups and a Bigsby Vibrato.  Originally it had a build in treble booster, but that had already been removed when I got the guitar.

It sounds pretty good, and is very light.  I don’t really like the shape of the neck at the low frets. It feels too clubby in my hand. 
   
Where and When

 I got this guitar at Trade Up Music  in Portland in 2002.
   
Why it’s Cool

The coolest thing about this guitar is the way it looks and the fact that it is a vintage Gretsch.


On the Other Hand

It is really not that comfortable to play and the sound, while adequate, is short of spectacular.

Gibson ES 345

Exhibit H:  1966 Gibson ES 345

Just the Facts

The Gibson ES 345 was manufactured between 1958 and 1981, when it was discontinued. Based on the famous
ES 335, the 345 was designed to be slightly more upscale and had a couple of “improvements“.  One was stereo wiring, and the other was the inclusion of the Varitone.  The Varitone was a circuit which offered a six position selector and changed the tone making it increasingly thin and more Fender like.  However most guitarists didn’t think any of the settings actually improved the tone, and almost everybody leaves the Varitone on the first setting.  Stereo, also, is something that never really caught on in guitars, and most 345 players have the guitar re-wired in mono.

Like the 335, the ES 345 is semi hollow with a solid center block and two real “F” holes.  In the early sixties the stop tail piece was replaced with a trapeze tail piece which changed the tone slightly.  Most players prefer the stop tail piece for sustain, but the trapeze tail piece seems to make the tone a little more open and alive.  Which is better is really in the ear of the player.

Where and When

I got this guitar at Sagebrush Music in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1983.

Why it’s Cool

This is a great sounding guitar, and it was my main guitar for a lot of years.  Throughout much of the fifties and sixties, semi- hollow body guitars were the instruments of choice for many guitar players.  If you watch old you tube videos, especially of the British Invasion bands you’ll see a lot of these guitars.  Then in the late sixties and early seventies, Les Paul type solid bodies became the most popular guitars.  In the late seventies and early eighties, the Stratocaster suddenly exploded in popularity.  Guitar Player did a cover story on “Strat Mania” and the Strat has tended to be the most widely played electric guitar ever since.

On the Other Hand

In the late eighties or early nineties, I switched to Fender style guitars, mostly Tele’s .  It just seemed to be easier to get the tone I wanted.  However, this Gibson ES 345 is a great guitar, and I still play it quite a bit.

Fender Jaguar

Exhibit G: 1963 Fender Jaguar

Just the Facts

In the early ‘60’s the Jaguar was Fender’s top of the line instrument.  It was introduced in 1962 and was similar to the Jazzmaster in shape and appointments.  However it had a shorter 24” scale, and two newly designed single coil pickups.  It also had a sophisticated two channel tone system with four switches and two sets of pots, a floating tremolo system and a spring loaded mute.

While Fender Jaguars did not have the lasting impact of Strats and Teles, they were quite popular for a while especially with country guitar players and surf bands like the Astronauts and the Surfaris.  Both Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys and Buddy Merrill of the Lawrence Welk orchestra sometimes played a Jaguar, as did session legend Billy Strange.  More recently Jaguars have been played by  punk, grunge, and alt performers including Johnny Marr and  Kurt Cobain. Fender used Cobain’s highly modified Jaguar as inspiration for the popular Jagstang model.

Where and When

I got this guitar in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1983.  It is in really good shape and came with a period correct case. 

Why it’s Cool

It has a kind of a thin, percussive sound that is great for retro music, especially surf and rock-a-billy. I used to play it quite a bit in several groups that specialized in fifties and sixties rock and roll

On the Other Hand

Some people don’t like the short scale and small frets.  Also the tone tends to be thin and percussive and it does not sustain as much as some other guitars. 

All in all It’s a great guitar and a lot of fun to play.

Charvel Surfcaster

Exhibit F: 1991 Charvel Surfcaster


Just the Facts

    This is a 1991 Surf Green Charvel Surfcaster.  It was made in Japan by the Charvel Jackson company and is sort of a cross between a Danelectro, a Rickenbacker and a  Fender Telecaster Thinline.  It has a semi-hollow basswood body with one real F hole, maple neck and rosewood finger board.  The pickups are Chandler lipstick pickups. There is a three position selector switch, and master volume and tone controls.  The tone control has a push pull switch that combines the two singles into one hum bucker reducing noise and increasing the punchiness of the tone. There is a very nice non locking tremolo which works great.

    This guitar was targeted  at country players who wanted a great clean tone, and for retro players who might want an alternative to a Fender Jaguar or Jazzmaster.  It really is a good surf guitar and is great for all these applications.  It is a lot like a telecaster, only different, and has quite a bit of appeal for a tele player. The Surfcaster model in  various incarnations was marketed by Jackson until about 2005.

Where and When

    I got this guitar at Guitar Crazy in Portland on New Year’s Eve, 1991.  I had recently read an article in one of the Portland papers talking about Jim Mesi’s Surfcaster.  Jim Mesi is one of Portland’s premier blues and rock performers.  He is an amazing musician, and a local legend.

    At the time I had two Peavey T-60’s, one with a maple finger board and one with a rosewood fingerboard.  I liked the rosewood one better and decided to see if I could trade the other one. 

    I asked Bob at Guitar Crazy about the Surfcaster and he said that this particular guitar was actually  the one that had belonged to Jim Mesi. Jim had used it for a while and then had traded it for  a Strat.  We made a deal and I traded the Peavey and some cash for Mesi’s Surfcaster.  Later I was in a band that was playing on the same bill as Mesi’s band. Jim and I had a discussion about guitars and he told me he wished he had it back.

Why it’s Cool

    It is a great sounding and easy playing guitar.  At various times I have played this instrument at  surf rock and fifties gigs and have enjoyed it very much. Plus it is neat to have a guitar that was owned by Jim Mesi who is one of my favorite players of all time.

On the Other Hand

    The tremolo needs to be tightened with an allen wrench if you want it to stay in one position, and that sometimes seems like too much trouble.

Little Chords and Scales

I was at a jam session at Guitar Solutions Saturday, and got in a conversation about chord shapes and voicings.  Specifically we were talking about a major chord with the third on the sixth string. For instance--if you put a barre at the seventh fret and then put what looks like an open “C” chord underneath it you would have a G major chord. The note on the sixth string would be a “b” which is the third of the chord. . The notes of the chord, low to high, would be b (3), g (R), b(3), d(5), g ( R), g (3).

While I occasionally play all six strings of this chord , I much more  frequently use the shape to develop triads on the 2,3 and 4 strings.

Like this--Key of G--Chords G (I)          C (IV)               D (V)
                                                          ------------------------------------------------
                                                          --8--------------8---------------------7-------
                                                          --7--------------9---------------------7-------
                                                           -9--------------10--------------------7-------
                                                           ------------------------------------------------
                                                            -----------------------------------------------
                               

This is an example of what I think of as “little chords”.  Little chords only have two, three, or occasionally four notes.  Sometimes They  don’t have a root.  Freddie Green often used little chords when playing with Count Basie.

These shapes lend themselves to lead and melodic applications.  There are a lot of licks available in the immediate vicinity using the G major diatonic,  G major pentatonic  and “D” mixolydian scales. The D Mixolydian  is especially cool because it is a great all purpose scale for jamming over jazz changes such as the IIm7, V7, and I.

Here are the fingerings for those three scales

G Major Diatonic            G Major Pentatonic (Starting on 5)      D Mixolydian

----------------------------------------------------7-----------------------------------------7-8--10----
------------------------7--8--------------8---10--------------------------------7--8--10----------------
-------------------7-9-------------7--9---------------------------------7--9-----------------------------
-------7--9--10-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--10-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Note that they all use the notes of the G major scale.  The main difference is the starting note.

Of course these chords and scales are all moveable and can be played in any key.

Danelectro U2

Exhibit E: 1998 Danelectro U2


Just the Facts

The Danelectro company was founded by Nat Daniels in the fifties and made lots of low end guitars and amps.  Most were marketed by Sears under the  Silvertone name. However many were sold in music stores as Danelectros. For the most part, the guitars were cheap and were quite popular, especially with beginners. Tons of guitar players learned on a Silvertone guitar made by Danelectro.

Most Danelectro guitars  featured a hollow wood frame, masonite body and silver lipstick tube pickups.  The earliest instruments actually used tubes that had been manufactured by cosmetic companies as containers for lipstick.
 
The Danelectro company went out of business in the sixties but then in the nineties the name was purchased by a  new company that began manufacturing authentic copies of some of the original guitars.  These guitars were imports and I believe they were made in Korea. One of the first of the Reissues was the U2 model.

The Danelectro U2 features 2 lipstick single coil pickups, concentric volume and tone controls, selector switch, rosewood fingerboard, and aluminum nut. It is very similar in appearance and construction to the original.

The guitar is very light, and has a bright, snappy tone.  It sounds good in a variety of applications.

Shortly after I got this guitar I was in the pit orchestra of the musical, Grease.  The show was mounted with the band on stage inside a giant juke box.  I used this guitar because of its appearance and also because of the sound. It sounded really great on the retro style music.

Where and When

I got this guitar for Christmas in 1998.


Why it’s Cool

It is very light and sounds quite good, especially through a clean or mildly distorted amp. It also looks really neat. It rocks--it rolls and especially it twangs, sounding quite a bit like a lighter tele.

On the Other Hand

The strap buttons are plastic and tend to come out at inopportune times.  The bridge is basically a piece of wood, and is not very adjustable. The tuners are pretty cheap.

Samick GL 950

Exhibit D: Samick GL950 NA


Just the Facts

Samick is one of the world’s largest guitar companies and has made guitars marketed by Hondo, Epiphone, Fender, and others as well as under the Samick brand.

This guitar was probably made in the late eighties, or possibly nineties.  I e-mailed Samick and was unable to get any information about this guitar.  On one of the guitar forums there are pictures of two similar guitars, but nobody seems to know much about them.  About all I  know  about this guitar is derived from examination of the instrument.

It features a neck-through design, and in appearance is similar to some of the guitars made by Alembic in the seventies.  It also resembles the Ibanez Musician, and S.D. Curley Guitars from the same period.

The  fingerboard is ebony and the body appears to be maple and walnut.  The model number  on a little sticker on the back  says GL950 NA.  The NA probably refers to the natural finish.  There are two humbucking pickups, a stop tail piece and tune-o-matic style bridge. The two volume, two tone, and selector switch layout are similar to most two hum- bucking guitars.  The sealed tuners say Samick and resemble those made by Schaller  and Gotoh.

The workmanship on this guitar is very good ,although two of the fretboard inlays are a little off center.

Where and When

I got this guitar from a friend in about 2010. 

Why it’s Cool

This is a very good guitar.  It is fairly light and the pickups are well balanced and sound good.  It is also a really good looking guitar.

On the Other Hand

It sounds pretty much like most two humbucker guitars.
The sound is good but not particularly distinguished or magical.

I really like this guitar and would like to know more about it.  I’d like to know when it was made and would be interested in any marketing materials about it.  I have been reading Guitar Player Magazine since 1976, and still have most of them.  I don’t recall ever seeing this model advertised.

If you know anything about this guitar let me know.

Exhibit C: Fender (or maybe Tokai) 62 Reissue Strat

Exhibit C:  Fender (or maybe Tokai) 62 Reissue Strat


Just the Facts

This is a very high quality replica of a 1962 Fender Strat.  It has an authentic Fender decal on the head stock.  However, it was probably made by Tokai.  It has Tokai hardware and before they were replaced with EMG’s had Tokai pickups.  I got it from a private party in Lake Oswego.  Bob Stull of guitar crazy said that there was an attorney there who liked to put Fender Decals on various copy guitars.  He thought I had one of those.  Shortly after I got it I had Twelfth Fret install EMG pickups  and a replica vintage pick guard. 

Another possibility is that this guitar as advertised is a Made in Japan Fender reissue, or perhaps a Tokai body and hardware with a Fender neck.  However, I think it most likely that it is a Tokai with a Fender decal on the headstock.

Where and When

I got this guitar from a private party in Lake Oswego, Oregon in 1987.  Till I got this guitar I mostly played Gibsons, but since then it’s been mostly Fenders.

Why it’s Cool

This is a great guitar.  The neck is excellent and I love the sound of the EMG pickups.  It is easy to play, and fairly light.
One reason I wanted a strat was to get the Mark Knoffler “out of phase” sound and this guitar does it very well.

On the Other Hand

I’m not really a Strat Cat.  I just seem to do better with Tele’s.  I often use a Strat style guitar, but when I go back to a Tele it feels like I am going home.

EExhibit B: Fender American Standard Telecaster

Exhibit B:  Fender American Standard Telecaster

Just the Facts

This guitar is a 1988 Fender American Standard Telecaster. Fender released the first American Standard Tele’s in 1988, so this one of the earlier ones.  A previous owner had replace the stock pickups with EMG’s, and it did not have a case.  Other than the replaced pickups it was pretty much in mint condition.

Where and When

I got this guitar  in summer of ’93 at McKenzie River Music in Eugene. For some time, I had been wanting a tele with a rosewood fingerboard.  At the time I had two other tele’s--a ’52 reissue and an ’84 Tele Elite--but I had issues with both of them.  I found the pickups on the Elite to be a little too hot for my tastes, and the maple fingerboard on the ‘52 reissue got sticky after a couple of sets.  I was familiar with EMG pickups and had had a set installed on a Stratocaster.  After a fret dress and set up by Twelfth Fret in Portland, it played like a dream and sounded wonderful.

Why it’s Cool

The first time I saw a Telecaster was in a picture in the 1965 Fender catalog. The accompanying copy said that while Telecasters and Esquires were the earliest Fenders, some old timers still preferred them. I remember thinking that it looked funny with the huge bridge cover and funny shape. At the time I thought the ideal cool guitar was a Fender Jaguar, Mustang, or maybe a Stratocaster.

As time went on my tastes changed.  Through the seventies and most of the eighties I played Gibson, mostly Les Pauls.  Then in the late eighties and early nineties I started playing more Fenders.  I really liked my ‘52 Tele reissue except for the late set stickiness on the strings. I thought a rosewood neck tele would probably be great. 

This guitar more than exceeded my expectations.  It sounds great with all three pickup combinations.  It is good for country, rock, jazz, pop--anything I want to play.  There is no significant volume drop off between the pickup settings and the tone and volume controls are very useful.  If I could only have one guitar, this would be it.


On the Other Hand

With this guitar, there is no other hand.  It has been my main ax for nearly twenty years.  While I enjoy playing other guitars, I always return to this guitar for most of my playing.

Amps

My first amp was an 18 watt Lectrolab ordered from the Bennett Brothers Catalogue in fall 1965. It was probably a model R600C.  It had two channels, a 12” Jensen Speaker and tremelo.  I thought it sounded really good, but it didn’t have the umph to hang with the loud drummers I was beginning to play with.  So for the next several years I was on a quest to get better amps. 

Between 1967, when I graduated from High School, and 1970 when I got my Twin Reverb, I played through a variety of amps including a solid state Silvertone with 6 10” speakers, a Blackface 2--12 Fender Bassman, and a Baldwin Exterminator. 

The Exterminator was kind of interesting.  It stood about five feet high and had six speakers--2-15" speakers, 2 - 12" speakers and 2 - 7" speakers. It was very loud, and had colored push button tone controls.  It weighed a ton and didn’t really sound very good.  The only person I’ve heard of who uses one is Neil Young.  I’ve never actually seen one except for the one I had.

In 1970 I got a silver face Twin Reverb.  It came stock with JBL speakers, and as a result weighs a svelte 115 pounds.  I still have the amp, but don’t use it much anymore.  It’s just too heavy to move, even with the castors that I put on. However that was my main amp until about 1986.

Other amps I used along the way included a Carvin X series amp that was basically a copy of a Mesa Boogie, a Fender Stage Lead SS amp, a Peavey Bandit, a Fender 30 tube amp, and a Peavey Backstage Plus which was an amazing little amp.

Sometime in the early nineties I got a Fender Silverface Vibrolux Reverb amp and that has been my main big amp since that time.

Most of the time these days I use small solid state amps however.  I have a Fender Princeton 65 DSP that I use quite a bit, as well as a couple of Roland Cube amps--the 30 X series and the Cube 60.  Both offer modeling and various effects and in a band context sound really good.  In addition they weigh less than thirty pounds which is getting to be more and more of a consideration as time goes on.

Exhibit A: Fender Duo-Sonic

Exhibit A: Fender Duo-Sonic


Just the Facts

Duo-Sonics were manufactured between 1959 and 1964 when they were replaced with the Duo-Sonic II. Originally they had a gold anodized pick guard and maple fingerboard. In 1959 they changed to a rosewood fingerboard and single layer plastic pick guard.  Early Duo-Sonics featured a Desert Sand finish.  Later models had a red sunburst and then white finish.

The Duo-Sonic had two plastic covered single coil pickups, volume, tone, and selector switch. 

The Duo-Sonic was a student guitar and was essentially a two pick up version of the Fender Music Master. It had a short, 22.5” scale, and was marketed to players with smaller hands such as students or women.

My Duo-Sonic is a 1960 model.  It has the plastic pick guard and the slab rosewood fingerboard.  It came with a beat up case and the ash tray bridge cover.  It is pretty much in very good to excellent condition, and is all original except for the selector switch.  When the original switch broke, the guy who had the guitar before me replaced it with an old strat three way switch, which required him to make a cut in the the pick guard.  It works fine, but does look a little weird.

Where and When

I got this guitar in winter of 1987 from a private party in Beaverton, Oregon.  We were living in Sandy, Oregon at the time, and I saw an ad in the paper.  I called him up and drove all the way to the other side of the metro area to meet him at his apartment.  He was a little late and I remember hanging around outside his apartment hoping he would show up.  After a while he did, and I bought the guitar.  I think it cost about $200.



Why it’s Cool

My first electric guitar which I bought from a friend in 1965 was a Duo-Sonic.  I learned to play on that guitar, and still remember how great it sounded the first time I plugged it into his little tweed  Champ Amp.  I eventually traded that guitar for an Epiphone Casino in 1974. 

Duo-Sonics are neat for a lot of reasons.  It is small and light.  The pickups sound good.  The short scale makes it easy to bend.  Also original pre-CBS Fenders are getting pretty pricy, as are guitars with Brazilian Rosewood finger boards.

For a while in the early eighties I played in the Jim Glass Band.  Jim used a Duo-Sonic two through a Fender Twin Reverb and got great sound out of it.  I think they are just really cool guitars.


On the Other Hand

There are lots of other guitars that sound as good or better, and sometimes the small size can be a little bit of a problem.

Cool Guitars Blog

Introduction:

I’ve been a working musician since 1965 when I played at the McCall Donnelly High School Science Club Halloween Dance.  The guitar I played at that gig was an early sixties refinished Fender Duo-Sonic through a borrowed Silvertone Twin Twelve amp.  Guitars and amps have been a major part of my life ever since.

I like to read and hear stories about guitars, amps and equipment in general.  I also like to reminisce about the good ol’ days (which probably weren’t all that great if you get right down to it). I also like to collect and play a variety of guitars.

While I always made my living doing something else--mostly in education--playing in a dance band has always been a good part time job for me.  It still is.  Sometimes I get paid, sometimes I don’t but I still play several times a week.  Currently I am in a Cajun Band (The Nu Acres Gators) a rock-a-billy band (Billy and the Barn Cats) a Lawrence Welk style swing quartet (The Swinging Four) a big swing Band (The Treasure Valley Swing Band, aka Ed’s band) and a Dixieland Band (the Ontario Dixieland Society).  Other bands come and go. I also make it to various jam sessions in the Treasure Valley.  Every month I try to make it to the Guitar Solutions Jam in Ontario.  Most Sundays you can find me at the jam at the Mirage in Adrian.  I also sometimes go to the one at Fisher’s in Homedale.

I also collect guitars and amps.  My collection is fairly motley in nature.  I don’t have --can’t afford--many of the really desirable pieces (I don’t have a fifties strat or a 1960 Les Paul Standard for instance), but I do have a nice group of guitars and amps that I enjoy playing and learning about.  Pretty much all my guitars are ones that I think are cool for one reason or another.  Most are “players guitars” or utility instruments, though most are in very good shape. 

I started collecting in about 1980 and since then have managed to get quite a few.

This blog will be about some of my guitars and probably a few random thoughts about music as well.  Hope you enjoy it.