Guitars of Fame and Legend.

Subject: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 02:25 PM

You've got Willie Nelson's Trigger and Tony Rice's The Bone and B.B.'s Lucille.

Kind of like those famous swords of old, with names and histories and stories about them.

Mine are all named after old girlfriends, like Wanda, Lorie, Nancy, Donna. But they aren't famous.... yet.

Any others?

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 02:31 PM

Keith Richards favourite earky Telecaster he says "is alive" and is called Macawber!

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 02:32 PM

The Bone

Owned and operated by Tony Rice presently, it was once the machine played by his guitar hero and influence, Clarence White. Originally a stock Martin D-28, it's had a few alterations over the years. Notably the sound hole was enlarged at some time before TR acquired it. The fingerboard is a customized Gretch one which extends quite a ways over the sound hole. And the bridge pins have been recessed quite a bit.

Some more details in this interview

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Don Firth
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 03:43 PM

Over the years I've owned a whole batch of guitars, some American-made, some Spanish-made, and one very fine classic that was made in Japan.

But the flagship of the fleet is one that I refer to as "the Archangel." The luthier was Arcangel Fernandez of Madrid.

I had a friend who came back from a trip to Madrid with an Arcangel Fernandez flamenco guitar. It was incredible! I was most impressed by it, but then he knocked me on my butt when he said he'd paid only $100 for it! I immediately wrote to Fernandez and asked him to make one for me (he builds guitars only on order). It took a year and a half—and the price had gone up—to $116.66. 6,000 pesetas. He sent it air-freight in summer of 1961.

It smelled of fresh varnish and it sounded pretty raw when I first took it out of its case and tuned it up, but within a couple of weeks it found its voice. And what a voice! Warm, mellow, powerful—and if you lean into it a bit, it barks and snarls. It definitely speaks Spanish. It sounds very good with classic, it's great for song accompaniment, and it's the perfect guitar for flamenco. Over the years, it just gets better and better.

I've used it for many concerts, and it has the kind of sound that just keeps right on going until it runs into a wall, even in a large auditorium. Rich, responsive, and a joy to play! A superb instrument!

I later learned that the reason for the low prices for excellent guitars like that were (were) because Arcangel Fernandez, who had been an apprentice of Marcelo Barbaro (made guitars for Montoya, Sabicas, Mario Escudero, et al), had just taken over the shop when Barbaro died. Rather than continuing to make "Barbero guitars" (with a note in small print on the label saying "Made by Arcangel Fernandez"—the way many people do when they take over the shop of a famous luthier), Fernandez wanted to make a name for himself, so to get his guitars out there and build his own reputation, he cut the price way down from what Barbero had been charging. Bill (my friend) and I were very lucky to have struck at just the right time!

Some years back, I was watching a National Geographic special on Spain, when the voice-over said that to understand the soul of Spain, one needs to be acquainted with the guitar. At which point, the show took the viewer to the shop of Arcangel Fernandez on a side street in Madrid, and showed Fernandez at work. So I got a chance to see the man who made my guitar. The program also said that Fernandez is back-ordered for the next ten years and he is no longer taking new orders.

I don't know how long this web site will last, but here is a Fernandez flamenco that looks almost exactly like mine, rosette and all. In fact, it was made shortly after mine was. This one is numbered "153." Mine is "135." The only difference in appearance is that the golpeador (tap-plate) on mine is clear plastic rather than white plastic. CLICKY. Hit "Click to Enlarge" for better views.

I've seen prices listed for the rare Arcangel Fernandez flamenco guitar (circa 1961) that appears on the market every now and then that start at $18,ooo and go up from there. But no. Not for sale! It would be like selling my right arm.

The Archangel.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Wesley S
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 03:54 PM

As I recall Eric Clapton had a Strat called "Blackie".

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 04:30 PM

Stevie Ray Vaughan used a `62 Fender Strat ocaster he called Number One. He got as a gift in 1973 and had several repairs and alterations done to it over the years. It was set up for heavy strings with heavy fretwire and a high action and a left-hand tremolo because it was the only one he could find at the time he needed one for replacement.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 04:58 PM

But I did call my latest six-string acquisition Rosie... short for Rosinante, the vehicle for a idealistic dreamer.

Got the bridge off of her right now. It needs reglueing. It started lifting on my a couple of months after I got it. Like I figured, they glued it on without removing the finish under it first so there was no good wood-to-wood bond. And only about 60% glue coverage. Less than 10 minutes with a pallete knife and it popped off clean.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: John Hardly
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 05:26 PM

I suppose the guitar world can be pretty esoteric...

But if I were to say "Somogyi", I'm betting that 9 out of ten American guitar players would know exactly the guitar I'm talking about...

Pat Donohue's Winfield prize that he then played to fame until recent years when he replaced it as his road ax with a Ryan.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: John Hardly
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 05:28 PM

...and I'm guessing that if you showed those same 9 out of 10 guitarists a Lowden with a tartan strap, they'd know exactly who that belonged to as well.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: John Hardly
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 05:32 PM

...and Charles Sawtelle (whose business card had only three words printed on it...

Charles Sawtelle
'expert'

...played a now famous D-18 with miles of linear inches of cleated cracks.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: John Hardly
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 05:35 PM

Here's another D-18 made famous by its unlikely travels. (the link is to a friend's website -- Acoustic Fingerstyle.com)

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Wesley S
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 05:40 PM

Charles Sawtelle's D-18 is now owned and operated by Peter Rowan

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: John Hardly
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 05:42 PM

Charles Sawtelle's D-18 is now owned and operated by Peter Rowan

Great story, innit?

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: oldhippie
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 05:45 PM

John, what a great story, even better with a happy ending!

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 05:55 PM

And then there was Leadbelly's big Stella, which vanished after a memorial concert given for him.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:20 PM

from this site

Joni Mitchell has never quite gotten over the first guitar she loved and lost: a '56 Martin D-28 she got circa 1966 from a Marine captain stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The guitar had accompanied him to Vietnam and was in his tent when it was hit with shrapnel. "There were two instruments and all this captain's stuff in there," Mitchell says. "When they cleared the wreckage, all that survived was this guitar. I don't know whether the explosion did something to the modules in the wood, but that guitar was a trooper, man." Mitchell played that D-28 on all her early albums. Before she recorded Court and Spark, it was damaged on an airline, and soon after it was stolen off a luggage carousel in Maui. Wistfully, she adds, "I've never found an acoustic that could compare with it."

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: John Hardly
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 07:45 PM

There's always been endless fascination with James Taylor's guitars. Probably because they've been somewhat unusual. The one associated with the playing that made him famous is this Gibson J-50 that had players stumped because, with the notorius pickguard removed, people had trouble telling what the heck he was playing.

Later, he made a guitar and a guitar maker famous when he started playing a James Olson and particularly an Olson SJ cutaway.

James Olson left the now-famous guitar in Taylor's dressing room for him to try. The gamble paid off big -- Taylor liked it.

Taylor made that guitar so famous that soon to follow were David Wilcox, Patty Larkin, Phil Keaggy, and numerous others who wanted to play "James Taylor's" guitar.

Humorous (to me, anyway) side note: I saw Livingston Taylor in concert a couple of weeks ago and he plays.........yup, a Taylor.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 08:33 PM

Trigger

Willie's beat-up and holey old Martin N-20 classical is perhaps the most recognizable and possibly most valuable acoustic guitar out there right now because of who plays it. And it's very played-in worn-out condition make it priceless. It is also covered with signatures of friends, associates and fellow musicians.
It was built in 1969, has Brazilian rosewood back & sides, a spruce top and ebony bridge and fingerboard. The braces are mostly spruce with a few mahogany and are a modified Bouchet pattern, which is a different fan pattern than Martin normally uses on a classical. It also has had some rebracing around the wear holes and had some gold-plated tuners added. It needs to be rebraced every 3 or 4 years, but other than that and some refinishing with a polyurethane varnish, Willie has nothing else done to it. Poodle locke, his guitar tech, says it is dire need of a fret job, they are so worn. And the fingerboard is very scalloped from wear as well.
They are constantly on watch to guard against its theft.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 08:42 PM

Emmylou Harris' main stage guitar has long been a big blonde Gibson J-200 made in the 50s. It used to belong to Gram Parsons. Emmylou bought it from Gram's first wife. It was in pieces when she got it but she had it put back together she was impressed with the sound and the fact that it always stays in tune, no matter what.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Bert
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 11:46 PM

I got this old Harmony at a thrift store for a few bucks. I cleaned it up and tweaked the action a bit and gave it some new strings.

It didn't sound too bad so I kept it a Mudcat Radio and got guests to sign it.

Then I took a trip to Toronto and Rick Fielding signed it as well.

All went well until I lent it to a "friend" who took it in his head to clean it. All the signatures came off except Ricks.

So It's kinda special now, I guess I'd better call it Rick.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Songster Bob
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 12:08 AM

No one has mentioned "Blackie," the famous Fender stratocaster played for years / to death by Eric Clapton.

I have only named a few of my instruments, most notably the two minstrel banjos I have (reproductions, not original) which have been dubbed "Thumper" and "Big Thumper." Others are named or designated by who owned them (David's guitar -- a 1943 Martin 0-18 -- came from David, a gentleman friend of my late mother-in-law; Bobby's banjo was my late uncle's tenor, remade into a 5-string by a friend) or the maker (my Running Dog, my Gibson banjo, etc.). I guess I should get busy and invent names for all of them.

Most of my fiddles will be named "squeaker" of one form or another, in that case.


Bob

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Johnhenry'shammer
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 12:43 AM

The guitar that Glen Hansard uses has always looked pretty cool to me. It's a takamine acoustic/electric (although I've never seen it plugged in) with a massive hole where the pick guard would be and a few little holes on the other side of the sound hole. He's had it for 17 years now.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: John Hardly
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 05:36 AM

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Wesley S - PM
Date: 16 Aug 07 - 03:54 PM

As I recall Eric Clapton had a Strat called "Blackie".

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: van lingle
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 06:57 AM

Thanks for that Tony Rice interview, Cluin. The no-name storm that hit the Florida gulf coast in 1992 shortly after Hurricane Andrew came through left TR's D28 immersed in flood waters for almost a day as I recall. He lives(d) up the coast around Sarasota and in a subsequent interview said that the soaking actually improved the tone of it but didn't reccommend that folks dunk there vintage instruments in a bath tub.

Then there is Clarence White's old sunburst Telecaster with the Parsons/White bender which can be seen in the hands of Marty Stuart from time to time. Actually, there's a few Byrd's clips on Youtube where you can view it.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Grab
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 07:00 AM

The first Tele, the first Strat, the first Les Paul.

Torres' papier-mache guitar which proved the top created most of the sound.

Hendrix's rightie-strung-as-a-lefty.

Mark Knopfler's National on the cover of "Brothers in Arms".

Django's Selmer and Maccaferri types. (Incidentally, we need more Mario Maccaferris - pray god more luthiers will build something original instead of mindlessly copying Martins ad nauseam, or Stradivarius/Guarani (sp?) in the violin/viola/cello field. Sure they're great instruments, but why not do something original, guys?)

Graham.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: mattkeen
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 05:30 PM

Several mentions of Claptons blackie but his other one (2 tone sunsurs) was imaginativly called "brownie"


ah probably with a capital B

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 08:05 PM

Lucille

B.B. King calls all his working guitars Lucille and he's had several through the years. The original was "a little black Gibson acoustic" with a DeArmond pickup added to it. The story of the name is that two guys started fighting over a gal named Lucille at an early B.B. gig in Twist, Arkansas in the 40s. They knocked over a makeshift heater--a barrel of burning kerosene--and the place went up. B.B. got out, then went back into the collapsing building to rescue his guitar and almost bought the farm in the process. So he called his guitar (and every one since) Lucille to remind himself "never to do a thing like that again."

These days, Lucille is a black Gibson ES-355 solid body electric guitar. It has a fairly high action and heavy strings to facilitate those radical bends. He removes the individual tuning screws from his tailpiece because the guitar won't stay in tune for him with them on.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 08:15 PM

Another legendary King of the blues, Albert King played a Gibson Flying V electric he called Lucy. He played her left handed and upside down, influencing Jimi Hendrix to play the way later. His style of playing influenced Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Deckman
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 08:30 PM

Don Firth: "It would be like selling my right arm!" Jeeze man, sell it! After all, you've got another arm. Just how many damned arms do you need? SSSHHHEEEUUUHHH!. Bob

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 08:48 PM

A player friend of mine told me he's regretted selling any of his old guitars.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 09:20 PM

I don't know if Roy Buchanan ever gave a name to his instrument, but I have just recovered from watching a DVD of the 1971 PBS documentary on Buchanan, coupled with a 30 minute Austin City Limits show (1977)
on both of which he plays the same blonde Telecaster throughout.

I don't think I will ever be the same again ...

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 09:57 PM

Reverend Gary Davis's signature guitar was a Gibson SJ-200 he called "Miss Gibson". It's sometimes considered an odd choice for a fingerstyle player, but Davis made it work, to say the least.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 17 Aug 07 - 11:54 PM

From when I was a teen, I always wanted a natural finish Telecaster like this one.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 12:04 AM

And there was Buck Owens' signature Red White & Blue guitar. It was made by Harmony, I think. He also had the Old Glory motif on a number of electrics.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 12:13 AM

And there's James Burton's pink paisley telecaster.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: van lingle
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 07:15 AM

And Martin Carthy's 1959 000-18. Martin made a signature model for him which included a zero fret.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: GUEST,Captain Colin.
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 07:42 AM

The Singing Postman's Aria?

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 01:29 PM

Garth Brooks' several Takamines he has busted up on stage over the years.

The frotface.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 01:45 PM

Ray Whitley's original Gibson J-200

In 1937 the Gibson J-200 was born. Ray Whitley was a country and western singer and radio and movie cowboy at the same time as Gene Autry. In 37, he went to Gibson guitars with an idea for a custom guitar with certain features he wanted. This became the legendary J-200, the favourite model among many musicians since then and the acoustic guitar that really put Gibson on the map. Ray Whitley owned the first one, though a few designs changes were made to it afterwards. It is now on display in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: pdq
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 01:49 PM

Gotta wonder what all those guitars Pete Townsend smashed would be worth today.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 01:50 PM

Another version custommade for Whitley by Gibson: Ray Whitley's Party Guitar.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 01:53 PM

Or the ones Hendrix barbecued. Even the charred pieces would be priceless. Apparently Frank Zappa had one hanging on his wall for years.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Bert
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 01:57 PM

Then there's THIS ONE

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 02:00 PM

There's also George Harrison's Rickenbacker twelve string electric, most recognizably heard in that opening chord in "A Hard Day's Night".

Roger McGuinn liked the sound so much, he went out and bought one and a key ingredient of the sound of The Byrds was in place.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 02:00 PM

Ah, right, Bert. Could never forget that one either. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Cluin
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 02:02 PM

A better look.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: pdq
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 02:03 PM

Thaks for the picrure of Ray Whitley's old Gibson. Made ages and ages ago.

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Willie-O
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 04:19 PM

Actually, Lucille is not a solid-body guitar. She just doesn't have any f-holes. The ES-355 is described on this authoritative site as "semi-hollow". www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson4.html

I had the thrill (not gone) of seeing BB play Lucille this year. He has the most unique physical style of playing. He sits down with the guitar hanging around his neck like a prop while he tells long stories or sings. He does not chord or in any way provide rhythm guitar, AT ALL--just tears into those screaming bends when its time for a break. Says he never learned to play backup, and I guess after awhile it didn't matter.

I was listening to two of the guitars described in this thread today, both of them being attached to Clarence White. "The Bone" just blasts out sound when he soloes with the Kentucky Colonels. It's hard to know how exceptional an instrument is when it's being played by a genius, but it sure sounds huge. The "sunburst Telecaster with the Parsons/White bender", mentioned by Van lingle, is the feature voice on "Nashville West", which includes all kinds of standards such as "Green Green Grass of Home", "Sing Me Back Home" and even an instrumental version of "Ode to Billie Joe". Very cool guitar sound throughout (tends to blow some of the vocals away though!)--the 'bender' is a device that lets the player simulate pedal steel licks. Clarence was a brilliant cross-picker on acoustic, but his electric guitar playing all sounds like he's finger-picking--anyone know?   

W-O

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Willie-O
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 04:21 PM

By the way, I'll bite: who plays a Lowden with a tartan strap?

Sorry to be so uncool...if it redeems me at all, I have heard of Somogyi and believe that's a reference to Leo Kottke. But if y'all have to shun me, I'll understand.

W-O

Subject: RE: Guitars of Fame and Legend.
From: Willie-O
Date: 18 Aug 07 - 04:35 PM

Legendary guitar stunts not to emulate:

I met a guy in a local country band a few years ago who had this absolutely fantastic 62 Strat. It was coloured a very-unusual uneven brown, so I complimented his vintage guitar and asked about the custom finish. He ruefully told me "I let my son borrow it for a weekend, and he did the Jimi Hendrix lighter-fluid trick on it."

...



I believe an understanding judge rendered a verdict of "justifiable homicide" and sentenced him to a year of weekends playing in seniors homes.





W-O