My mom grew up in southern Illinois and heard a lot of the music that was around in the 30's and 40's and when she heard my Reed 45's, she recognized that sound right off the bat as stuff she'd heard here and there, probably by people that never ever got near a recording studio. She didn't really like it, but was kind of tickled that I was buying these records now. :) Interesting the way it came up and out.
Where in southern Illinois?? Both my folks are from there as well -- same time frame.
Mom and Dad -- from Carbondale, and DuQuoin, respectively.
Sprawled - that is a Starcaster. The guitarist from Radiohead plays one. It's from the late 70's and sorta a holy grail. This is the last one on my husband's list of "must have this ax" - he's got most of his wants already.
By the way, if you go to the beginnings of this mammoth thread, you'll see where I wrote about it and posted a picture of it - Starcasters are beautiful and have an awesome sound.
thanks, chas--i forgot about my question in the holiday rush, and suddenly remembered it today! it's an odd-looking platypus of a guitar, which is what caught my attention. i'll check out your earlier post.
waysider, the one i saw on vh1 looked just like the pic on wikipedia.
Speaking of Stratocaster players, we're off tonight to hear one, with Bill Champlin's band, the reunited "Sons of Champlin". Heard Champlin last year, and he's as hot as ever. Champlin had one of the better SF Bay Area bands of the 60's, (musicianship wise, probably the best) then went solo to make a few million bucks writing tunes like "September Song" for Earth Wind and Fire, then was with Chicago for several years after Peter Cetera left. ("Hard Habit to Break" is one of his tunes) He's back up in Northern California and is doing a lot of the Sons catalogue.
socks--
ha! i was reading through this thread from the beginning, trying to find chasufarley's post about the Starcaster (all while i'm supposed to be working), and ran across a link to some of your music. listening, i thought, "i gotta tell this guy about the Sons." they are one of my all-time favorite bands, top three, at least, so i got a kick out of seeing this post from you. they are still the sh!t. though i must admit i really miss haggerty.
ha! i was reading through this thread from the beginning, trying to find chasufarley's post about the Starcaster (all while i'm supposed to be working), and ran across a link to some of your music. listening, i thought, "i gotta tell this guy about the Sons." they are one of my all-time favorite bands, top three, at least, so i got a kick out of seeing this post from you. they are still the sh!t. though i must admit i really miss haggerty.
you're ok, socksie. no matter what they say.
Ya think? I've been told 'they' may be right, but I'm getting a second opinion on that.
So - a Sons fan! There ya go. Yah, the Hag is a goner, by the sounds of it. Did you see the Sons 'back in the day', when he was with them? I still like the original lineup the best - with Tim Cain and the original drummer and bass player - he played a fretless, forget what make.
I got the live CD of them, recorded at Luther Burbank Center, in Santa Rosa, CA. Terry H is playing on that and it's a good sound, but it lacked his L-5 sound I thought. The cover photo looked like he was on a Strat or other similar solid body. The sound was harder, he was pushing quite a bit harder, which may have been the result of the heavier rhythm section they have now. What I like about the original was the way it "breathed', had holes and was still dense. But - as you say, nothing's quite like a Haggerty solo.
One of the wildest I remember recorded was from the Gold Mine album, on the live title cut. There's a part where he goes way outside, like he slips out of key doing fast 16th notes and the dissonance is delicious. It's such a perfectly self-contained Haggerty solo - priceless!
dmiller, my Mom's from the tiny town of El Dorado, southern edge of Illinois. I was out there a few months ago, by Chicago and really wanted to get down there but didn't have the time. Half of my genetic roll is from that country.
Funny factoid about El Dorado - George Harrison came to the U.S. and visited his sister who lived there at the time, back in the early 60's, before The Beatles had hit here. So technically he was the first Beatle on U.S. ground, and he visited Illinois! No idea how she came to live there, but kinda cool. Read about it a few years ago.
During my first year in Fellowlaborers, Howie Y. was the limb leader and therefore the Fellowlaborer coordinator. It was he who "turned us on" to the sweet sounds of The Sons.
Well whatta ya know----- I guess something good came out of that program after all!
(and the Django Rhinehart stories were pretty cool too.)
thanks, chas--i forgot about my question in the holiday rush, and suddenly remembered it today! it's an odd-looking platypus of a guitar, which is what caught my attention. i'll check out your earlier post.
waysider, the one i saw on vh1 looked just like the pic on wikipedia.
thanks, all!
sprawled - I can't find that post either... maybe it was in another forum... boggles the mind.
Here's what I know about it:
Fender issued it in the late 1970's. The designer specialized in pedal steele guitars. It was marketed to take a bite out of the Gibson market. Fender recently re-used the name on some cheap Squire-strat looking thing that sells for about $199 as a guitar starter kit (you know, the kind of thing a well-meaning grandmother would buy for her grandson who says he wants a guitar for his birthday...) Any Googles you do on Starcaster will come up with these cheap-o things.
Starcasters are rare to find - people usually keep them. Part of it is the retro look they have - and they're just a well made guitar. I've seen them go on eBay for around $2,500 to as high as $4,000. They are highly collectible.
Recently, on the Ibanez forum I haunt, someone wrote about the Starcaster headstock - they said that Ibanez was copying Fender with the design of this (see photo) --
This is my bass - the Ibanez Roadster (1979)... I love that thing!
I may have my disageements with TWI but God is still on the throne and he can do miracles.
Speaking of "meant to tell ya's"--------The Blues Station closed its doors for good after the New Years Eve show. The last act to play there was----Scotty Bratcher!
She has been given some encouraging news although not quite as good as it could have been. But Sammy wanted me to thank you for your prayers. (((you)))
Ya think? I've been told 'they' may be right, but I'm getting a second opinion on that.
So - a Sons fan! There ya go. Yah, the Hag is a goner, by the sounds of it. Did you see the Sons 'back in the day', when he was with them? I still like the original lineup the best - with Tim Cain and the original drummer and bass player - he played a fretless, forget what make.
i saw them in the 70's, the "Welcome to the Dance" version of the band--a couple of times in NY and once in CA. it was such a loose scene that i just walked backstage after the show. had a great conversation with haggerty where he told me about being backstage with george benson the night before. he was all excited, and said, "do you know what it's like, hanging out with your favorite guitarist?" i just grinned at him until he got it.
i also saw them recently in LA, kickin' a$$ in a nearly empty club. :(
fyi--if you like the original lineup, you can get their first (unreleased) album, Fat City. at amazon. it's just them being an R&B band, with some 60s sanfran-pop thrown in. but i like it.
I got the live CD of them, recorded at Luther Burbank Center, in Santa Rosa, CA. Terry H is playing on that and it's a good sound, but it lacked his L-5 sound I thought. The cover photo looked like he was on a Strat or other similar solid body. The sound was harder, he was pushing quite a bit harder, which may have been the result of the heavier rhythm section they have now. What I like about the original was the way it "breathed', had holes and was still dense. But - as you say, nothing's quite like a Haggerty solo.
One of the wildest I remember recorded was from the Gold Mine album, on the live title cut. There's a part where he goes way outside, like he slips out of key doing fast 16th notes and the dissonance is delicious. It's such a perfectly self-contained Haggerty solo - priceless!
his L-5 sound was my favorite, too. i've got an mp3 of that gold mine cut, if you want it. no charge!
chas--thanks for the info. it really is a sweet-looking guitar. i have a mid-60s 335 that i almost never play because i'm addicted to my tele's maple neck--that's what really caught my attention when i saw that vh1 clip. too bad it's so far out of my price range.
funny that you mentioned "some cheap Squier-strat thing." i just got a Squier '51. it caught my eye somewhere and i started reading all the enthusiastic reviews online. so i dug down deep for the 99 bucks it cost--and i love it! the fret ends need a little work, but it plays and sounds great. like the starcaster, it has a unusual hybrid look. plus it's light as a feather, which is important in my old age.
chas--thanks for the info. it really is a sweet-looking guitar. i have a mid-60s 335 that i almost never play because i'm addicted to my tele's maple neck--that's what really caught my attention when i saw that vh1 clip. too bad it's so far out of my price range.
funny that you mentioned "some cheap Squier-strat thing." i just got a Squier '51. it caught my eye somewhere and i started reading all the enthusiastic reviews online. so i dug down deep for the 99 bucks it cost--and i love it! the fret ends need a little work, but it plays and sounds great. like the starcaster, it has a unusual hybrid look. plus it's light as a feather, which is important in my old age.
thanks for the pic of your ibanez. it's purty.
too bad it's so far out of my price range.
Keep telling yourself that... that's the mantra I give to hubby, who has a serious case of GAS (gear aquistion syndrom)
I had an opportunity to pick up an Epiphone Viola Bass at a really good price so I grabbed it. I know it "ain't no Hofner" but I really like it. It has a short scale(30.5) and a 1.65 nut. It's semi hollow body so it is very light and I can sit and play it without having to plug in. It came with flat wound strings and when I plugged it in, I really liked the warm tone it has. It's much more inviting than my Squire P-Bass. Blues harp is still where my heart is at but I suspect I'll find myself hoisting this new(to me) bass over my shoulder frequently. If I ever get to a point where I can post pics, I'll post it along with a shot of my buddys' Micro Frets Spacetone. It's a green sort of sunburst color. I think it was called Martian Sunrise or something like that. They are also very light weight. Funny how you don't think about weight and neck size so much until the years start adding up and work starts to take its toll on the hands and wrists.
Aaah, I finally got to see your dancers A la. I am, in a word, speechless.
Love to see tha bass waysider! Sounds like a sweet deal.
If there's a way to send it sprawled out, please do. I'll post that solo up and we can shag some Hag!
Welcome to the Dance was a really cool album, seemed to catch Champlin's "new"(est) material finally. I'd seen him doing part of those songs in concert for awhile, but they were sneaking in, it seemed.
One of the things about the Sons was that they'd been doing the same tunes for years. Everytime you'd see them they'd do "1984A", "Get High", all those songs, sometimes they'd do "Jesus Is Coming" by Tim Cain and a few others that didn't make the record, and if it was a bigger concert they'd close with "Freedom". There weren't a lot of "60's" bands hitting it 'big'(ger) that had that musicianship and songwriting, Cold Blood, Tower of Power, The Loading Zone were amongst a few that come to mind right off. Bands of that era like Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother, the Dead were getting a lot of media but they weren't in the same ball park as some of these other bands that weren't heard of as much then.
The sons had vibes, Geoff Palmer was really good on them then (and he's great now). Champlin's voice was a smooth Lou Rawls, who'd been a favorite of mine for years. So when Welcome to the Dance came out it had that funkier sound and part of the "Children's Suite" that Champlin had been writing and working up with the band - "new" stuff! His voice took on a huskier tone - it was a real shift in direction from that smoother ensemble sound they'd had,, although I loved that first band's sound and the first album.
Hag storeez - waysider - Ohio? Howie? Howie would have them, for sure. We saw some old friends this holiday, up from Texas, and we reminisced about the Sons.
Fillmore - about '70 or so - the Sons were taking the stage and as usual it took awhile for them to get settled in, lit up and on their instruments. The Fillmore was a big venue, no small gig but the Sons usually meandered onstage where they were as if they'd just wandered in off the street. Champlin and Hag both had their big Gibson L-5's.
Haggerty was in his usual spot, off to the right and everybodys' getting tuned. He's way out of tune. Way out, and getting worse, fiddling with it. Champlin does his L-5 and then messes with the organ, Palmer's deedling on the vibes, it goes on for awhile and Haggerty's face is scrinched up and he gets progressively more and more out of tune and it's obvious he's already warmed up for "Get High", in a big way. Finally everyone's kind of waiting and Bill looks at him and Haggerty takes the guitar off and holds it out straight armed to him like a kid and says-
"Bill....tune my guitar!" :biglaugh:
Champlin shook his head and took it and tuned it up and handed it back and Haggerty just stood there frozen in some very special time and place and started noodling on something and Champlin just sighed in the mic and said "one-two-three.....can ya hear it comin'...." and they were off. Amazingly Haggerty played right in the slot first beat and they were off and running.
That was one of the very special things about a Sons gig - it often seemed like it was just heading towards a train wreck just watching them trying to get set up and ready to play. If you'd talked to any of them before they played it could get - a little strange. But then they'd hit the tunes and play exceptional, night after night.
My daughter traded in her original Epiphone Les Paul and added some $$ to get a a Gretsch G3978 Historic series hollow-body. It's about 7 years old but there's not a scratch on it. This isn't hers - but it's the same model.
We've got a very cool guitar shop here in Tampa called Legends. They buy and sell used instruments and have some great deals. Socks - you'd love it. The guys who run it are a couple of old guitar lovers. I hope they stay in business for a while. Guitar Center and Sam Ash seem to pull in most of the musicians here - and shops like Legends tend not to last too long.
My daughter traded in her original Epiphone Les Paul and added some $$ to get a a Gretsch G3978 Historic series hollow-body. It's about 7 years old but there's not a scratch on it. This isn't hers - but it's the same model.
We've got a very cool guitar shop here in Tampa called Legends. They buy and sell used instruments and have some great deals. Socks - you'd love it. The guys who run it are a couple of old guitar lovers. I hope they stay in business for a while. Guitar Center and Sam Ash seem to pull in most of the musicians here - and shops like Legends tend not to last too long.
Wow!! VERY nice looking guitar!! (How's the sound??)
I hear you about the smaller guitar stores. We had one back in Bloomington, Indiana,
called Tom Pickett's. Great place to hang out, nice instruments hanging on the walls too.
He eventually went out of business, because every time he got surplus $$$
in the cash register from sales he'd made during the previous week or so --
he closed up shop, and went on vacation somewhere!!
If you needed a new set of strings or something --
After some recent visits to my nearest "Sam Ash" and "Guitar Center" (where I recently acquired a 30 watt Vox "Valvomatic" amp and a compact digital eight
track recorder) - I was particularly discouraged over the quality of various high-priced guitars at Guitar Center - their $2000 Gretsch Country Gentleman was an absolute joke-
I determined all the more to redo my old homemade electric guitar. I've decided to transform it into a "Les Gretschenbacker". I picked up some new gold hardware including a Bigsby, made a brass control plate, and acquired a new ebony fingerboard for redoing the neck. I've got my work cut out for me in the weeks ahead. :)
Gretsch's have a great sound, I was surprised looking at some recently. Found an Electromatic hollow body that played very well, and at a much better price than the 2k + that Invisible Dan's talking about. The CG's played well but I didn't get from here to there on the price. Great guitar!!
I should say that I was given a CD at Christmas by my very good friend Dougie73 and its called Cities 97 Sampler - 2006. Cities 97 is a public radio station in his state.
He has sent me this Cities' Sampler over the past few years. It's a CD made from their guest singers and at the end of the year they put together this album from some of their guests.
They are usually up and coming talent or sometimes not. But the stuff is usually done unplugged and it's usually some of the coolest and most ecclectic sounds around.
Bonnie Raitt was on the newest album he sent me.
Dougie.. wherever you are this afternoon...THANK YOU for all the most amazing music!
I had an opportunity to pick up an Epiphone Viola Bass at a really good price so I grabbed it. I know it "ain't no Hofner" but I really like it. It has a short scale(30.5) and a 1.65 nut. It's semi hollow body so it is very light and I can sit and play it without having to plug in. It came with flat wound strings and when I plugged it in, I really liked the warm tone it has. It's much more inviting than my Squire P-Bass. Blues harp is still where my heart is at but I suspect I'll find myself hoisting this new(to me) bass over my shoulder frequently. If I ever get to a point where I can post pics, I'll post it along with a shot of my buddys' Micro Frets Spacetone. It's a green sort of sunburst color. I think it was called Martian Sunrise or something like that. They are also very light weight. Funny how you don't think about weight and neck size so much until the years start adding up and work starts to take its toll on the hands and wrists.
Waysider,
I had tried an Epiphone viola bass at "Guitar Center", which turned out to be the highlight of my recent visit there. They're very interesting looking and sounding guitars.
I've been considering the Rogue model (along with an order of Labella or Pyramid flatwound strings). It would be nice to at least have a bass on hand for recording.
BTW, a correction to my earlier post - when I mentioned I picked up a new Vox ADVT 30 "Valvomatic" amp I actually meant "Valvotronix" (lol) - can't keep up with these new fangled gear names. It's turning out to a great "combo amp" so far. Love all the "modeling amp" and f/x built in. For a small amp it's plenty loud enough for practicing and recording. Not to mention how nice it is to be able to carry it with one hand.
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dmiller
Where in southern Illinois?? Both my folks are from there as well -- same time frame.
Mom and Dad -- from Carbondale, and DuQuoin, respectively.
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sprawled out
thanks, chas--i forgot about my question in the holiday rush, and suddenly remembered it today! it's an odd-looking platypus of a guitar, which is what caught my attention. i'll check out your earlier post.
waysider, the one i saw on vh1 looked just like the pic on wikipedia.
thanks, all!
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sprawled out
socks--
ha! i was reading through this thread from the beginning, trying to find chasufarley's post about the Starcaster (all while i'm supposed to be working), and ran across a link to some of your music. listening, i thought, "i gotta tell this guy about the Sons." they are one of my all-time favorite bands, top three, at least, so i got a kick out of seeing this post from you. they are still the sh!t. though i must admit i really miss haggerty.
you're ok, socksie. no matter what they say.
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A la prochaine
OK...
I'll admit it
:blink: I got caught in the YOUTUBE vortex....
and somehow I ended up
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socks
Ya think? I've been told 'they' may be right, but I'm getting a second opinion on that.
So - a Sons fan! There ya go. Yah, the Hag is a goner, by the sounds of it. Did you see the Sons 'back in the day', when he was with them? I still like the original lineup the best - with Tim Cain and the original drummer and bass player - he played a fretless, forget what make.
I got the live CD of them, recorded at Luther Burbank Center, in Santa Rosa, CA. Terry H is playing on that and it's a good sound, but it lacked his L-5 sound I thought. The cover photo looked like he was on a Strat or other similar solid body. The sound was harder, he was pushing quite a bit harder, which may have been the result of the heavier rhythm section they have now. What I like about the original was the way it "breathed', had holes and was still dense. But - as you say, nothing's quite like a Haggerty solo.
One of the wildest I remember recorded was from the Gold Mine album, on the live title cut. There's a part where he goes way outside, like he slips out of key doing fast 16th notes and the dissonance is delicious.
It's such a perfectly self-contained Haggerty solo - priceless!
dmiller, my Mom's from the tiny town of El Dorado, southern edge of Illinois. I was out there a few months ago, by Chicago and really wanted to get down there but didn't have the time. Half of my genetic roll is from that country.
Funny factoid about El Dorado - George Harrison came to the U.S. and visited his sister who lived there at the time, back in the early 60's, before The Beatles had hit here. So technically he was the first Beatle on U.S. ground, and he visited Illinois! No idea how she came to live there, but kinda cool. Read about it a few years ago.
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waysider
During my first year in Fellowlaborers, Howie Y. was the limb leader and therefore the Fellowlaborer coordinator. It was he who "turned us on" to the sweet sounds of The Sons.
Well whatta ya know----- I guess something good came out of that program after all!
(and the Django Rhinehart stories were pretty cool too.)
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ChattyKathy
:blink:
I like her pants.
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dmiller
Ala -- you swinger you!!!!!
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ChasUFarley
sprawled - I can't find that post either... maybe it was in another forum... boggles the mind.
Here's what I know about it:
Fender issued it in the late 1970's. The designer specialized in pedal steele guitars. It was marketed to take a bite out of the Gibson market. Fender recently re-used the name on some cheap Squire-strat looking thing that sells for about $199 as a guitar starter kit (you know, the kind of thing a well-meaning grandmother would buy for her grandson who says he wants a guitar for his birthday...) Any Googles you do on Starcaster will come up with these cheap-o things.
Starcasters are rare to find - people usually keep them. Part of it is the retro look they have - and they're just a well made guitar. I've seen them go on eBay for around $2,500 to as high as $4,000. They are highly collectible.
Check out this hot auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-VINTAGE-1977-FEND...1QQcmdZViewItem
This is an auction that recently ended - if you have an eBay account, you'll be able to view this link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1976-Creamy-White-Fend...1QQcmdZViewItem
More info:
http://www.strat-central.com/starcaster.htm
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews...Starcaster/10/1
Recently, on the Ibanez forum I haunt, someone wrote about the Starcaster headstock - they said that Ibanez was copying Fender with the design of this (see photo) --
This is my bass - the Ibanez Roadster (1979)... I love that thing!
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dmiller
Chas -- I looked for that post, but couldn't find it either -- via the search feature. :(
I typed in your name, and the word *starcaster*,
and the only thing that came up are the most recent posts with your name and starcaster.
Perhaps we should invite WordWolf here to give lessons,
on how to use the search function properly!!
:D
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A la prochaine
The Swinger is back...
now.. this is old... 1958... masters playing and Herb Ellis on Guitar.
Oscar, Ray and Herb...
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ChattyKathy
She has been given some encouraging news although not quite as good as it could have been. But Sammy wanted me to thank you for your prayers. (((you)))
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sprawled out
i saw them in the 70's, the "Welcome to the Dance" version of the band--a couple of times in NY and once in CA. it was such a loose scene that i just walked backstage after the show. had a great conversation with haggerty where he told me about being backstage with george benson the night before. he was all excited, and said, "do you know what it's like, hanging out with your favorite guitarist?" i just grinned at him until he got it.
i also saw them recently in LA, kickin' a$$ in a nearly empty club. :(
fyi--if you like the original lineup, you can get their first (unreleased) album, Fat City. at amazon. it's just them being an R&B band, with some 60s sanfran-pop thrown in. but i like it.
his L-5 sound was my favorite, too. i've got an mp3 of that gold mine cut, if you want it. no charge!
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sprawled out
chas--thanks for the info. it really is a sweet-looking guitar. i have a mid-60s 335 that i almost never play because i'm addicted to my tele's maple neck--that's what really caught my attention when i saw that vh1 clip. too bad it's so far out of my price range.
funny that you mentioned "some cheap Squier-strat thing." i just got a Squier '51. it caught my eye somewhere and i started reading all the enthusiastic reviews online. so i dug down deep for the 99 bucks it cost--and i love it! the fret ends need a little work, but it plays and sounds great. like the starcaster, it has a unusual hybrid look. plus it's light as a feather, which is important in my old age.
thanks for the pic of your ibanez. it's purty.
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ChasUFarley
Keep telling yourself that... that's the mantra I give to hubby, who has a serious case of GAS (gear aquistion syndrom)
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waysider
I had an opportunity to pick up an Epiphone Viola Bass at a really good price so I grabbed it. I know it "ain't no Hofner" but I really like it. It has a short scale(30.5) and a 1.65 nut. It's semi hollow body so it is very light and I can sit and play it without having to plug in. It came with flat wound strings and when I plugged it in, I really liked the warm tone it has. It's much more inviting than my Squire P-Bass. Blues harp is still where my heart is at but I suspect I'll find myself hoisting this new(to me) bass over my shoulder frequently. If I ever get to a point where I can post pics, I'll post it along with a shot of my buddys' Micro Frets Spacetone. It's a green sort of sunburst color. I think it was called Martian Sunrise or something like that. They are also very light weight. Funny how you don't think about weight and neck size so much until the years start adding up and work starts to take its toll on the hands and wrists.
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socks
Aaah, I finally got to see your dancers A la. I am, in a word, speechless.
Love to see tha bass waysider! Sounds like a sweet deal.
If there's a way to send it sprawled out, please do. I'll post that solo up and we can shag some Hag!
Welcome to the Dance was a really cool album, seemed to catch Champlin's "new"(est) material finally. I'd seen him doing part of those songs in concert for awhile, but they were sneaking in, it seemed.
One of the things about the Sons was that they'd been doing the same tunes for years. Everytime you'd see them they'd do "1984A", "Get High", all those songs, sometimes they'd do "Jesus Is Coming" by Tim Cain and a few others that didn't make the record, and if it was a bigger concert they'd close with "Freedom". There weren't a lot of "60's" bands hitting it 'big'(ger) that had that musicianship and songwriting, Cold Blood, Tower of Power, The Loading Zone were amongst a few that come to mind right off. Bands of that era like Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother, the Dead were getting a lot of media but they weren't in the same ball park as some of these other bands that weren't heard of as much then.
The sons had vibes, Geoff Palmer was really good on them then (and he's great now). Champlin's voice was a smooth Lou Rawls, who'd been a favorite of mine for years. So when Welcome to the Dance came out it had that funkier sound and part of the "Children's Suite" that Champlin had been writing and working up with the band - "new" stuff! His voice took on a huskier tone - it was a real shift in direction from that smoother ensemble sound they'd had,, although I loved that first band's sound and the first album.
Hag storeez - waysider - Ohio? Howie?
Howie would have them, for sure. We saw some old friends this holiday, up from Texas, and we reminisced about the Sons.
Fillmore - about '70 or so - the Sons were taking the stage and as usual it took awhile for them to get settled in, lit up and on their instruments. The Fillmore was a big venue, no small gig but the Sons usually meandered onstage where they were as if they'd just wandered in off the street.
Champlin and Hag both had their big Gibson L-5's.
Haggerty was in his usual spot, off to the right and everybodys' getting tuned. He's way out of tune. Way out, and getting worse, fiddling with it. Champlin does his L-5 and then messes with the organ, Palmer's deedling on the vibes, it goes on for awhile and Haggerty's face is scrinched up and he gets progressively more and more out of tune and it's obvious he's already warmed up for "Get High", in a big way.
Finally everyone's kind of waiting and Bill looks at him and Haggerty takes the guitar off and holds it out straight armed to him like a kid and says-
"Bill....tune my guitar!"
:biglaugh: 
Champlin shook his head and took it and tuned it up and handed it back and Haggerty just stood there frozen in some very special time and place and started noodling on something and Champlin just sighed in the mic and said "one-two-three.....can ya hear it comin'...." and they were off. Amazingly Haggerty played right in the slot first beat and they were off and running.
That was one of the very special things about a Sons gig - it often seemed like it was just heading towards a train wreck just watching them trying to get set up and ready to play. If you'd talked to any of them before they played it could get - a little strange. But then they'd hit the tunes and play exceptional, night after night.
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Hope R.
My daughter traded in her original Epiphone Les Paul and added some $$ to get a a Gretsch G3978 Historic series hollow-body. It's about 7 years old but there's not a scratch on it. This isn't hers - but it's the same model.
We've got a very cool guitar shop here in Tampa called Legends. They buy and sell used instruments and have some great deals. Socks - you'd love it. The guys who run it are a couple of old guitar lovers. I hope they stay in business for a while. Guitar Center and Sam Ash seem to pull in most of the musicians here - and shops like Legends tend not to last too long.
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dmiller
Wow!! VERY nice looking guitar!! (How's the sound??)
I hear you about the smaller guitar stores. We had one back in Bloomington, Indiana,
called Tom Pickett's. Great place to hang out, nice instruments hanging on the walls too.
He eventually went out of business, because every time he got surplus $$$
in the cash register from sales he'd made during the previous week or so --
he closed up shop, and went on vacation somewhere!!
If you needed a new set of strings or something --
you never knew if he was going to be open,
when you went there to purchase them!
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TheInvisibleDan
After some recent visits to my nearest "Sam Ash" and "Guitar Center" (where I recently acquired a 30 watt Vox "Valvomatic" amp and a compact digital eight
track recorder) - I was particularly discouraged over the quality of various high-priced guitars at Guitar Center - their $2000 Gretsch Country Gentleman was an absolute joke-
I determined all the more to redo my old homemade electric guitar. I've decided to transform it into a "Les Gretschenbacker".
I picked up some new gold hardware including a Bigsby, made a brass control plate, and acquired a new ebony fingerboard for redoing the neck. I've got my work cut out for me in the weeks ahead. :)
I'll post some pics when completed.
Danny
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socks
Hey there, Hope! I checked her space out - nice! Proud Mom! :)
That's a nice guitar! I found another one here -
Some information and a big ol' pic here
Gretsch's have a great sound, I was surprised looking at some recently. Found an Electromatic hollow body that played very well, and at a much better price than the 2k + that Invisible Dan's talking about. The CG's played well but I didn't get from here to there on the price. Great guitar!!
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A la prochaine
Socks,
Glad you enjoyed the dancing
Now this is my new found love...KT TUNSTALL
She was adopted ... she has asian blood but raised in Scotland...
Cool sound... VERY PERCUSSIVE... I LOVE IT!
I love this one too KT doing Jackson Five!!! Sweet!
I should say that I was given a CD at Christmas by my very good friend Dougie73 and its called Cities 97 Sampler - 2006. Cities 97 is a public radio station in his state.
He has sent me this Cities' Sampler over the past few years. It's a CD made from their guest singers and at the end of the year they put together this album from some of their guests.
They are usually up and coming talent or sometimes not. But the stuff is usually done unplugged and it's usually some of the coolest and most ecclectic sounds around.
Bonnie Raitt was on the newest album he sent me.
Dougie.. wherever you are this afternoon...THANK YOU for all the most amazing music!
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TheInvisibleDan
Waysider,
I had tried an Epiphone viola bass at "Guitar Center", which turned out to be the highlight of my recent visit there. They're very interesting looking and sounding guitars.
I've been considering the Rogue model (along with an order of Labella or Pyramid flatwound strings). It would be nice to at least have a bass on hand for recording.
And I like the idea of a more acoustic bass tone.
Danny
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TheInvisibleDan
BTW, a correction to my earlier post - when I mentioned I picked up a new Vox ADVT 30 "Valvomatic" amp I actually meant "Valvotronix" (lol) - can't keep up with these new fangled gear names. It's turning out to a great "combo amp" so far. Love all the "modeling amp" and f/x built in. For a small amp it's plenty loud enough for practicing and recording. Not to mention how nice it is to be able to carry it with one hand.
Solid state amps have certainly come a long way.
Danny
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