The Totally Miscellaneous non-Alembic Guitar and Bass Thread

[Nova Constellatio]

New amp day!








I know, I know, it isn't a guitar...

It's the second head down in that black and white picture of the strange man jumping around.

[cozmik_cowboy]

A buddy of mine sent me this November 1974 price list from Mandolin Bros. It's both interesting and funny to think about what some of these instruments' current values are.



*I gotsta' get back to work on that time machine... 🤨🤣

$2500 for a '36 D-28?  $3000 for a '34??  Let me grab the checkbook; I'll take them both!
Actually, back then I would have been aghast.  That was the year everybody was mad at Stills for driving up prices by paying all of $10,000 for a '39 D-45 (in his defense, he was saving it; it was a bidding war with a Japanese builder who wanted to dissect it to see why it was a "39 D-45.  Go, Steve!)

Peter

That same '34 is currently for sale at $400k. It's considered and debated to be the most original example of a first-year 14-fret D-28. Remains to be seen if anyone pays that.

*I wouldn't if had it, and another $400k under the mattress. I don't buy guitars for investment, and that's all that one would be. They're fantastic instruments. I played a '34 D-18 once that remains the yardstick by which my brain still measures a lot of guitar parameters. I played a '36 D-28 Tthat made my socks roll up and down spontaneously. But neither of them sounded $395,000 better than any guitar in my current locker. Better, yes. Not that much better.

I have played a New York Martin & a 1900 00-21; 2 of the finest I've ever come across.  The NY was under a guy's couch, and not for sale; the store wanted, IIRC, $4700 for the 00-21 (this would have been about 15 years ago), and if I'd had it, I would have paid it in a second.
Don't think I'd go into 5 figures for either one, though; as you said - better?  Yes.  That much better?  Nope.

I once played both a '51 "Nocaster" & a '51 Tele, 2 serial numbers apart - so probably the last No & 2nd Tele, or 2nd-last No & 1st Tele.  It was a thrill to play such history.  And they were awful; I might have gone $1000 for the pair.
The store wanted - and soon after got - $13,000 for each.........

Yep; instruments, not investments.

Peter

[David Houck]

New amp day!

Wow; congrats!

[David Houck]

"Clapton's Guitar: Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument" by Allen St. John is a wonderful book that anyone interested in guitars would thoroughly enjoy.

Bill, tgo

So, a reviewer said there are not many pictures in the book.  There are used hardcovers and paperbacks available at reasonable prices, new paperbacks that are reasonable, and ebooks that are reasonable.  If there were pictures, the hardcover might be the way to go; but if pictures aren't an issue (and paperback fonts are often too small for me to read easily), then I might want to order the ebook.

Anybody who's read the book want to make a recommendation on format?

[lbpesq]

It was one of the last paperbacks I read prior to switching to the Kindle app on my iPad, so it was several years ago.  I don't recall a lot of photos.

Bill, tgo

[edwardofhuncote]

"Clapton's Guitar: Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument" by Allen St. John is a wonderful book that anyone interested in guitars would thoroughly enjoy.

Bill, tgo

So, a reviewer said there are not many pictures in the book.  There are used hardcovers and paperbacks available at reasonable prices, new paperbacks that are reasonable, and ebooks that are reasonable.  If there were pictures, the hardcover might be the way to go; but if pictures aren't an issue (and paperback fonts are often too small for me to read easily), then I might want to order the ebook.

Anybody who's read the book want to make a recommendation on format?

It was one of the last paperbacks I read prior to switching to the Kindle app on my iPad, so it was several years ago.  I don't recall a lot of photos.

Bill, tgo

My copy is/was also paperback. There were a few pictures in it, but not that many. Most, IIRC, were to illustrate the people being mentioned. (the cast of characters I said that occasionally show up in Wayne's shop)

Here's our Wayne Henderson story; Dad and me were working on a Gibson Style 11 neck... one of those lower-end models they made with less hardware than the Mastertone models, had pearloid fingerboards with red and black painted inlays. Instead of the wood having a traditional transparent finish they used plainer quality and painted Style 11 (and 10) in solid opaque colors... green, blue, red, black. We were converting a TB-11 to RB- making a 5-string of it.

I don't remember why Dad used walnut for that neck, I just do, as it should have been maple... probably just what he had, and it either didn't matter because it was getting painted blue, or he didn't care for the extra 'snap' of maple necks. Personally, I like maple because it takes finish well. Anyway, we had sourced the Mother-Of-Toilet-Seat material for the fingerboard and headstock veneer, and I had a pattern to go by for a stencil. Some were red, some were black, and it would be tricky, but I thought it was do-able. The neck was completed all but fretting and that, plus one other detail I had no clue how to do... the edges of the fingerboard needed a slight blue 'burst' effect. Here's what a real one looks like:



I couldn't do this with the paint. Plus there was the stenciled inlay to avoid... I was stuck. I don't remember how it came up, but I remember where the conversation happened; we were in line for banjo competition at the Old Fiddlers Convention in Galax... I was backing up a couple guys including my Ol' Man, and Wayne was up there for the same reason. He comes every year. I'm guessing somehow we got on shop talk and he was interested someone was making an RB-11 neck. Long story shorter, Wayne said he could do the stenciled inlay and blue shading for us, and he did... wouldn't take a nickel for it. Knowing his love of knives, Dad bought him a handmade one from a knifemaker he knew in West Virginia. I can't tell you the guy's name but it has a stag handle with a bear carved into the end of the handle. Came in a handstitched leather sheath. It's more of a presentation than something you'd make guitars with.

I've lost track of that banjo. The lady we made it for died several years ago and her widowed husband sold it. The only identifying mark I left was a small trademark 'honeybee'. The rest is Gibson copy. And if anyone happens to study the unfinished endgrain at the heel, they'll see it's black walnut. 

[edwardofhuncote]

New amp day!








I know, I know, it isn't a guitar...

It's the second head down in that black and white picture of the strange man jumping around.

There's a quote in Ken Caillat's book "Making Rumours" about Lindsey Buckingham smoking one of those Hiwatts every week or so, attributed to the output of the Alembic Stratoblaster circuit Rick Turner had put in his Strat. There are so many other goofy assertions in there, I take that with a couple grains of salt. 

Cool, that you were able to curate that one. 😎

[David Houck]

It was one of the last paperbacks I read prior to switching to the Kindle app on my iPad, so it was several years ago.  I don't recall a lot of photos.

Bill, tgo

Downloaded the Kindle version last night and started reading.

[Nova Constellatio]

New amp day!








I know, I know, it isn't a guitar...

It's the second head down in that black and white picture of the strange man jumping around.

There's a quote in Ken Caillat's book "Making Rumours" about Lindsey Buckingham smoking one of those Hiwatts every week or so, attributed to the output of the Alembic Stratoblaster circuit Rick Turner had put in his Strat. There are so many other goofy assertions in there, I take that with a couple grains of salt.

Cool, that you were able to curate that one. 😎

I was lucky — a friend of mine created a program that scrapes the internet for newly listed vintage gear, and this popped up. It was priced at a level that made it impossible to say no.

[cozmik_cowboy]

It was one of the last paperbacks I read prior to switching to the Kindle app on my iPad, so it was several years ago.  I don't recall a lot of photos.

Bill, tgo

Downloaded the Kindle version last night and started reading.

I think Amazon just dropped the paperback on the porch.

Peter

[cozmik_cowboy]

It was one of the last paperbacks I read prior to switching to the Kindle app on my iPad, so it was several years ago.  I don't recall a lot of photos.

Bill, tgo

Downloaded the Kindle version last night and started reading.

I think Amazon just dropped the paperback on the porch.

Peter

They did, indeed; I have stuff out of the library I need to get trough & return before I dive in - but I'm excited!

Peter