Tag: fender

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The Guitar: 1964

Download a five-page scan from “A World Of Music,” Fall 1964: the subject is ‘the guitar,’ and we are treated to a visit to the Gibson guitar factory.

DOWNLOAD: A_World_Of_Music_Fall1964

AFAIK, this piece on the Gibson plant has not been reprinted anywhere… not sure if there are any actual insights here but what the hell.  Alright so…  haven’t been updating the site too often lately and it’s not for a lack of subject matter.  My lord do I ever have a big pile of new (old) stuff to upload. Just been short on time. Working hard tryin to make some dinero to pay for all the wonderful things in life…  like a new timing belt for my VW.  Love/hate cars.  OK NEways… Anyone out there playin an old Fender Jaguar?

Saw this ad in the aforementioned issue of ” A World of etc.”  I use a 1968 Jaguar (with flatwounds) pretty much everyday… it’s one of my regular electrics in my lil home writing studio.  It sounds great but my god does it ever play badly, even after two ‘PRO’ setups.  Anyone?

 

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Guitar Equipment

Misc Electric Guitar bits c. 1966

Above: Tony Mottola with a Gibson ES -355 in 1966.

Misc Fender guitars circa 1966: a Coronado 2, an acoustic (perhaps a Villager?), a Jaguar, and the humble Musicmaster.

Above: the very rare Gretsch Fury Amp circa 1966.  This is actually a fairly unique amplifier.  There is one on eBay right now that’s about to sell and it has two output transformers: whether this is a 2-way system or perhaps an dry/effects split operation or panning tremolo I cannot tell.  Can anyone provide a schematic for this unit?  It does not seem to be currently available on the ‘net.

Above: The Harmony Silhouette guitar circa 1966.  I passed on an unplayed, flawless example of this thing for $175 last year and wow do i regret it.  While not a great instrument in most senses, in the right hands these Harmonys have a zing-y percussive tone that cannot be imitated.  The instrument’s personality comes across even in the iphone-audience-recording that’s i’ve inserted below.  Great Lennon-meets-Hendrix playing here.  Also btw check out how Annie Clark (or her FOH guy,,,) flips on the vox ADT effect for the choruses.  Great performance all around.

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Guitar Equipment

A Lost Fender Guitar Design – The ‘Acoustic-Electric’ of 1965

Looking through some old Fender Guitar Catalogs, I came across this unusual entry.

Behold the Fender Acoustic-Electric as it appears in the Fender 1965 Catalog (see catalog cover at right).  I have never come across any record of this instrument before, and yet there it is… photographed…  so at least one of them was made.

The Acoustic-Electric is pretty clearly the ancestor of the Fender Coronado, Fender’s ill-fated Gibson ES-335 competitor.  The  Coronado was sold from 1966 through 1972.   There are a few notable differences between the Coronado and the Acoustic-Electric tho – the pickup design, the tailpiece design, bridge style, and the knob/switch placement.  We also see a dot-neck on a two-pickup instrument (Coronados had block inlays on the 2-pickup instruments and dot-necks with single pickups), as well as the classic Fender headstock shape rather than the soft lower bout of the Coronado headstock.  Taken in total, these small changes seem to represent a deliberate attempt to make the Coronado a more ‘rock/pop’ instrument than the somewhat ‘classier,’ ‘jazzier’ Acoustic -Electric.  This change in direction would seem to correspond neatly with Fender’s purchase by CBS.  I have to wonder if the Acoustic-Electric represented the thinking of Fender’s old-guard, which lost influence once CBS took charge.  Who knows.  Anyway, has anyone ever come across a Fender Acoustic-Electric?  Or were they all destroyed?  Anyone?

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Guitar Equipment

Bass c. ’70

Just a few random things today that caught my eye.  The Hagstrom 8-string bass pictured above with players Noel Redding, among others, was recently re-issued.  seems like not a bad choice for live rock bands.   Tom Petersson of the not-terrible band Cheap Trick has used a similar contraption for years.   Yes I am joking btw Cheap Trick is rad.  ANYways…

Good lord.  Just in case the SVT is not big/heavy/loud enough for you, Fender swings back with 435 watt PS-400.  I have only seen one of these in my life; can’t recall when/where.  Great fan-site for these amps here…  interesting picks of melted (like, literally) 6550 tubes from some sort of biasing-mishap.  Proceed with caution…

The Fender Precision bass in classic James Jamerson trim.  Who is James Jamerson?  Books have been written…  but you can start here. Kinda invented maybe 25% of the electric bass guitar lexicon?  Rough guess.

The electric bass Jamerson played was a stock 1962 Fender Precision Bass which was dubbed “The Funk Machine.” Jamerson bought it after his first Precision (a gift from fellow bassist Horace “Chili” Ruth) was stolen. It had a three-tone sunburst finish, a tortoise-shell style pickguard, and chrome pickup and bridge covers (the latter containing a piece of foam used to dampen sustain). He typically set its volume and tone knobs on full. This instrument was also stolen, just days before Jamerson’s death in 1983. To date, it has not been found.

(source)

 

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Guitar Equipment Pro Audio Archive Publications

Fender Album Of Stars Promotional Magazine c. 1968

Download the entire 32-page Fender ‘album of stars’ promotional magazine, circa 1968:

DOWNLOAD PART 1: FenderAlbumofStars1

DOWNLOAD PART 2: FenderAlbumOfStars2

Apologies for the weird alias-ing.  I’ll get better at scanning eventually.

A special PreservationSound nod to Merry-Go-Round frontman Emitt Rhodes (standing), aka the father of home recording.  IF you are not familiar with Rhodes and his outstanding work, check him out…Also be sure to scope this amazing early music video for one of his best tracks. “Hey how do we let people know that he plays EVERYTHING on these recordings?”

Some of the images in this 32-page ‘album’ have been reproduced often; for instance, the highly-dubious Dylan-with-Jazz Bass.  Many, though, have never been seen by those who do not possess the actual document. This is a fairly rare item these days, as it was created with the intention of being cut-up and pinned to one’s wall.  There are actually cut-lines printed in the margin of each page.  So dig in….

Artists include:  Union Gap, Mike Bloomfield and the Electric Flag, Brenda Lee and the Casuals, The Fifth Dimension, Sebastiao Neto with Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, Oscar Mesa and Mike Saluzzi with Roger Williams, The Merry-Go-Round, Vic Gaskin with Cannonball Adderley, Oscar Brown Jr., Herman’s Hermits, Chad and Jeremy, Bob Dylan, Wayne Newton, Sonny and Cher, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Lee Michaels, Noel Harrison, Edgar Willis and Barry Rillera with Ray Charles, Ian and Sylvia, The James Cotton Blues Band, Duke Ellington and Mercer Ellington, The Beach Boys, Don Ellis (check the prototype echo ((?)) unit), The Baja Marimba Band, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The First Edition (feat. Kenny Rogers on a Coronado Bass II), Rick Nelson and James Nelson, The Chambers Brothers, The Byrds, and a dude who apparently played a Stratocaster guitar named Jimi Hendrix.