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Gretsch Duo-Jet |
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This is the Duo-Jet model as played by Cliff Gallup on early Gene Vincent records. Quite unusual to find one of these in the sunburst finish as most are either black or have sparkle finishes (usually silver). This particular version is about 10 years old and was one of the original reissue series when the Gretsch brand relaunched in the 1990s. The humbucker pickups are extremely powerful and the Bigsby tremolo works a treat - without sending the guitar out of tune. The neck pick-up gives a warm, mellow, jazzy tone; simply switch to the bridge pick-up for wild 50s rock n roll sounds...
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My first 'proper' guitar which I learnt to
play on. Sounds better and better the older it
gets.
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A
gift from a cousin - looks pretty cool and is typical of the sort of
thing you'd have as your first electric guitar if you'd grown up in
the 60's. Unfortunately it's almost unplayable - the action is
terrible, the hardware is appalling quality etc. Makes you
realise how far 'student' guitars have improved in the last 20-30
years. Nonetheless, it looks pretty good - I used to have it
up on my dining room wall in the old house as a display
item.
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Still
the coolest bass you can buy ! Actually a late 80s
version of the greatest original design which has been going for
nearly 50 years and still looks great. This one originally had
a white pickguard - the tortoiseshell guard I added later to give it
the authentic 60's look - identical to Jet Harris' bass on the cover
of the first Shadows LP...
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These Jaguar guitars were Fender's 'Top-of-the-Range'
model in the 60s and were favoured by many of the surf bands of the
era. Forgotten for years, they were resurrected when many of the
90s 'Indie' groups suddenly decided these were cool guitars to play.
Essentially, not as versatile or practical as the evergreen Stratocaster
but nonetheless a great looking (and sounding) instrument. This
reissue comes with gold-plated hardware and an unusual blonde finish.
The intricate switching system features 2 circuits for rhythm and treble.
It's a nostalgic tribute to a lost era and it looks cool.
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Beautifully made large-bodied jazzer from the early 90s. These came and went pretty quickly, launched before archtop electrics became popular again, they only sold in small numbers and would make quite a rare find nowadays. I bought this one new about 10 years ago.
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Bought secondhand in September 03, this is a faithful reproduction of the
famous Hofner 'Beatles' bass. Has a nice vintage feel to it
and, thanks to the twin pick-ups, a broad range of sounds.
Actually hollow rather than solid-bodied, the neck pick-up gives
quite an effective double-bass sound.
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I swapped a Hofner Congress and an
Epiphone J200 acoustic (neither of which played very well) for
this beauty. Sounds nice acoustically but can also be plugged
in - the pick-up is located under the bridge.
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Great
lightweight travel guitar which can be slung in the boot of the car
whenever you go on holiday. Although tiny, the neck of the
instrument is full-size, allowing you to play as normal without
having to adjust to narrower fret spacing etc. Nicely finished
in satin natural wood. This is the steel-string version; also
available as a classical nylon-string with wider neck.
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Essentially an SM58 under the skin, this has
the classic looks of a 40s/50s microphone but with up-to-date
performance. Used this whenever performing solo or with my
3-piece rock n roll band, The Runaway Boys.
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A
reissue of one of the great classic valve amplifiers of the
1960s. Sounds incredibly nostalgic when playing Shadows or
Duane Eddy instrumentals with the Jaguar guitar - just crank up the
reverb a bit and you're back in 1962...
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A classic
line-up: '62 Jaguar, '62 Vibroverb amplifier, '61 Precision
Bass and late '50s Stratocaster...
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Latest addition to the collection...
This is a modern day reissue of the classic 50's shape Strat and sounds absolutely spot-on for those early 60's Shadows numbers. The colour is an original 'custom' colour: Surf Green
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I made this from a kit I bought on eBay back
in the summer. Usually these are about £125.00 but I picked
this up for £50.00. It comes in kit form with all the parts
you need to build it; I painted the body using car spray and
lacquer. The finished result is amazingly good - not too far
off the genuine Fender version in most respects. Upgrading the
pickups and hardware would make it even better, although this is
nit-picking: for £50.00 it represents a bargain AND it was a
fun project too.
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A modern-day version of the Watkins
Copycat tape delay used on countless records from the 50s and early
60s. Sounds just like the original but without all the tape
hassles...
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The Hofner Congress (left) looked very nice
but was essentially a beginners 'budget' guitar from around
1959. Used it for various publicity shots.
Surprisingly loud, but almost impossible to get in tune
accurately owing to poor intonation which I never managed to
fix.
The Epiphone is a copy of the Gibson model favoured by Elvis Presley in his 1970s stage act. Looked superb but not that impressive to play. Amazingly, despite it's size, it was relatively quiet (perhaps due to it's weight plus the laminated top?). Never managed to get the action quite right on this one either. Swapped both of these for the more upmarket Ibanez. Why have 2 virtually unplayable guitars when you can have one good one which suits your needs perfectly (and can also be plugged in).?
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