Mojorule

Indeed Nick. You begin to restore my faith in the idea that Americans do actually know the date of Pearl Harbor. The linked marketing material from the big G admen themselves had left me wondering. Check out the first sentence of the blurb: Mystic Rosewood Clouds the Dates The rosewood may be mystic, but the ad writing is just plain mystifying.

Thanks!

First Soundcloud recording. An old chestnut as it were. The Woody's been out of action for a couple of weeks till today, for lack of a high E string. Fingers a bit out of action too. And recording makes me hyper-nervous. Still could have been worse. http://soundcloud.com/mojorule/wildwoody-flower

No indeed Bob, and you are right, but I'm still going to boost the value of my Woody and Parlour Man's by stating that the first half of 2011 was undoubtedly the best moment in Bozeman's history for the manufacture of Gibson slopeshoulders. If we make this statement enough it will become self-fulfilling. PM, please chime in and back me up here! Also to the effect that the Woody is like a True Vintage model with bracing that is truer to the banner-era originals.

Until I saw Danny's '59, I was going to cut-away through the jungle, and suggest that the difference in pick-up position might have something to do with the difference between Florence and Venice - with pick-ups in the Florentine format separated from the neck by plenty of dry land, while in the Venetian format the sea has washed away the gap. At least all of the Nugent guitars pictured have Florentine cutaways and a gap between neck and pup, while the Clapton guitar and the other blonde with no such gap are both Venetians. But now that '59 is muddying the waters. It may be that Danny's Venetian with more space is an exception, or it may be that these rare Byrds are all unique. Still perhaps a useful hypothesis?

Hi Cin. The best thing to do would be to PM John Thomas (jt here). He doesn't post here any more, but he is still on the system. If that fails, come back to me, and I'll PM him. He is the expert on all things banner, and does tend to get back to people one way or another when it comes to questions in his field. It's just a question of whether the PM gets through ti him. If I remember right (still confused over small bodies) John owns an LG2 from the era as well as his beautiful 1943 SJ. For what it's worth, I have read that Russ Barenberg's maple-backed banner J45 has laminate back and sides. If that instrument is anything to go by, I'd guess that the maple-backed LG2s are laminate too. I imagine, though, that the maple-topped banners actually have a solid top, but all of these matters would be best dealt with by John Thomas. RAR Bob might have some information too.

Playing? Or playing with?

Huey Morgan had some love for and fun with his Chet in the mid 1990s... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ-ab6TNpac

So hard to see everything that's going on with the less common semis (harder to make out bout size on a big jazzer than a long pickguard on a 335). But shorter scale length on that neck too? Similar outline to the Chet, though, and that whammy. PS. It was a revelation to me that Scotty Moore's squeeze in recent years is a customized Chet - I'd seen him with it on a documentary or two, and never noticed how shallow it was. Too busy looking at the fingers tailpiece, I think.

Does his have a deeper body? Looks that way.

The CG was smiling Bob Smith's guitar of choice when the Cure were going through their happy phase in the 1990s... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96yNiNu5xE0 In black of course, though I seem to remember seeing him with a sunburst one in one film. Yours are rather nicer looking, I must say, chaps. Love cherry in any case, Searcy, but always thought that the sunrise orange was this model's stand-out colour, Husker... Glad you've found others who play the same model. I note that the semis section is a bit slow, partly because most of us play different models (I've not encountered anybody else here who plays a Howard Roberts, though they're not necessarily all that rare). But then even the 335 players don't pipe up very often. Perhaps they're too happy playing their instruments. The secret to playing fast up the neck on semis like this is to do like the jazz guys and get your thumb out from behind the neck and rest it in front of your fingers. Even on the HR with its deep, 'easy access' cut-away, the heel is just too fat to allow serious playing high up the neck with the thumb resting on the back of the neck. Playing without the thumb support takes some getting used to, and you can't play riffs and scales in exactly the same way as you would on a 335, SG or LP, but it sort of frees you up and does allow some faster playing. I grew up playing like this on classical, but less often and less fast than electric playing might call for, and it still needed practice when I got the HR.

Cleanhead Blues - Eddie Cleanhead Vinson

Interesting. I'd understood that '81 was when they returned to stop bar and dot neck. Am I just completely wrong about this or was it a change that occurred in the course of that year? Adrian Utley of Portishead used to be very keen on his Norlin-era 335, I believe, and sounded good on it. Not sure I'd want the trapeze, but the coil tap would be a very nice tool.

'The Tears of a Clown' - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.

'I Can See for Miles' - The Who.

'Je t'aime... moi non plus' - Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. OR 'Stand and deliver!' - Adam and the Ants.

'Live and Let Die' - Paul McCartney and Wings

'Stray Cat Strut' - Stray Cats. Or, as Pippy is a renowned francophile, 'Armstrong' - Claude Nougaro.

Well, we know that JC has looked at love from both sides now... She's not alone though. Neil Young is a (repeat) exception to the rule as well. I did want to go with 'Santa Baby' - Eartha Kitt, but my link to the site keeps breaking down, so too slow. Then I wanted to try 'Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)' - John Fred and his Playboy Band, but too slow again. That one also high on my list of top tunes... This one not high on my list of top tunes, but can't resist: 'In the Brownies' - Billy Connolly

No getting you away from (the underrated?) Stephen Stills on this page it seems, Pippy! Still let's give it a go... 'National Express' - The Divine Comedy.

'Rock the Casbah', The (incorruptible) Clash.

Oh no, I love them too. You know, ridiculous in a good way. And especially Noddy Holder, that scream-growl thing. A loon in loons and a top hat. With an SG. Ace indeed. And if Dave Hill became Ace Frehley, then who was Gene Simmons in a previous life? (Enough Merry Xmas Everybody though. It is infectious, and it once brought a good dose of comic realism to proceedings, but somehow the acidity of it has been worn away...) Oh and: from 'Identity', X-Ray Spex to 'Sister Ray', Velvet Underground

'Mama Weer All Crazee Now' - (the ridiculous) Slade

Beautiful, Matt - my favourite classical guitar composer, and the only one remaining in my tiny repertoire (can still just about get through Preludes 3 and 4 and Étude 1 on a good day with the wind behind me, but I never finished learning the first prelude). Also had to do a double-take on the venue which I know well from a past life, as I didn't recognize the altarpiece, but did recognize just about everything else. Checked on your website, and see that you are due to return to Hertford College - this was filmed in the Chapel there, wasn't it?