GOTD Rickenbacker 370\12

Currently Ed Roman Guitars in America is selling the Original Roger McGuinn Rickenbacker that was used on all the hit songs of the 60's. Yours for a mere  $750.000.00 . This is the one from all the TV Shows & almost every original hit song performed by 'The Byrds'.

Of this guitar Roger McGuinn says:

"We went as a group to see A Hard Day’s Night multiple times and were totally taken with The Beatles. I liked George Harrison’s Rickenbacker 360/12, but I couldn’t find one that looked like his with the pointy cutaways, so I bought the blonde 360 model. I thought it was beautiful, like a golden palomino and the checkerboard binding reminded me of Gene Autry or Roy Rogers. I loved that guitar and played it eight hours a day. It was later stolen and I discovered that it was auctioned off in England for over $100,000. Given the statute of limitations and the difficulty in dealing with laws in a foreign country, there wasn’t much I could do, even though I considered myself the legal and rightful owner."

If your jingle jangles can't quite afford this then you can always settle for a reissue Rickenbacker 370\12 RM 

 

 

Michael Hedges Guitar Tunings

Many people are not aware of the great acoustic guitar player Michael Hedges. His  wonderful groundbreaking playing  has influenced  many guitar players.

His first two albums Breakfast in the Field and Aerial Boundaries  were milestones for the acoustic guitar and continue to inspire and influence.

He attended Phillips University, then Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore studying composition and classical guitar

Classical and jazz musicians quickly took note of his complex compositional abilities while the rockers appreciated his sense of rhythm and driving melodies.   

He wrote nearly exclusively in open tunings (all listed here) Some of the techniques he used include slap harmonics (created by slapping the strings over a harmonic node), use of right hand hammer-ons (particularly on bass notes), use of the left hand for melodic or rhythmic hammer-ons and pull offs, percussive slapping on the guitar body.

He was also a master on the harp guitar an instrument with additional bass strings (see picture), and the Trans-Trem Guitar. He was a multi-instrumentalist  playing piano, percussion, tin whistle, harmonica, and flute, among others.
   

Tragically he died in a car accident in 1993, he was 43 years old.

GOTD: Gibson Explorer

The Explorer made its debut in 1958 it offered a radical "futuristic" body design which was the final development of a prototype design which years later Gibson marketed under the name Futura.
The Explorer's initial run was unsuccessful, and the model was discontinued in 1959.

In 1976, Gibson began reissuing the Explorer and it was around this time I fell for the sleek design after seeing a photo of Eric Clapton playing one and watching Rick Nielson of 'Cheap Trick' playing his Hamer Explorer on "Top Of The Pops" from the "Cheap Trick at Budokan" video (his stage persona was very influential on me), I was lucky enough to have two Explorers made for me by the one and only Melvyn Hiscock and these were my stock guitars for about seven years until the arrival of 'The Edge' and various metal bands brandishing them along with Flying V's with legs in full wide apart mode proved too much for me.

           (Tweets 1979:  And I was worried about the legs wide apart Rock bands!)

Winter Warmer ( Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe)

Most musicians I know love food. I find myself in this category so I feel the odd recipe would not go amiss here. 

Seeing all the shops stocking up for Christmas I got to thinking about an old favourite... the dreaded Sprouts...mmmmn. 

Like Marmite you love them or hate them. So for all the sprout lovers here is a nice looking simple recipe that puts a different slant on the little green balls of fun (you could also try rolling them in Marmite)

Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

 Active Time: 15 minutes    Total Time: 30 minutes

Recipe Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 3 tubs (10 oz each) Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Recipe Preparation

1. Heat oven to 500ºF. Line a rimmed 15 x 10-in. baking sheet with nonstick foil. Mix oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a large ziptop bag. Add sprouts, seal and turn to coat.

2. Spread on prepared baking sheet. Roast 15 minutes, or until crisp-tender when pierced. Sprinkle with lemon zest and juice; toss to coat.




From Woman's Day | November 15, 2005

Guitar Of The Day

Last night I was lucky enough too play on this beauty. 

It's a  1962 Gretsch 6122 Country Gentleman (walnut finish) gold hardware, Neo-Classic inlays, dial-up mutes, Gretsch Bigsby vibrato, two Filter'Tron pickups, made famous by George Harrison (after his 1957 Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet semi-solid mahogany body, black finish, silver pick-guard; Serial #21179, boy I'm an anorack!).  

In May 1963 Harrison upgraded to this more deluxe Gretsch he found at Sound City London, and after removing the mutes  (and later the bass-side screw-up knob) used it extensively for touring and recording (first on "She Loves You" and then With The Beatles).   It's also seen in the famous Royal Command performance. 

When this guitar went into the shop for repair, Sound City gave him another one, but while in the shop this first Gent was stolen.  It was later recovered, and Harrison, by then prefered his second Gent.
The Gent met its fate on a roadway.  On 2 December 65 the Beatles' limo, bound for Glasgow for the first stop of the band's last British tour, hit a bump at Berwick on Tweed.  The first Gent had been lashed to the boot and came untied, and it wound up on the road. When Ringo Starr noticed a trucker flashing his lights, he notified the driver, Alf Bicknell, who pulled over.  "You've just lost a banjo back down the road," the trucker told Alf.  Alf broke the news to Lennon, who told him that if he found the banjo, the driver would get a bonus: he could keep his job.  Alf doubled back and found it (in pieces)  but kept his job anyway.  As the band was in a hurry, they left the pieces in the road and kept going.
 
George would later switch to a Gretsch Tennessean and his Country Gentleman made its last appearance in the music video of 'You're Going To Lose That Girl'  where you can really hear its tone in the solo, (check out Ringo's ciggie) from the movie 'Help!' 

I really enjoyed playing my friends guitar (which incidentally is for sale so let me know if you are interested in owning a piece of rock and roll history, if only I had the money....sigh) it has a surprisingly good action and once I got used to the electronics I managed to get some cracking authentic sounds and would love to have tried this cranked up through my Blackstar Artisan 30, I don't think I would have been able to put it down.

Hysteria Never Repeats by Martin Bird

Hysteria Never Repeats by Martin Bird

Les Cheval by Martin Bird

Les Cheval by Martin Bird