Make Music — An Affair of the Heart!

[Dendy Jarrett]

Have you ever had a favorite piece of gear? If so what was it? Do you still have it or did you let it get away?

 

 

Read The Article:

 

http://www.harmonycentral.com/articles/making-music---an-affair-of-the-heart

 

 

 

 

 

[Mikeo]

I do have a favorite piece of gear. My collection of really decent guitars goes back to 1980. That was the year I graduated from HS and landed a summer job working construction. It started that fall with the purchase of an SG Standard form a local dealer that sold Gibson guitars and other big names out of his 2 car garage. I also purchased a used Strat made in 1976, that I bought off a local guitarist for 300 dollars. I don't remember purchasing any gear in 1981, but in 82 I purchased a Goldtop Les Paul Standard from the same dealer.

 

In 1983, I was slumming around the streets of NYC on 48th Street and purchased a 52 Tele RI ( Looks like Springsteen's guitar), the again in 1984 a second strat would follow, which is a 57 RI.

 

This is kind of a lead up story to my favorite guitar that has been with me for over 3 decades. I believe this guitar also came from SAM ASH on 48th. It is a 62 Fender edge bound telecaster. In 1984 William Schulz took over Fender, and the Fullerton plant was closed. Schultz built a brand new facility in Corona. While the Corona plant was getting up to speed, many Vintage RI orders were filled with Fender in Japan. Many of these guitar were imported to the UK and USA. Colors available were cherry, sunburst and I have heard there was a black that I have never seen. The guitars as I'm aware of did not come in a tweed case like the American made RI of the previous years. I have my 62 tele in the same plastic SBK Fender label case that I bought with the guitar on the same day.

 

The neck is a bit chunkier than what is on my 52 Tele RI, and that's probably due to the rose wood fret board. It took me a bit getting used to it, and I just loved the tons it delivered, over and above the strats that I own. It have been with me through countless bands and many clubs shows, including the now defunct, CBGB's, The Ratskeller in Boston and many many other not so famous dives. What actually was going to be a back up guitar, turned in to the perfect guitar. I can take this guitar and toss it through a 65 Fender Deluxe RI and pretty much nail the tones I want without a OD.

 

I was think over the past few years or so, I should have it re-fretted, there's some nice wear on the frets and it would not hurt.

 

One of my favorite amps is no longer with me. That was a Fender Tweed Deluxe made at the Corona plant. I put it on carpet on a cellar floor, and covered it with plastic to keep dirt and dust of it. Some how moisture built up under the amps and by the time I noticed it, the tweed was just disintegrated of the thing. I actually recovered it with new tweed and sold the amp cheap. This was the American made amp that would turn into the MIM HRD Blues Junior, Blues Deluxe and Blues DeVilles.

 

I almost never sell or trade any gear I have owned, but over the decades several amazing amps I did sell. I had a bunch of Mesa Boogie early rectifiers, one being the Tremoverb in a 2x12 combo. Amazing amp, but it was just shy of 100 lbs. Not only was it 100 lbs, but it was in a very wide body cabinet. I almost buckled over loading it in to the car the day I purchased it. 15 years later, it didn't get any lighter. When I sold that amp, I bought ta Dr Z Maz 18 1x12 combos with reverb and there eq mod. The Dr Z is much more manageable, but not the same. I do like it a lot.

 

My rule of thumb is don't sell gear you buy along the way. Some of my Fender and Gibson stuff have really climbed in value in the used gear market over the decades. In my hands that original SG Standard fits me like a glove.

 

 

If you would like I will copy this into your An Affair of the Heart Article. Let me know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dendy Jarrett]

That'd be great Mikeo.

 

Love the stories.

 

My first drum set was not mine, rather our band director let me sign out the school's 1978 Ludwig Vistalite Quadra Plus outfit for a summer. He knew it would set the drum hook deep!

Then my Dad purchased me a 1967 Ludwig Classic (22BD, 13MT, 16FT with a chrome Supraphonic) in white marine pearl. I then found a church that had a kit they called me to gain a knowledge of the value of. That kit was a 1965 Ludwig Jazzette kit (20BD, 12MT, 14FT) in white marine pearl that was purchased new for the church, and put in a closet (in the boxes) and never used. I picked that kit up in 1979 for $150 donation to the church.

 

So, like most drummers who were teenagers would do, I joined those two kits together to create a double bass kit with two mounted toms and two floor toms. The Jazzette never left the house until I went to college. Then it became the kit I used for Jazz for two years (very light use).

 

I sold my original kit when I was still in college - Still know the drummer who purchased it. But like a knucklehead, I drove from Columbia SC to Charlotte, NC in 1984 to trade that Jazzette kit for a Pearl Rack when they first were released. When it came time to negotiate the trade, the guy came out ... looked at the drum kit, and said: even trade! I thought I struck gold. Now all these years later, I could kick myself. I loved that little kit.

 

Young and stupid must come to everyone is some form or another.

 

D

[Mikeo]

That'd be great Mikeo.

 

Love the stories.

 

My first drum set was not mine, rather our band director let me sign out the school's 1978 Ludwig Vistalite Quadra Plus outfit for a summer. He knew it would set the drum hook deep!

Then my Dad purchased me a 1967 Ludwig Classic (22BD, 13MT, 16FT with a chrome Supraphonic) in white marine pearl. I then found a church that had a kit they called me to gain a knowledge of the value of. That kit was a 1965 Ludwig Jazzette kit (20BD, 12MT, 14FT) in white marine pearl that was purchased new for the church, and put in a closet (in the boxes) and never used. I picked that kit up in 1979 for $150 donation to the church.

 

So, like most drummers who were teenagers would do, I joined those two kits together to create a double bass kit with two mounted toms and two floor toms. The Jazzette never left the house until I went to college. Then it became the kit I used for Jazz for two years (very light use).

 

I sold my original kit when I was still in college - Still know the drummer who purchased it. But like a knucklehead, I drove from Columbia SC to Charlotte, NC in 1984 to trade that Jazzette kit for a Pearl Rack when they first were released. When it came time to negotiate the trade, the guy came out ... looked at the drum kit, and said: even trade! I thought I struck gold. Now all these years later, I could kick myself. I loved that little kit.

 

Young and stupid must come to everyone is some form or another.

 

D

 

 

 

I'm just a guitar player, but do a little drumming here and there. I got started very late in life on the drums. I was in my 30 and for well over a decade I relied on drum machines. I really had no idea what a drummer did and that was one down fall to programming them. I was in a band and we would rehearse at my place. The guy that was drumming for us, let a old Ludwig kit in my cellar rehearsal space. Bad times for him, the store he was managing was closing and his wife was divorcing him. He was a super nice guy too.

 

Anyway the drums just sat there, and one day I decided to sit at the kit and see if I could keep a simple beat. It doesn't exactly come naturally, when you start adding a high hat.. OMG it was the most difficult instrument I have ever tried. I made noise and banged on them for a month straight, and then all of a sudden, it all clicked in. It kind of puts a big smile on your face when that happens, and I really couldn't believe I was doing it.

 

After that happen I called him up and said listen, I gonna buy a set of drums, so you really need to come down here and get your kit and cymbals.

 

 

I didn't know any thing about drums, but ended up with the kit I have now. I do have a Yamaha Digital kit now too.

 

The acoustic kit I bought is a made by Premier in the UK and I believe the model is the APK or XPK's. I bought them new, but the cymbals I bought were zildjian K's, a nice big heavy warm ride and crash, and the Jack DeJohhnette signature HH. I the Cymbals I bought used, cause what I dig was really costly, and I didn't mind used as long as they were not abused.

I use Evans heads, and now tune with a Drum Dial.

 

I don't get to play them on a daily basis, as I mostly working on guitar stuff.

 

It just adds a more natural sound to any demos songs I make. Unfortunately I have never taken a lesson.

 

It all did help my drum programming, but I don't even bother with it any more.

 

As a guitar player, the first thing I think about is the guitar, but I really should think about the drums first. That kinda sets up the groove of the song.

 

 

 

 

 

[daddymack]

When I graduated HS in NYC, I worked all summer, saved my money and went to Manny's on 48th to buy my first really good acoustic guitar. The salespeople at Manny's knew me; so did the guys up at Buddy and Bonen's, and Alex Music, etc... I spent a lot of time on the 'block', drooling on gear I couldn't afford, absorbing lore from the veterans and the locals...but that day I knew what I wanted and where I could get it...and that was Manny's. It was a Guild D25, all mahogany, it looked almost purple, the stain was so fresh [Guild was a local manufacturer back in those days], the guitar was a couple of days old at best. Within a week of buying that guitar, I went away to college, within two weeks I was doing paying gigs. The only guitar I toured with, and it has its scars. The 'D' is retired now, only used for the occasional home recording session.

 

I have to include my '62 Melody Maker...I bought it with my second paycheck after I moved to Los Angeles in 1972, from the Ernie Ball shop in Tarzana, which just happened to be a block away from my work...coincidence...or fate. [i spent a lot of time in there too ]

I have used, abused, modded, hotrodded, converted and reverted...you name it, but it is still sitting right here, next to me, in my office. It gets played pretty much daily as I work on new stuff. Up until around 2004, I was using it as my slide guitar, but after I found an electric resonator, 'Mel' went into retirement.

 

Along with that is my '65 Fender Vibrolux Reverb, bought with my sixth [and seventh] paychecks [thank goodness for OT] from Ace Music in Santa Monica. That amp and guitar combination carried me for years through several bands and side gigs. The VR is now worth about $3k, and is semi retired, only getting used for the occasional large stage outdoor gigs where there are competent sound men who are properly reverential

 

I have a closet full of guitars, and a stack of combo amps, and I have sold and/or traded away a number of interesting guitars and amps over the last 40 something years...but these are the pieces of gear that moved me forward, that defined my sound early on, and are the 'firsts' on the list of loves...

 

[Mikeo]

When I graduated HS in NYC, I worked all summer, saved my money and went to Manny's on 48th to buy my first really good acoustic guitar. The salespeople at Manny's knew me; so did the guys up at Buddy and Bonen's, and Alex Music, etc... I spent a lot of time on the 'block', drooling on gear I couldn't afford, absorbing lore from the veterans and the locals...but that day I knew what I wanted and where I could get it...and that was Manny's. It was a Guild D25, all mahogany, it looked almost purple, the stain was so fresh [Guild was a local manufacturer back in those days], the guitar was a couple of days old at best. Within a week of buying that guitar, I went away to college, within two weeks I was doing paying gigs. The only guitar I toured with, and it has its scars. The 'D' is retired now, only used for the occasional home recording session.

 

I have to include my '62 Melody Maker...I bought it with my second paycheck after I moved to Los Angeles in 1972, from the Ernie Ball shop in Tarzana, which just happened to be a block away from my work...coincidence...or fate. [i spent a lot of time in there too ]

I have used, abused, modded, hotrodded, converted and reverted...you name it, but it is still sitting right here, next to me, in my office. It gets played pretty much daily as I work on new stuff. Up until around 2004, I was using it as my slide guitar, but after I found an electric resonator, 'Mel' went into retirement.

 

Along with that is my '65 Fender Vibrolux Reverb, bought with my sixth [and seventh] paychecks [thank goodness for OT] from Ace Music in Santa Monica. That amp and guitar combination carried me for years through several bands and side gigs. The VR is now worth about $3k, and is semi retired, only getting used for the occasional large stage outdoor gigs where there are competent sound men who are properly reverential

 

I have a closet full of guitars, and a stack of combo amps, and I have sold and/or traded away a number of interesting guitars and amps over the last 40 something years...but these are the pieces of gear that moved me forward, that defined my sound early on, and are the 'firsts' on the list of loves...

 

 

 

Nice.

 

Every notice, know matter how much fancy gear you own, you always tend to go back to something that's simple, tried and true, and probably wasn't that expensive. I can usually set up in a matter of minutes. My current bar gigging acoustic is a Martin 00016RGT with a cutaway. and a fishman pick up system. It might be 15 -20 years old now. I can plug that into any house PA available and it sounds good. I keep a Lil Martin in my office. It's good enough for playing a song or writing a tune on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[daddymack]

I have some fancy gear, but most of my gear is there to pay for the next piece of gear, always has been that way. The gear needs to pay the way for the next acquisition, or I am not ready for more. It has always been about moving my 'gig' forward, making me a better player, and keeping me current...

[AlamoJoe]

Doncha wish ya had it all back? Boy I sure do. My '61 Silvertone/Danelectro Bass, my '66 Apollo Hofner knockoff bass, my '66 Fender Musicmaster, my 1972(I Think) Electra Les Paul, my 1975 Gibson Les Paul Custom,my 1984 Legend 50 watt 4x12....I could go on...I don't even want to go into the pedals I've sold.

 

Now I'm just sad..

[Beck]

Nice article Dendy. And yes I did have an instrument I loved and wrote most of my best music on it. A Moog Opus 3 analog syth. Bought it brand new, but I was a poor youngster then so I put it in layaway at C.V. Lloyde Music in Champaign, Illinois. Perhaps the most significant piece of equipment I've ever owned for its ability to bring musical ideas out of my head/heart and into being. And yes I still have it. I have it taken apart at the moment because I'm replacing a couple sliders. But that thing is still magic and I can easily equate making love and making music.when I light some candles and fire that thing up.

[Notes_Norton]

I pretty much love every musical instrument I've ever owned.

 

I've had a number or saxophones, including the "holy grail" Selmer Mark VI model, and I love the MacSax custom job I'm playing now. But I used to dearly love my H.Couf Superba. Unfortunately, I wore it out.

 

It's very difficult to get a brass instrument relaquered - impossible in about 48 US states. The environmentalists say you need a multi-million dollar, negative pressure, hermetically sealed chamber to do the lacquering so none of the vapors escape into the environment. That's probably good for all of us. But I question why auto paint and body shops can lacquer their cars in the open air. But that's another story.

 

Anyway, the Couf had a lot of copper in the brass alloy. That's probably why it resonated so nicely and had such a big sound. I even loved the way it vibrated against my body and in my hands. The closet thing to sex without causing a "you know what".

 

Anyway, the inability to have it relacquered and my living and gigging in Florida near the ocean took it's toll on the horn. It turned green and blistered until it resembled a cantaloupe and the mechanism started swelling so the keys didn't function properly. I hated to lose that one.

 

But it gave me countless moments of pleasure, I gigged with it for about 20 years, and I sold it to a person who intended to restore it as best as it could be restored.

 

I own two tenors now, an "outdoor" horn (Grassi Prestiege) and my custom built "indoor" horn, the MacSax I had custom made for me. I love them both, but still miss my Couf.

 

My other love is my custom built Parker DF guitar - and I suppose some day I might wear that one out too.

 

Doing one-nighters for a living is just hard on the gear.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[Anderton]

Doing one-nighters for a living is just hard on the gear.

 

I hear ya! I toured with a Rickenbacker 360 blond 12-string back in the 60s, it had a lot of miles on it. Having had bad experiences with luthiers (one totally wrecked a Guild Capri hollow body and another, a Ramirez classical guitar), I figured it had lived its life. Then I found out that Gibson Repair and Restoration does non-Gibson guitars and I figured being local, I could yell and threaten them if they screwed it up. But they did a fantastic job - shocked the hell out of me. It plays and feels like it did nearly 50 years ago. They couldn't do the pickguard, and Rickenbacker didn't have any. Both recommended the company Pickguardian. I anxiously await the arrival of a new pickguard in my mailbox any day now, and the restoration will be complete. Good stuff.

 

 

 

[daddymack]

No, if I had it ALL back, I wouldn't have toom for it ...I'd need to add on another bedroom or two...two Marshall half stacks, the CV folded horn bass cab, the custom 15" Cab, two JBL 18" cabs with horns and the Thomas Organ would need a room to themselves...

[Mikeo]

 

I hear ya! I toured with a Rickenbacker 360 blond 12-string back in the 60s, it had a lot of miles on it. Having had bad experiences with luthiers (one totally wrecked a Guild Capri hollow body and another, a Ramirez classical guitar), I figured it had lived its life. Then I found out that Gibson Repair and Restoration does non-Gibson guitars and I figured being local, I could yell and threaten them if they screwed it up. But they did a fantastic job - shocked the hell out of me. It plays and feels like it did nearly 50 years ago. They couldn't do the pickguard, and Rickenbacker didn't have any. Both recommended the company Pickguardian. I anxiously await the arrival of a new pickguard in my mailbox any day now, and the restoration will be complete. Good stuff.

 

 

 

 

What was different about this pickguard? The Hall's are sticklers about parts. They wouldn't even send you a broken volume knob without getting the old one back.

 

I have a black Rickenbacker 330 12 sting, which is plainer, but I dig it a lot. I like the look of the old 360 and the 330's better than the modern 360's. What it does, it does well.

 

[AJ6stringsting]

I have a half sister that lives just outside of Columbia , S.C.

[AJ6stringsting]

It's great when you find a Soulmate that understands your love for music and doesn't get jealous.

To many of us, music is beyond any other Human experience ...👍

[Dendy Jarrett]

I grew up in a small rural town just north west of Columbia. (Chapin/Peak/Newberry area)

[Notes_Norton]

The person I sold my Couf sax to was a guy who was learning how to restore saxophones. He sent me pictures when he was done, and it looked pretty good.

 

He had to take a lot of brass of though. He said it still sounded great.

 

I suppose I could have had that done, but without lacquer and the salt air here in Florida, it would have only turned green again.

 

Glad your Ric restore worked out well.

 

Notes

[Notes_Norton]

My Soulmate is a Musician, so she has the same affliction. It's bliss.

[Anderton]

 

 

What was different about this pickguard? The Hall's are sticklers about parts. They wouldn't even send you a broken volume knob without getting the old one back

 

It's the "upper" pickguard on the 360, not the lower one. Rickenbacker said that there were many different sizes back then and they didn't have anything in stock that old anyway; the Gibson Repair & Restoration guys said they could do one no problem, but because they would first need to find an original or template, Pickguardian could probably turn it around faster (and the turnaround was indeed fast).

 

[RockViolin]

I'm going to set my instruments aside-they aren't gear to me, I guess.

 

I nominate my GP-8, Roland that is. 8 Boss effects. 6 analog including Filter, Compressor Overdrive, Distortion, EQ, Phaser, plus Digital Delay and Digital Chorus. 128 presets. I bought it in 1988 with money I inherited from an aunt, and it is the piece that split my personality. From their on I had a project, and could no longer be found at after performance parties, picnics, family events, etc.

 

I too have fancier pieces at my disposal. An Eventide GTR4000, some Line6 units. The GP-8 has been trustworthy, and is probably all I ever really needed...at least to play through. If I were to start parting with things, it would be the last to go.