Vintage Guitar gets a Vintage case..

been searching for an old case for Old '71 for a while at the right price.
This one popped up on the bay and was the right price. really good latches on it and delighted at this purchase. The Custom is featured elsewhere on the blog and out there on Gibson blogs..an old warhorse that was brought back from the death...all the patina gold including the pickups are from the 60s, the Grovers are from '59 and she's a very special old beast..

Official Norton team photos found in the loft

Sound brilliant those rotary engines!
And some useless piece of info:
back when the Norton team first started, before the JPS sponsorship, I contacted Brian Crighten who was the man responsible for the team and I was offered to buy a rolling chassis of one of the original bikes.. I didn't take the opportunity (still have the letter and prices) because I reckoned I'd never find an engine to use in the chassis ( which was a Spondon chassis). Aye well, in hindsight...

What a beast!

Apparently a 6 figure euro amount of mods made to this CBX engine which revs to 20,000 rpm and puts out 171 hp..

Sounds awesome!

The black Crowes

...one of those bands that I kept following since the first record I heard. or should I say, CD.
Then I was even more fortunate to have some friends working at EMA Telstar who fixed me tickets for the show in Stockholm.
It's been uphill ever since...

A lesson in Birdseye Maple.....

My own creation. Clean deck. TvJones Extra wind ( Billy Gibbons wind). basic special.
Custom made bridge to suit string spacing of TvJones.
Volume pot.
Vintage Gold spergels.

I've never come across a neck like this again..It's just so compact with Birdseyes .....it's a warmoth fatback telecaster pro with dual trussrod system. I call it the fossil...

Winter brings out the G's

 

 

 

The R9 from 2002 is quite an amazing beast and also quite rare as R9's go.The reason being that they basically ran out of quality tops in 2001 (1500 guitars made apparently) so had to shift over to Eastern Maple tops to make only 300 R9's in 2002. And for some reason they all seemed to have amazing sunbursts, which, looking at the pic, you could hardly argue. If there ever was a guitar that warranted it's price tag, it would be this one.  

 

 

The Cherry burst to the left is also an interesting beast. It's walked out of the Heritage factory, probably because there was an issue with the spraying of the neck as the fret-board had some red flecks of paint on it that I had to remove once I bought it.

Built in 1988 it's quite a rare beast. Heritage H140CMV which in original form should have house some switches for variable sounds from their own pickups.

The guitar came as new from the factory without a nut or holes bored for the bridge nor tail.

I left that job to a pro luthier to ensure everything would match up.Tail and bridge ended up lockable Tone Pros and as I wanted a project for EMG's, I decided to go for a new set of Zakk W EMGs'. To keep the electrics simple and as the 3 switch holes were already drilled, I used the Kerry King EMG overdrive switch in one of them, a phase switch in one and left one as a dummy switch. I then coupled together a couple of 9V's to run the system into 18Vs.

In a way, with the quality of wood in this guitar, it's a bit of a waste to run EMGs. But that's the way it went. The quality of Heritage guitars is fantastic and it's no surprise if you consider it's ex Gibson employees who didn't want to move when they closed down the factory in Kalamazoo.

Neck is fantastic, weight of the guitar reflects the quality and the finish is beautiful. very under rated guitars and they deserve a lot more praise in my opinion.

 

 

 



Tragic but Magic! G&L 1980 FL100 that lost it's way.....

A while back I helped a buddy shift a couple of high end guitars. As a reward I took this guitar off his hands. the reason being the neck felt awesome as soon as I picked it up. The rest of the guitar had been through hell and back...it's been around the streets and sold on for a song by a junky. Nobody is quite sure why chunks were removed and a pickguard was put over the large holes left after the butcher put his knives down..There is a picture elsewhere on the blog that shows the horrific damage under the guard...the guard is a horror itself..why anybody would paint it with gold glitter...and of course the guitar has had a few sprays of it's own...not 100% sure what the original colour is, but it's just one of those guitars that had a tough life on the streets...
..so it turned up and I had a look.
The original bridge was locked and blocked by bits of wood. trying to find a claw for the G&L was such a hardship I decided to go on the set-up you can see in the pics. Originally the guitar had a made in china humbucker in the tail, and two singles, one of which didn't work. None of them were anything to write home about.same with the pots...
...so, everything was ripped out and a single original Greco humbucker from the neck of a greco jeff beck 1978 dropped into the tail. brilliant sounding pickup, showing once again why these are sought after.. To that I added a Dimarzio Malmsteen pot which is basically frictionless..
As it's a series 2, this donates that the neck has a 9,25 radius unlike the series 1 which is 7,25.It's a top off the shelf maple neck which could adorn any Leo fender creation. The neck has never been removed from the body and I left it that way.Tuners are also original.
So yes, she looks like a bludgeoned effort, but this guitar sounds amazing and plays amazing..which one of the best necks I've come across..
As with everything in the world today...it's not only about looks...

 Oh, and before I forget...This is one of the earliest serial #'s you'll find in the world on any G&L....

 Greco Bucker is similar to a 57 classic. brass knob on the speed knob running through to output.

 think the original bodies were either mahogany or alder....

 says it all...an amazing maple neck...

 not for the purists, but it works...

 

Personally believe this to be the greatest Tone ever made by a guitarist..

SRV is a player I never get tired of listening to. His tone is just out of this world and it wouldn't really matter which guitar he picked up and played. When this hit the tube it was like the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls of Tone all over again but without the Papal envoy tucking a few under their jumpers and hiding them in the vaults...
Also one of my absolute favourite songs by SRV in "Aint giving up on your love"...
Couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to play this through a proper PA rig at full volume in a hall. It was almost a religious moment...

Doohan - One of the Greatest!

Mick Doohan was always a favorite when watching the GP500 strokers...some of his rides are down in history as "almost impossible" ..amazing bike control in all weathers...and those reekers were putting out some serious horsepower/ weight figures...
I've only started watching the MotoGP recently..just don't think those days of the two strokes can be bettered..although, has to be said, the modern day 4 strokes look and sound amazing!

A Gold Gilted 2013..

In the coaching game, 2013 was to be one of the most successful years for the ladies team I coach in rugby. What made the year even more challenging than the year previous was the fact that we lost around 13 players from our regular squad. Most teams would struggle I think to repeat the feats that we had done other years. With already 7 Swedish gold championship medals in 7's and 15's, it felt like it was going to be a struggle to repeat the performance in 2013.

However, it was to be probably the most enjoyable season as the squad went above and beyond the call of duty and won not only the Swedish 15 a side championship for a third time in a row, but also the Swedish 7 a side championship , only letting in 2 tries throughout the entire season.

To add to this, the squad also won the Scandinavian Sevens which gave us the title of best 7's team in Scandinavia . The squad also won the indoor Håckes tournament for the second year in a row.
To end the year we headed down to play in Dubai International 7's in the International Invitation 7's group. We lost the plate final to end 6th out of 12 teams.

I'm not sure what to expect in 2014. With a bunch of brand new players last year we managed to perform really well despite losing the 13 players. This year we get back some of the players that declined last years season, we develop the new players from last year and pick up a few more names.
Should be interesting :)

Still out there...

Just came across the last photograph I took of my ZXR750r. Despite all the work I've put into the OW01 which awaits a throttle cable and a Stay before I do any more work, I still miss the lines of the ZXR and I'm already looking forwards to the prospect of starting the rebuild of Version 3.
Due to the budget, I'm just gonna reuse the gear I already have...so there won't be a new rocker/tie rod set up at the back, or GSXR 6 pots up front. I'll keep the original parts and fit them.

Top Ten bike I'd want to own...

The Swiss do the watches and chocolate...the japanese do the magnificent miniature mechanical marvels..

The greatest moped in 1964?

ZXR750 wheels...

If you've been following the blog, you would have read that my last ZXR750R was stolen. twice to be exact. First time she was crashed...I rebuilt her...then she was stolen again and that was the last time we heard from her..
So, I've been collecting ZXR750R parts to use some of the crashed parts I still had, together with some sourced parts to rebuild a ZXR. It became a bit of an obsession once my other one was stolen..
Currently a lot of the "harder to find" parts have been sourced...some at an over the top price...but I felt it was important to get the parts that defined the R version from the J.
One of the last parts for the chassis was a set of wheels. And today they were sourced, complete with disc brakes and drive sprocket ( no doubt the cush-drives will have to be changed..)

The difference with this one will be I'm not planning on the build as a road bike but as a road racer.

The Pioneers...

Fenders got a run...and the Iroko Schecter...

specs left to right:

71 Red Telecaster:-
An interesting history indeed. Apparently a 71 body that has been "shaved"...original neck was broken and replaced. The neck apparently built by the same guy who used to make necks for Bruce Springsteen. It's without doubt the best neck I've ever had on any of the guitars. Previous owner added a middle pick up and plectrum cover at some point. I replaced all the pickups with signed Barden originals. Amazing playing and sounding telecaster.

Vanilla Strat:-
Fender 62 RI body with Sliders SRV replica scatterwound pickups. Neck is a Schecter neck from the early 80's and apparently from the same run that Billy Gibbons had given to SRV to use on Lenny. All I know is that it's a frikken amazing neck. All plastic is aged and from FATBOY in the UK.

EJ Relic Strat:
This strat started life as a 2006 EJ signature body. Then I came across a fella who had decided to get an EJ signature neck reliced professionally.So mated that together with the body and went to town by adding reliced tuners and plastics , once again from FATBOY, except this time I went with '54 period plectrum guard and bakelite knobs and bobs as well as rounded 54 pickup covers ( more rounded).
The bridge and block is a genuine 54 relic which is heavier as the holes for the strings aren't drilled as deep. All the screws are reliced as well and the springs are also relic.
Couple of years ago on a xmas day a fella somewhere in the galaxy sold a set of custom shop pickups (straight, no rewind in the middle pup) from a thin skin custom shop Strat. These are only available on those guitars and aren't sold separately from the custom shop. Highly recommended if you ever get the chance to pick up a set. Looks the business and isn't over reliced, and sounds awesome.

last but not least:-
Schecter strat
This one started life as an Iroko wood bodied custom shop Schecter body. The interest was obviously the difference in wood. A few years later and a Schecter reverse head rosewood neck turned up which slotted firmly into the CS body. Tuners are also period Schecter that don't really require a string tree.
Once again my favorite vintage green plectrum cover and vintage relic knobs and bobs made it on the guitar. The block and bridge are from the Fender Brass Series , sold for only a year I believe as the brass was gold plated (24K) and the costs were too high. The block is a massive brass effort which I tied together with a solid brass claw, connected by three "silent" springs.Pick ups aren't really that much to discuss, except for the bridge pickup which is apparently from a 59 guitar.The middle pickup is from a lefty and is a seymour duncan and the neck is from an EJ signature.
One of my favorite builds and playing guitars.

All of these have only been put together as players. Tone and feel. Lightweight, balanced and specials.
The sum of all the parts really make them all quite special.

Deal of the new year?

Been looking to own this book for a while.
Not that I'm gonna try and play anything...it's not tab and ..well, I may try and learn sheet music..but doubt it...
Just wanted it...However, the cost was prohibitive...until today!
Amazon had a couple of copies ranging from 100-300 quid..
so to find a copy in decent nick for 40 euros... good deal!