LR: Friday, June 8

Made it through the week.

Lunch today - I like yesterdays chicken salad and pasta sald so much I am going for a repeat. Also have a refreshing ginger ale to wash it all down.

So lets get going.

First, how about rattling off some really under the radar electric guitar players (past & present) you love and think are definitely worth a listen.

A couple that immediately jump to mind for me.

1) Lowman Pauling. Singer/songwriter and guitar player for the 1950s R&B group the Five Royales. His playing mixes T. Bone Walker's urban blues with gospel chords and a touch of early feedback. Check it out! Hey, if the link don't work and you gtet an error message just hit open content in a new window.

http://youtu.be/mUJieUDf0RU

2) Roland Janes. You probably have heard this guy but may not have known his name. He is the guitar player on Jerry Lee Lewis' (and others) Sun recordings. I love Paul Burlinson, Grady Martin and the rest but I am teling you Roland just may have just been the best rockabilly guitar player ever. Here is a taste of Roland.

http://youtu.be/4nnp1tZIWFk

Some others, who if you have not listened to you might find yourself getting caught up in, would be Otis Rush and Magic Sam. Just hard, inventive, angular, no b.s. guitar playing. Their Cobra recordings in particular are what Chicago blues was all about.

Mystery Gear!
Does anybody own anything that you have never really been able to find much out about. I have a doozy - a Gregory MArk XX amp. This is pretty much a Vox AC 30 clone in a really cheap cab. It originally had a pair of Qualm Nichols 12 inch speakers, one of which has been replaced. What I have been able to dig up on these amps (most of which was on that DIY site) states they were made by Harmony but guess what - Harmony did not make amps - they just put their name on amps made by others. Going through some of the trade magazines what I did find out is that at least in the mid-1960s, Gregory Electronics had their own manufaturing facility in the Bronx, NY. These guys made something like over 30 different amp models. You would think there would be more known about them. Here it is.





Let us move onto G&Ls. Does anybody out there have a "Partscater" G&L - one put together from various instruments or with maybe some aftermarket pickups? About as close as I have run into is an early white ASAT with a third MFD pickup added (which one of the members here used to own but is now back in the store where he bought it). I have always thought it would be sweet to grab something like an '86 ASAT and put one of those newer Extra Fat C necks on it.

That is it for Woof. Thanks to all for a very fun week.

I enjoyed both "under the radar" guitarists you posted. Some good talent there. There are many great guitarists out there; more then ever, in fact. One thing I really miss are the bands that just did instrumentals - their music stood on its own. One singer that has really impressed me at his acoustic AND electric guitar work when taking the lead on some songs at his concerts is Vince Gill. Until I saw him, I never realized that the lead guitarist was HIM!!! Very impressive picker.

Your 2nd & 3d questions may just have well been ONE question. I have a G&L that I can't quite identify. Partscaster? Employee guitar? I'm just not sure. I took it in a blind trade. It's owner was not sure of its history. I took it because he said it was a great player. All I can say is that it turned out to be one of the best trades I've ever made. I don't try to make money; I really try to work it so that we both feel good about the deal. It ain't about money to me. Well, he grossly understated how great a player it really is. He swore that he got it like this. The SC-2ish body is in super condition; the neck is perfect & quite mojo'd; & it plays as well as a couple I have had from the Custom Creations shop. And man, what great tone.

The ONLY thing I'd do to it if I could wave a wand would be to put a bit more girth in the neck. It is a bit thin. For me, that's much easier to forgive & move on with than if it were too full. Not sure what it is; but it ain't never going NOwhere. Talk about a great guitar to just grab up & noodle with. And it would be a workhorse for a gigging pro, too., Lotsa presence & lotsa ballz.



Great week, Woof. Totally enjoyed it all. Thankee.

Jay

under the radar guitarists.. Lowman Pauling I heard Steve Cropper talk of this guy as a major influence.
how about Pee Wee Crayton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K81zJEk7Q4Q
Gary Louris of The Jayhawks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUMyKcNL-Vs
I've always loved the guitar work of Ronnie Wood, I always think he's overlooked. My favoutite is probably Robbie Robertson more slipped off the radar than under I suppose.
i dont have any unidentified or partscasters...........
I've enjoyed your postings this week..... cheers

john

under the radar guitar players, well gregor hilden comes to mind, he is incredible.

[youtube]m66bF9tg_j4[/youtube]

[youtube]-s39cNlp3sQ[/youtube]

there are so many though. jon gomm will make you want to quit.

[youtube]nY7GnAq6Znw[/youtube]


i have an asat classic bluesboy body that i am looking to put a neck on. i am also gonna refinish it. when i get it done, it will be a g&l partscaster.

Woof, an under the radar guitar player was Cecil Bayes, a guitarist I saw back in the 60's. I do not know if he is still alive.

I suspect that you won't see many G&L partscasters. The parts are too hard to find unlike Fender which everything is available for. I am surprised that no one is parting out new G&Ls like the Stratosphere is doing with Fenders. There are vendors parting out Tributes. Sounds like a good business to start! I do not have any unknown equipment but do have a Fender partscaster. Thanks for the week Woof.-- Darwin

I've a few FrankenGeorge&Leo's,


(sorry about the links...no time to resize them today, I need to review the thumb BBcode...just
not getting it today )
here's the SC-Z :
Comanche proto-body,SC-3 neck,WR Z-coils wired parallel

http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt16 ... guitar.jpg

My F-400 (just makin' up names on the fly)

F-100 body, 4 SC-3/invader single coils ,paired
each pair switchable single/parallel/series...and another single /series/parallel switch
to route each pairs signal. 2 Vol and a Tone . It's an early body (G000893) and is light and resonant,
I have some black walnut scraps from a recent project, I think I can make some decent pickup surrounds from them,


http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt16 ... C04593.jpg



I have a couple mystery guitars.
Here's what must have been a labor of love to some lone luthier.
I think it came from the gulf states, James Lewis is the name stamped on it.
There's some awesome active black epoxy box inside that brings the tone into a
cranked Marshall territory...could be a fuzz-wah, or just some brilliant boost that
has a touch of distortion. The Floyd wouldn't have been my first choice, and the neck is slightly small...
(...and my legs are skinny, and I can't sing.....oh well)


http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt16 ... C02276.jpg

http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt16 ... C02278.jpg
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt16 ... C02283.jpg

http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt16 ... C02279.jpg

http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt16 ... C02280.jpg

http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt16 ... C02285.jpg

http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt16 ... C02286.jpg

http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt16 ... C02281.jpg


I have a mystery acoustic that maybe I can find help here to identify.
I'll take some pics , to me it looks like an OLD(1890's?) Martin body paired with a later Martin neck(50's?).

It could be Weissenborn parts or some other turn of the century instrument maker.
Its tone blooms like no other guitar I've played, it's real nice quiet , but it comes alive when you
drive it a little harder. I'll have pics up by the morning.

Great week,,, thank you !!

Elwood

I have a G&L that I can't quite identify. Partscaster? Employee guitar? I'm just not sure. I took it in a blind trade. It's owner was not sure of its history. I took it because he said it was a great player. All I can say is that it turned out to be one of the best trades I've ever made. I don't try to make money; I really try to work it so that we both feel good about the deal. It ain't about money to me. Well, he grossly understated how great a player it really is. He swore that he got it like this. The SC-2ish body is in super condition; the neck is perfect & quite mojo'd; & it plays as well as a couple I have had from the Custom Creations shop. And man, what great tone.

The ONLY thing I'd do to it if I could wave a wand would be to put a bit more girth in the neck. It is a bit thin. For me, that's much easier to forgive & move on with than if it were too full. Not sure what it is; but it ain't never going NOwhere. Talk about a great guitar to just grab up & noodle with. And it would be a workhorse for a gigging pro, too., Lotsa presence & lotsa ballz.

Looks like an HG-2 body, maybe with a Skyhawk/S-500 neck instead of the SC style neck shown here
on Greg's page . The body/neck dates might help to figure out if they were paired at the factory.
Not that that matters if it plays like a champ


http://www.ggjaguar.com/hg-2.jpg

I'm envious

Elwood

I've been watching Tuck Andress this morning,
if you haven't heard him play then I guess he might be below,
or maybe over and above that radar .

[youtube]NtljYur4_T8[/youtube]

[youtube]c4UDaU_vNT0 [/youtube]

Looks like an HG-2 body, maybe with a Skyhawk/S-500 neck instead of the SC style neck

+1. I think it's a second-style HG-2, with a neck swap. The neck has to be roughly the same age as the body, judging by the string tree. What decals are on the headstock?

Ken