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I had an unusual discussion with one of my nephews the other day, after he asked just how many guitars I have, and why....
I sort of deflected at first, just said, "Well, I probably have more guitars than you have underpants..." -- which of course, he viewed as rather improbable. Heck, maybe he really has a LOT of underpants?
So, I said, OK, here's what's in a corner of the master bedroom... preferred storage location for now until projects get finished and room is freed up elsewhere... I've got hangars and plan to hang the most desired ones on the wall in one of my work rooms some day (missus nixed the main hallway or living room for some reason I don't fathom, but then, she's never played in a band...)
Now, I do have about two dozen sets of underpants, but that number is topped by what's shown here. Maybe underpants just aren't all that important to me compared with some guys? Any feedback from the fold on that one?
And, as I pointed out to my nephew, each one has a story and is selected or "created" for a specific reason... I think he found that hard to believe, but he suggested I should write up something for the grandkids to enjoy some day. Well, that's a loaded topic for other reasons, but my counter was that most of the grown up folks I know who grew up in a relevant time frame don't have the background to understand these stories (I've tried with a few people), so I think the grand kids would be lost at sea, at whatever age they read about them.
He didn't agree, said I underestimated how they might be interested. So my thought was, well, let's see how you do with one that I've tried with a few other folks and mostly gotten blank stares and the equivalent of TL
R, but it was TLL. (actually, I don't blame them, but with nephew, I needed to get the point across in detail. So... (nephew is 44, BTW. Not a kid, at least not in years.)
So, I picked the one I tried to explain to my wife's older daughter's husband, who is closing in on 60. Not wet behind the ears anymore, right?
I start off probing for knowledge on background info related to one particular guitar "project"...
Generally, most folks strike out on all of these. Understandable, unless you were a bit hard core about British blues and rock from the mid sixties onwards. (raise my hand at this point...)
A picture from the "good old days"
A picture of the "Greeny" after several more owners:
Kinda beat up, but this is often what happens to guitars that "get around" a lot... not going to go into that history in detail.
Now, a couple of other relevant facts....
What to do, what to do....
Here's how the Seymour-Duncan pickups have to be wired up:
This is the NOT RELIC'D result:
For those not familiar with the term, a "relic'd" model is a brand new guitar that has been artificially aged to make it look like an abused 30+ year old guitar. One of the stupider things with modern guitar offerings, but maybe it makes those who buy them just as "collectibles" feel like they're more special.
(shudder!)
And even more curious to me, I've found out that just in the last year, Gibson is offering a Greeny Signature model, at a pretty penny. In both standard and relic'd versions. Someone in marketing must have gotten out some old Fleetwood Mac albums...
Gibson CS Kirk Hammett Greeny 1959 Les Paul Standard with Case Greeny Burst
The Gibson Custom Kirk Hammett Greeny 1959 Les Paul Standard Murphy Lab Aged with Case is a remarkable recreation of legendary Peter Green/Gary Moore/Hammett owned Greeny. $19,999.
Start saving now, boys and girls!
Now, If you may be thinking the nephew has no background for any of this, you'd be on the money. And of course, the grandkids wouldn't either. But the nephew is big into passing on family tradition and stuff about the ancestors... good for him, but I just don't think this fits.
I sort of deflected at first, just said, "Well, I probably have more guitars than you have underpants..." -- which of course, he viewed as rather improbable. Heck, maybe he really has a LOT of underpants?
So, I said, OK, here's what's in a corner of the master bedroom... preferred storage location for now until projects get finished and room is freed up elsewhere... I've got hangars and plan to hang the most desired ones on the wall in one of my work rooms some day (missus nixed the main hallway or living room for some reason I don't fathom, but then, she's never played in a band...)
Now, I do have about two dozen sets of underpants, but that number is topped by what's shown here. Maybe underpants just aren't all that important to me compared with some guys? Any feedback from the fold on that one?
And, as I pointed out to my nephew, each one has a story and is selected or "created" for a specific reason... I think he found that hard to believe, but he suggested I should write up something for the grandkids to enjoy some day. Well, that's a loaded topic for other reasons, but my counter was that most of the grown up folks I know who grew up in a relevant time frame don't have the background to understand these stories (I've tried with a few people), so I think the grand kids would be lost at sea, at whatever age they read about them.
He didn't agree, said I underestimated how they might be interested. So my thought was, well, let's see how you do with one that I've tried with a few other folks and mostly gotten blank stares and the equivalent of TL
R, but it was TLL. (actually, I don't blame them, but with nephew, I needed to get the point across in detail. So... (nephew is 44, BTW. Not a kid, at least not in years.)So, I picked the one I tried to explain to my wife's older daughter's husband, who is closing in on 60. Not wet behind the ears anymore, right?
I start off probing for knowledge on background info related to one particular guitar "project"...
- Do you know who founded Fleetwood Mac, and when?
- Are you familiar with any of their early albums?
- Do you know who wrote "Black Magic Woman"? Or "Albatross"?
- Do you know what a "Greeny" is?
Generally, most folks strike out on all of these. Understandable, unless you were a bit hard core about British blues and rock from the mid sixties onwards. (raise my hand at this point...)
- Fleetwood Mac was founded by Peter Green in 1967, starting with ex bandmates from John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. Hence, Fleetwood Mac.
- Fleetwod Mac made three albums while Peter Green was still with them (he had mental problems and drug issues); my favorite Peter Green songs are 'Albatross', 'Black Magic Woman', 'Oh Well' and the exquisite 'Man of the World'. I've got a CD of his best stuff with Fleetwood Mac.
- See above for who wrote "Black Magic Woman" or "Albatross".
- So, just what is a "Greeny"? It was/is Peter Greens 1959 Les Paul with the relatively rare lemon burst finish, and far more rarely, with the magnets installed backwards in the front pickup. By mistake. What happened from that is that if you used the center pickup selector switch position, and varied the levels of the bridge and neck pickups, you could get some unusual and interesting tonalities which are evident on his recordings from that period.
A picture from the "good old days"
A picture of the "Greeny" after several more owners:
Kinda beat up, but this is often what happens to guitars that "get around" a lot... not going to go into that history in detail.
Now, a couple of other relevant facts....
- 1959 is sort of a "gold standard year" for Les Pauls due to various aspects of the neck, body, and pickup and wiring design. MANY signature models released "new" these days (aka "re-issues") (or more often "relic'd") are based on the configuration of the 1959 Les Paul. It's a very popular year with big name players. Maybe the most popular year.
- Most of the standard Les Pauls and Les Paul Customs use unbalanced wiring - that is, there is a center "hot" lead coming from the pickup, and a shield. Think of it as like compatible with the electrical configuration of RCA connectors in HiFi gear.
- It is not possible for standard wiring hum buckers to reverse the phase of the pickup by reversing those connections, without introducing, you guessed, a lot of hum and noise.
- Lemon burst Les Pauls have generally been rather rare creatures through the years... certainly was the case in the mid 20-teens, when I was thinking about what it might take to "make a Greeny".
What to do, what to do....
- Umm, you know, if I picked up one of those relatively rare Slash Signature edition Les Pauls, that would (in one fell swoop) solve the 1959 re-issue configuration AND the lemon burst maple top... I'm not personally into Slash, but I'm willing to overlook the headstock graphics in order to get this configuration.
- And, one of the finest after market pickup operations I'd found was Seymour Duncan, who offered period exact replicas of '59 humbuckers, EXCEPT that they were wired like a professional microphone, or like the pickups in my Les Paul Professional (had one back in the 70's, bought a replacement with the 2013 re-issue), in that they had balanced isolated signal wiring, and the ground shield separate. SO, it's possible to reverse the phase on a Seymour-Duncan pickup without any noise pickup issues.
- And, just to add a bit of heresy to the process, I've always been fond of a Bigsby vibrato on Gibson models, like the Johnny A signature model I have, so... why not?
Here's how the Seymour-Duncan pickups have to be wired up:
This is the NOT RELIC'D result:
For those not familiar with the term, a "relic'd" model is a brand new guitar that has been artificially aged to make it look like an abused 30+ year old guitar. One of the stupider things with modern guitar offerings, but maybe it makes those who buy them just as "collectibles" feel like they're more special.
(shudder!)
And even more curious to me, I've found out that just in the last year, Gibson is offering a Greeny Signature model, at a pretty penny. In both standard and relic'd versions. Someone in marketing must have gotten out some old Fleetwood Mac albums...
Gibson CS Kirk Hammett Greeny 1959 Les Paul Standard with Case Greeny Burst
The Gibson Custom Kirk Hammett Greeny 1959 Les Paul Standard Murphy Lab Aged with Case is a remarkable recreation of legendary Peter Green/Gary Moore/Hammett owned Greeny. $19,999.
Start saving now, boys and girls!
Now, If you may be thinking the nephew has no background for any of this, you'd be on the money. And of course, the grandkids wouldn't either. But the nephew is big into passing on family tradition and stuff about the ancestors... good for him, but I just don't think this fits.