Tag Archives: Suhr

The Devil made me do it!… Chasing Tone on a Saturday Night
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I love that Starwarsian phrase that my friend JL coined (either he coined it or he’s lying… again…kidding): “the sickness is strong with him”. Of course, we’re talking about the tendency for guitar players to chase tone with multiple aquisitions. I have friends like that! (yes you, JR!!!) Not me, of course. But I know people…

Last night I went to my long time (younger) pal’s CD release and he gets a killer, killer, tone. He’s not “one of us”… he’s had the same rig for a few years now (not unusual, my bandmate MB has played the same white Strat for 15 years now) – a recent red ES-335 dot neck (more on that later), and a 1966 Fender Tremolux Head through a 2 x 10 cab. I know. I sold him the Tremolux/cab. I also sold him a Dr. Z Brake Lite attenuator – but you’d swear he never uses it… the band was LOUD! But “GOOD LOUD!”. He’s a wonderful player, this I.R., and he’s honed in on a magical tone with this rig. I have to tell you that I felt superior last night, because, of the mostly older crowd, it seemed like all those over 60 had their fingers in their ears! Hey, if it’s too loud, you’re too old. Ha! I should tell you that the only time I actually saw a headstock broken before my eyes was from the stage (that I was sharing with our young IR), when he carelessly grabbed his beloved Gibson ES-335 off it’s stand… lost his grip… and the guitar fell forward and hit his pedalboard, breaking the headstock. Oh well, some rock stars claim that their guitars sound better after having had the headstock glued back on. Oh yes, he then did it again later down the road! X2. Same guitar… sounding 4X better maybe?

Anyway, last night, also playing in another town, was “not quite as young” PF. He’s also a killer player, but unlike IR, he changes gear like he changes his underwear (at least, I hope “like he changes his underwear”). I must confess that I fall into this second group. And although alot of what I do is for Blue Hugh Music, I do have my own multiple gear cravings. My store allows me to be an enabler, and I’ve been know to drive 4 or 5 hours round-trip on the spur of the moment to deliver a guitar – provided the universe is calling me to do so (don’t get your hopes up!) 🙂 I should tell you that since it seems like the appropriate place to randomly insert some guitar porn, I recently got back a very beloved and toneful instrument – the exquisite Gustavsson P90 Bluesmaster Gold Top. Not coincidentally, also owned by PF at one time. Behold:

2004 Gustavsson P90 Bluesmaster Gold Top

Gustavsson “up close and personal”.

I feel better already! 🙂

So back to Saturday night… I also made a stop at my friend RDs rancho – that was to deliver a particularly toneful brown 1962 Fender Super amp. While we were playing his exquisite Suhr “S” guitar – attractively finished in the traditional “early Campbell’s soup can” colour, RD mischieviously (as it turned out) said: “here, try this amp…” Now I always thought my Retro King sounded superior to any 18 watt Marshall clone, but last night, sweet mother of Robert Johnson, RDs 18 watt Marshall 1974x combo (if you must know, also with Mercury Magnetics transformers as a later upgrade) sounded like the music of the spheres… I MUST HAVE ONE! So here I am today, a pitiful sight, ordering my 3 Mercury transformers and scouting for a local Marshall 1974x that I can scoop up…    oh, woe is me! Only Nigel would understand this AMPLIFIER obsession!!! Time for more porn… this time “amp porn”… see you next time… and BEHOLD!…

1962 Fender brown Super amp with 2 x 10″ Jensen speakers

Replica or “Lawsuit” Guitars
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I suppose the hottest thing in the world of guitar forgeries (maybe that’s too criminal a word) are the Gibson Les Paul replicas. Jeeze, you can pay a ton of money for them – Max Les Pauls come to mind – and they seem to fill a niche that, for example, Gibson hasn’t been able to fill (although I might argue that they are getting closer – but will the 2 piece “lam” fingerboard terminate all that?).

Anyway, one might assume that the guitar companies “victimized” by such practices have the moral high ground, but I would argue that it’s all about following the money trail. Case in point: Slash’s main “Les Paul” in the early days was in fact a replica made by luthier Kris Derrig (it’s OK – he’s dead). Do you think the big “G” cobbled together a “cease and desist” order? … Sorry… Didn’t happen. Slash sold millions of guitars for them by being the poster boy for Les Pauls in a time when they weren’t enjoying alot of popularity! But if you’re a small builder, and you want to build a few “‘bursts”, you probably fear the cease and desist letter from the mighty “G”. Hey, the El Presidente at G is a LAWYER by trade. We all remember when G sued PRS for their single cut because we were all going to run out and buy PRS Singlecuts – thinking that they were really Les Pauls! Well, PRS did even have to stop building Singlecuts for a while – until they were vindicated. This lawsuit was NOT good for guitar players! But then, as I said, the boss at Gibson was a lawyer… and have you ever heard him play guitar? I have. Nuff said!!!

It’s interesting that at one point a judge ruled that it’s the headstock shape that determines the individuality of a guitar. That’s why companies can copy, say, a Fender Stratocaster down to the last detail – as long as the headstock is different! Good news for Suhr and Anderson.

There are rumours that many of the Gibson guitars built for Billy Gibbons were actually built by John Bolin (who we know does build many of Gibbons’ guitars) – even ones with Gibson logos. Would Gibson care? Don’t think so. It sells Gibson guitars. I believe that some of Billy’s Gretsch guitars have been built by Bolin (hey gang, the guitar that graces my website banner is a REAL Gretsch Billy Bo aka: Jupiter Thunderbird – just re-fretted, Bigsby added, Powertrons changed to FilterTrons by TV Jones and masterfully pinstriped by Dave Connery of Toronto’s Connery’s Custom Paint – the only guy I know who blasts Hendrix in the shop while he paints!) But I digress…

So if you’re a small builder building high quality replicas who do you fear more? … Blue Oyster Cult’s “Reaper” or the Cease and Desist Order? I’ve heard rumours, but I’ve never actually seen such an order. I remember a few years back when I got a magnificent Strat body that had been painted as an exact replica of Clapton’s Crash “Over The Rainbow” Strat. I put Fender parts on it and bought a superb Fender Custom Shop maple neck off ebay (for a lot of money!). It was a great axe! When I went to sell it on ebay, they pulled it off. Jeeze, this is a real Fender, I thought. There were rumours that Fender was scrutinizing ebay at that time. I put it back on and tried to explain my position by email. They kicked me off ebay for 2 weeks. Hey, WHO”S THE CLIENT, I thought? Me! I pay the ebay fee… I’m the client… who’s got the $$$??? Well, the Big “F” probably has more than I do! Nuff said