| |
| Guitar
Horror Stories |
| |
1)
Bill with his two stripped loves 2) The Precisions' headstocks |
Bill's
Precision bass story
20.12.07 - Once upon a time (1972) Mike and
I went to check out an Aussie made Leslie speaker box,
somewhere in South Yarra. On entering said premises,
I noticed the headstock of a bass guitar sticking out
from a pile of rubbish in the corner. After carefully
removing the instrument I went weak at the knees. It
was a 1963 Fender Presision. From memory I think the
band payed $200.00 for it. Many happy years followed
- that bass played on everything Spectrum and Ariel
recorded from 1972 through to 1979 when I stupidly sold
it and got stuck into six-stringed instruments.
|
| I heard on
the bass grapevine that it had been sold again (and
painted RED - almost a criminal offence). Then, here
we are in 2007, and at a gig last week, in walks Paul
with my old bass, no longer red and back to its beautiful
old self. |
|
|
| |
| Below
is the original story
and subsequent correspondence relating to two of my ex-guitars
(one literally 'ex' as you will read), as it appeared in the
March 2005 Stop Press. I've recently had some more correspondence
from a past owner of the mystery 'red guitar' that started
this flurry of conjecture and nostalgia for alluringly-shaped
pieces of painted wood with some basic electronics, fret wire,
strings and other essential accoutrements that are attracting
prices far beyond their actual worth in today's ridiculous
Culture of the Collector. |
|
| |
| 
Mike
and the pink Strat' at the Mushroom concert
|
Guitar
Horror Story #442
6.3.05
- I got an e-mail a few days ago from a Peter Gordon who'd
just recently discovered this site. He wrote:
I have a red strat that I bought in the early 80's from
a music store in Boronia (i think... possibly Bosnia).
I was in the store at the time and told the guy he had
a crap array of guitars on offer, with which he said "check
this baby out". In almost the same sentence he said
it was previously Mike Rudds guitar.
To be honest i nearly laughed at the sight of this thing,
it had all that Roland synth stuff built into it (it was
the 80's) and had a teak neck.
I plugged 'Ol Bluey' in....and was staggered by the
sound. Not the synth..the guitar. It still sounds
awesome to this day. It has had a significant overhaul...in
fact I have spent $2,700 on her. New neck, rip out the
synth gear and god knows what else....but those pickups!!!
Unfortunately when I took it in for the rebuild Jim and
Merv Cargill thought they would do me a favour and repaint
her for me....and replace the pickup covers and guards.
I hate them now...just kidding.
However, I have always wondered if it was in fact one
of Mikes. If not, I am sure he probably wishes it was.
Whats more he no doubt doesnt give a rats. |
|
|
| |
| I
thought I'd remember
if I had ever owned a red Strat, and told Peter so.
But there's a twist to this story. You'll remember Spectrum
played at the McWilliams Winery a couple of weeks ago.
I didn't mention it at the time, but Paul Murphy approached
me at the gig with a DVD of the Mushroom Evolution Concert.
The Heaters played a couple of numbers at the concert,
including a version of I'll Be Gone (what else?) with
Ariel's Harvey James and Glyn Mason as guests. For some
time now, Paul has been attempting to put together the
definitive pictorial history of Spectrum, Ariel et al.
There's quite a bit of it around, but it's difficult
to pin down, and some eras are pretty light on for images.
The Heaters aren't particularly well represented and
Paul thought the footage from this concert would fill
in the last major gap. (Hopefully I'll have more news
on Paul's DVD soon).
I put the DVD in my gig bag and promptly forgot about
it - that is, until last night at the Nighthawk Blues
gig when I rediscovered it. So, this evening I put it
on - and bugger me! There was I, as large as life and
hirsute as anything, playing a red Strat with a teak
neck !! (pic)
The Roland synth stuff I'm not owning up to, mind you.
But, given that I'd completely erased the red Strat
from the memory banks, anything's possible.
So, I'm calling on all you guitarists out there - give
me your weird and wonderful guitar stories and I'll
print 'em right here on this website. I'm sure I've
got a few more stories myself - if only I could remember
them..
In the meantime, here's more about that red/pink guitar.. |
|
| |
|
More
from Peter Gordon
Gday Mike,
For the sake of posterity and closure.. and for
the reason that I took this picture for insurance
purposes, please find attached 'that' guitar in
its current form.
Also, oddly...one of my other strats is a vintage
lake placid blue, rosewood neck and Seymore Duncan...(see
attached also) Funny aint it?
Peter
|
|
|
|
| |
Shane
and the pink Strat look meaningfully into
the camera |
More
Guitar Horror Story #442
14.12.05 - Assuming you've been following the story,
this'll make sense, but if you haven't a clue, check
the original story above. Anyway, Shane Wynn, the
original owner of the red/pink Fender, has written
in and shed a little more light on the life and
times of that famous guitar.
g'day
mike
i found one of the photos "crikey i look like
paul kelly without the broken nose" i have
some more somewhere but you know how it is there
is shit all over the place in my spare room i remember
that i bought it from the music shop on the corner
in ringwood i think there called troy music now,
the teak neck is definately a shecktor neck i remember
i was going to buy a fender replacement neck from
Palmi (think that's how you spell it) from the music
junction in camberwell..but i changed my mind, cause
i thought it might change the great sound it had....i
used to go and see Russell Morris and the Rubes
everywhere they played when they were in melbourne
and Joey Amenta was playing the same coloured one
with a fender neck on it i always wondered is that
my ex guitar And i think he played for Wendy and
the rockets too, i traded it in on a fender75 amp
(which was the equivalent to the sob boogie amp
back then) to a music shop that used to be in canterbury
not far from Maton, the reason i got rid of it was
cause i listened to much to dire straits and when
ever i jammed i always copped the you sound like
Mark Knopfler, but when i seen you doing "i'll
be gone" (the classic) at the mushroom evolution
concert i jumped up and down, i knew it had gone
to a good home...the 70's were a great time..i used
to go over to mal eastick's unit (flat) over near
the bay somewhere and have some lessons with him
i had a kasuga les paul then it's a shame about
what happened to Stars i was awe struck by all the
gold records he had hanging on the wall....i have
a lot of vinyl stacked up in my room i'll go thru
them at some time and scan the covers and send them
to you i think i have some rare stuff in there...anyway
i hope i haven't bored you with my rambling..
Shane Wynn 9.12.05 |
|
|
| |
Mike
plucks the pristine L-series Strat' |
The
L-series sunburst Strat
G'day
Mike
Back in 1983 I had saved up my hard earned dollars
to buy a pre L Strat. So I headed of to Guitar Village
in Frankston with much anticipation, and they had
two Strats, one Tele and a couple of Jazzmasters.
The first Strat had been resprayed but everything
else was bog standard (it had been resprayed Lake
Placid Blue)
The other Strat was a two tone sunburst and wasn't
as original as the first. After spending 30 minutes
playing each guitar I opted for the blue Strat.
(the rosewood neck just felt better to me than the
rosewood neck on the other Strat.
When I parted with my money they informed me they
would swap the cases over as they agreed the blue
Strat was in the better condition of the two.
So I walked out the door ecstatic at my purchase
even though the aluminium flight case was bloody
heavy. When I got home I noticed the case had Great
Keppell Island and other airline stickers on it.
I also noticed faded yellow stencilled writing on
the back of said case, and bugger me if it didn't
say Ariel Aust. I went back to Guitar Village and
they told me the sunburst Strat had been bought
off Bob Spencer, who confirmed it was your old Strat.
I just wish I could have afforded that Strat as
well but I had a family of hungry mouths to feed.
Gary Hall 6.3.05 |
|
|
| |
The
L-series sunburst Strat - the Sequel
Gary,
Your story is up on the site. I read it so quickly
the sequence of events got a bit warped - of course
you would've seen any mods Bob made to the guitar.
I was told he attempted to shave off the 'wings'
and changed the shape from the classic Strat profile.
Was that the case? Or did it just have the humbucker
mod I got Merv Cargill to install? And what price
were they asking for it? I sold it to Bob for
$400.00.
Mike.
Mike
From memory the wings had been shaved down and
the pick ups were single coil in the neck and
middle with I think a Seymour Duncan humbucker
in the bridge possy.
Also the neck had been re fretted with bloody
wide and high wire . The pickguard had also been
replaced with a ultra bright white one. There
were 3 toggle switches which were a treble boost
for each pick up Not that you need it on a Strat
also the neck had been scalloped from the 12th
fret down (weird)
I also remember when I tried out both Strats that
I played the riff from Some Good Advice and Worm
Turning Blues- hows that for a coincidence They
were asking $1100 for your old Strat I payed $1250
for the blue Strat
Gary.
Gary,
Wow! The details are burned on your memory! So,
really it was beyond saving - as far as a collectable
is concerned. Hmm. I'm pretty sure it could have
been restored when I sold it - in which case it
could have been worth anything between $7,500.00
- $12,00.00. Or not. The main thing is that it's
a damn fine story of what might've been - for
both of us.
Mike.
Mike
You're not wrong - the price of vintage guitars
and amps is obscene.
Unfortunately some scumbag stole my Strat (and
flight case) vintage vox amp and other gear back
in 1994 BASTARD
Have a good one
Gary
Gary
Hall 8.3.05 |
|
|
|
|
