Dave On Rock

It’s been awhile since I have posted here, but I have had some exciting recent developments in my ongoing quest since 1993 basically involving the Washburn Steve Stevens Signature models.

These are among the most brilliant rock/metal guitars ever in my humble opinion.

Recently I was afforded a unique opportunity to purchase a very rare SS80 model that is basically a NOS 1993 guitar, built by the Washburn Chicago Custom Shop for Steve Stevens himself, but as we all know Steve chose to part ways with Washburn, as with Hamer guitars.

The research I have been involved in since I first learned of these guitars in 1993 through a magazine article at the time. I have read everything in print in regards to Steve since 1984 and the Rebel Yell-Billy Idol LP. which had a profound influence on me.

I briefly owned a Hamer SS-2 guitar, which I bought at a guitar show and found it to have a defective humbucker in the bridge position. I replaced it with a new SD JB Trembucker and was happy to receive from Hamer a wiring diagram and was able to return the quite complex pickup switching wiring to stock. I ‘sold’ it to a friend for little to no money, it was a nice guitar, but this type if configuration guitar, though very sonically cool, wasn’t as much my cup of tea, as the later Hamer bolt on necked SS-3′s. These SS-3′s never were offered for sale as Steve left Hamer and the Centura model was the eventual production version offered, though for my taste it wasn’t anywhere close to the SS-3. Basically at the time 1985-6, Steve was involved in recording Billy’s album Whiplash Smile a tour de force of SS guitar playing and song writing.

The Jackson/Charvel  “Glow” model guitar that Steve had and is still to this day his go to guitar for recording tracks, is the basis of the development of the Hamer SS-3 and later the Washburn SS80 and SS100 guitars.

There is no shame in this as the bolt on neck, dinky Strat body and Original Floyd Rose Tremolo, with top mounting, is a dynamite tone monster guitar.

Steve’s use of reverse angled pickups, both single coil and humbucking, is in part a nod to Hendrix, with his upside down Stratocasters.

In my opinion and I have told Steve this, I feel he developed some of the most influential and brilliantly engineered guitars from the mid-eighties, until the early nineties.

That Steve would end up being frustrated with the various manufacturers, seemed to be in retrospect, almost inevitable, given the commercial marketplace restrictions and production costs and countries of manufacture.

Steve has insisted always that the guitars bearing his name and signature be manufactured in the USA and if he wasn’t allowed control of the product he co-designed, he would choose not to be involved.

Moving to the incredibly brief Washburn era, just under one year in fact, the majority of 1993, Steve was involved closely in the design of some of the most interesting, fantastic sounding and playing guitars, built in this genre.

For many years since I special ordered my black SS80 back in 1993, and I got my order in very early, the guitar I received was different than any other SS80 I have ever seen , and I have seen many, other than the specific guitars produced for Steve himself and used briefly live and in recording the Vince Neil Band album Exposed , which if you have never heard it, buy it and hear Steve really be allowed to stretch out his soloing and production values.

Steve worked diligently at Cornerstone studios with an engineer to work out demos and really nail his guitar tones, prior to the recording of the album.

He even slept on a couch in the studio as he diligently worked towards one of the best examples of loud distortion guitar recording that you will ever hear.

Steve used a George Massenberg EQ unit as part of his signal chain and recorded his guitars dry, as he mostly always does, adding effects later.

The only way I can describe the guitars, which Steve played all of himself, including bass, as MASSIVE and I still to this day use this recording as an example of analog recorded guitars, which were SMPTE coded to the final digital mix of the album, retaining all the killer analog tones.

Steve using at least six vintage Marshall heads on this recording.

He also prefers the SM57 mics to be just of center of the cone directly facing the cone in a vintage Marshall 4X12″, with the grill cloth removed.

Steve has been recording this way since the earlier Billy Idol days.

Back to the Washburn guitars, please do not associate Grover Jackson, who indeed did join Washburn’s Custom Shop towards the end of the SS era, with any design criteria of the Steve Stevens signature guitars, as they were developed before Grover set foot in there.

The guitar designs Grover was involved in were primarily the Mercury series, which Washburn forum member Ascension is proud of owning some rare examples.

My main interest is with the SS80 and SS100 series guitars.

Back to my first SS80, I have written on various internet forums ad nauseum about how my example from very early production, has the pinwheel truss rod, the unfinished headstock and the Famous Monsters silhouette Washburn logo and the positioning of it, with the SS signature being only on the artists spec guitars built for Steve himself.

I have researched as much as I can, including with Washburn themselves, including Terry Atkins, the incredible builder who was involved in the production of these fine machines of tone.

I always thought mine was some early pre-pro type guitar, but I have come to understand that it was a guitar built for Steve, but never delivered and luckily shipped to me, a mega SS fan.

Steve has told me my black SS80 wasn’t his guitar, which I knew, as I ordered it from the factory and my order was in so quick, it was before the finalized production specs were  in effect, but it was completely the same as the ones sent to him by Washburn, in so many regards that I know it was meant for him and the flawless quality of the build and paint, led me to that assumption.

Since unlike companies like Charvel/Jackson, no records of the guitars serial numbers or production figures exist, one can only speculate how many of each type were built, I feel the largest quantity was the Korean produced SS40′s, which if you look do not carry Steve’s signature on the headstocks. In fact one of the biggest reasons for in my estimation, the devaluation of these guitars in some respects, is the custom of internet sellers trying to pass off SS40′s as USA produced SS80′s.

The necks may look similar, but in no way are the same, also the quality of the Washburn labeled overseas produced pickups, distinguished by a small W on the top of the coils, in no way approach the Seymour Duncan produced JB’s. And not all SS80′s or SS100′s necessarily have the gold plated pole pieces either.

The SS100′s all have black anodized hardware, where the majority of SS80′s and SS40′s have gold plated hardware. The quality of the Original Floyd Rose bridges also varies tremendously. I personally experienced what I learned to be  a quite common problem with my Black SS80′s Schaller Floyd Rose licensed tremelo. It would refuse to stay on tune, which was a serious drawback with a locking tremolo guitar for me! It turned out the cast bridge pieces, were ‘soft’ and causing the bridge to mechanically move around, altering the tuning, without even using the bar ! So I ordered a replacement real Original Floyd Rose from Fender, who had bought and was distributing Floyd Rose products at the time, approx.,1993-4. I love the sound of this bridge and it works perfectly and it’s a real Floyd!

During the period of production, the specialty guitars recieved Gotoh Floyds and my purple quilt topped SS80 has the Gotoh, which is a superb design and is highly touted to this day by specialty builders such as Suhr guitars, who currently supply Steve’s Modern series Floyd guitars. John has said it is the best Floyd out there and I believe him, so I have several types of Floyds on my guitars.

If you speak with Washburn and particularly Terry Atkins who now runs Washburns USA Custom Shop in Chicago, the specifications of the Steve Stevens guitars was changing until a final spec was decided on, by that time Steve had left Washburn and it was a moot point.

The final specification I have established for the USA Custom Shop models, is body colored headstock, Washburn “Famous Monsters” logo, the graphic “Steve Stevens Signature model” in print below the Washburn logo and the Steve Stevens signature to the right of these.

The pinwheel adjustment truss rod end was only on the earliest models, Steve’s own personal Artist spec guitars, ect. The finaal production truss rod adjustment is the hex-socket, countersunk into the body end of the neck.

Schaller liscenced  Floyd Rose tremolo in gold, the earliest promo material lists Schaller tuners, but both my SS80′s have gold mini Grovers.

You will see various permutations of specs on guitars out there, bu the only unfinished bodied SS80 was built for Steve only, also headstocks bearing the script Washburn logo are not 99.9% of the time a true USA SS80, no matte what the owner will tell you and obvisly the neck plate is in gold with USA Made in Chicago written on it. Early models do not have rear tremolo covers and have no holes drilled for them, both of my SS80′s are this way, but production SS80 have a black rear tremolo cover, as apparently some of the ‘production’ SS 100′s do as well.

I will add an additional article with pics of the various specs and a rough chronology of the guitars. Remember, I have been ‘obsessed’ with these guitars since I first read about and ordered mine in 1993, so with the advent of the internet, it still was a slow process obtaining info and only this year did I have an epiphany in regards to data I have been seeking for years, I did have the intention of  writing an ‘official’ article for a guitar magazine with all of this, but since I will not do so without the approval of the man himself, it will not happen.

I am compelled to add here that Steve Stevens himself has been more than helpful to me concerning events surrounding these guitars and my word is my bond and I will never directly reveal what Steve has told me.

When I first posted pictures of the completed Barbarella guitar on the Gear Page forum, it was brought to Steve’s attention that the guitar actually existed, for as far as he knew until he saw the pictures, the guitar had never been produced. The design by Steve and all the specs were completed by him and he mentioned it in a guitar magazine article back in 1993, that Washburn was building him such a guitar.

I myself only this year when the purple quilt topped SS80 came up for sale, learned of the existence of this legendary guitar. Jim O’Connor the brilliant graphic artist, responsible for the killer graphics, who I am interviewing soon for this website, had no idea that Steve never even received the guitar.

The whole sequence of events surrounding for me, one of rock/metals greatest guitars is tinged by sadness and to be blunt downright deceit on certain levels. Woild I love to own this magnificent Barbarella ray gun guitar…of course, if only for a prime example of the artistry of Jim O’Connor and  Steve’s great ray gun, sequencing LED electronics.

But I discovered something about the integrity of a great musical artist like Steve Stevens, whom has remained silent for many, many years about events that transpired back then and I feel somewhat responsible for possibly inflicting some painful memories for him through my research, but I must add that he is true gentleman and an artist who is true to his fans. I received the greatest satisfaction from being able to communicate via private message with Steve and to have the opportunity to tell him how much his music and guitar playing meant to me as a true fan, from the very earliest days. He thanked me for being a loyal and true fan, and in music for me in my remarkable life so far, this one one of the highlights. That I may have caused him indirectly some grief inadvertently as well, is also true. But things are cool with Steve and he has told me so.

That Grover Jackson approached Steve in 1984 towards the end of the Rebel Yell album production about producing a guitar for him is true. This guitar developed into the Glow guitar which Steve absolutely loves till to this day and was used on Whiplash Smile, Dirty Diana, Top Gun Anthem, Atomic Playboys and even a track on his recent solo release Memory Crash, the most recent addition being a Bare Knuckles VHII pickup.

This guitar is just plain wore out and Steve has said he A/B’d it with his Suhr Modern and the Suhr won out. Steve currently uses an Ernie Ball Axis guitar, Steve has at least 3 Ernie Ball Music Man EVH model guitars, given to him by his great friend Edward Van Halen on the Exposed tour. The Vince Neil Band toured with Van Halen back in 1993 and Steve also had 3 Peavey 5150 II stacks given to him by Edward as well, so I feel that since his friend Ed is currently endorsing the Wolfgang guitar, Steve uses a similar guitar, but not the VH model out of respect for Ed. Most people wouldn’t notice small details like that about Steve, but it is testament to his character I believe!

The SS100 Frankenstein series began as an extremely limited production and ran into licensing issues with Universal Pictures. The first examples in glow in the dark paint, were completely airbrushed by hand, later stencils were used.

Steve Driscoll was contracted to paint a number of bodies by Washburn and recently one of these guitars #14, was amazingly for sale by Steve Gill of Washburn and he purchased it from Germany, as I saw it on a web guitar display from there.

The guitar was listed on Ebay with no sale as far as I am aware, it went to a ridiculous figure, I would have purchased it, but having sold a lot of my own equipment to purchase my guitar that was confirmed by Washburn, as having been built for SS, and ended up in the private stock collection of Rudy the owner of Washburn/US Music/Randall, ect. It was displayed in the Washburn Museum for many years until Jon at Funky Munky Music in Shawnee, Kansas was able to pry it from Rudy’s hands and I found it on Ebay by chance after it was mentioned on the Washburn forum.

The Washburn forum is primarily interested in other more popular models and my requests for info on SS guitars from them since 2006, has been largely fruitless and they have told me I know more than they do about these guitars.

I can say it has been fascinating researching these guitars and finding out the stories associated with the various models produced.

Steve Stevens was responsible for the incredible Barbarella guitar that incorporates his ray gun effects built into the guitar, along with flashing LED’s in synch with the effects!

Steve first developed this at Hamer in his famous black metalflake SS2 guitar that had his signature written in pink largely across the upper position of the body, where your arm would rest. It also had multiple pink buttons for the effects. This guitar is featured on video at Live Aid when Steve got up to play on Revolution with the Thompson Twins whom he originally added guitar to their album track of the song.

Also in the Dirty Diana video with the recently deceased Micheal Jackson Steve has a Hamer SS-3 with light effects built into the guitar as well as the ray gun sounds!

The Barbarella guitar is a tour de force and the absolutely incredible graphics from the movie poster painted by the extremely gifted artist Jim O’Connor who also painted another SS80 for Steve and this one was licensed by the late great Forrest Ackerman, depicting Famous Monsters magazine covers on the body.

This guitar was generously donated by Steve to the monster movie SFX wizard Rick Baker for his museum, so many fans of the genre would be able to view this beautiful work of art.

That the association was short lived between Steve and Washburn, is sad but that is what happened.

Consequently the era back then, the music that was popular, ect. didn’t lead to this style of guitar being more popular.

Plus there weren’t very many made, there are probably many more Korean produced SS40′s, in fact I know there were.

Even to this day the reputation of the far superior USA made SS models is devalued by the Ebay ads for what are purported to be SS80′s, when in fact they are clearly the SS40′s.

Plus the price points for these mass produced versions is extremely low.

They aren’t terrible guitars and the necks are in fact superior for this price point.

This leads into one of the most superb features for me and many others who appreciate the USA built guitars, the neck.

Think Charvel San Dimas, Pre-Pro, ect., but with a little more girth and a very satisfying feel to it and the superb raw unfinished feel of the oil finish.

The dimensions are at the nut 1 5/8″ and at the 22nd fret, 2 1/4″, with an R2 nut, Dunlop 6110 fretwire, pearl dot inlays, and the neck being of one piece quarter sawn rock maple, with a walnut skunk strip.

The shame is the records do not exist of production serial numbers, quantities made, where shipped ect. Various dealers of course would have their records, but many are not in business anymore.

The poplar bodies, the direct mounted slanted Seymour Duncan JB Trembucker pickups, the dual action reverse thread truss rod, with the early pinwheel adjustment, also used to this day by EVH on his EBMM and now Wolfgang guitars, there were the conventional adjusters in later models.

As these guitar were produced a specification was eventually decided on.

Schaller Floyd Rose licensed top mount tremolos were fitted , later specialty SS80′s and some SS100′s used the far superior Gotoh Floyds.

In fact the only issue I had with my black SS80 was the tremolo, the bridge pieces having soft metal, thus keeping it from remaining in tune, which I did not care for. At the time Fender had acquired Floyd Rose and was distributing them.

So I ordered a Original gold unit and have had trouble free playing ever since.

High quality components were used in the electronics if these guitars, with the control cavity being shielded with insulating paint, a CTS 500K solid shaft audio taper pot for volume control, a three way pickup selector, which may either have a gold or chrome bezel and a Switchcraft 1/4″ football shaped output jack. Schaller or mini Gotoh tuners.

Various logos were used and the guitars with painted headstocks have a clear coat sealer over the back of the headstock up until the countersunk holes for the nut mounting screws

There are script Washburn logos, more commonly on the SS80 are the solid Washburn Famous Monsters logo, borrowed from Forest Ackerman’s monster/sci-fi movie magazine.

The Frankenstein graphic SS100′s have a two-tone body color with the front of the body a luminescent off white color, that would glow in the dark.

The Frankenstein monster as portrayed by Boris Karloff was used, similar to a movie poster for that original film.

Steve being a big sci-fi movie buff, in fact naming his post Billy Idol group “The Atomic Playboys” after a quote from an early sci-fi film.

The original #1 SS100 still resides in the Washurn museum and is the one now for sale at $12K or something like that.

I would like to mention the prize of my collection, the exquisite SS80 with a quilted maple cap over the poplar body, it features a museum grade birdseye maple cap neck, this being unique to only this guitar and the color purple of the top has many shades depending on the light it is viewed in. The back of the body is black, as in the Frankenstein SS100′s. There is no rear tremolo cover as with my black SS80, though I have seen two SS100′s with fitted tremolo covers, yet another variation.

Not widely known, post Steve Stevens departure, SS80′s and even shock , horror SS100′s were painted over, the headstocks stripped of paint and the Steve Stevens graphics and I believe had only a script Washburn logo.

This was to move the remaining stock of guitars and they were unoficially labeled X80′s. I have seen examples of these, and yes they are SS80′s in spirit, but…in fact if the paint is stripped off the bodies on some, a Frankenstein graphic might appear!

The tale is a sad one, there was no happy ending for these extremely rare guitars and frankly most people, even in the guitar world, still under appreciate these unique guitars for the dynamic instruments they are.

Any one with pictures and stories of their SS80′s or SS100′s please feel free to send them to me, as the story continues.

Update Rudy has sold Washburn/US Music To Jam Industries who were major shareholders, this explains the recent purging of the Washburn Private Stock/Museum, with the #1 SS100 Frankenstein painted by Steve Driscoll currently for sale and the  Barbarella SS80 also on the block for $15K. Although recntly not relisted, so who knows if it sold or not as Funky Munky Music aren’t returning my calls recently…

This number 1 SS100 is of course not the first SS100 produced, Steve himself still has the first one, it has a white headstock with the Washburn script logo and no Steve Stevens signature, or SS model designation.

I am not even sure if it is a glow paint job either to tell the truth, but Steve hasn’t played a Washburn guitar since 1993, that much I can say is true.

There were the first airbrushed production SS100′s painted by Steve Driscoll and the one for sale is marked #1. For many years these SS100′s were the white elephant and any time I would ask for info on the internet people would wax lyrical about the Frankenstein SS100′s, “I wish I could get my hands on one of those..ect.” And recently a relative flood of them (for their production quantities  came available on the market and the sellers couldn’t practically give them away..so go figure. Would I like an SS100 Franky, sure I would, but by the time I will be able to afford any guitar again, after my mega-buck purchase of the purple quilt SS80, they will not be in as prime condition.

What is of the greatest annoyance is that all the CNC specifications for these guitars, is still safely locked away at Washburn, this fact was confirmed to me by Terry Atkins, just wish I could have few more original necks…sigh!

The progression from the Jackson/Charvel Glow guitar, through the Hamer SS-3, through the Washburn SS models, is clear, many of the guys who worked for Hamer in Illinois, ended up working at Washburn, Terry Atkins included.

Here is what Steve himself had to say about the recent for sale Barbarella on the HRI  forum, when it was brought up my a forum member who didn’t know the history of the guitar:

That guitar was one i had designed but never played or owned. I think anyone that would spend anywhere near the asking price for that guitar, should have their head examined. I have a suggestion for anyone interested in it. Spend about 3K on a Suhr Modern…and rent the Barbarella film…they’ll end up much happier, lol.
Steve Stevens

Here is my reply on the forum:

I think Steve is being kind in his comments on the Barbarella guitar.
After Steve had designed and spec’d this guitar, it was built after Steve left Washburn and he had no idea it even existed until a few months ago when I posted pics of it I obtained through Washburn on Gear Page.
The great thing about all of it though for me was to be able to have dialog with Steve, always one of my greatest guitar heroes and inspirations,influences and that has meant the world to me.
I have done extensive research on the Washburn era of Steve’s career and I clearly understand Steve’s feelings on his experiences with them.
Since I own two SS80′s, one I ordered in 1993 and one I purchased recently that is an incredible one off.
I have done extensive research on all these guitars and was even offered this Barbarella privately for less money earlier, before it went on Ebay.
There is much sadness connected with this era for Steve personally and if I may be allowed to say, after being directly responsible for one of the finest rock guitars built, for the things to happen that did, is a great tragedy to me personally.
Jim O’Connor is the man who is responsible for the incredible graphic on this guitar, he having painted quite a few guitars for Steve, both Hamers and Washburns.
Jim had no idea that Steve never received the guitar, until I told him..
Out of my ultimate respect for Steve himself as a great person and artist, I must keep the things I have learned private, but Steve has some great guitars now as he has mentioned, working with John Suhr, whom he has known forever and worked on Steve’s guitars back in the early eighties and his Godin’s and Les Pauls, which he sounds amazing on.
Steve is one of very few artists who have maintained a dignity and respect for others, not allowing negative things that would have seriously affected others who are less strong, to affect his attitudes and career progress.
Steve continues to amaze with his solo albums and remains a current, viable artist in today’s music scene, who is a gear head and so often gives credit to engineers and others involved, where I feel he is directly responsible for some of the best playing and killer guitar tones out there..period.
The former owner of US Music, who has sold out I believe, has kept all these rare SS Washburns in his museum/private collection for all these years, I was fortunate enough to get my purple quilt SS80 for a fairly reasonable price, although the most I have ever paid for a guitar, it was worth it to me, as I love these guitars, as I do the Hamer SS-3′s as well.
The music business is a strange world, where oft times, integrity and respect are low priorities, Steve should be commended for his personal integrity over all these past issues and I personally find it repugnant to see guitars that should belong to Steve, being just thrown out on the market. I love that Steve posts here, but you guys innocently enough listed this guitar, but out of respect for Steve, I wouldn’t give these sales any more publicity, imo.
Hey Steve, you know how I feel!
With respect Dave.

I have told this story before, but have lost it somewhere in my myriad multi-forum posts. One of the most incredible moments of my music/guitar related life, was the opportunity to hear the great man, inventor and former president of Gibson guitars, during the golden era and laterally president of Bigsby, until he retrired, Theodore “Ted” Mc Carty, tell his story and relate some key moments in the history of the Gibson company. The late Les Paul was also at this rather unique event held at the National Museum of American History, held at the Lemelson Center and associated with the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

I attended on Saturday November 16, 1996 as I happened to be visiting my sister in Maryland at the time and I was able to take the Metro train to the museum. It was an experience that will live with me always. I met Duke Kramer of Gretsch guitar fame, got his autograph, and attended the presentation by Ted Mc Carty who was fairly advanced in years by that time and what a kind and informative individual he was. He related the story of the designing of the Explorer, Flying V and of course the Les Paul guitars. He and Les were not there at the same time, Les has his own day at the exhibit and I could only attend the one day. There was a large collection of vintage guitars, many courtesy of the late Scott Chinery collection, well he was still alive then! I met Paul Reed Smith, Jol Danzig of Hamer guitars as well.

I got the opportunity to shake the hand of this great inventor and father of the Gibson golden years and thank him personally for all the great guitars and designs he gave to us guitarists and how much they meant tp us musicians. He signed my program in a shaky hand, but managed to do so. I truly felt in the presence of a great man, he was very humble and he was most proud of all his employees that worked with him as he emphasized that he did not do it all by himself. Paul Reed Smith was in rather close attendance to Ted, as he was presenting his ‘Mc Carty’ model guitar at the time.

He mentioned that Les Paul and Gibson’s account of the invention of the Les Paul had slight differences and was very respectful to Les, whom he was good friends with back in those days, even though Les’s ideas were originally turned down by Gibson. Fender’s production of the Broadcaster/Esquire/Telecaster prompted Gibson to move in the solid body direction..

Ted personally invented the wrap around tailpiece that transformed the original 1952 Les Paul Goldtops, almost unplayable neck angle and tailpiece/bridge, into an awesome tone machine and the start of an incredible journey of innovation, that is still unparalleled to this day. My initial impressions of Paul Reed Smith, were that he was certainly very self assured and he specifically took me over to look at a classical guitar in a display case, and said, just put your hand across the bottom bout of the guitar and you have the basis of the shape of the Les Paul guitar. This is so ironic because not many years later the Gibson company took him to court over his single cut guitars and their similarity to Gibson’s Les Paul Juniors and Specials. I must give my impression and opinion of what I observed and to me, I felt personally that PRS was sort of leeching off of Ted and sure the McCarty model is in tribute to Ted and I hope Ted was well compensated for his endorsement of Paul’s guitars, but there is nothing new under the sun these days and that was my impression.

I also met Jol Danzig of Hamer guitars, who I managed to ask the most embarrassing question of that was possible, instead of the story about him dissembling the ex Peter Green/Gary Moore Les Paul, I asked him what was the deal with Steve Stevens and his abrupt leaving from Hamer. I could tell immediately that this was not a pleasant subject for Jol to discuss. He replied and  these are his exact words “I would have coffee any day of the week with Steve….pause…but as far as working with again professionally..again silence.”

I have heard the other side of that story from the man himself, Steve Stevens..but that is for another article.

What a great time I had and shaking this mans hand was like a very moving experience for me. I have shaken hands with Yngwie Malmsteen and the late great Jimmy Smith, all masters of their instruments and a handshake is a powerful thing to me, a connection from days gone past!

But then again I am very sentimental and old school when it comes to music and musicians.

Dave

I did not know Steve personally, but I did know his work and let me say, I have never been as impressed with an aftermarket product as I have been with the parts I purchased for my 1952/1956 Les Paul Goldtop restoration/conversion project, see the story in my blog earlier on.

Steve was a Rembrandt of guitar hardware and a Michelangelo combined, he was an artisan, who was a player who understood great tone for himself and his engineering side, where he used apparently CNC machinery to produce these breathtaking versions of primarily Gibson 1950′s hardware. I can really appreciate a fine piece of machined craftsmanship and the ABR-1 that I have which is made of aluminum, is spectacular in quality function and fit, very important parts of the tone/vibration transfer. Also my light weight aluminum tail piece and steel studs are equally superbly manufactured and fit like a glove.

I have been raving for some time about the quality of Steve’s product and those in the know, particularly those with Gibson Historics, know the extremely poor quality of Gibsons modern interpretations of the ’50′s pieces and the Pigtails are as close to and in cases equal or more consistently better than the originals. That is some achievement let me say.

On the left is a picture of the aluminum ABR-1 Pigtail and right next to it is my hand holding an ABR-1 from an all original 1958 Les Paul Goldtop, I was helping sell at the Great American Guitar Show in Philly 2008.

These are various pictures and documents showing tailpieces, comparing the vintage vrs the Pigtail vrs the Historic tail pieces. Notice how different the Historic hardware is form the Pigtail and how closely the Pigtail resembles the vintage piece.

I believe from what I read in my research, before investing in the Pigtail pieces, that Steve meticulously researched the old hardware and digitally measured it, right sown to casting marks, ect.

For example his tail pieces used for a wraparound bridge, such as on a 1953-1955 Les Pauls intonate so much better than the Historic part, The ridge that the strings c go over has been shown to exactly resemble the vintage piece.

With extreme condolences to Steve’s family it is my express hope that someone will continue the tradition of these parts. Steve was primarily a one man operation as far as I know and that is always the hardest scenario to continue.

To those of us that love vintage Les Paul’s and those who GAS over Historics, the loss of Steve is a tragedy on so many levels. I understand that he had a love of vintage aircraft as well.

Something I have always said and I have willingly promoted Steve’s fine product to others looking to upgrade the tone of  their Gibson’s be they vintage or Historic, is that if I had , say a 1959 Les Paul Sunburst and wanted to change out the bridge and or tail piece, I would use Pigtail components without hesitation as these fine products are as good as or better than the original as they are more consistent, due to the modern method of construction, the high quality of metals and playing used.

On the right side of the page is my 1952/56 conversion with Steve’s hardware in place. The aluminum ABR-1 really wakes up the tone of the Gold Top and as my luthier had to slightly spray thicker lacquer die to the original configuration of the guitar, where in the conversion to TOM from the original 1952 tailpiece, the bridge was sunk into the body rather than resetting the neck angle.

Since my guitar had to be re-necked due to it arriving with a severe headstock break, necessitating the use of a old wood neck blank, which was set at the correct 1956 style angle for TOM and stop tailpiece, see my Story of My Gold Top, contained in this blog!

I love this guitar and I am honored to have  Pigtail pieces fitted and will think of Steve when I play the guitar as I do of the late John Zeidler, when I play either of my two Gary Moore Heritages, as John reworked those for me as well. God bless you Steve and thanks from every guitarist for your brilliant contribution to helping is nail that perfect tone. His hardware is practically built to military specifications, it is that superior.

You will be missed.  Dave

I recently re-watched this DVD, which I first reviewed for the Lord of the Strings the fan site for Gary Moore based out of Hungary, which I have been a regular contributor under the name of Emerald , in 2006.

I have had a rethink on my original review and am amending my original review, based on the passage of time and a change of heart I have felt in my attitude towards Gary. I am known to be one of the most fiercest supporters of Gary Moore and his works and music for many years. The amount of satisfaction that Gary’s music has given me over the years, has unchanged. I applaud Gary for being a real person throughout his career, it may have well caused his career immeasurable damage over the years.

Also I wish to address the chasm between Gary and the loyal fan base of Thin Lizzy which over the years has not closed up. Sure Gary was called in several times to replace Brian Robertson as guitarist with the band and actually left the band during an important US tour, which he has since admitted wasn’t his smartest move, but the often tumultuous relationship between Gary and Phil Lynott is as much to blame. I have read the excellent book “The Rocker” by Mark Putterford, which is well written and fleshes in much of the details missing of the up and down again working relationship of Gary and Phil.

Since the early Dublin days and I don’t have my copy of Putterford’s work at hand at the moment, but I am fairly sure that early incarnation of Phil’s and Gary’s band together however brief lived. there was magic present even back then.

So on August 19th 2005, which would have been the eve of Phils 56th birthday, a statue of Phil Lynott was unveiled in Dublin’s Grafton Street by his mother. There to witness the event were members of Thin Lizzy from throughout the bands career. The following evening, they joined forces under the leadership of Gary Moore for a concert that paid tribute to Phil Lynott’s memory. The core band of Moore, Jethro Tull bass player Jonathon Noyce and the mainstay of Thin Lizzy their main drummer who has always played with them, except for brief periods through illness, ect., Brian Downey.

The lineup of past Lizzy guitarists, excluding Midge Ure and Snowy White, Brian Robertson, Scott Gorham and the first guitarist Eric Bell.Each guitarist played separately with Gary.

Extraneous of all this lineup, apparently I learned later that Lizzy tribute bands claimed they had arranged for and collected money to help pay for the statue of Phil and to cover costs for the ceremony, ect. One of these tribute band members got into an internet ‘debate’ with me over Gary Moore’s involvement in the whole preceedings. They were of the opinion that Gary took over the proceedings, ect. Originally he was to be a guest, ect.

I find these claims to be totally groundless and as I will reveal Gary was key to the success of the evening and since he can singlehandly play and sing any era of Thin Lizzy perfectly well by himself, if he had not participated, they show would not have been the artistic success that it turned out to be. The rift between Lizzy fans and Gary Moore has existed since the the occasional times Gary was in the band. Arguably their most artistically complete album Black Rose recorded in Paris in 1979, was throughout marked with the songwriting and guitar playing of Gary Moore. The love/hate relationship of the two Irishmen, the northerner and the southerner, was the theme of their collective works.

On to the show, Gary opened with “Walking By Myself” which was somewhat appropriate as Phil was no longer there, yet to me I sensed some hostility from the Lizzy crowd as it wasn’t a Lizzy song, but Gary being the consummate professional he is carried on. On a related note, and I have been involved in somewhat of a hate Marshall JCM2000 DSL100 amplifiers, which Gary was using at this time and for a comsiderable period before and afterwards. To me their tone isn’t right to my personal taste, though Gary has resorted to using quite the pedal board setup since using these, multi-channel amps….

I will attempt to stay on the main topic here but for me Gary’s amplifier choice colors my interpretation of his tone, as I know how good he can sound with other choices. Gary can sound great through any amplifier, I would have preferred an amp like his 1972 1992 model Marshall Super Bass for example, but that’s just me! Next up is Jailbreak complete with flashing police lights, as back in the Lizzy days.

Gary exhibits his usual total command of the material and his singing which has greatly improved over the years, was up to the task of the Lizzy tunes. Plus his ability to play and sing at the same time, has always placed him in a separate category of accomplished guitarists. Then the band goes into “Don’t Believe a Word” incorporating both the slow and fast versions of the tune, Gary plays exceptionally well on this tune. He is using his Gibson Custom Shop Les Pauls throughout, nary a vintage Les Paul in site. I believe he has Tom Holmes in the reversed neck pickup Sunburst version, He also has a charcoal/black maple quilted top Les Paul that is quite attractive.

Then it is time to bring on the first of the ‘guest’ guitarists, Brian Robertson who never played in Lizzy with Gary at the same time as Gary was the one usually replacing the injured Robbo. To be frank Brian gave it his best shot, but for my money Gary is carrying the version of  Emerald that they are playing and Brian is a wee but rusty and doesn’t play with the same fire he once had. He has had a rough go of it throughout the years and matched up against a guitarist of Gary’s caliber, most players would look shoddy to be fair. Gary gives Brian every opportunity to rise to the occasion, but I think Brian was a little nervous as well. He was playing a seventies Les Paul, which may well be the one the band first bought for him when he first joined the band!

The next tune “Still In Love With You”, which in the Gorham /Robertson version of the band, was always a standout performance for Brian and one can’t help but think back to the fantastic 1977 performance of Live and Dangerous which Brian owned the solos on.

Sadly on this occasion he would come close, but be sharp on occasion, ect and he seemed to lack confidence. I realize that back on the seventies his playing was bolstered by a combination of speed and whiskey and he was much younger. Again Gary saves the day and carries the tune. I felt that Gary gave every guest player the opportunity to shine and didn’t attempt at any time to overplay against the other guitarist, though just Gary laying back in a groove is superior to many others lead work!  It was great to see Robbo, still alive for one thing and it was brave of him to get up there and be there for Phil’s mum.

Next the now gray haired Scott Gorham bounded on with his current weapon of choice, a Floyd Rose equipped Stratocaster with a bridge humbucker and quite a few rack effects as well. In fact I thought at time he was doing an eighties Steve Lukather impersonation! His tone to me was thin and weasly and I remember on the GM fan forum, a big joke about the Weasel pedal, ect!

Black Rose was the number they first played and this is the song where Gary taught Scott all the guitar parts, in fact it was rumored for many years that Gary had played all the guitars on the studio version, I don’t believe that to be true though.

Next the Cowboy Song segued into The Boys Are Back In Town which for such a simple song has the most amazing number of chord changes!! This all was well received by the crowd and then Scott was gone and on came Eric Bell , whom Gary introduced as the only man who Phil thought could play this song properly. Eric’s performance was inspired and he was also well received, though Lynott hated that song for many years, it was their first big break.

Gary then played an excerpt from Old Town which segued into Parisienne Walkways which Gary teased the crowd with around the sustained note and threw in Happy Birthday for Phil at the end.

Standout performances besides Gary were Brian Downey, the solid rock foundation of Lizzy and often overlooked for his loyalty and massive contribution to the drive and force of the bands music.

Jonathon Noyce’s performance was adequate, I wasn’t expecting him to have a mirrored pickguard bass guitar or leather trousers, he did wear a leather coat though. Who could replace Phil, to be fair.

Gary Moore has dedicated a fair amount of his solo material to the story of Phil and himself, from 1987′s Wild Frontier through After The War, with the incredible autobiographical song Blood of Emeralds.

This beautiful tale co-written by the fantastic Neil Carter, says all there is to say about the triumphs and ultimately sad but inevitable tragedy that Phil was doomed for. No one could stop his ship crashing into the rocky shore. Bob Dylan told Hughie Lewis that in his opinion Phil Lynott was one of rock musics greatest poets.

As Gary and various family and band members watch the unveiling of the statue the day before, Gary can be seen kissing his young daughter as he holds her in his arms. Phil’s incredible mother Philomena places a kiss in the likeness of her son, whim she loved and was most proud of.

So well done Gary Moore and all the band members, a fitting tribute to Phil, though I would of liked to have heard Johnny Boy and Blood of Emeralds but they may have been to much for Gary to deal with, plus Blood of Emeralds requires the great keyboard playing of Neil Carter.

I was angry, I was sad

just thinking about the times we had

I felt so lost and lonely too

what could I say, what could I do?

And after all, the time goes by

No one knows the reasons why

You lived each day like there was no tommorow

You spent those years living on time you borrowed

And in your eyes, all I could see was sorrow.

Excerpt from Blood of Emeralds written by Moore/Carter

Every time I hear these lyrics or even the sad melody, it brings a tear to my eye, as Gary’s lyrics, though pertaining to Phil , in a way reflect how my life was headed and how I managed to avoid tragedy with the help of the Lord , who helped in my own personal recovery.

http: //www.moorepanos.com/pages/misc/dublin.htm

By the way this DVD is now available in full HD 1080p in Blu-Ray technology for those who are lucky enough to own such equipment!!

Dave

Lester was the man, had his broken arm cast in the playing position, was a true revolutionary, a man with an incredible vision and imagination. As a true genius, he had the ability to create and invent, what he had in his mind..incredible!

Plus he never gave up on his love of playing and continues to be an inspiration to all guitarists, young and old. I never met him, I did meet Ted McCarty a few years before his passing and shook his hand.

Let’s remember the lovely Mary Ford at this time also, she played a large part in his success, and her life was a sad one.
That a mad scientist type creator would be responsible for one of the most beloved guitars in the world. When one thinks of solid body electric guitars, two come to mind, the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul.

All the Waterford Gap issues, that Les was presented with Gibson’s concept of his basic idea, this issue haunted all the biographies of Les and he should get credit where it’s due, to be fair.
The Log guitar was the start of all this and Les’s mastery of multitrack recording, was as revolutionary as his guitar designs and playing, ironically I had just been wondering about Les last week and how he was doing and how I would feel about his inevitable passing, it still hasn’t sunk in yet.

I love all forms of Les Pauls, from Juniors to Bursts, they are unique and a design that is timeless.

Just imagine how many tracks Les will have available in heaven.
I will miss his quick, acid witt and his great sense of humor
That Les would pass away during the 50th anniversary of the most famous Les Paul ever, the 1959, is apropos, in a way.

God bless you Lester, Rhubarb Red and thanks for all you gave us, we love you..it’s a sad day.. more soon, I bough the Les Paul Legacy Box set of CD’s quite a few years ago now, would like to see the TV shows he recorded with Mary, bless her heart. I do have mixed emotions about Les, but there are good memories for the most part, and I am sure he never threw anything away, his sons and daughter could have a garage sale for years.

I think also that Les made it a point never to play one of the classic years ’58-’60 Sunbursts, as he was all in favor of the Goldtops and the black Customs. I recently had the opportunity to play a 1958 Les Paul Standard last year and although the only amps I was allowed to play through were a Pig Nose and an Orange (modern version), so tone wise I couldn’t tell you, but that is  another story ..

Hopefully the passing of Lester Poulfus, will not generate a ridiculous leap in the vintage values of the instruments bearing his name, he also signed about every other Les Paul out there, so a signed LP by the great man would not bring that much extra coin.

I would like to add that Les suffered from terrible arthritis from the 1960′s, the  formentioned horribly broken right arm, he fractured a finger on his left hand during a show with Mary, when he struck his hand against her guitar during a gag. I admire Les Paul and forgive any of the claims of selfishness and egomania. Les had many regrets about how he treated others and particularly Mary. People even forgave his delusions that he alone designed the Les Paul guitars. When Gibson decided to build guitars to his more personal persuasion, with complicated electronics and his low-impedance pickups , which required a pre-amplifier for use and the era in which it was introduced, was not favorable to this type of guitar. The many management changes at Gibson, did little to bolster Les’s confidence in Gibson. I admire him for being the outspoken critic, while still under contract, of the Gibson company. The Berlin years and the Ted McCarty years were favorable ones to Les. His brilliance with the multi-track recorders was as much the huge legacy he left, which contributed directly to all the ‘music’ we enjoy today.

One of my favorite guitarists of all time, Steven Schneider, aka, Steve Stevens, has had a fondness for Les Pauls for the last few years, though his are far from stock using Tone Pros locking bridges and his own Bare Knuckles pickups. Steve had a 1953 Les Paul Goltop that had been refinished and had PAF’s fitted, Billy Idol bought this for Steve when he joined his band. I heard this guitar had an unfortunate end, being run over by a van or something drastic.

Steve is using Les Pauls almost exclusively these days. I have my ’52/’56 Les Paul Goltop conversion of course and had two 1954 Les Paul Juniors, which were killer. I know that Steve had a Les Paul Special single cutaway as well awhile back, it was a TV model.

Lets chose to remember Les as the brilliant inventor and father of modern day recording as he is/was! I also got the feeling that Gibson made a whole lot more money than Les did on using his trademark. When he divorced Mary, he had them take his name off the 1961 Les Paul SG, to save paying his ex-wife any royalties and also he was Less than thrilled with the skinny devil horned guitar that took the place of his beloved maple topped single cutaway..

Dave

Here is what B.B.King had to say in the introduction to the excellent book
PETER GREEN Founder of Fleetwood Mac The Biography by Martin Celmins which I highly recommend:
Forward by B.B.King
Back in the sixties, Peter Green was one of a new breed of great guitar players, and during that time I spent a week touring with him and Fleetwood Mac. Sure, he was a very fine person; in fact he was the same person no matter who you were. Now that sort of guy is hard to find in this business.
It’s funny, but I kind of remember him more after he left Fleetwood Mac, like when he played on my London sessions album. It was around that time, I know that he became disillusioned, but it was also then that our friendship grew.
I could sympathize with him because there had been times for me too when I felt the same – sometimes maybe it seems like everyone else is doing better than you…looks happier…got the best ideas. But then things change – it’s hard to know how, but they do. Years later when I played concerts in London Peter would still sometimes come backstage and say hello – and that meant something to me. It didn’t matter that he didn’t seem to want to say much – I was real glad that he bothered to come along.
People have told me that in his early years my guitar playing influenced Peter a lot. Now that’s something I take as a great compliment, but I have to tell you that I don’t get it myself. When I hear Peter Green…I hear Peter Green

B.B.King
March 1995
What a great compliment from a pivotal bluesman to another..

I first heard Peter Green’s amazing guitar playing, many years before I first heard Gary Moore. Gary Moore is very complex to understand and to many they cannot take his playing, end of story. That is a shame, he has a lot to say, still to this day.
Peter Green’s playing still can chill me to the bone, he pierces one’s soul with his haunting , tortured playing. He has truly been to hell and back, as have many of us, but his gift of beautiful, almost sacred music, continues to give many, many years later.
That he is one of the undisputed blues masters, there should be no doubt

Since 2006 I have mostly maintained a thread on the Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen on Metro Amp Forum, here are some snippets pf info from the hundreds of posts I have shared there…

http://www.alloutguitar.com/interview/e … _malmsteen
Chronology of YJM US models;
The American Fender YJM Strat model year updates are as follows:

1988 Introduction: Along with the Fender Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster, the Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Signature is the first or Fender’s Artist / Signature series of guitars. Malmsteen and Clapton are the first Artists to be so honored. These early YJM Strats featured a modern (small) headstock, 21 Fender “vintage” medium frets, American Standard style 2-point pivot Tremolo, modern Fender/Schaller tuners, and 2 x Dimarzio HS-3 pickups (neck and bridge) and Fender single coil in the middle. Also, I believe the truss rod adjustment was via screw driver at the end of neck near top of pickguard. This model continues unchanged through 1993.

1994 1st update: Fender changes headstock to Yngwie’s preferred late sixties large headstock, changes American Standard type tremolo to original, vintage Synchronized Tremolo, and aged plastic parts. Pickups were still 2 x HS-3 and 1 x Fender American standard (middle). This model continues unchanged through 1997.

1998 2nd update: Dunlop super Jumbo 6000 frets introduced. Tuners changed to Vintage Fender “F-Key” style. Dimarzio YJM pickup introduced, and is featured in the neck and middle position, with a Dimarzio HS-3 in the bridge. Mint pickguard with aged plastic parts. Truss rod access moved to headtock via allen wrench. This model continues unchanged through 2006.

2007 3rd and latest update: Bullet style truss rod is introduced. Deeper neck scalloping is introduced. Fender’s standard wood screw Neck / body joint is finally changed to reflect Yngwie’s special modification==>4-point machine bolt / threaded insert type neck anchoring system. Special, slimmer “C” shape neck profile is introduced. Pickguard changed to 3-ply white.
Some are claiming the 2007 YJM’s have thinner neck profiles:
I caliper measured both my 2002 and 2007 YJM strats at the 1st and 12th frets.

The 2002 measures around 19.6 and 21.8 mm thick
With 2mm deep scallops

The 2007 measures 18.0 and 20.5 mm thick
With 2.3mm deep scallops

An Ibanez Wizard is spec at 17mm and 20 mm

So you can see the 2002 would have around 17.6 mm of solid wood around the lowest region 1st fret area and the 2007 would have around 15.7 mm of wood in that same region.

That is about 11% thinner where the neck is thinnest (low valley of a scallop)
That’s a fair amount.
Also questioning his use of the YJM DiMarzio’s:
I have this question in my head lately after closely examining a few pictures and videos of Yngwie with his guitars.
One can easily distinguish a DiMarzio YJM from a HS-3 from their magnet stagger at the B string. With the YJM, the magnet is even lower than the plastic cover, with the HS-3 the magnet is clearly raised above the cover.

I’ve seen closeup pics of his 2007 tours where Yngwie’s even using his ’07 updated artist series YJM Strats and even in those the neck magnet appears to be a plain HS-3 (visible from the raised B-string magnet).
In his concerto suite DVD with the Japanese philharmonic orchestra at some closeups one can clearly see the raised B-string magnet at the neck position which to me indicates that he’s using an HS-3 there aswell.
It appears that most of his guitars use HS-3′s in bridge and neck position.
Maybe it’s really like the DiMarzio website says and he’s only using the YJM pickup in some of his vintage Strats…

Btw, sometimes I really wonder if he’s using those HS-3′s and YJM’s at all or if DiMarzio just say he does when he’s maybe using something else/secret. (a purely speculative thought on my behalf, of course).
These aren’t my quotes, thanks to YJM forum for data.

http://video.i.ua/user/625858/4403/22166/?redux

Cool DOD250/YJM308 link from Japan, featuring the Analogman mod:

http://www.dot-advance.com/dod/eng/

click on the pedals for video clips.

More Duck info, I had hoped to buy this replica guitar in 2005 but as it wasn’t available yet, I chose a HW stack and we know the rest !
My guy at Scottsdale GC, has a direct line with the Fender Scottsdale marketing guy, so here’s hoping??
The Duck: Yngwie’s Malmsteen’s 1972 Fender Strat,”
Guitar World, August 1994
[ Sidebar text that accompanies Anne Petty's centerfold photo of The Duck]

This 1972 Stratocaster, nicknamed “The Duck,” is certainly the most celebrated of Yngwie Malmsteen’s guitars. “I was in Japan last year for a big music convention,” he says, “and while I was signing autographs, lots of fans asked me to sign guitars that were total copies of this one–right down to the Donald Duck sticker on the headstock, the ‘Play Loud’ sticker on the body and the Ferrari decal on the back.”

Like most of Yngwie’s Strats, this one is fitted with DiMarzio HS-3 pickups in the bridge and neck positions, with the original pickup still in the middle, and the standard Fender bridge. The maple fingerboard was scalloped by Yngwie himself in 1980 and it was refretted at least once, in 1987, following an experience neither Yngwie nor the guitar will soon forget. “I was playing ‘Queen in Love’ in Anchorage, Alaska, when an over-enthusiastic fan threw a half-empty, one-liter, bottle of Jack Daniels onstage,” Yngwie recalls. “It hit the 17th fret so hard, it popped right out of the wood!”

Yngwie bought the guitar in the late Seventies, from a drummer auditioning for his band in his native Sweden. This Strat has been pictured on the cover of numerous Malmsteen albums and is the guitar used to play all the solos on his Grammy-nominated Yngwie J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force (Polydor, 1984). “It’s not my favorite Strat,” says Yngwie, “but for some reason it’s one of my best-sounding ones. It’s been my main guitar since ’78. I used it 99 percent of the time in Steeler and Alcatrazz, and I’ve played it on all my tours. I’m retiring it from road work this year. I don’t want it to get stolen or more beaten to death than it already is! This puppy’s been through a lot, from constant use and abuse onstage. The headstock has broken off at least six times, and I used to put my cigarettes out on it all the time. [A burn mark below the input jack testifies to Yngwie's use of the Strat as an ashtray.] I’m not very kind to my instruments. Sometimes I’ll throw my guitar high into the air, but a spotlight may get in my eyes when I try to catch it. So rather than let the guitar break my hand, I let it crash onto the floor.

Hell just read my posts under yngwie308, it’s a lot easier than copying all the links, videos, pictures, ect…

http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=16626&st=0&sk=t&sd=a   just copy and paste this link, sorry I am figuring out what I  can and cannot accomplish with this blog!!

Dave

Reading a recent issue of The Guitarist,issue265,at Barnes and Noble,I came across a fascinating article by the famed English music journalist,Charles Shaar Murray,where he describes the history surrounding the Peter Green/Gary Moore Les Paul,Greeny,before it was sold to Peter Green.
Tony Tyler,who died last October,was for most of the ’70′s as first features editor and the assistant editor of the New Musical Express,a British music newspaper,similar to the Melody Maker and Disc.
Tony was primarily a keyboardist,but dabbled in guitar.He worked in a now defunct West End of London instrument shop,selling keyboards and guitars during the day and playing them at night.
Tony was a big fan of Eric Clapton and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers,particularly the tone Eric had with his ’59 Les Paul Standard.
Since he worked in a music store,he was able to recieve one of the first 1959 Les Paul Standards in his shop,and gave himself a great discount as well.But being primarily a keyboardist,Tony realized that Peter Green,would be able to go so much further with this Les Paul than he could,so he quite unselfishly sold the LP to Peter,for little more than he paid for it.
So that is the story of how this guitar came into the hands of it’s two most famous owners.The fact that Peter in turn,practicaly gave the guitar away to Gary,taking the money from Gary selling his SG at the time.
Tony before his death learned of the guitar being listed for $2 million .He said if he had kept it under the bed,he at least would have gotten a few hundred thousand dollars,even without the provenance,it was to have later.
So Peter first recieved the guitar through the kind and generous act of a musican and true fan,so it is so sad that the end of it’s days,the Maverick Music people are the ones to hold the guitar,it needs to go to Cleveland in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Maybe that’s why Peter gave the guitar so freely to Gary,in the spirit of how freely it was provided to him in the first place.
Just thought this was a fascinating story,I’m sure lots of you have stories of famous guitars changing hands as well.

The well known now definct music store was Selmers of Charring X road in London, btw.

Dave

Thanks to all who have responded and written to me so far..I have many plans and not enough time yet to complete them, but they are coming. Two major rock related interviews are about to be conducted and I have a few themes I want to develop. I am hoping to eventually take this site to a higher level visually and thematically.

I am just glad to have started the ball rolling as it were and have high hopes for the future here.

Some of my life true adventures, some history of Celtic music, which particularly interests me. Pieces on my favorite guitarists, including Peter Green, Gary Moore, Tommy Bolin, Steve Stevens, many others as well.

Right now I am in research mode as I am planning these interviews and an E interview is a new thing to me, but so is all of this as well, but off we go!!

Dave

This is the most sought after Washburn Steve Stevens signature guitar ever made. The SS100′s have glow in the dark paint, were only produced with at the most 40 or 50 models ever built. The first run were painted by airbrush by Steve Driscoll. This guitar has been in the Washburn museum since birth..These are incredible guitars and highly sought after. $10K is the asking price with COA.

For years people have told me they were looking for one of these, well there is no rarer one than this…contact me through Metro amp forum  yngwie308.

Dave