Pete Townshend "No Face..." on his Guild 12 string

parker_knoll

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enjoyed, and first time i've seen him playing something other than his Gibson jumbo for an acoustic number
 

chazmo

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Very nice. That's a very early ('69/'70-era) F-512 Special (I think). Looks beautiful.

I wonder... It sounds great, but somewhat compressed -- like a magnetic pickup -- to me. I bet this would be more "F-512ish" and unplugged with DTAR multi-source. Of course, since he's playing alone he could mic it, but I'm not sure I've ever seen Pete play that way.
 

SFIV1967

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enjoyed, and first time i've seen him playing something other than his Gibson jumbo for an acoustic number
He plays a Guild F-512 Spec. since 1971 !!! Read here (thanks Chris for the link): http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guitar/guild12.html

(Yes I know, in 2015 he often played a 6 string Gibson acoustic)

Here's the Guild in 1996: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmbesngWux8
Or from 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR_PJDZXMHM
Or from 2008: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkD0aHQFr-k
Or from 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94jVZHHdH3o

Or that one he used to own where only at least 5 existed (o.k., not purely acoustic...):

petemerletravis.jpg



By the way Pete's younger brother Simon continues the tradition (with a F-212 I'd say):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqd3brR7U8


Ralf
 
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SFIV1967

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At least he didn't smash that Merle Travis!
Right! He bought her in 1971 from Mannies (according to The Who webpage) but sold her in 1989 to help financing his new 49ft sailboat...So she survived 18 years in his hands!
Ralf
 

chazmo

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Westerly Wood

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Pete never smashed a Guild electric. He can smash as many fenders and gibsons as he wishes, I could care less. And to my knowledge, he never smashed an acoustic.
 

parker_knoll

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He plays a Guild F-512 Spec. since 1971 !!! Read here (thanks Chris for the link): http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guitar/guild12.html

(Yes I know, in 2015 he often played a 6 string Gibson acoustic)

Here's the Guild in 1996: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmbesngWux8
Or from 2000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR_PJDZXMHM
Or from 2008: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkD0aHQFr-k
Or from 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94jVZHHdH3o

Or that one he used to own where only at least 5 existed (o.k., not purely acoustic...):

petemerletravis.jpg



By the way Pete's younger brother Simon continues the tradition (with a F-212 I'd say):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBqd3brR7U8


Ralf

i love that photo with the Merle Travis

no, he didn't just play the J200 in 2015, he always played it. To quote the same very good website with which I am long acquainted, the J200 is:

"the guitar that made Pete’s defining acoustic sound on record. Pete wrote Pinball Wizard on this guitar and created the genre-defining acoustic percussive rhythm sound heard on most all recordings beginning with Tommy."

http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guitar/j200.html

man's allowed to play both. I just hadn't seen him with the Guild before.

Anyway, enjoyed the vid.
 
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Quantum Strummer

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It's a little ironic to me that a guy that destroyed so many guitars in the bad old days would have kept this old Guild in such pristine shape. It really looks terrific.

PT owned and recorded with a lovely D'Angelico New Yorker for quite awhile. It's the acoustic guitar on "Who Are You," for example. He evidently treated guitars meant for writing and studio work very differently than those played on-stage. :)

-Dave-
 

SFIV1967

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...no, he didn't just play the J200 in 2015, he always played it.
Oh yes, I knew that he played lots of different great guitars over the years! I just had looked for a 2015 YouTube video of him playing the F-512 and noticed that all 2015 videos I found showed him playing the Gibson 6 string acoustic only.
Ralf
 
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