No worries, I saw you were joking when printing cursive font! Just wanted to say that both are useful in high altitudes and in most countries coca leaves are no alternative...It was joke...I guess the deadpan delivery failed.
So many...I'll start with this one:
Back in the mid-seventies when my friend and I were looking for a case for my custom 12 string Dobro, I found this weird Gretsch
with a "G" brand, tooled leather sides, western belt buckle tailpiece at Sol Betnun's. As I mainly wore cowboy boots and western
shirts most all of the time, this seemed a natural--and it was ORANGE--my favorite color for a guitar. Ready for this?
$125.00
"Wow...hey Chuck...I should buy this!"
"We came here for a case. Besides, you already have too many guitars!"
"Yeah...I guess you're right..."
Back around '91, I was looking at this overpriced Airline guitar some guy had in the San Diego Reader. We did the standard thing talking about
guitars we missed out on for some reason or another. I told him about the Gretsch.
"Man--that was a Roundup! They go for like 5 grand!"
Ulp! Thanks, Chuck...
I've never bothered to look up current values of the originals--too upsetting--and this one was immaculate.
And there are sadly many more tales...but Hey! We can't have everything, Right? (insert emoji with revolver to temple)
No, that was Steve, our lead guitar and producer. Chuck was our drummer and my friend that died suddenly at work last August.
You are either very fortunate, very wise, or both. I have passed over other guitars, but another one came along, with my having no doubt that it would. The Blueberry guitars are few and far between. I thought since it was covered in dust it had been there a while and would probably be there a while longer so surely I had some time to think about it. Well, no, I didn't.
You do have a few stories, and those are two really nice ones that got away! Any more?No, that was Steve, our lead guitar and producer. Chuck was our drummer and my friend that died suddenly at work last August.
I didn't get a chance to play it, but that really wouldn't have mattered that much to me--it's the look that's the hook!
Sometimes it's a matter of timing and funds--but with me, ignorance fifty years ago was the main problem. When I was first buying resonators
back in the early '70s, I missed out on so many instruments due to the fact that until I met John Dopyera I'd been told so many conflicting stories
relating to Dobros and Nationals that I had little idea as to what I was actually seeing. As a matter of fact:
Back in early '72 I saw this weird Triolian National at a store in Santa Monica. It had this odd paint job with flower decals and it was either $125 or $225--
now I'm not sure which--it had a small coverplate with 3 cones crammed inside. "Hmm", I thought "Triolian...3 cones...makes sense!".
I thought for sure someone must have repainted the thing like that in the '40s and put the decals on it. Then later all the Triolians I saw had only one large cone. That was one of the first things I asked John about when I first met him--he said originally there were all going to be tricones, but after the first few
they decided on just one. I casually mentioned this in a post on the Michael Messer Forum, and everybody freaked, as they all thought no tricone Triolian had ever actually been constructed--only planned. As a matter of fact one of the mavens on the forum checked up on me to see if I was lying or insane.
Most of those guys are in the U.K., and didn't realize how many L.A. Nationals and Dobros were still floating around in SoCal back then.
That's just how it looked back then...on a little stand on a raised platform...ugly little thing, but intriguing. It looked to me like some of that
spray painted pottery in T.J. Love the screen coverplates though. Oh, and my status on the forum got bumped up to "Very Serious Member"
after that!
Well, here's another National one:
Thank you. Of all the people in the world, I liked working with him the best. We did things at the same pace, we knew how the other would shift things while carrying heavy furniture--basically we were in synch whenever we had a job to do. In addition, often when others in the band and I would start going off on some really weird tangent, he was the voice of reason:
Sounds like you two had the kind of relationship friends should always have. Gotta be extra tough. Again, so sorry.
I had this guitar in hand. Went on a road trip out of state to get it. I wasn't a Strat so I let it go, like a dummy. It was a '59, had the flamiest neck, the most crazed finish, "Sand" color, turned out it was dead nuts the same as of of Jimi's early axes when he got past Danelectros.
Oh, what did I do? I've wanted it back for 15 years now. This comes with getting rid of guitars before you get attached. I knew I was getting attached but let it go anyway. The only guitar I've parted with that I truly regret.
Anodized pickguard
Leo & Co got into some serious lumber that year if this is what they used on a student guitar.
You're right, gorgeous wood used for that neck! And on a student guiter? I kinda wonder what was under the paint. In any case, sorry you regret letting it go.I had this guitar in my possession. Went on a road trip out of state to get it. "It wasn't a Strat" so I let it go, like a fool... It was a '59, had the flamiest neck, the most crazed finish, "Sand" color, turned out it was dead nuts the same as of of Jimi's early axes when he got past Danelectros.
Oh, what did I do? I've often wanted it back for 15 years now. This comes with getting rid of guitars before you get too attached. I knew I was getting attached but let it go anyway, house payments... The only guitar I've parted with that I truly still regret.
Anodized pickguard
Leo & Co got into some serious lumber that year if this is what they used on a student guitar.
