Luthier's dream request

Every Luthier has there funny requests. This particular one comes from the nutbar variety assortment package. I was asked to install a Floyd Rose type bridge onto an acoustic guitar. The photo attached is a mockup for illustration purposes only and strickly for those who are unable to produce there own mental image of the requested product. The image left of here should only be glanced at, so as not to burn too strong an image into the synapses of your brain. It may never leave it….

No one has asked me  to install a rosewood acoustic bridge on their  IBZ  Stevie Vai  Jem ,…….Yet

As it has turned out it is simply just too funny a request to not carry out. Im making a second one that i hope to present to Neil Diamond on his current tour. " Crunchy Granola Suite" will never be the same. Good Lord! 

However, to all you musos out there with to much time on there hands , who are thinking of requesting me to make another. My answer is as follows...

" Fitting a tremelo bridge to an acoustic guitar is like glueing a moustache on a donkey. Very time consuming and utterly pointless" Kevin Nitrovane..
P.S. Does anyone remember Wheatus?

Rickenbacker !2 string

A couple of years ago, Mark McEntee asked me to trick guitars for him on the last Divinyls recordings which took place at Kingdom Studios with a sat link to Las Vegas. He needed to trick up his Ricky 12 string that he'd owned for donkeys yonks. It was atrocious. After stripping the frets and a half inch of two pack paint off the fretboard, I refretted it ( JD 6105 frets) and gave it an experimental custom AAA service.

I was quite apprehensive, because it was the first time I'd performed this work on a 12 string. However the results were astounding. Having a 12 string that plays in perfect tuning is a joy to listen to. I toured with Mark a few months later as guitar tech and side stage player. I played it side stage on the new song Mark had written called "Asphyxiated".

I've since borrowed Mark's Ricky many times for my own recordings. However I thought it was time to get my own. This I've upgraded with a AAAA service. I would have liked a stereo one like Mark's however this mono one was the only one i could find locally. Jeff Martin has since borrowed it for his latest recordings. And why not.......Looking on again is Gertruda Beugenhaggen making her now familiar, casually bemused appearance.
Comment for the week… " Ive got a good idea to join the club and beat you over the head with it" Groucho

My new J200

My latest acquisition is a Gibson J200, with maple back, sides and neck, spruce top and rosewood fingerboard. It is possibly the finest sounding acoustic guitar I have ever played. It would even give a couple of Hank's 1970s Martins a shove.

I never really discovered J200s before the last tour. They don't seem to be that popular here. I played a couple of Yusuf's on tour and fell in love with them. They have a big blustery sound, with a lot of bottom end that has to be controlled. But if these guitars' harmonics are perfect they are astounding. Incorrect harmonics on guitars with great bass sounds (such as these) can produce a mess that sound engineers find difficult to rein in.

I experimented with Yusuf's black J200 in Sydney and was impressed with the results. If anyone saw it, Yusuf played it on Stewart and Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

Cliff used one on the last Shadows' tour, which he had bought new in 1958. I think you can see a photo of his one and of Yusuf's somewhere in my photo collection. When I got back to Perth I just had to have one. Thanks Kosmic.

This particular one has a rich warm sound and when played lightly has amazing definition. When I play chords I can hear the individual notes quite clearly. Anyone looking to buy a guitar should listen for this quality. I haven't even had time to AAA service it yet. I can't wait for the results.

Comment for the week…." I can see you there in front of the stove, but I can't see the stove" Groucho