Some Random notes from the t'interweb

 "There is a moment when you realise that Jim Morrison loved Pink Floyd and even got to see them play live but never got to hear Dark Side of The Moon!”

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'You tell me that silence is nearer to peace than poems, but if for my gifts I brought you silence “for I know silence” you would say : This is not silence this is another poem and you would hand it back to me.'

Leonard Cohen  from “The Spice-Box of Earth” 

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Someone posted this on social media:

“A friend of mine posted a photo of a euphonium he's about to repair and restore... Check out the lost and found address on the case!”

You have a friend who repairs euphoniums!

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A sixth of all Beatles songs reference the weather!

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Early shots of the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo Michigan.

My Kalamazoo guitar was made around 1936 when they first started making the  budget end Gibson acoustics mine is a KG14

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Joe Strummer 1974 then known as Woody Mellor

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Greg and Duane Allman and their Grandma

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I love this picture of Paul and Heather. 

(not credited where I found it but almost certainly taken by Linda)

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Picture of the Day : GUITARS - more on THE GIBSON!

 We mentioned Robert Johnson’s Kalamazoo made by Gibson t’other day so how about this?

The most famous guitar makers in History (Fender anyone?!) started out making Mandolins but check this

They’re all playing Gibsons!

Can you spot a guitar . . . . . (or two?)

Guitars . . . . . . . . . Jimi Hendrix’s Les Paul

Normally associated with a range of Stratocaster’s (an occasional Gibson Flying V! sic) but rarely a Les Paul, here is his first 

 

"Jimi started using a 1956 Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar around April 1968. The earliest photos date to April 5th, 1968, which could possibly mean that this is something Jimi acquired at Manny’s Music shop, which is just a 30-minute drive from the Symphony Hall. At that time, the guitar seemed the have been used exclusively on the song Red House, and it seemed to have some sort of a white sticker on the top of the body.

The Les Paul was however most famously used at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East venue in New York on May 10, 1968, and at the Miami Pop Festival on May 18th. Aside from these two, Hendrix apparently hasn’t really played the guitar that much, since it was spotted during only a handful of gigs around this period.” Ground Guitar

-GroundGuitar

Photo Elliott Landy - Jimi Hendrix Fillmore East, NYC, 1968

Guitars . . . . . .

 GIBSON

Had some weird origins!

Guitars! 

Gibson's Flying V

It seems to be largely accepted now that Gibson are currently bonkers and my only plea to anyone wishing to buy a guitar is if you have the money buy vintage but if dealing with exclusively new boxes pick it up and play it before buying (having said that all my guitars [there's a few! 5 + a ukulele] bar one were bought sight unseen or at least unplayed) but Gibson especially have become the sort of guitar that the proof is in the pudding and you can buy a Gibson for a few hundred (£ ED) that is truly excellent and a model that is over a few grand that is rubbish! This is the company that promoted/invented the Les Paul for pity's sake! Most everyone want's one. But they are these days mercurial to say the least and have become throughout the trade particularly known for being madly varied in reliability and finish and quality. Meanwhile here is the note from the wondrous Jeff Harris' blog about the launch of the Flying V it looks heavier than a Les Paul to me and not a guitar I have ever played but one of these would be fun for sure! Good enough for Johnny Winter . . . . . .

On this day in music history: January 6, 1958 - The Gibson Guitar Company registers its design for the Flying V guitar with the US Patent Office. The unique instrument is designed by Gibson president Ted McCarty with the intention of adding a futuristic aspect to the companies image. During their original manufacturing run, the guitars’ body and neck are constructed from African Korina wood and mahogany with either ebony or rosewood fretboards. Guitarists such as Albert King and Lonnie Mack adapt to them immediately and becomes closely associated with both artists. However, initial sales are slow and they are discontinued in 1959. When guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and Dave Davies of The Kinks begin playing them, it renews interest in the Flying V and Gibson reintroduces the guitar in 1967. The instrument becomes a favorite of hard rock and heavy metal musicians during the 1970’s and 80’s. Original Flying V’s made in 1958 and 1959 today are valued at between $200,000 and $250,000. To this day, the Flying V remains one of Gibson’s most popular guitars.

thanks to the most excellent Jeff Harris' blog 'Behind The Grooves 

GIBSON

So where did the Gibson guitar come from? Why, from a certain Orville Gibson but he set off making mandolins! Who knew?!

On this day in music history: October 10, 1902 - Luthier Orville H. Gibson establishes the Gibson Mandolin Guitar Mfg. Co., Ltd. in Kalamazoo, MI. Gibson begins crafting mandolins in his home workshop beginning in 1894, being the first to build mandolins and guitars featuring hand carved arch tops, similar to the tops on violins and other classical string instruments. Gibson is granted a patent for his unique design. These innovations help to further popularize these instruments, in part by making them more durable and louder when played. When demand for Gibson’s instruments becomes too great for his small shop, he makes plans to expand his business with other luthiers and craftsmen helping him build instruments. The company eventually becomes known as the Gibson Guitar Company, who come forth with many innovations in stringed instruments. They revolutionize the development of the acoustic and electric guitars.

The serious, mustachioed young man worked odd jobs clerking in a shoe store and a restaurant while nurturing whittling and woodworking hobbies on the side. Also an accomplished musician, Orville played guitar in a local quartet with Thaddeus McHugh, a later Gibson employee who would file the patent for the first trussrod in 1922. Eventually Orville acquired his own woodshop—renting a 10-foot by 12-foot space where the young inventor, who never married, dreamed up his startling designs—designs that would shape musical instrument manufacturing forever. Kalamazoo records list the address of "O.H. Gibson, Manufacturer, Musical Instruments" as 114 South Burdick Street. There, Orville made most of his mandolins and guitars out of scrap furniture.

Oh and it would appear (I say appear) that Orville was a left hander. All the pictures of him seem to show him with his hair parted on the right including the one or two with him playing an acoustic guitar left handed. Of course if you know otherwise happy to stand corrected