The Muse I Adorn
- Thread starter RVA
- Start date
Tony M.
Ambassador
Today I got together with a longtime friend.
We met on Feb. 1, 1969 and have lived together for nearly 50 years now.
The guitar knows me well enough that at times it seems to actually anticipate
where I am going and help me get there. This is strange because it's name and
gender have remained a mystery to me even after all these years together.
This is my guitar.
We met on Feb. 1, 1969 and have lived together for nearly 50 years now.
The guitar knows me well enough that at times it seems to actually anticipate
where I am going and help me get there. This is strange because it's name and
gender have remained a mystery to me even after all these years together.
This is my guitar.
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
Beautiful either way.
Tony M.
Ambassador
OK Adrian, you asked for it.
Here is the entire long and boring story.
(Cut and pasted from various places)
First the back story:
In 1967 I went to the Shrine Exhibition Hall in Los Angeles to see Steppenwolf. They were the first band. The second band was some guys named the Quicksilver Messenger Service. One of the guitarists had an SG and I had never heard anything like what came out of his amplifier before. His style of playing was unique and totally "rang my chimes". After the show, they actually came down to mingle with the audience (things were different back then) and I met John Cippolina. When I told him the effect his playing had on me, he said "It's the guitar". I looked at him like he had 3 heads. He saw the look on my face and elaborated "It's the guitar. It does everything I ask it to do"
Early 1969 I am back in NYC and what he told me is still in my head. I am SG shopping. I find this guitar in a store in Manhattan. As soon as I touch it I feel a connection. I plunk down my money and take it home. For over 49 years now this guitar has always, ALWAYS, done everything I have asked it to do. It is the guitar I play best on and it almost seems to anticipate what I want to do. Thank you John.
Nowadays I play it mostly at home for my own pleasure but once in a great while I take it out to a job.
If I could only keep one guitar this would be it.
Here are the details on the guitar:
Mid 60's
Bought used Feb 1, 1969
Already finish stripped when I got it.
Current mods:
Bigger frets used when refretted
Pickups - 3 of Larry DiMarzio's PAFs purchased in 1977/1978
(Middle pickup not in circuit at this time, wired like an SG standard)
(I sold the original pickups. The DiMarzios sounded better)
Schaller tuners (A mortal sin but the guitar stays in tune)
Pearl tuner buttons to match split diamond headstock inlay
Stop tailpiece (closer to the bridge than normal)
Brass nut
Rear strap button moved 1 inch towards bass side of guitar for balance
The bird:
The bird is a faux inlay. I did it a long time ago.
The outline was done by using a template and an empty ballpoint pen.
The inner area was then lowered slightly by much careful hand sanding.
The actual "inlay" was done by carefully filling in the depression with many
coats of flat black verithane, each coat steel wooled before the next one.
Followed by several coats of clear satin. You can actually see down into it.
The "eye" was done by drilling a very small very shallow hole with a
countersink and driving a straight pin cut to 1/2" or so into the recess.
The recess was then filled with clear gloss verithane so the eye would shine.
It came out nice and holds up under close inspection. I was happy.
(Doing an actual inlay probably would have been a lot less work
but I didn't know how to do that.)
I will take a couple of more pictures for you in the near future.
Here is the entire long and boring story.
(Cut and pasted from various places)
First the back story:
In 1967 I went to the Shrine Exhibition Hall in Los Angeles to see Steppenwolf. They were the first band. The second band was some guys named the Quicksilver Messenger Service. One of the guitarists had an SG and I had never heard anything like what came out of his amplifier before. His style of playing was unique and totally "rang my chimes". After the show, they actually came down to mingle with the audience (things were different back then) and I met John Cippolina. When I told him the effect his playing had on me, he said "It's the guitar". I looked at him like he had 3 heads. He saw the look on my face and elaborated "It's the guitar. It does everything I ask it to do"
Early 1969 I am back in NYC and what he told me is still in my head. I am SG shopping. I find this guitar in a store in Manhattan. As soon as I touch it I feel a connection. I plunk down my money and take it home. For over 49 years now this guitar has always, ALWAYS, done everything I have asked it to do. It is the guitar I play best on and it almost seems to anticipate what I want to do. Thank you John.
Nowadays I play it mostly at home for my own pleasure but once in a great while I take it out to a job.
If I could only keep one guitar this would be it.
Here are the details on the guitar:
Mid 60's
Bought used Feb 1, 1969
Already finish stripped when I got it.
Current mods:
Bigger frets used when refretted
Pickups - 3 of Larry DiMarzio's PAFs purchased in 1977/1978
(Middle pickup not in circuit at this time, wired like an SG standard)
(I sold the original pickups. The DiMarzios sounded better)
Schaller tuners (A mortal sin but the guitar stays in tune)
Pearl tuner buttons to match split diamond headstock inlay
Stop tailpiece (closer to the bridge than normal)
Brass nut
Rear strap button moved 1 inch towards bass side of guitar for balance
The bird:
The bird is a faux inlay. I did it a long time ago.
The outline was done by using a template and an empty ballpoint pen.
The inner area was then lowered slightly by much careful hand sanding.
The actual "inlay" was done by carefully filling in the depression with many
coats of flat black verithane, each coat steel wooled before the next one.
Followed by several coats of clear satin. You can actually see down into it.
The "eye" was done by drilling a very small very shallow hole with a
countersink and driving a straight pin cut to 1/2" or so into the recess.
The recess was then filled with clear gloss verithane so the eye would shine.
It came out nice and holds up under close inspection. I was happy.
(Doing an actual inlay probably would have been a lot less work
but I didn't know how to do that.)
I will take a couple of more pictures for you in the near future.
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eSGEe
Ferengi Ambassador of Trade
So, ---can you send the documents to set up my adoption so I might inherit this lovely beast???
I promise I will ask for nothing more........you've had it as long as I have been around.........hey wait a minute.........wow---that guitar IS OLD!
ALl kidding aside that is a GREAT STORY ---thank you for sharing--- and congratulations on having "THAT" guitar many of us spend our lives......going through PILES of others ---trying to find............
I promise I will ask for nothing more........you've had it as long as I have been around.........hey wait a minute.........wow---that guitar IS OLD!
ALl kidding aside that is a GREAT STORY ---thank you for sharing--- and congratulations on having "THAT" guitar many of us spend our lives......going through PILES of others ---trying to find............
OP
RVA
Ambassador
When I saw this one, my jaw dropped, and it still does every time I open the case. This is a PRS P22, with 53/10 pickups and a piezo.Controls include volume, tone blend, 3 way toggle for magnetic and piezo pups or both in the middle position. It has 2 outputs which can be sent to different amps to split the piezo and the magnetic pickups or they can all be sent to one amp using a single output. As you can see, I changed the pickup rings to chrome and installed strap locks, but everything else is stock Meet Phoenix.
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That's kickass!
The Song Remains The Same....
Unless I am building/tuning, this is the one I play...
Unless I am building/tuning, this is the one I play...