I Tell It Like It Used to Be…Then And Now !

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Going Down—Freddie King Tribute

Going Down — Or, at least back to April 14th, 2012, when “The Reverend” Billy F. Gibbons, Joe Bonamassa, Derek Trucks, and Dusty Hill honored the third King of the Blues — Freddie King’s, induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Freddie, of no relation to Albert, or BB, passed away at the young age of 42— sixteen months before  “The King”  Elvis Presley died. Not, however, before leaving (like the other 2 Kings of the Blues, Albert, and BB) larger than life legacy and influence in the lives and creativity of countless musical greats as Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Jeff Beck, and Robby Krieger of the Doors.

Right here — Right now — we have the  honor of witnessing  Billy Gibbons, and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top, Joe Bonamassa,( Child Prodigy born three months before Elvis died, opening shows for BB King at age 12) and Derek Trucks ( most recent slide guitar replacement for Duane Allman and Dicky Betts of the Allman Brothers Band, and guitarist for “Tedeschi Trucks” along- side wife Susan Tedeschi) giving homage to one of Ye Three Kings (of the blues)  — Freddie King.

For Your Listening Pleasure and Without Further Ado —

 

Fernandes Project Follow Up

I almost forgot I’d promised to do a follow-up when the Fernandes face lift was complete…

Fernandes Project Here:

And seeing as I gave the guitar to my grandson for Christmas, I’m lucky I  took some pictures!

This is it:

Not the best pictures in the world, but, at least I did take a few.

What If All Dreams Came True

The morning sun shone through the rift of the blinds one morning, and my semi-conscious mind must have processed the red-eyelid-grid it saw as the fret-board of a cosmic stringed instrument. I began hearing the most beautiful music I have ever heard, as my mind’s eye watched each glistening sun-ray pluck the strings. I remember being astonished by its dexterity, and melodic perfection. Upon awakening, I tried to duplicate the notes I had heard, and saw, on my guitar—If only I could remember them note for note.— From what little I was able to remember, and attempt to simulate on the fret-board, the notes seemed impossible to play in one key. Almost as if each note came from one of the 24 individual keys of the musical spectrum. It totally seemed to of been an impossible dream— But, what if all dreams came true?  I thought, and then it was gone…

I was standing on a sea-shore, in some far away place beyond the familiar sea, where nothing looked real, or resonated with me. There were neon colors, and bird-like creatures. Lifelike, but surreal. I perceived them with all 5 senses at once. I felt, tasted, heard, smelled, and saw them — from one sense of awareness — at once. I wanted to talk to them, so I tried to open my mouth, instead my eyes opened. And I awakened. It was over…                                                         What if all dreams came true?
I heard the phone ring as I was walking in through a large glass door leading to a hallway between two rows of desks occupied by dogs with huge human like grins, when suddenly one of them leaped out at me and said…     “You Won The Lottery”  —  But, then, of course, I woke up. 
I dreamed I was in a terrible hurricane, worse than any of the ones I’ve experienced first hand on the Carolina coast. It was terrifying. Water started moving in beneath my feet, and gradually rose to the level of my chin. Suddenly, a tidal wave came crashing over me, the town, and everyone, and everything, as far as I could see. And, then I woke up — But, what if every dream really did come true? Or. What if some really are warnings? What if we knew that every dream would come true? What If every dream did come true?

 

 

 

 

Graphic Images by TylaMac

Tidal Wave Image by devourerofsouls 

Grinning Dog ?

 

 

Surf Daddy Project

I’ve always wanted a Sea Foam Green, or Surf Green guitar,.. and, as luck would have it… I had the perfect suspect just waiting to hang- ten Yes… just one more too many (IMO) “Black”  Stratocaster Guitars.
While researching for the project, or, “Surfing” the Web… pun intended, I learned there was a whole new genre of music circling these rare, highly  sought after vintage colored guitars. 

Actually, it’s not a new music genre at all, but re-emerged phenomena called “Surf Music“ The“Surf” sound – began on the beaches of  Southern California circa 1963, and was all but “wiped out” by ’67 by the-“British Invasion” of pop and rock groups, with styles such as the Beatles, the Stones, the Animals, the Kinks, and Gerry and the Pacemakers… to name a few.  Although the colors, Sea Foam Green, Surf Green, Bahama Green, and their variants go back to the 50’s, “Surf Music” didn’t officially wash ashore until the  60’s.

No need to bore you with the whole paint stripping process, so without further ado here’s my version of  a “Surf” Guitar. These photos, of course… were taken in the closet… during the drying process.   (Temps were much warmer there.)

As far as the actual color they vary depending on the manufacturer — Going by the Fender Color Chart the one I chose is probably more of what they call “Ocean Turquoise.”

It’s probably no secret that great guitars aren’t born of  vintage aesthetics shiny hardware, and pretty paint, but, more from its tonal properties, and playability. Which is why I ordered a new bridge, and block tremolo assembly, and added the Custom made Canadian Rock Maple neck, with Celtic Cross inlay,( for a little added eye-appeal), and a new set of    “Fender”  staggered machine head tuners.

 I’ve also entertained the possibility of replacing the original pickups with a more vintage type, such as the Gibson P90’s, or a variant, known for their crisp, clear, punch attributed with “Surf” music, but, after re-wiring everything, double grounds, and shielding, the original bridge position double humbucker pickup seems to “Surf” on its own, and the neck and middle position “pups” have a sweet sound of their own as well.

Here the project is still in its beginning stages… erm, well with me… nearly ALL modding projects are never-ending. It’s a lot like writing songs… “what to leave in – what to leave out”  

Anyway…Oh, also I couldn’t help but add a little artificial ‘Relic-ing” on the body when I was painting it. Relic-ed guitars are almost as big of “The Latest Craze” as are “Surf” green guitars, as seen in the pictures of this brand new Fender pictured below. A real bargain at only $6,499.99 bucks… and yes, I said a brand new guitar. As seen here:  themusiczoo.com

Geez, now that everybody wants a “Surf”, or “Seafoam Green” relic-ed guitar…maybe I no longer want one so much…

Oh but it sounds so good  – I’ve even learned a few ‘Surf’ tunes.  Anyway.. here it is… the “Surf Daddy- Moondoggy – What-Chama-Call-it” um, – Thing!   You’ve got to admit — even with my personal faded relic look…it’s an improvement over…One more “Black” Stratocaster-right?
Cheers

The Fernandes Project

 

I know it’s a gamble stripping down a guitar with the sole intent of staining, and not painting… As we all know, when the chips are down on the assembly line; “Ugly Guitars Get Paint”. But, I figured if it was too ugly Well, there’s always … more paint. Obviously, like my workshop, this flea market find ( though an awesome playing little guitar ) definitely needs all the help it can get in the looks department. 

In my humble opinion, there are WAY too many black guitars out there, at least, in the Stratocaster style. Although, I wouldn’t likely change the color of a nice vintage Strat, or, Tele, regardless of the color. There are certainly a few Tele Custom and Deluxe models I’ve played out there that still look good in black. But, when it came to the Fergie, nothing has ever been cut and dried black and white. 

She’s been with me some time, and plays as good as she sounds… just didn’t have the same sex appeal to me in the looks department, so, I visited the old strip club…
She was a tough one to break, though. I had to use all three trusted methods (Chemical Solvent, Heat Gun, & Sand Paper) to cut through all the poly plastic, and paint before it was over.. and it’s actually not over yet, as I still have to dress her in a clear coat. And rewire, and mount the hardware, pickups and chrome of course. 

Luckily, underneath all that aged polymer ( in my opinion) was some pretty decent wood grain. 

 

I’m not settled on the pick guard yet either, but, had one I’d tried to paint up a while back; or actually tried to copper relic, ( which I learned doesn’t work so well on flat objects) But, who knows…

I’ll be replacing the POT knobs with a more antiqued, or, bronzed looking ones most likely, and I need to make some type of input jack grommet, But other than that … she’s about done.

Fender Squier Special Run Telecaster (Nashville Cats)