1959 Gretsch Country Club
'59
Gretsch Custom Shop
(s/n 353xx - 6196 but no model# on tag)
Yep, an original Cadillac Green Club. Also a Gretsch custom-made one-off. Her numbers, appointments, Bigsby patent numbers and lack of a zero fret date her as late '59. You're looking at an original custom shop Bigsby with White Falcon trestle bracing and pedestals in a 17" body, there were only two made that year. Her top is thin 1/8" maple so she twangs like mad. She's likely a Falcon body / Country Club neck and to quote Ray Condo, "Wow, man . . . unbelieveable." Thank my buddy Joe Fike for digging into her past to find all this stuff out.
Original Imperial tuners. Original everything. I did reverse the switches and wired the "tone" as an on/off. There is a baseball-sized spot on the back worn down to wood and a fair bit of the neck paint has been played off but that shows you she's good. She's also the guitar I recorded most of the sinful sounds on "Take Your Medicine" with.
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1999 Gretsch White Falcon - 6136
(s/n 999xxx-xxx)
Althought the serial isn't JT, I've been told this White Falcon is pre-fender and from Japan. She's the guitar that I recorded most of Mystiki with. She has the standard BJB electronics with reversed switches and "tone" is on/off ... original Gretsch Filtertrons in her because she sounds way stronger that way. Did I mention I introduced her to B.B. King in 2002? We talked some about guitars and he did point out that he endorsed Gibsons. But as soon as he saw her he said "My, but that's one pretty guitar" and signed her. That was all I needed to hear but later the lovely Poison Ivy from the Cramps signed and kissed her pickguard as well. Thanks for the lipstick Miss Ivy. ; ]
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2003 Gretsch Black Falcon - 6136BK
(s/n JT03053xxx)
I bought this Japanese pre-Fender doll because she had all of the features I wanted in a Falcon. The feather inlays, two volumes at the butt, two switches on the top like the classics. I installed a gold B-6 Bigsby 'cause I'd go nuts without it. And I went with black 'cause she's lean & mean and less traditional than my big white . . .
Standard BJB: reversed the switches and "tone" is on/off. I also slipped some T.V. Jones Classic pickups into her since I played my buddy Joe's Silver Falcon (7 serial numbers away from this girl's) on tour thru Bakersfield and loved the sound. She sounds pretty damn smooth through both of my amps, especially when the fuzz kicks in. The TV Jones make her work better on smaller stages than the White Falcon.
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1963-ish National Resonator
Single-cone resonator and a fibreglas (reso-glas) bodied, this guitar has personality. So far into the blues but I haven't named her. She's all over "Take Your Medicine" which is why I bought her - to get the real earthy tones of a low-fi and way-cool guitar. Plus I've always wanted both a National - love those headstocks - and a resonator. Well, I got what I wanted didn't I?
First time I saw this guitar she was in the hands of actress/rocker Juliette Lewis while she and her guitarist debated buying her. I was playing a Silvertone I thought might be more up Juliette's alley (and I tried to sell her on it but strangely she bought some Chinese Les Paul knock-off). I needed to electrify this Dobro so I got the holes drilled, found a Shadow Jazz pickup on the road and Paul Iverson from NJAMS in Vancouver package put together.
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1955-ish Kay 8110 Jumbo
(K-22 style)
Chicago-made jumbo flat-top acoustic six string in the style of the Gibson J200. Mahogany sides and bck with spruce top and rosewood fretboard (14 frets to the body join), I removed the small black pickguard and dug up the silver metal Kay script logo. Nice arched headstock and inlaid mother of pearl trapezoid markers - frethole, headstock and guitar are double-bound black and white which is really great, especially considering the price.
The sound is gorgeous, easily as strong and full as a Gibson Hummingbird with a clarity that I find missing on many Gibsons. Or maybe I just prefer the Kay - so sue me. The neck is wonderful, perfectly tapered, not a clunky block but a hand-made gem. I had the action lowered so it's playable on every fret and sanded down the top to the original finish. It's a damn easy guitar to play andI bought it for the Bangtown album so look forward to some beautiful acoustic tones.
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1929-ish Slingerland Maybell Tenor Banjo
Slingerland made this Maybell back around the late 20's - I think it sold for about $65 back then. Even given the state of US currency that's a pretty good deal. This is my fourth banjo and my favorite, until now tenor meant removing the drone string on a 5-string (thanks for the tip, Munly). I haven't used her on any reecordings yet so that means there has to be a 4th BJB CD so I can try her out for real ... and who else has a purple banjo?!
Click for Tenor Banjo Info
Just as an aside, I also have a vintage Slingerland drum set (in a pearl version of that design) that all the guys in the band are playing. Top skins only (from the manufacturer) and a great finish. StageCoach and I found the snare (vintage 1961 and signed to me by WS Holland from Johnny Cash's band the Tennesse Three) in Bakersfield in '05. I found the matching toms and kick in Bozeman, MT in '06 on my brithday. There's a present I never expected ...
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1968 Guild Thunderbird Amplifier
 
This is how I get the authentic vintage guitar sound on the "Mystiki" CD and virtually all of the tones on "Take Your Medicine". I need to thank Scott Sundberg from Blue Monster Amps in Spring Arbor, MI for finding her for me. Nothing compares to the authentic old-school sound of this amp's reverb & tremolo. Now add in the two-tone cover and fake wood veneer on the sides - awesome ; ]
And it's actually two separate tube amplifiers with the main amp powering a 12" speaker Celestion 75 and the other powering the original 10 " reverb speaker. Mic it right and you can mix it to do anything.
(more on this amp)
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2003 Gibson Goldtone 15RV & GA
Who would consider going from a 150 watt Musicman
to a pair of 15 watt Gibsons for a main live amp? Untried? In the middle of a tour?! Moi. So I traded in my Musicman
in Bozeman, MT and picked a pair of these up.
As far as the 15 watts goes it's a "Class A" amplifier and I've toured across the USA, Canada and
Europe with it (yep, still comes in under the airline weight requirements) and the RV has a cool pentode/triode switch that let's you choose low power for smaller rooms or to get more of a fuzzy tone. Go figure . . .
All of three knobs and two switches to play with measn I can't really screw up too much . . . and they looks damn good with my Black Falcon ; ]
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