Egmond guitars

Egmond guitars, this years news

egmond guitar

This week I read an interesting article regarding the famous Dutch guitar builder Egmond. This company passed away some time ago, but still has a lot of fans, especially among the older generation guitar players who's first guitar often was an Egmond.

The article wasn't hot from the press, actually Egmond guitars was in the news in february this year, but as the Egmond guitar factory doesn't exist anymore, what news can you expect?

Egmond guitars, some history

In 1940 , former railroad station-chief Uilke Egmond and his three sons Gerard, Dick and Jaap started to build guitars in a small workshop in Best, Holland. This workshop burned down two or three times, but despite of that, production and selling of the Egmond guitars went up, and in 1961 the Egmond guitar factory was established. Beside of the Egmond guitar factory, the family also ran the Musica music store.

Guitar building and selling expanded, and after 1960 more than 200 guitar builders were employed by the Egmond guitar factory, resulting in the build of more than 125.000 Egmond guitars a year. At some point, Egmond guitars was the largest guitar builder in  Europe.

egmond guitar

The popularity of the Egmond guitar started with the introduction of Leo Fender's Stratocaster. The Stratocaster was the dream of every young guitar player but the price made the guitar unreachable. For a fraction of the price Egmond produced guitars, within the reach of young guitar players. The popularity of the Egmond guitar exploded. Egmond built electric guitars, acoustic and semi-hollowbody guitars, and amps.

Egmond not only built guitars under their own  name, but Egmond also produced other labels like Wilson, Miller, Manhattan, Lion, Caladonie, Lido, Frima, Rosetti, Orpheum,  Royal, Royalist, Alpha, Vega and Roderich Paesold; a long list. Most guitars were exported, and especially the Rosetti Lucky 7 was a hit, due to the fact it came in all kind of "hip"colors.

With the worldwide competition of very cheap, well built guitars from the asian countries, Egmond guitars hit rough weather, and it all came to an end in 1976.

Martin guitars bought the Egmond factory in Best, Holland and, for a while, produced the Vega and Alpha brands, copies of the Martin best sellers, which ended in 1983. It's all history now.

egmond guitar

Playing the Egmond guitar, what about the quality?

As mentioned, lot's of young guitar players in the 70's started with playing guitar on an Egmond, as they only could effort a cheap guitar. Among them some big names: Keith Richard, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Paul McCartney, Brian May, Trini Lopez and Dutch players Andy Tielman and the famous Jan Akkerman.

The quality of the Egmond guitars is questioned. Some more expensive Egmond guitars were well built, but most of them were described "crappy". I read stories about paper sticking to the body as Egmond shipped the guitars with the paint still wet, Egmond guitars pulled crooked in the shop, and some even called the Egmond guitar "among the worst they have ever seen".

Despite of the supposed lousy quality, older guitarists remember their first Egmond guitar, and now the Egmond guitar is considered "vintage".

egmond guitar

This years "news" about Egmond guitars

Early this year news came out that Canadian company Audio One Corporation, musical instruments builders, worked in silence for already four years on the re-introduction of the legendary Egmond guitars. The plan was to build a serie of six of the Egmond top models in a limited edition. A lot of time and money were invested before the project came to an end, with the passing away of engineer Yuri Dmitrievski september last year. The project is in "the fridge", and there the story ends, much to my regret.

More about Egmond guitars

All about Egmond guitars can be found on the website egmondguitars.nl  from Wim Markenhof, who obviously is an expert on the Dutch Egmond guitars. Wim wrote a book about Egmond guitars (also in English) which can be ordered on the website. Among the information in the book is an article about the Paul McCArtney Rosetti Lucky 7 guitar.

Les Paul Slash Signature



les paul slash signature body



Les Paul Slash Signature (with Fishman powerbridge)

Again I spotted an electric guitar with an acoustic pickup. This time it's a Les Paul Slash Signature, on which I least expected a piezo pickup. It seems there are more of these guitars than I thought there would be.

As probably everybody knows, Slash, former lead guitarist of Guns N' Roses is addicted to the Gibson Les Paul. Slash is one of the "billbords" for the Gibson Les Paul, so it's no wonder Slash, Gibson, and doughter Epiphone, worked together, to all benefit from the Les Paul Slash Signature models.




Les Paul Slash Signature by Gibson and Epiphone

According to the very informative website slashparadise.com, Slash gave his signature to a total of twelve Les Paul Slash Signature models; three from Gibson USA, five from the Gibson Custom Shop, and four from Gibson's doughter Epiphone.

Their cooperation started in 1990 and is still going on. The (Gibson and Epiphone) Les Paul models are one of the most sold guitars, and I'm sure the Slash Signature gave the Les Paul sales an extra boost.



les paul slash signature full body



Les Paul Slash Signature, Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II(Slash) and Fishman Powerbridge

As far as I know, all Gibson Les Paul Slash Signature's are equiped with Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II humbuckers. Since 2010 the Les Paul Slash Signature comes with the Alnico Pro II Slash APH-2 humbuckers, which reproduces the tone of Slash's studio guitar.

What for me makes this guitar particularly insteresting is the fact that the newer built Slash Signatures are also equiped with the Fishman Powerbridge for acoustic Piezo sound.
From the outside the Gibson Les Paul Slash Signature with Fishman Powerbridge can be recognized by the extra switch between the volume and tone knobs, for blending the acoustic and electric sounds.

The combination of a Slash Les Paul with Alnico Pro II humbuckers and an acoustic pickup system like the Fishman Powerbridge seems a bit strange. Hardrock and metal combined with acoustic tones in a Slash Les Paul?

I wonder if potential buyers of the Gibson Les Paul Signature need the acoustic tones of the Fishman Powerbridge, for Slash's hardrock and metal sound, and appreciate this piece of technique in this specific guitar, where it's all about producing the tone and sound of Slash's Les Paul as close as possible. Isn't that the power of a signature model?




les paul slash signature headstock

  


les paul slash signature back



Epiphone Slash Les Paul, with Alnico Pro, without Fishman powerbridge

If, with a smaller wallet, a Slash is wanted, and a piezo is not needed, there is an alternative.

Epiphone also offers a Slash Les Paul "Signature" Standard Plus Top with Alnico Pro humbuckers, but without the Fishman Powerbridge for a fraction of the price of the Gibson Les Paul Slash Signature!



epiphone les paul slash body and neck



Seasick Steve: cheap guitar rocks



seasick steve, guitar

Seasick Steve, raw and uncut on his cheap guitar

One of the biggest surprises on Lowlands 2011 and Pinkpop 2012, (major music festivals in Holland), in my opinion, was the raw and uncut performance of Seasick Steve. Guitarist-singer Seasick Steve plays bluesrock, and his cheap guitars are mostly self-constructed!

Guitar player Seasick Steve

Seasick Steve, over 70 years old, born in Oakland California, rough beard, jeans and baggy shirt, has not allways been succesful in life. He ran away from home at the age of 14, and decided not to settle down. Guitar player Steve performed for years in small bars and blues cafe's. In the 60's he even played guitar on stage with Johny Lee Hooker and Lightnin' Hopkins, but he never reached the rock-star status.
In between, as a happy Seasick Steve told in an interview he gave during Pinkpop 2012, he stayed some time in hotels, with in the back of the yard a small basketball court, but with fences around, and no "going home". Despite of that, it was ok, according to Seasick Steve.

seasick steve, cheap guitar

Since the end of 2009, after his appearence on the Jools Holland Show, UK television, his carreer is booming, and in 2006, at the age of 65, he presented his first album. Sinece then, Steve tours a lot, mostly in Europe, with for Holland, the Lowlands 2011 and the Pinkpop 2012 highlights. Seasick Steve seems to enjoy the whole circus, happy, friendly, grateful, and after an unsettled life, he's finally getting his (guitar)act together, now living in the UK and Norway.

Seasick Steve's cigar box guitar and other cheap instruments

seasick steve cigar box guitar

It's not only what Seasick Steve is playing, it's also what he is playing on. No fancy luxery dream-guitar for Steve on stage, Seasick does his act mostly on a cheap or self-constructed guitar. One of these guitars he became famous with, is the "cigar box" guitar, a well beloved object for photographers. This guitar sounds amazing, and only has four strings.



seasick steve's cheap guitar

Another one of Seasicks amazing guitars is his red Fender Coronado. Seasick himself calles this guitar "the biggest piece of shit in the world". It really looks old and worn, with it's, on the body taped, old Harmony humbucker. The guitar has 3 strings, and Seasick tunes it to G. Seasick Steve playes this cheap guitar he bought for $75 on almost every gig.

The guitar Seasick Steve became famous with, due to his performance in the UK show "Top Gear", is made of two wheel-covers from an old English Morris Minor, and a broomstick.
According to Steve, this guitar is only suitable for "slide" playing.

Besides of the guitars mentioned, and some crappy other ones, Seasick Steve also uses an amazing collection of music gear and amps.  Two of these instruments are the one-stringed self-made Diddley Bow, just a piece of wood, a bottle and a humbucker, and the Mississippi Drum Machine with licence plate and carpet design.

Seasick's amplifiers are "state of the art" too: a Roland Cube, and as seen on Pinkpop 2012, some worn out, original vintage Fender Bassman's, almost as old as the master himself, real collector's items.

Seasick Steve on stage

Seasick Steve live on stage

Below is a video of Seasick Steve's performance on the Pinkpop 2012 Festival in Holland. He got great reactions from the public. His live performances are raw and spontaneous, much better than the recordings killed by techniques in a studio. Enjoy, I did!

Seasick Steve on guitar, Pinkpop 2012

The longest guitar solo ever

Longest guitar solo ever by Thom Kubli



Who played the longest guitar  solo ever?

Does one ever get an answer on questions like: "who's the best guitar player", "what's the greatest guitar solo", or "who's the best rock guitarist",
I don't think so. Read the discussions on the internet! But what about the "longest guitar solo ever", that should be easy answered, right?


Thom Kubli longest guitar solo

On the 4th of october 2012, Thom Kubli, a German guitar player from Heidelberg, who studied jazz guitar, performed his attempt to hit the first world record in the catagory "longest guitar solo ever played". His performance took place in Gijon, in the North of Spain, and his goal is to get listed in the Guiness Book of records. Thom played for 17 hours, 21 minutes, and 2 seconds, monitored by a notary. This information I read in a little article in a Dutch newspaper. So far so good.

When surfing the internet, I Googled "the longest guitar solo ever", expecting to find the same information I read in the newspaper.
Surprise! Google not only showed Kubli and his record, but also came up with articles (Time magazine) about David DiDonato, an Austin, Texas, guitarist who broke the world record for "longest guitar solo", schredding for 24 hours and 55 minutes in may 2012. Both players claim to have broken the official world record for "longest guitar solo".

david didonato longest guitar solo

Thom Kubli works with WSM, World Records in Sound and Music, but the website does not seem to be up to date.
The setup and regulations of his attempt can be found here (PDF).
As I understand, his performance will be presented to the Guinness Book of Records.

What is the official world record for the "longest guitar solo"?

So the question still remains: "who played the longest guitar solo ever", and what is the official world record!
The authority on world records is Guinness World Records.
If a record is not in the book, it's not an authorized world record.
When searching the Guinness site, I found no record listed for "the longest guitar solo". For me, it's not clear what the official record for "longest guitar solo" is, or was, or who holds it.
But does it really matter? Discussions are more about the "best guitar solo" than about the "longest guitar solo", and "the best" can't be measured!

Bob Dylan; Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, on stage at the Newport Folk Festival 1965



Bob Dylan's guitar Newport 1965

What happened to the electric guitar Bob  Dylan played at the Newport  Festival, was it lost and found?

After writing my last post about George Harrison and his Gretsch Duo Jet, I thought there would be more stories to tell about famous guitar players and their guitars.
This one is about Bob Dylan and his Fender Stratocaster, he played at the Newport festival in 1965. The guitar is supposed to be "lost and found".

The news came out in july 2012, so it's not "fresh from the press". Despite of the fact that perhaps a lot of people already know about it, for me, the story is amazing enough to post. Guitars, history, and modern forensics come together!

Bob Dylan performing at the Newport Festival in 1965

Bob Dylan playing electric guitar at Newport Festival 1965

In 1965 Bob Dylan performed for thousands of fans at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. Everybody was expecting him to play acoustic guitar, the way they were used to hear him playing his "'protest songs", and then it happened. He plugged in an electric guitar, the Fender Stratocaster,started playing, and hell broke loose.

The fans did not accept it at all! After only three songs, Bob, with his electric guitar, left the stage. Bob came back and played on with his acoustic guitar. Bob Dylan's fans wanted to hear the acoustic folk sound, not the electric guitar Rock'n Roll sound.

This moment is music history. By combining rock and folk, the music of the 60´s would never sound the same again. Bob Dylan and his electric guitar changed history in 1965, and experts say this guitar is one of the worlds most famous guitars.



Bob Dylan and Bloomberg playing at the Newport 1965 Festival

What really happened to the guitar Bob Dylan played at the Newport 1965 Festival

In July 2012, the American television show, History Detectives, claimed to have re-discovered the famous electric guitar, a Fender Stratocaster, Bob Dylan played during his contraversial performance at the Newport Folk festival in 1965. Bob Dylan denies this claim, but experts are convinced it is the real deal.

The story goes that Dylan did not took very good care of the guitar.  Dawn Peterson, the doughter of pilot Victor Quinto stated that she is in possession of the guitar. Victor Quinto was the pilot who flew Dylan to different gigs in that period. The pilot would have contacted Bob Dylan´s management after finding the guitar, to have it picked up, but nobody showed up.

The guitar was stored until a friend of the pilot´s doughter made the connection between the guitar and Dylan´s performance at Newport in 1963. The woman then contacted History Detectives to have the guitar investigated.

History Detectives with the supposed to be Bob Dylan guitar

A guitar expert compared the grain in the wood in the guitar with pictures taken at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where Dylan performed with the Fender Stratocaster, and he is convinced the guitar, History Detectives was offered for examiniation, really is the famous Bob Dylan guitar. In the guitar case, handwritten song texts by the hand of Dylan were found, which makes the story even more real.

Bob Dylan's spokesman and lawyers on the other hand, state that it's for sure not the guitar Bob Dylan played at the festival mentioned; that guitar is, as they say, still in possession of Bob Dylan himself. Bob did loose guitars, some where stolen, but not the 1965 Newport guitar. Anyway, Dylan really wants the guitar back which was left behind in the plane. According to the finder's doughter, nobody from Dylan's management contacted her to claim the guitar, so the guitar remains in a safe place until it's clear who is legally the owner of the guitar.

I think Bob Dylan and his management will, if so, never admit it's the real guitar, until the guitar is back in the hands of Bob Dylan. Experts say the real 1965 Newport Fender can be worth up to 1 million dollar !

Video and updates can be found at the History Detectives website.

Update!

On friday 6 december 2013, the Fender Stratocaster has set a price record on an auction!

Christie's announced that Bob Dylan's -1965 Newport Festival - Fender Stratocaster was sold for a stunning 965.000 dollar.........

The previous record for a guitar sold by auction was Eric Clapton's Fender "Blackie",  by Christie's in 2004 for 959.500 dollar.

Bob Dylan's Newport Festival performance in 1965 is still considered to be the most important event in the American music history.

George Harrison Duo Jet, Tribute and Signature by Gretsch



George Harrison and his Gretsch Duo Jet

George Harrison and his "first decent guitar", the Gretsch Duo Jet

Lately I've been reading a lot about George Harrison, the lead guitarist from the legendary Beatles, and his guitars. As a fan of the Dutch "Egmond" guitars, I was surprised to hear that the first guitar George Harrison bought, actually was an Egmond. After this acoustic guitar, George obviously obtained more guitars. One of his favourites was the 1957 Gretsch G6128T.

 

George Harrison's  "ol' black Gretsch"

It's clear that George Harrison (25 february 1943 - 29 november 2001) was, within the Beatles, the guitarman. He was not the songwriter, but the real guitarist, who was grazy about guitars.

After playing some cheap second hand guitars, like the already mentioned Egmond, George in 1961 bought his first, as he said, "decent guitar" , the Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet, from a cab driver, former merchant seaman Ivan Heyward, who bought the guitar new in New York in 1957. The Gretsch replaced the Futurama George was playing on until then. George paid 70 Pound of the asking price of 90 Pound, and left an "I.O.U" on the back of the customs receipt. Ivan claims he never received the remaining 20 Pound.

George Harrison Cavern Club Liverpool 1962 Gretsch 6128T Duo Jet

George played the Duo Jet from 1961 to 1963. It was in that period his main guitar, and he used the Duo Jet in the early Beatles years, performing mostly in the Cavern Club in Liverpool and in the Star-Club in Hamburg. Also his Gretsch Duo Jet can be heard on the first Beatles album, "Please please me".

Although George was crazy about his Duo Jet, he replaced and retired the guitar in 1963. George stayed loyal to Gretsch, performing on with the Country Gentleman 6122, brown Walnut finish, and the Tenessean. George gave the G6128T Duo Jet to his German friend Klaus Voormann, but about 20 years later Voormann returned the guitar to George Harrison.

The Gretsch G6128T-GH, George Harrison Tribute and Signature.

In 2011, 10 years after the dead of George Harrison, when Gretsch wanted to honour George with a tribute and a signature model, it had to be the first guitar he was so proud of, the Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T.

The G6128T-GH Tribute is an exact replica of  George's original Duo Jet, made in the Gretsch Custom Shop. Only 60 pieces are manufactured, set at a price of 20.000 USD! Every detail has been duplicated from the original guitar as Gretsch got George's Duo Jet from the UK for the project. I suppose some die hard fans must have been excited; all George Harrison Tributes have been sold.

George Harrison Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T-GH

The G6128T-GH Signature can be found in the Gretsch Professional Collection, and can be recognized by the George Harrison signature on the truss rod, set at a price of 5.000 USD.

 

George Harrison Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T-GH headstock



George Harrison Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T-GH body

Some nice information, including a video about the making of the G6128T-GH Tribute, and all specifications about the George Harrison Duo jet Tribute and Signature can be found on the Gretsch website.
These guitars surely share some wonderful history, and as all signature models, also the ones build by others, they attract the real fans; and there you pay the price.

The ol' black Gretsch Video

Some nice detailed shots of George Harrisons's original ol' black Gretsch. From this original Duo Jet, every detail has been duplicated to create the George Harrison Duo Jet G6128-GH Tribute.