Episode 30 of James Patrick Regan’s “Have Guitar Will Travel” podcast features Halestorm co-founder Lzzy Hale. They delve into the band’s origins and the vital early support of her parents, her passion for music, interacting with fans, gear she has used throughout her career, and her collection of guitars and amps. Please like, comment and share this podcast!
Have Guitar Will Travel, hosted by James Patrick Regan, otherwise known as Jimmy from the Deadlies, is presented by Vintage Guitar magazine, the destination for guitar enthusiasts. Podcast episodes feature guitar players, builders, dealers and more – all with great experiences to share! Find all podcasts at www.vintageguitar.com/category/podcasts.
BBE Soul Vibe $129.99 BBE Sound, Inc., 5381 Production Drive, Huntington Beach, CA 92649 (714)897-6766 bbesound.com
The original Shin-Ei Uni-vibe became hugely famous after Jimi Hendrix used it with Band of Gypsys (and at Woodstock). Later practitioners like Frank Marino and especially Robin Trower used the Univibe “rotating speaker” effect in a number of songs. Ask an experienced player to name the songs that typify the sound of the Univibe, they’ll likely cite Hendrix’s “Machine Gun” and Trower’s “Day of the Eagle.”
The Univibe was not particularly well-built and had a reputation for being unreliable in performance environments. In the ’80s, a number of companies began to issue variations – most at prices that were out of reach of the average player who would otherwise like to dabble with its tone. Later, as the effect became more prominent, other companies offered variations and the fun became more affordable.
Contrary to popular belief, the Univibe effect is not akin to chorus, but rather it is a phase-shifting device that emulates a rotating speaker like those found in a Hammond organ Leslie speaker. Today, the Univibe name is owned by effects builder Jim Dunlop.
One of the more noteworthy modern variations is BBE’s Soul Vibe, a well-made unit with an LED indicator, non-slip rubber bottom, controls for Speed and Intensity, and true-bypass wiring.
With a Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster fed into a 1981 Marshall JCM800 50-watt combo and the Soul Vibe switched to its “Machine Gun” preset (as described in the owners manual), the unit offers up a little too much wall-rattling effect; rolling back the Intensity to about half brings the effect closer to what you heard when Hendrix played the Fillmore, though it noticeably cuts treble response. Roll up the Speed knob slightly and jam the riff from Trower’s “Bridge of Sighs,” and the Soul Vibe nails the tone. In both instances, this setup sounds very close to the original, and the blue indicator light pulses with the speed of the setting – a useful feature in a live setting, especially.
Plugging in a Les Paul Junior is a revelation; who would have guessed a Gibson through a rotating speaker effect? Okay, Frank Marino knew, but he’s apparently the only one. In this case, the P-90 works very well with the Speed rolled back and the Intensity at about three-quarters. In this setting, it sounds halfway between chorus and phase-shifting. Switching the unit off reveals no degradation at all in tone. Hey, this could be a groundbreaking setup for some budding musician out there!
The Soul Vibe is a worthy entrant to the market. It’s easy to use, sounds very close to the original, and unlike a vintage Univibe, is made of high-strength steel and other high-quality components. – Eric C. Shoaf
This article originally appeared in VG‘s May 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Eastwood EEB-1 and EUB-1 Basses $699 Eastwood Guitars, 75 Main Street S., Brampton Ontario L6Y1M9 Canada V6E 3M4 (416) 294-6165 eastwoodguitars.com.
Eastwood’s EEB-1 and the EUB-1 take their design inspiration from Ampeg’s quirky mid-’60s Horizontal Bass series, the brainchild of Dennis Kager, an amp technician and guitar specialist who worked for the company at the time.
The Ampegs (the fretted AEB-1 and fretless AUB-1) had non-symmetrical double-cutaway laminate bodies with f-hole cutouts that went through the body, bolt-on maple necks with zero-frets, and scrolled headstocks. Adding to the quirkiness was a “mystery pickup” system, an adaptation of the setup used in the Ampeg Baby Bass that used a silectron steel diaphragm and two magnetic pickups that sat underneath the bridge to convert the bridge vibrations into electrical energy for amplification. This allowed for any type of string to be used, i.e. non-magnetic gut strings as well as nickel steel and tape-wound. It also helped give the Horizontal basses the sound of a traditional upright.
Eastwood’s EEB-1 and EUB-1 re-creations (also fretted and fretless, respectively) have the same non-symmetrical double-cutaway solidbody design (albeit with mahogany) with the through-body f-holes, a three-ply black/white/black pickguard, that covers the entire front of the instrument, a 34″-scale bolt-on maple neck with a slotted (instead of scrolled) headstock, chrome hardware (die-cast tuners, dome knobs, adjustable bridge), and a cool retro bridge cover.
The EEB-1 and EUB-1 use a more modern traditional high-output EW Alnico humbucker with a single Volume and single Tone control. Tuners on the slotted headstock are mounted like those on an upright bass (the keys mount flat against the edge, and protrude backward) and do a good job of replicating the original scrolled Ampeg headstock without all the added cost of doing an exact copy of a full scroll. The necks are identical, with 15/8″-width plastic nuts, 12″ radius rosewood fretboards with dot markers on the front and top edge, and a substantial but very comfortable U-shaped neck profile. The lightweight bodies and slotted headstocks give the instruments a balanced feel. All of the Eastwood instruments we’ve reviewed boasted excellent workmanship, with clean fretwork, tight neck joints, flawless finishes, and high-quality/well-fitted components. The EEB-1 and EUB-1 are no exception.
Through an Ampeg B200-R 1×15″ 200-watt combo, the center-mounted humbucking pickup and 34″-scale helped both basses produce classic, thick electric-bass tones with no extraneous noise and a lot of output. Rolling the Tone control all the way back on the EEB-1 revealed a killer old-school sound with clear, punchy midrange and chunky low-end response, especially when you get aggressive with the picking fingers. While both basses were strung with .040 to .100 D’Addario roundwounds, a set of flatwounds or tapewounds would certainly add vintage flavor of the tone – and likely push the EUB-1 into “upright tone” territory. Given they sport only one pickup and passive controls, the Eastwoods don’t offer a ton of tonal versatility. But they do a fantastic job of creating rock-solid tone, voiced for playing in the pocket.
The Eastwood EEB-1 and EUB-1 basses are more great examples of how Eastwood is striving to market quality, affordable instruments with a cool 1950s/’60s vibe. Both boast excellent workmanship and solid, usable gigging tones with gobs of retro appeal. – Phil Feser
This article originally appeared in VG‘s May 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
“The H27 was fanciest semi-hollow bass ever offered by Harmony.”
During the guitar boom of the 1960s, the Chicago-based Harmony company struggled to keep up with the demand for instruments while simultaneously combating its image as a “cheapo” manufacturer. At the time, its fanciest production models were a series of thinline hollowbody electrics modeled after Gibson’s ES-335.
These Harmony instruments – four guitars and one bass – had double-cutaway bodies, and the guitars had three DeArmond pickups with separate volume and tone controls and individual off/on toggle switches. These made them more versatile than other three-pickup guitars of the time like the Fender Stratocaster or Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster. Their bodies had arched tops and backs made from laminated maple and measured 153/4″ wide and 2″ deep. The top sported two segmented f-holes. The bolt-on neck was maple, with an “ovalled rosewood fingerboard,” according to a 1966 Harmony catalog.
The series was replete with cosmetic amenities, including multiple binding (six-layer on the top edge of the body, for example) and tortoiseshell celluloid overlays on some models. The differences were relatively simple: the H75 had a distinctive harp-shaped tailpiece described in the 1966 Harmony catalog as having “…rich brown mahogany shading with sunburst effect.” The H76 was an H75 with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece. The H77 also had a harp-shaped tail, and its finish had a “…warm cherry red tone, lightly shaded.” Not surprisingly, the H78 was an H77 with a Bigsby.
Curiously, Harmony waited nearly a decade after the introduction of Fender’s Precision Bass to enter the electric bass market. The single-cutaway, hollowbody H22 debuted circa 1961 with a huge, angular pickguard, before morphing into the double-cutaway H22-1 toward the end of the decade (see “The Bass Space,” April ’06).
However, the H27 – the solitary bass in Harmony’s fanciest series – went a different direction. While the H22 was a single-pickup bass with a tone-bypass switch, the H27 had two of the company’s Golden Tone pickups (“…designed in cooperation with DeArmond,” according to the ’66 catalog) with four pairs of offset polepieces.
The H27 was sold only in the light sunburst finish, and while its headstock is laminated in tortoiseshell, it has a slightly-oversized Fenderish four-on-a-side tuner profile. And while it didn’t have a tortoiseshell pickguard like the guitars, its pickup toggle switch, as well as its thumbrest and fingerrest were tortoise-topped. And while the H series guitars had block fretboard inlays, the H27 had dots.
One bit of hype from the ’66 catalog describes the H27 as having an “Ultra-Slim maple neck” that was “…full scale, 30 inches from nut to adjustable bridge, Torque-Lok reinforced.” In bass parlance, 30″ actually means short-scale (full-scale is 34″).
Like its pickups, the H27’s bridge and tailpiece were unique. Touted as “precision 6-way adjustable,” it had a snap-on cover and was similar to Gretsch’s Space Control bridge; i.e., the six-way adjustment was for spacing between the strings and height on either side. But it could not be used to intonate the instrument. The tailpiece, hidden under a cover that screwed onto the body, was a metal block with string grooves.
The H27 had separate volume and tone controls for each pickup, with cylindrical, silver-topped control knobs borrowed from the H72 and H79 12-string.
Occasionally, notable flame-maple figuring could be found on the bodies of the H27 and corresponding guitars, enhancing their status as the fanciest Harmony instruments crafted at the time.
The design of the H27 meant it suffered from the same fate as other hollowbody basses such as the Fender Coronado series, primarily that it was neck-heavy (and looked like it!).
Harmony later marketed a less-fancy version of the H27, and in the early ’70s the company was in terminal decline by the time it offered the H420 bass in an uninspiring burgundy color and cheaper parts such as a wood fingerrest and thumbrest, white pickup-toggle plate, and white control knobs (though its headstock did keep the tortoiseshell laminate).
The H27 was the fanciest semi-hollow bass ever offered by Harmony. It has a decent sound and slim neck, which can make for easy plunking on its short scale.
This article originally appeared in VG‘s May 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
“…there is a time and place for that out-front spank, but if your mood shifts to slightly more mellow, there is a simple solution…”
Those who plug into Fender amplifiers from the classic “blackface” period know well the treble spike that makes up part of their signifcant character. Yes, there is a time and place for that out-front spank, but if your mood shifts to slightly more mellow, there is a simple solution, brutha’ man! Behold the little-hailed (but soon to be legendary) hero – the RFT 12AX7 – a rarely discussed/under-the-radar preamp tube that simply takes your tone and darkens it up, then breaks up early as all get out to deliver fat, greasy, semi-compressed mids.
In a couple old blackface Super Reverbs, the RFT conjures inspired, butter churnin’ glory. Same in all blackface amps – even the lowdown ’62 Vibrolux, and anything bright for that matter. Just slide one into V2 and dona’t forget to back up a few steps. Negative aspects? In the right amp, none, but this ain’t for tweeds (which would be kinda like puttin’ the Tabasco on jalapenos). Can you spell meltdown?
After ordering more than a dozen RFTs and testing them for months, a consult with tube wizard Mike Kropotkin, of KCA NOS Tubes, was requisite to find out exactly what in da’ hell is going on with this magical little glass beast. Enjoy. And remember, you heard it here!
So what’s the lowdown, Mike?
Tonally, they’re similar to short plate Mullards from the 1960s and ’70s with a smooth top-end – a bit darker than normal, but with the earliest break up of any 12AX7/ECC83 variant.
Are there specific brands we should watch for?
RFT 12AX7s are sometimes branded as RFT, Tesla, Telefunken, Tronal, Globus, Amperex, United and others, and some just with a funny symbol. Since all brand names can be found on different variants of 12AX7s, you have to know what to look for inside the glass. The plate structure is unmistakable; they have very short plates, which are unique. They look more like a Mullard/Philips 12AT7/ECC81 than any 12AX7/ECC83 I’ve ever seen.
Which amps best utilize the RFT’s characteristics?
They can work in any amp; they’re very unique and have a large cult following, but are not for everyone. They seem to work best when a player prefers lower-volume breakup and a somewhat darker tone. Many vintage Marshall 50- and 100-watt players use them to cool off their bright channels and get more breakup at less than window shattering levels. They’re also good in Fenders where the player craves more dirt at lower volume levels and needs to tame brightness.
Where did they come from?
They were made in East Germany in the 1960s and ’70s, and availability is relatively good right now⎯at roughly $20 to $40 or so. Right now, they’re among the very lowest-priced NOS 12AX7s around.
Austin native Nathaniel Riverhorse Nakadate has been held at gunpoint/machete three times, hit by two cars, and shot in the leg. He can often be found playing dirty slide guitar or sleeping alone on the cliffs of third world countries while chasing waves to surf.
This article originally appeared in VG‘s May 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
1968 Gibson Flying V in sunburst finish: VG Archive.
Body is two-piece mahogany.
Pickguard mounts to body with 13 screws.
Pickups are patent-number humbuckers with chrome-plated covers.
Tune-O-Matic bridge with Gibson’s basic spring vibrato (a.k.a. Vibrola) tailpiece.
Control pots used mostly “bell knobs” with chrome inserts, though a few guitars were shipped with “witch hat” knobs. Controls – one Volume per pickup and a master Tone – are arranged in triangular fashion, with input jack below them.
Necks on the ’67 models are one-piece, but ’69 and ’70 necks are three-piece. They meet the body at 17th fret.
Tuners are Klusons with plastic “tulip” buttons.
Fretboard is rosewood with 22 frets and pearloid dot markers. Scale length is 243/4″.
Headstock was slightly shorter early in the run, then returned closer to the size of the original ’50s model. Gibson logo silkscreened on the oversized truss rod cover.
As played by
Jimi Hendrix (Gibson reissue below)
Andy Powell
Rudolph Schenker
K.K. Downing
Yngwie Malmsteen
Further Facts
All hardware on Flying Vs of this era was chrome – the gold plating of the ’50s models was not an option.
The rubber strip on the bottom edge of the treble wing of ’50s models (designed to help hold the guitar in place when played sitting down) was not included on the ’60s guitars.
Second Turn
Finishes were predominatly the same transluscent Cherry Red common to the SG, but Gibson also applied sunburst finishes to many, and opaque black or white to a few (company logs don’t indicate numbers). Inset photos: ’67 Flying V: Instrument and photo courtesy David Swartz.
The history of the Gibson company and its approach to building electric guitars, especially solidbodies, is full of intriguing twists, turns, and more than its share of head-scratching moments. Whether because it lagged behind Fender in building a solidbody of any sort in the early 1950s, the fact it spent a decade playing catch-up even with the now-legendary Les Paul model as its mainstay, or the funky shapes of the “Korina trio” in its Modernistic line dreamed up by President Ted McCarty in the late 1950s, there’s just no avoiding it – Gibson’s history is full of mystery.
The Modernistic line – the Moderne, Futura, and Flying V – was much more about high-concept than execution, and as a result, of the three only the Flying V and Futura (with a design tweak and new name – the Explorer) went into very limited production; only 98 Flying Vs were built.
Despite the fact the original Flying V was a failure in terms of market acceptance, in 1966 Gibson decided to give it another try. Late that year, perhaps in anticipation of the 1967 NAMM show (at the time there was just one each year), management ordered two Vs. Though documention regarding a reason or rationale is scarce (or nonexistent), 1967 shipping records indicate 111 were made – 67 in Cherry Red and the rest (44) in sunburst.
And apparently those 111 guitars sated the market, as the company shipped exactly zero Flying Vs in ’68 before “demand” forced them to ship 15 more in ’69 and 47 in 1970 (in Cherry, sunburst, black, and “Sparkling Burgundy,” a.k.a. Candy Apple Red; a late-run group were given natural finishes with matching unpainted headstocks) before the model was retired a second time.
Flying Vs of the ’60s are differentiated from the ’50s version in several ways. Most notable is the fact that the body had a different cut, with a narrower overall profile, less “shoulder” where the neck meets the body, and “wings” cut at a steeper angle. Their bodies were also thinner, front to back.
Another major difference is the tailpiece; where the ’50s models had a string-through-body tailpiece cut in a V shape, by the ’60s Gibson had developed more modern approaches, including its Vibrola, a simple spring-activated vibrato. Initially, the vibrato was mounted flat against the guitar’s body, but a later design used a raised base identifiable by three spacers.
Although the V was discontinued in 1970, it returned in ’71 in the form of the Medallion V, followed by a host of variations and reissues designed to address the changing market through the years. Today, it’s firmly entrenched in the Gibson product line.
This article originally appeared in VG‘s May 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
1902 Martin 00-42 Special. Photo by Kelsey Vaughn, courtesy Gruhn Guitars.
It has all the appoint-ments of a Martin 00-45, particularly the abalone pearl trim around all the borders of the body, but this guitar is entered into Martin’s books as a special-order 00-42. The reason is simple: Martin did not yet have an official Style 45 when this guitar was made in 1902.
Abalone pearl trim was nothing new on a Martin at the time, at least around the top border. Style 42 had been standardized by the late 1850s, and its abalone pearl went all the way around the fingerboard extension. The soundhole, too, featured an abalone ring (as did all of the 30-some styles). An ivory bridge with pyramid ends added a touch of elegance.
Beyond the top of the guitar, however, Style 42 was pretty plain. There was a strip of wood marquetry down the center of the back. Fingerboard inlays – initially, just three snowflakes – were a relatively recent addition introduced in the 1890s, and the headstock was unadorned except for the Martin brand-stamp on the back.
In 1902, Martin made what went down in the books as a 00-42 Special, but that term hardly describes the “presentation” level of ornamentation. The fingerboard and peghead had an intricate floral or vine-pattern inlay. The guitar also had a pickguard – which no Martin guitars of that period had – in the style of bent-top, bowl-back mandolins, with a symmetrical shape, situated under the strings. It, too, was heavily inlaid with the floral pattern. For good measure, an abalone border was added to the sides and back of the guitar.
This “pearled-out” 00-sized guitar, serial number 9372, was far too ornate to be a standard Martin catalog model, but it did start people thinking about taking Style 42 to the next level. Only 38 serial numbers later (which would be the same day today but probably two months later in ’02, a year in which Martin made only 218 guitars), Martin made another 00-42 Special (#9410), with the side and back trim but without the fancy fingerboard and pickguard inlay, and 78 guitars farther down the line, Martin made yet another – the one you see here (#9488).
Why not the larger 000 body size for these ultra-deluxe models? Again, the answer is simple. It didn’t exist yet, at least not in Martin’s standard line. The 000 was still experimental in 1902, with only five 000 examples – all designated as specials – made that year.
Martin made more of these Style 42-plus guitars with abalone-bordered rims and back in 1903, and in ’04 standardized the style, giving it the number 45 and offering it in the catalog. Only four guitars were logged as Style 45s in that first official year of production, but they covered most of the body sizes with a 1-45, two 0-45s and a 00-45. For the record, the first official Style 45 was one of the 0-45s. The first 000-45 wasn’t made until in 1905.
The step up from Style 42 to the abalone body borders and abalone peghead inlay of Style 45 cost the buyer $30. On a 1-45 that represented, coincidentally, a 42 percent increase from $70 to $100. The price went up $5 as the body sizes increased; the 0-42 was $75 and the 00-42 was $80, but the upcharge for a Style 45 was still $30, so the 0-45 was $105 and the 00-45 was $110.
This guitar features the first version of the Style 45 peghead inlay, which is sometimes referred to as the “fern” pattern. Martin pictured a Style 45 guitar with this inlay in the ’04 catalog and the same photo appeared as late as the ’09 catalog, but Martin had actually begun using a simpler pattern, known today as the “torch,” by ’05, and that version lasted until about ’27. A slightly simplified torch took over, but only until the early 1930s. By that time, Martin was switching to a 14-fret neck with a solid peghead that allowed more room for a logo and/or ornamentation than the slotted pegheads, and on Style 45 guitars (even those that retained the slotted peghead) the delicate torch was replaced with the bold, all-caps, vertically oriented “CF Martin” inlay.
Style 45 got off to a slow start. It was 1919 before production of any one model hit double digits, but Style 42 models weren’t selling much better until the 1920s. In fact, it’s difficult to assess whether guitarists preferred one style over the other because the preferences vary from one body size to the next.
The small Size 1 was becoming passé by the time Style 45 appeared, and Martin made only six 1-45s from 1904 to 1919, when the company stopped offering all the pearly styles in Size 1. In the 0-size, Style 42 outsold Style 45 through the 1920s; then both the 0-42 and 0-45 virtually disappeared in the 1930s. In the 00-size, Style 42 was more popular than Style 45, and it remained strong in the 1930s while production of 00-45s dropped to a total of three for the decade. In the 000-size, however, Martin didn’t put a 000-42 on the price list until 1918, so the fancier Style 45 dominated by default.
The initial designation – Style 42 Special – understated just how special Style 45 Martins would become. In the pre-World-War-II years, it was only surpassed briefly by the OM-45 Deluxe (produced only in 1930), which featured additional inlays in the pickguard and bridge. In today’s vintage market, Style 45s follow the same pattern as they did in their original listings. The larger the body, the greater the value. The largest of the pre-war models – the D-45 – is, of course, the Holy Grail of vintage Martins.
Although Martin has offered models in recent years with higher model numbers than Style 45, along with many limited-edition, commemorative, or artist models with fancier appointments, the Style 45 remains today as it was when this “pre-45” guitar helped get the Style 45 ball rolling in 1904 – simply Martin’s top style.
This article originally appeared in VG‘s May 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
Maestro GA-45T circa 1957 Preamp tubes: two 5879; 6SQ7 tremolo; 12AX7 PI Output tubes: two 6V6GT, cathode-bias Rectifier: 5Y3 Controls: Volume on each channel, shared Bad and Treble, tremolo Depth and Frequency Speakers: four 8″ Jensen DP-Alnico-5 Concert Speakers Output: 15 watts RMS
Until just a couple years ago, Fender really was the only major name in collectible vintage American-made tube guitar amplifiers. Sure, Magnatone, Standel, Danelectro/Silvertone, Supro and the other Valco-made amps have their followers, and dealers have always been fond of selling a vintage Gibson or Gretsch guitar in a set with its corresponding amp. But for big bucks, it’s Fender all the way. Even Gibson, which conversely delivered the most prized of vintage electrics in the 1958-’60 Les Paul with sunburst finish, couldn’t produce an amplifier to dent the timeless desirability and escalating value of the tweed, brownface, and blackface Fenders.
Gradually, however, the underdog tubesters from the golden years of Yank-built tone are redressing the balance. Prior to the new millennium you could have landed any early Gibson amp for way under a grand. Keen-eyed collectors and players have noticed, though, that GA-40T Les Paul models of the mid 1950s to early ’60s have climbed steadily in price – right in to the $2,500 range and beyond for good examples – and their newfound glory has had a knock-on effect on lesser models such as the GA-20 and GA-30 from the same period, as well as other related models. Players have discovered that all of them can be hip-sounding electronic suitcases in their own way, but the 5879 pentode preamp tubes of the GA-40T push its juice factor over the top. Suddenly, the Kalamazoo amp shop haps of 50 years ago are happening, and if you want to get on the bandwagon you’d better leap fast.
Alternatively, you find yourself, uh… an alternative. Enter our 1957 Maestro GA-45T. Released in 1955 and manufactured by Gibson, the Maestro combo was billed as an amplifier for use with accordion and electric bass. It comes in the same cabinet as the Gibson GA-40T and looks nearly identical, except that its two-tone covering is black and luggage-grade tweed (which with wear can take on a snakeskin look) rather than the Gibson’s maroon-and-buffalo-tweed (later standard tweed) outfit, and the Maestro’s control panel is chrome rather than brown enamel.
1957 Maestro GA-45T with a missing front logo, an affliction that has stricken many.
They are even more similar internally. The GA-45T uses the same tube complement and circuit as the GA-40T, except that it carries Bass and Treble controls instead of the single Tone, and both channels are intended for “Microphone or Instrument” rather than one being for Mic and one for Inst. Finally, the GA-45T’s cab houses four 8″ alnico Jensen speakers rather than the GA-40T’s single 12″. This was done in the same spirit as the four 10″ Jensens in the Fender Bassman, in a bid to shelve the low fundamentals of the notes of these two bottom-heavy instruments and avoid “farting out” the speakers. Notable but minor differences, and yes, the GA-45T can easily be reverse-engineered into a GA-40T.
The cliché “poor man’s Fender…” (too often completed with the word “Deluxe”) gets slapped on unsuspecting Gibson combos far more often than deserved, but in this case – despite the use of a 5Y3 rectifier and a pair of 6V6GT output tubes to spew around 15 watts – you’re looking at two amps that really couldn’t be more different in 1957. Instead of the cathodyne (a.k.a. “split-load”) phase inverter in the 5E3 Deluxe, the GA-45T has a paraphase PI like tweed Fenders from earlier in the ’50s. The Maestro also carries a choke, but more significantly, those 5879 preamp tubes are simply nothing like the 12AY7 or 12AX7 found in Fenders. A little closer to the more familiar EF86 pentode than anything else, they are less microphonic than that occasionally troublesome tube of the vintage Vox AC15, and just fat, wide, warm, and greasy-sounding all at once. In short, they’re the bedrock of a tone all its own. As well as having more gain than the more common 12A-7 dual-triodes, they also handle input voltage more elegantly, which means they don’t fizz up into hairy dirtballs of tone, and instead pass a thick, rich frappe of a soundstage along to further stages of the amp. In addition, the EQ stages of the Fender Deluxe and Gibson/Maestro are entirely different, the latter being an odd configuration that follows the PI, rather than a treble-bleed network between preamp and output stages as on the 5E3. Top it off with a very hip-sounding tremolo and you can wave farewell to Fullerton.
Aside from the differences in the speakers, the two-knob EQ seems to rein in the GA-45Ts gain just a little from that of the GA-40T, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. Those 5879s are fat-sounding tubes, and ramp up the gain in a big way in the first place, so it survives the two-pot journey well. If anything, you get a jot more twang than in the GA-40T, although all bets are off once you crank up either one of them past half way.
The other disparity between the Gibson and the Maestro is, of course, the speaker configuration. The GA-45T sounds good with guitar with its stock 4×8″ rig, but plug it into a 1×12″ extension cab with any reputable driver and it really comes to life. A Jensen P12Q, Celestion G12H-30, or Celestion Alnico Gold produces great (if varied) results, and the amp reveals firmer lows, more aggressive and blooming mids, and much more giggable volume levels. The 22″ (wide) x 20″ (high) cab even allows for a 15″ speaker, if you want to cut such a baffle. Being spec’d for accordion, the four 8″ speakers also work a treat for harp, of course, and the fact that blower extraordinaire Little Walter wailed on a Maestro GA-45T lends kudos to the model.
The output transformer on Gibson’s GA-40T Les Paul is already a little larger than that of a 5E3 Deluxe, but many tell how, in the Maestro, they used the OT from the larger, two-6L6GC-equipped Gibson GA-77. Indeed, the OT on our example is a little longer than that of a GA-40T, and mounted at a slight angle to fit between the rectifier and output tubes (it’s not an anomaly or an aftermarket OT – it exists on others). That said, open-frame OT’s have been seen on GA-77s, and this is an enclosed part with bell ends (if you know the story, please drop a line to VG). However you slice it, though, this is one hairy, happening amp!
Dave Hunter is an American musician and journalist who has worked in both Britain and the U.S. He’s a former editor of The Guitar Magazine (UK).
This article originally appeared in VG‘s May 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
This year marks Boston-born Dave Amato’s 19th annum with REO Speedwagon. The guitarist moved to California in 1980 and became a working session player before gigging with Ted Nugent, Jimmy Barnes, and Cher, then landed the gig with REO, which has taken him around the world and seen him acquire many classic instruments.
Amato’s first guitar was a Harmony hollowbody, and he admittedly “lucked out” early by acquiring two ’50s Gibson Les Paul TV models.
“I didn’t know what I had back then,” Amato recalled ruefully. “So I sold them to get a new Stratocaster.”
He has since acquired a replacement TV model, as well as dozens of other instruments. REO Speedwagon toured extensively in the summer of 2007 to promote the band’s latest album, Find Your Own Way Home, and as the band was gearing up for some 2008 dates, the genial guitarist recently went one-on-one with Vintage Guitar about his perpetual enthusiasm for vintage instruments.
Amato is one of those players who generally uses his vintage instruments in the studio while taking durable modern instruments on the road. These days, Gibson Historic Les Pauls and Fender Custom Shop Stratocasters and Telecasters comprise the bulk of his touring arsenal.
“I’ve got a couple of Historics with [Bigsby vibratos], which I like, although they don’t stay in tune as well as some of the other vibratos,” he noted. “But those guitars seem a bit lighter with all that hardware. I had a ’58 reissue, but I didn’t like the tone and I changed the front pickup and added a Bigsby. That seemed to give it more top end, and I love its sound now.”
Amato’s vintage collection is keystoned by a 1954 Stratocaster (7829) he scored on a trip to Norman’s Rare Guitars in Tarzana, California, accompanied by Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora.
“Richie was looking at a Martin 000 model, and I was eyeballing this all-original ’54 Strat, which Norm had priced for $12,000,” Amato chuckled. “Norm told me that if he sold Richie the Martin, he’d sell me the Strat for $9,000. So I pestered Richie all night. The next morning, he got the Martin!
“I had been looking for a first-year Strat – I try to get first-year guitars. I also have a ’52 all-gold Gibson Les Paul and two ’54 Les Paul Juniors.”
Today, Amato’s collection includes a total of seven pre-CBS Strats; the ’54, a ’55 (serial number 0156), two ’58s (30307 and 025081), a ’63 (78984) and two ’64s (L21958 and L19984).
His favorites for recording are the ’54 and the black ’58 with a maple neck. “It sounds unbelievable, and plays fantastic. They all sound good, but that one sounds amazing on record, as does the ’54. They’re just a touch different.”
Other Fenders include a ’50 Broadcaster (0156), ’56 Esquire (1854), ’57 Esquire (22007), ’53 Telecaster (0692), a ’67 Telecaster (185221), and a ’70 Telecaster with a Fender/Bigsby vibrato.
Seven of the Fenders are refinished, including the Broadcaster, the ’55 Strat, the black ’58 Strat, one of the ’64 Strats (L21958), the ’57 Esquire, and both Telecasters.
“I think they sound the same,” he said of the refins. “And most were refinished years ago at the factory; I bought them because I liked their sound. The finishes were done so well and so long ago it doesn’t really matter.”
The other ’58 Strat is in Desert Sand finish, which was usually found on Fender’s Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic student guitars of the era.
(left to right) ’64 Fender Stratocaster (L19984). ’53 Fender Telecaster in refinished Surf Green (0692). ’67 Fender Telecaster (185221).
“I bought it many years ago, and I still haven’t checked whether it’s a refin or not, but it looks pretty good, and people who have seen it have gone ‘Wow!’ If somebody refinned that one, they must have done it in the Fender factory, because its color is spot-on. It actually sounds a little darker than the black ’58 or the ’54; maybe it’s the pickups. But it’s still a great guitar.”
On the other hand, the REO vet noted that the black finish on his ’70 Telecaster is a rare factory-original color.
“I love the tone of Teles with Bigsbys,” Amato said. “I don’t know why! They’re a lot of fun, and that one sounds beautiful, and is in incredible condition. The black color is really hard to find; most are natural finish.”
While Amato acknowledges that Fender custom-color instruments may be more desirable, he won’t go out of his way to get a new custom-color Fender.
(left to right) ’68 Gibson ES-335 (846236). ’68 Gibson ES-335 (595208). ’97 Gibson Lonnie Mack Flying V (94007200).
“I’m more traditional,” he said. “If I had something done by the Custom Shop, I’d want a regular stock look, like my old ones,” he said. “And I love Relics, I just got a Telecaster with a Bigsby made by Master Builder Yuri Shishkov that emulates a late-’50s blond with a maple neck. It’s awesome.”
Turning attention to the Gibson portion of his collection, Amato has definitive examples of most ’50s Les Paul models and ’60s SGs. In addition to the aforementioned ’52 Les Paul (no serial number) and the ’54 Les Paul Juniors (4 5067; the other has no serial number), his ’50s Gibson solidbody electrics include a ’57 Les Paul Jr. (7 6816), a ’58 double-cutaway Les Paul Junior with a stock Bigsby vibrato (8 5247), a ’59 three-pickup Les Paul Custom (9 2088), a ’56 Les Paul Special (6 9879), and a ’57 Les Paul TV (7 6238) with the same lighter limed mahogany finish as the Special.
“I really like the look of the three-pickup Custom,” he said. “It’s not a first-year model, and it’s not even the first year for three pickups on that model, but it’s really clean. As for the TV-finish guitars, if you’re collecting, you need to have a pair of those – a one-pickup and a two-pickup. I got the Junior with the original Bigsby from Norm’s Rare Guitars; I’d never seen one, so I had to have it.”
The REO guitarslinger has also never owned a late-’50s Gibson Les Paul Standard – the fabled “Burst.” “That may have been one of my biggest blunders,” he said. “I didn’t want to spend the money at the time, but they kept going up and up and I missed the boat. I had plenty of opportunities to buy one!”
(left to right) ’59 Gibson Les Paul Custom (9 2088). ’52 Gibson Les Paul Standard. ’57 Gibson Les Paul TV Junior (7 6238).
The same attempt at across-the-board model representation is found in the ’60s SG portion of Amato’s collection, which includes a ’64 SG Custom (534418), ’64 SG Standard (207302), ’61 SG Junior (3318), and two ’63 white TV SG Juniors (124346 and 126486). But conspicuous in its absence is an SG Special.
“That’s killin’ me – it’s what I’m lookin’ for next!” said Amato.
When it comes to Gibson solidbody models for recording, Amato says “I lean toward ’50s Les Pauls because I’m more of a Les Paul player. But I have a soft spot in my heart for SGs because I had a bunch of them when I was a kid. That’s the kicker about an SG Special – I had one then, so I need one now!”
Amato has two ’68 ES-335s (846236 and 595208), one of which has a Bigsby. “I own a lot of guitars with Bigsbys,” he said. “They catch my eye for some reason. I like to play them, but maybe anything with a lot of hardware is going to attract my attention. I just got the one with the Bigsby, but I haven’t used it yet. I did use the one without the Bigsby a lot on the new REO record.”
(left to right) ’54 Gibson Les Paul Junior. ’54 Gibson Les Paul Junior (4 5067). ’58 Gibson Les Paual Junior with factory Bigsby (8 5247).
As is the case with Fenders, standard finishes in Gibson instruments have more appeal than rare or custom finishes.
“I go the traditional route with sunbursts,” he said of his 335s. “Norm’s had some red ones that were beautiful; I like that, but sunburst is my favorite finish on 335s.”
Among his acoustic instruments are a ’98 Gibson Chet Atkins 12-string (91988737) he believes is a one-of-a-kind.
“I got a six-string Chet, and I like to get pairs if I can,” he said. “Like a 12-string and a six-string of the same model. I asked Gibson’s endorsement guy if they ever made a 12-string Chet, and he had one that they had made for a country artist. As I understand, she hated it. Timing-wise, I lucked out because when I asked him about it, he had it under his desk. I’ve used it live; it plays great and sounds wonderful.”
(left to right) ’56 Gibson Les Paul Special (6 9879). ’61 Gibson SG Junior (3318). ’64 Gibson SG Standard (207302).
There’s also a ’65 Gibson Hummingbird (362586) in near-mint condition. Confirming his propensity for trading up, Amato parted with a ’67 Hummingbird in order to acquire the ’65.
Other acoustics include a 12-string Martin from the company’s custom shop; it’s heard on Find Your Own Way Home.
Amato has two Rickenbacker John Lennon models – an ’89 six-string (EZ 8574) and a rare ’86 12-string version (ZH 2130).
“I heard they made 22 of them,” he said of the 12-string version. “I talked to a Beatles memorabilia dealer at a Texas guitar show, and he said that of the 22, 15 went to Japan and seven stayed in the States – and he had five of them, and I talked him out of one. Since it’s a three-quarter size, it’s hard to play.”
The ’67 Gretsch Country Gentleman (79759) is another Beatles-inspired acquisition. Amato described the guitar as “…really, really close to George Harrison’s – dark walnut. I changed it because I wanted to convert it to Harrison specs. I think I put a different pickup in the neck position. It was really hard to find the double mutes when I starting changing it.” There’s also a ’65 Gibson J-160E (300093), as played by Lennon.
(left to right) ’67 Gretsch Country Gentleman (79759). ’89 Rickenbacker John Lenn-on “Ed Sullivan” (EZ 8574). ’86 Rickenbacker John Lennon 325-12 (ZH 2130).
Because Amato’s career also includes times when he played guitars with pointy headstocks, he owns several including a matching ’83 Gibson korina Explorer and Flying V; he uses the V live, and only recently acquired the Explorer (80613521), which he plans on taking on tour, as well. He’s looking to complete the set with the reissue of Gibson’s late-’50s Moderne. “They’re cool. I love the way korina instruments sound.”
The limited edition ’97 Lonnie Mack Flying V (94007200) is another nod to his hardware/Bigsby propensities.
Amato still acquires “player” instruments on occasion, and he picked up a 2002 Fender Classic Strat with a humbucker in the the bridge position and Floyd Rose vibrato.
As for amplifiers, Amato has a “serious plexi-era Marshall jones,” and his collection includes two PA heads, a Super Bass head, and two Super Lead heads. His Marshall cabs are 1968-’71 “basketweave” grillecloth models, with “pre-Rola” Celestion speakers.
“I use them in the studio because I loved the classic Jimi Hendrix sound,” he detailed. “I’ve always loved plexi heads. They sound fantastic, and there’s something special about those PA heads – plug into the top input on the left, crank to 8 or 9, and it just sings! I think they’re fantastic for guitar. I also use some mid-’80s JCM-800 channel-switching heads live and in the studio, but one of those plexi PA heads is my favorite.”
Amato’s longtime association with REO Speedwagon has allowed him to acquire an admirable collection of guitars, and he’s always willing to share his enthusiasm about his passion of making good music on vintage equipment.
This article originally appeared in VG‘s May 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
John Tropea has spent much of his life in a studio, playing guitar, helping make hit records for people with names other than his own. Why? One reason is his father’s gas station.
“My dad owned a gas station in New York and he told me he had picked up a car belonging to Tony Mottola (legendary jazz/session player in New York City) to have it serviced and was very impressed Tony had an answering service. That stuck with me. You know how it is when your father is impressed with something! So from that moment on, I wanted to be a studio musician.”
That started Tropea’s journey to being one of the Big Apple’s studio regulars throughout the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. It helped him forge many friendships that are strong to this day, and musicians like Will Lee, Steve Gadd, Ronnie Cuber, Dave Mann, Bob James, and many others helped Tropea on his latest CD releases, Take Me Back to the Ol’ School and the Japan-only release Tropea 10 – The Time is Right.
Tropea’s silky smooth, clean sound started developing when he was just eight years old, when his dad bought him a Stella guitar. But, the process was a bit of struggle for the youngster. “I couldn’t get the hang of it,” he recalled. “It took two years and a friend with an F-hole Silvertone guitar to come over and show me how to play ‘Billy Boy’; just the one-finger chords for the C and G7. Then he taught me ‘Red River Valley’ and I learned the D7, so I had three chords. From there I was able to get the hang of it and by 12 or 13 I started studying with a teacher in New York and was taking three lessons a week.”
Beyond Mottola, Tropea cites Mundell Lowe and Bill Haley for leaving an impression on him, as well as a guitarist who was making weekly television appearances and influencing a generation of guitarists. “I used to watch ‘The Nelson’s,” he said. “I didn’t really care much about Ricky, but James Burton – he was the real deal.” Tropea started gigging in his early teens and was happy doing it, and making decent money, until he ended up going to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After his study there he went back to New York City in ’67. There he started his own band. His introduction to the studio happened in that era when he started doing demos.
Session work started for him in earnest in 1970, when he says he started making good money doing dates. The liner notes on albums from that era will show Tropea’s name on a large percentage of dates. “I was doing every kind of session. Whatever they called for I’d do. The first hit I played on was the Main Ingredient’s ‘Everybody Plays the Fool.’ Paul Simon’s dates were always interesting. I remember working on ‘50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.’ We were getting paid double-scale from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. We’d just sit there, Paul would be with pianist Richard Tee for a day and a half just working on the arrangement. That’s just the way he worked. Very meticulous, and he made beautiful records. I mean there’s so many different ways out there to make a good record.”
Tropea also cites the first Spyro Gyra album, with the hit “Morning Dance.”
“We were kind of the ringers,” he said. “That happened a lot in those days. It was me, Will Lee, Steve Gadd, and the late Don Grolnick playing the music.” With a laugh, he adds that playing with the greats can happen in odd ways when you’re a studio guitarist. “I played on six James Brown albums and never met him. I played on a couple of Frank Sinatra albums, and never met him.”
While doing his studio work, Tropea played a lot Fender guitars, citing their versatility. But things sometimes change.
“On the latest record I play an L-5,” he said. “I have three of them – one’s a Wes L-5, the other is a ’64 CES. That’s my sweetheart. And my favorite live guitar is actually a Byrdland with an L-5 neck, which is just a thinner L-5. It has exactly the same dimensions and same wood, it’s just thinner. And you can’t get them to make them anymore. I lucked out when I found it in ’98. It was a year or two old, and it’s just fantastic for live playing.” He also, on occasional live gigs, plays a Sadowsky double-cut solidbody.
Like many guitarists, Tropea has managed to accumulate amplifiers. The more notable vintage boxes include a ’64 Fender Deluxe and several other Fenders, including a completely original ’64 Concert, a ’60 Fender Pro, and a couple “odds and ends.” More recently, he has been using a Fender Supersonic.
One of his recent gigs included filling in for Matt “Guitar” Murphy in the Blues Brothers after Murphy suffered a stroke (he is recovering), and Tropea would like to gig more with his band. “We play Japan and around here, but I’m trying to book more colleges and the West Coast. It’s so hard right now because people still know me, but promoters don’t always know who I am.” His band consists of, at various times, world-class musicians like Will Lee, Anthony Jackson, Steve Gadd, Lou Marini, Dave Mann, and others, depending on what the players are up to at the time. It’s a pretty simple equation. “We worked on so many records together through the years that I was able to make many great friends and contacts. We’re all very close and have a good time playing together.” – John Heidt
This article originally appeared in VG‘s May 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
