Newsletter June 09 @ StarChefs
I am listening just this moment to a really good surf album by The Reluctant Aquanauts. The band decided to make it available as a free mp3 download. Here’s what Bill of The Reluctant Aquanauts wrote on Surf Guitar 101 with the link to the download.
Here are the masters to what would have been the Reluctant Aquanauts second album “Aquanauts Can’t Swim”. All the songs are original except for Fistful of Dullards and Altered State Trooper which were given to us by Denis from the Treblemakers.
Weber Original Design Kits
Kirsten Fuchs, Volker Strübing: Nicht der Süden | Spreeblick
Cigar Box Amp Powered by Fender – Cigar Box Nation
Yulee Diddley Day | Bo Diddley Memorabilie Exhibition
11 weitere Script Zeichensätze voller Eleganz und Ausdruck | 20 Greatest
Surfing under Fire
Here I list some boutique guitar makers (or luthiers) who have some designs that could be working well for Surf music. Obviously they often have features familiar from the various famous Fender guitars such as the Stratocaster, the Jazzmaster or the Jaguar. There’s also a new model which combines features of the Jazzmaster and the Jaguar, called The Johnny Marr Jaguar. My rule of thumb was really for them to have at least two single coil pick-ups and a vibrato unit. I haven’t played any of these, but from my experience of digging at Surf music since the late eighties I have an idea what works. You have to acustom yourself with a guitar, especially for instrumental music, and for some players the feel of the whole Fender package might be too far from their heritage, or the sound is too cookie-cutter-like.
The pictures are links.
OK, this might already be a controversial choice. But recently I find myself listening to Morpheus by The Toads who had a Gibson for lead, and it worked for them. This here is obviously based on Gibson’s Les Paul model, except for the unusual shape.
Harvester
Here we have a similar candidate, with a set neck too and even mini humbuckers. Isn’t it a beauty? The 1963 Mosrite Ventures model had a set neck as well, with no lack of attack for sure! This being a very boutique enterprise, the builder would probably drop in a pair of singles coils if you ask him to. Kindly.
Roadrunner Bazaar
Roadrunner Surfmaster
Roadrunner Grave Digger
Roadrunner Anty
These are creations by a frenchman. He seems to be into all the right bands and the inspiration for his guitars is as cool. He beats his own path, never copying a bodyshape, and coming up with different electronic layouts and color schemes. Unique stuff, perfect references for Surf.
Needham
Needham double cutaway
Needham Guitars from Austin, Texas. They remind me of Les Paul Juniors, Danelectros and a bit of Microfrets. Very nice, clean dual single coil designs.
Campbell Transitone
Unusual combo of Jazzmaster style pick-ups with a 3/3 headstock and a Stratocaster-style vibrato.
Micro-Frets Signature
This american 1960s and 70s company was revived in recent years. As far as I gather the company fits the boutique builder description. Carl Perkins and Buddy Merrill were famous Micro-Frets players.
Billyboy
The italians. Gone are accordion cover materials and pearloid fretboards, but this Billyboy is just as creatively weird in the style department as his ancestors of Eko and Galanti fame.
This one here by Fano looks like a cross between a Rickenbacker and a Les Paul – but if you are aware of the Chantays original recording of Pipeline you know they used a Barth guitar. Paul Barth was a southern California luthier who worked for Rickenbacker and Magnatone before making a few instruments under his own name. Pipeline happens to be a prototypical Surf instrumental, despite the lack of a vibrato on any guitar involved, so this guitar gets the blessing for its purist, Barth inspired style.
Wronski Slackercaster
Dave Wronski of Surf instrumental greats Slacktone is working for Fender Musical Instruments and got this one of a kind Surf-machine together. This could also be in the later Do-It-Yourself article in this series, but since a proper custom shop of a righteous guitar company is involved I decided to declare it a boutique guitar.
Billy Childish
Unfortunately I have no idea who made this guitar for Billy Childish. I certainly haven’t seen one before, so maybe it’s a one off, who knows? I would describe it as Bo Diddley meets Chuck Berry in the Höfner workshop. Sounds like a good description for Billy Childish’s music. The reason I don’t consider it a D.I.Y. project is that I can’t picture him building guitars instead of carving expressionistic woodcuts or recording punk-rock-rave-ups.
Here are two more links I couldn’t find proper photos for:
Galasso from Argentina
and Koll Guitars,
for which I have a very soft spot, the Gretsch design influence is a great variation, that few builders successfully pull off.
Ronnie Sargent Custom
Oops I almost forgot this guy. Maybe the weirdest, and a big inspiration for this post!
Ronnie Sargent Custom Guitars
As usual I demand of my readers to provide further info where I missed it! Please use the comment function below.
Vintage Kay Reissue Guitars
The Eclectic Electric Blog
The Music Explaura – Exotica tag
The Most Beautiful Waves…Ever
Bodenseesurf 29.02.2008
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