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I have always been interested in guitars, from about 11 years old when an uncle showed me a couple of chords. I then picked up a really nasty steel-strung acoustic in Spain, and later a cheap & nasty Audition Strat copy. I battled with this guitar for years; it must have built up my finger muscles no end! I still have it though. Somewhere along the way I bought a better acoustic in Spain, this time a Juan Estruch which is apparently well-regarded. It became a bit battered over the years though.
My woodwork teacher helped me restore a bass, which I played in my first and only band, and still have to this day.
In more recent times I've rekindled my interest in playing, through my daughter starting to play and consequently joining several bands. The Audition mentioned above was reincarnated as a Firebird copy (must be a true Phoenix!), and I treated myself to a Gretsch G5124 Electromatic Hollowbody, the white one, which is really rare. This is the one featured in the funky graphic on the right!
My woodwork teacher helped me restore a bass, which I played in my first and only band, and still have to this day.
In more recent times I've rekindled my interest in playing, through my daughter starting to play and consequently joining several bands. The Audition mentioned above was reincarnated as a Firebird copy (must be a true Phoenix!), and I treated myself to a Gretsch G5124 Electromatic Hollowbody, the white one, which is really rare. This is the one featured in the funky graphic on the right!
I rebuilt the music room, bigger and better and with carpeted walls. With two pianos it’s still barely big enough!
My daughter Holly and I have been active on the UKMG newsgroup, through which I have been able to play a couple of gigs and have made some new friends.
I've made a Flash show of my guitars - look here!
I've made a Flash show of my guitars - look here!
In terms of amps, I had a Custom Sound Colt 65R and Behringer X V-amp, Holly has a Peavey Basic 112 bass combo, and we have a T-amp 2400w PA amp, plus a Soundtech 306D that we use as PA mixer and foldback, and Behinger Feedback Destroyer, all in a rackmount case. We had Ramsa, Celestion, and Jamo speakers, and a few mixed monitor cabs, and a Shure SM58 radio mic.
Completing our music room was a Premier Club (vintage 1980s) drumkit (22" bass, 12" & 14" toms, 16" & 18" floor toms, Paiste 12" crash, Super Zyn 12" ride, Zyn 12" Hi-hat) - bought for son Adam but he never played it, and a Casio LK-100 keyboard, property of Linzie.
Completing our music room was a Premier Club (vintage 1980s) drumkit (22" bass, 12" & 14" toms, 16" & 18" floor toms, Paiste 12" crash, Super Zyn 12" ride, Zyn 12" Hi-hat) - bought for son Adam but he never played it, and a Casio LK-100 keyboard, property of Linzie.
Sadly a fire destroyed almost all of the contents of the music room in July 2006. Following an extensive insurance claim we managed to replace most of what was lost.
What survived the fire
The Gretsch and Holly’s Vintage Metal Axxe Wraith were in the house, so they were safe. The CMI bass was severely scorched but needed only a new nut to be playable again (and indeed appeared on stage at UKMG Buxton 2010 as such!) This guitar is unkillable. The Firebird was severely scorched, all the plastic melted including the neck bindings, so the last bit of Audition is gone. I have vowed that it will rise from the ashes again and have a replacement neck on hand already.
The contents of the rack cabinet were unscathed, and the SM58 scorched but still working - they really are indestructible! The Peavey bass combo survived just with some melted knobs.
Pretty well everything else was damaged or destroyed.
The Gretsch and Holly’s Vintage Metal Axxe Wraith were in the house, so they were safe. The CMI bass was severely scorched but needed only a new nut to be playable again (and indeed appeared on stage at UKMG Buxton 2010 as such!) This guitar is unkillable. The Firebird was severely scorched, all the plastic melted including the neck bindings, so the last bit of Audition is gone. I have vowed that it will rise from the ashes again and have a replacement neck on hand already.
The contents of the rack cabinet were unscathed, and the SM58 scorched but still working - they really are indestructible! The Peavey bass combo survived just with some melted knobs.
Pretty well everything else was damaged or destroyed.
What got replaced or has been added since
Well thanks to new for old insurance, most of the instruments and equipment were replaced, except for the guitars where we insisted on cash to go out and buy some - you just have to try the guitars you’re buying! The only thing I haven’t really replaced is the Juan Estruch classical which I discovered was worth up to £500! Should have looked after it better...
So we now have a Premier Artist Heritage drumkit in white pearl maple with the extra 16” floor tom and Paiste cymbals, plus Millenium double kick pedal and 6 drum mics (it’s still virtually unplayed...) The PA rig has a ProSound 1600 added, a Behringer rackmount Bass V-amp, a Studiomaster 16 channel mixer and a second Feedback Destroyer, plus 2x ClassD 15” bass bins, 2x ClassD 1x15 cabs, 2x ClassD 1x10 plastic cabs, 2x Celestion 12” speakers in old cabs, and a pair of Thomann wedge monitors. (We officially have enough gear to PA a small gig - as evidenced when The Glass Gods and friends played Subside in Birmingham using our PA rig!) There is also a complete new lighting rig with a goalpost stand and 8 PAR56 floodlights plus dimming controller.
I finally got hold of a HH VS Musician combo as I’ve wanted one ever since I was at school, and added a Carlsbro Colt 65K 1x12 bass combo to the Peavey - cascaded one into the other they sound pretty good. There’s also a Venus valve hybrid combo.
I bought two Hondo Les Paul copies cheap from Ebay, upgraded the pickups in one (the other came with DiMarzios), and most recently a brand new Fender Jaguar bass. Now I never wanted a Fender; I was shopping in Sound Control for a Rickenbacker, but the salesman asked me if I’d tried the new Jaguar bass. I thought, why not, and he plugged it into an Ampeg stack for me... I was sold instantly! It was way nicer to play than both the Precision and American Standard Jazz. So much so that I soon sold my Shine WOB940 as well, because I just didn’t play it.
Holly’s added a Tokai Thunderbird bass, a Peavey Aberdeen acoustic bass, and a Brunswick six-string acoustic.
Linzie has a Yamaha Portasound PSR-E403 keyboard plus two pianos which were donated to us!
Well thanks to new for old insurance, most of the instruments and equipment were replaced, except for the guitars where we insisted on cash to go out and buy some - you just have to try the guitars you’re buying! The only thing I haven’t really replaced is the Juan Estruch classical which I discovered was worth up to £500! Should have looked after it better...
So we now have a Premier Artist Heritage drumkit in white pearl maple with the extra 16” floor tom and Paiste cymbals, plus Millenium double kick pedal and 6 drum mics (it’s still virtually unplayed...) The PA rig has a ProSound 1600 added, a Behringer rackmount Bass V-amp, a Studiomaster 16 channel mixer and a second Feedback Destroyer, plus 2x ClassD 15” bass bins, 2x ClassD 1x15 cabs, 2x ClassD 1x10 plastic cabs, 2x Celestion 12” speakers in old cabs, and a pair of Thomann wedge monitors. (We officially have enough gear to PA a small gig - as evidenced when The Glass Gods and friends played Subside in Birmingham using our PA rig!) There is also a complete new lighting rig with a goalpost stand and 8 PAR56 floodlights plus dimming controller.
I finally got hold of a HH VS Musician combo as I’ve wanted one ever since I was at school, and added a Carlsbro Colt 65K 1x12 bass combo to the Peavey - cascaded one into the other they sound pretty good. There’s also a Venus valve hybrid combo.
I bought two Hondo Les Paul copies cheap from Ebay, upgraded the pickups in one (the other came with DiMarzios), and most recently a brand new Fender Jaguar bass. Now I never wanted a Fender; I was shopping in Sound Control for a Rickenbacker, but the salesman asked me if I’d tried the new Jaguar bass. I thought, why not, and he plugged it into an Ampeg stack for me... I was sold instantly! It was way nicer to play than both the Precision and American Standard Jazz. So much so that I soon sold my Shine WOB940 as well, because I just didn’t play it.
Holly’s added a Tokai Thunderbird bass, a Peavey Aberdeen acoustic bass, and a Brunswick six-string acoustic.
Linzie has a Yamaha Portasound PSR-E403 keyboard plus two pianos which were donated to us!
Gretsch 5124
Sunburst Hondo LP
Black Hondo LP
Firebird
Peavey Aberdeen
Tokai Thunderbird
Vintage Metal Axxe Wraith
Fender Jaguar
Far end: The drumkit and some case storage
Right side: the recording rig. Dell PC with Cubase & Sibelius, Zoom 400 digital multitrack recorder, Behringer mixer, Technics HiFi as studio monitor.
Left side: guitar wall, guitar amps and the Chappell Hpiano
Door end: Speaker storage (the 15s are behind the guitar stack!) and the Boyd piano
“The Beast” (because it takes two to lift it) - 12U rack case with two power amps, feedback destroyers, Bass V-amp, patch bay and 16-channel mixer
Guitar stack:
Peavey & Carlsbro bass combos on shelf, Venus valve hybrid, Soundtech 306D PA, HH VS Musician 212 combo
Peavey & Carlsbro bass combos on shelf, Venus valve hybrid, Soundtech 306D PA, HH VS Musician 212 combo
This is where I recorded the infamous Ferret Song!