That One Guitar - Kenny Howes

Name: Kenny Howes 

Location (city): Atlanta, GA

Instrument: Rickenbacker 370/12 WAL

This guitar, made in 1981, was my 18th birthday present from my dad, in 1988. We bought it out of Bargain Trader, a Central Florida newsprint magazine that was mostly classified ads for cars and boats, from a guy in Seffner, FL, a short drive away from where I grew up. It’s a tobacco burst, which is often mistakenly called “AutumnGlo” but the actual nomenclature is “Walnut,” not to be confused with the current models the company makes out of actual walnut wood. (Mine was described by a friend once as “a FireGlo Rick with a suntan!”) 

It originally came with the very, very rare “Byrd” control panel, which was a custom order. It was a passive circuit that pre-dated the active one from the later Roger McGuinn Limited Edition, and resembled Gretsch wiring (master volume, individual volumes for each pickup, and two switches). I found it difficult to maneuver and had the wiring changed out to a standard Rick layout (which I later realized was done incorrectly). The original pickguard is long gone, unfortunately. 

I played this 12 string heavily the next ten or so years, using it on almost every recording I made (three or four CDs worth). I was pretty rough on it through my twenties, and then, thinking I had damaged the neck, I sold it on eBay in 2001. 

A year or so later, I realized I hadn’t actually damaged the guitar, but I was just adjusting something incorrectly - so I thought, hey, I should try to get that one back! So I contacted the fellow who bought it, but he had since flipped it on eBay, and had none of the new buyer’s information, except that he thought it went to Texas somewhere. 

Eight years later, in 2009, while scouring the web for Rickenbackers (as I am wont to do), I found it on Craigslist in Austin, TX, and I was able to identify it based off of the blurry photo on the ad. Others had begun to tip me off on it as well - the Rickenbacker collector community tends to look out for each other, and people knew I was after this one. I contacted the seller, recited the memorized serial number to him, and confirmed that is was my old one. 

He wasn’t comfortable shipping it, so luckily I was able to recruit a Rick guy in Austin (who I had never met) to act as middle man, collect the guitar, and ship it to me in California, where I lived at the time. 

So remember how I said I had been rough on it? Well, the latest owner hadn’t used it much, so condition-wise it was as if I had put it straight from a sweaty gig into its case, shipped it from a humid climate to a dry climate, and put in the closet for a couple of years. Opening the case when I got it back was equally joyful and bittersweet, like seeing an old friend who after many years had become homeless. It was pretty much unplayable. All told, I gave it a new nut, a new “R” tailpiece, yet another re-wire (using stock Rick parts), lots of elbow grease and work on un-bowing the neck, and a local repairman did some fret leveling. But man oh man oh man, it plays and sounds just GREAT now. The action is crazy low, with Thomastik-Infeld flatwound strings, and the intonation is right on, even with the original “split-D” bridge. 

Not only do I love this thing because of all the good times we’ve had, but also because it not plays and sounds so good. So, no, I’m not letting this one go again. 

Band: Kenny Howes and The Wow

Video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhOfMRJxmCU&list=PL8E0C102F78F650EB&index=3

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - Bo Blount

Name: Bo Blount

City: Los Angeles, CA

Instrument: 1983 Fender Standard Stratocaster “Smith Era”

The 1983 USA Fender Standard Stratocaster (body and neck). This was literally my first electric guitar, and without it there probably wouldn’t have been any others. I learned to play and perform on this instrument, which makes it (for me anyway) the ultimate “one” guitar.

The ’83 Standard was designed by Dan Smith (with the rather uncharacteristic 1 volume, 1 tone, and straight input jack on the pick guard). From a collector’s standpoint, it is MUCH less desirable than a true “Dan Smith” Stratocaster, which ceased production the year prior (1982) to this one’s manufacture.

Sometimes known as a “Smith Era” Stratocaster, the impractical design was abandoned after only two years, but that didn’t make me love it any less. I learned to play back in the 80’s, so this guitar has seen all manner of modifications: a DiMarzio humbucker in the bridge position, a locking Kahler tremolo, and even one of the prototype Bill Edwards “finger-tite locking nut” systems on the neck (which was installed by Bill himself in his shop on 56th street in Temple Terrace).

I’ve always kept the guitar with me, and after 15 years in Los Angeles I recently salvaged what was left of it from my storage locker. I’ve owned several Stratocasters over the years, but none have meant more to me than this, [ahem]…”one.”

Bands: We Voice Sing / Soul City Sue

Sound clip

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - R. Garcia

Name: R. Garcia

City: Atlanta

Instrument: Schecter Ultra III Guitar

This is my main stage guitar. I bought it on a whim, because it was a sexy looking beast. Unfortunately, it did not play very well and it sounded like crap. I redid the wiring and put new pick-ups in it, and I swapped out the Bigsby for a string-thru tail piece. It’s more or less perfect now and it sounds amazing!

Bands: R. Garcia & The Nerd Parade

Music: http://ituuns.com/album/demons-to-diamonds

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - Cory McBurnett

Your Name: Cory McBurnett

City: Atlanta

Instrument: Schecter TSH-1 Diamond Series

Early 2013 i was looking into buying a new back up guitar. Looking for something like a telecaster to play with more of the laid back songs the band does. A friend of mine told me he was trying to sell his Schecter. I never heard of them but he told me to string it up and try it out. I played it at a gig that night and fell in love with it.

It’s semi-hollow, so it’s light like a strat but plays like a Les Paul. It has a P90 in the neck pick up which really gave me that warm clean tone i was looking for and great for bluesy solos. It also has a Duncan humbucker that’s great for the rock tracks. This made it quite versatile for the cover band. It’s changed the way i play. I never used the neck pickups and now that’s all i play on. Oh and how i knew i needed to buy it, the night i gigged with it, some female came up and started “stroking” the neck while i was playing.

That sealed the deal.

Bands: High Fidelity, El Scorcho

Website: www.corymcburnett.com

Sound clip: https://soundcloud.com/corymc/trial-of-the-mask-theme-song

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - Spike Fullerton

http://thatoneguitar.tumblr.com

 

Your Name: Spike Fullerton

City: Atlanta

Instrument: 1953 (ca) Fender Telecaster - “Ol’ Yeller” 

"There are many like it, but this one is mine"

I’ve owned this guitar for 30 years, and it is just the greatest thing known to man.  Jagged trebly bits of angular Monkish tones flow freely from her, but with practice and a proper tweed amp, she can be tamed to generate the powerful woody thwack required to get from from Bakersfield to Nashville, and Memphis in between.  Words cannot express how much joy it has brought me these many years.

I got her in 1984 when I was 23, pulling over at some guitar store for no good reason, and not being any kind of collector at the time.  Saw her on the wall -  body routed, poorly refinished, beveled, and apparently dragged behind a truck for a few miles. The kicker was that it had been in a fire that warped the neck a bit, in addition to significant play wear. It doesn’t intonate properly to this day, and I just had to learn how to play around it.  The clerk was kind enough to carefully show me the bits that were original, and explain the minor (to me) hardware changes it had gone through. When I came back a week later to get a post break-in setup, the same fellow sheepishly told me that his phone had not stopped ringing since I left with many well known DC players trying to purchase after I’d left - apparently he’d put it on the floor about ten minutes prior to my first visit.

I am reminded of a scene in the first Harry Potter film where “the wand chooses the wizard”. I am no wizard, but I had no overwhelming interest in country or rockabilly at the time, and really was just another rank amateur with some cash in his pocket.  It took me years to figure out the inner soul of this instrument - but the places this thing has taken me - the thousands of hours sitting around the house trying to emulate the masters of this model - soul (Steve Cropper), country-jazz (Jimmy Bryant, Phil Baugh), western swing (Eldon Shamblin), and dozens of bywaters of the American musical experience I may never have chosen to study otherwise.

I had the good fortune to get signatures on her from Carl Perkins, Scotty Moore, and Paul Burlison - and turn down a few from other far more notable folks, because well, because this space reserved for pickers.  I felt like I had to live up to her every time I opened the case, because of the “whoooah” reaction she always inspires.  I don’t know that I ever got there, but I am a better player for having this one guitar, this instrument of joy that has celebrated my triumphs and eased my sadness for three decades now.  She is retired these days for the most part, and rests in the company of many other pedigreed pieces, but I take her out every once in a while - if only to remind me and her of who’s boss around this piece.

Band name: Ghost riders Car Club, Julea And Her Dear Johns

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

Some new songs in the works!

Hey friends, it has been way too long since we've updated the blog and I wanted to say hello, so hello! Currently The Sunset District is waiting to get our records back from United Pressing in Nashville, and once we do we're going to work on a video and plan our release show! But, in the meantime we're already working on a few new tunes in the studio. 4 songs to be exact. Check out the little teaser trailer below!

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

Bob Dylan Birthday Bash

Hey friends! Tomorrow night I'll be singing in the 8th annual Bob Dylan birthday bash at the EARL. Come say hi and grab an EARL dog before the show! Proceeds will go toward ovarian cancer research.

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - Keith Scott

Name: Keith Scott

City: Mobile, AL

Instrument: “The Feather Bass”

I rescued this from the bowels of a dilapidated basement in 1974 in St. Louis, MO. I cut my teeth on this forever piece. First used in the “Nasty Antho Discoshow.”

Band: Sagittarian Fire, Nasty Antho Discoshow, Anthos, Monk of Phunk, Soul Skool, School of the Soul

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - Charles Boehmig

Name: Charles Boehmig

City: Atlanta, GA

Instrument: Rickenbacker 330 FG

Like most everyone else on Earth, my first (and greatest) musical love was the Beatles.  Up until I was a freshman in college, I’d always wanted a Rickenbacker – either a guitar like John or George’s or a bass like Paul’s.  I finally got my first Ric when I was in school – a smaller-bodied 650 – but I never really bonded with it.  Many years (and a few Rickenbackers) later I found this 330 and it perfectly fits the adult me, as well as the Beatle-obsessed kid that still lives inside of me. 

Band: Used For Comparison

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - Michael Goldman

Your Name: Michael Goldman

City: Atlanta, GA

Instrument: 1937 National “O” Model

When I first began to play guitar around 12 yrs old, I was most obsessed with slide playing. Back then, slide wasn’t as accessible as it is now - there weren’t pre-fabbed slides that were commercially available, no one really taught slide and no one was building guitars dedicated to that purpose. The ‘30’s Nationals seemed to be the weapon of choice of the great slide masters and from looking at the record sleeves and few pictures that I could find, they took on a mythic quality for me. Problem was, if I could’ve found one, I couldn’t have afforded it and in Jacksonville, FL, in the late seventies no one had even seen one. I walked into a record store in 1982 and this guitar was behind the counter and it was for sale for $350.00 — an actual National in all of it’s brass and nickel plated glory. At the time for a college kid, an astronomical sum but there was no choice in the matter and somehow, I scrapped the money together and have owned this guitar ever since.

There is an indescribable magic to old Nationals. I’ve had a few but this guitar remains the “One.” Looking back on my trajectory as a guitarist, it was the few years after I bought this guitar, that what and how I wanted to play and how to have a voice of my own sort of coalesced. This National was crucial in that process. Everyone who has owned it has scratched their initials on the back, no way to treat a nice vintage instrument for sure, but this, to me, represents a river of American song going upstream through player to player all the way back to 1937. And eventually, it’ll pass from me into the hands of future players.

Nationals are back in production and many companies are building something similar and they are wonderful instruments and players can have severe option anxiety over the number of slides available on the market. Slide guitar seems to be everywhere nowadays. Despite all that, this guitar on the other hand, will always remind me that the process of making music remains a sacred mystery and ghosts are hiding in unlikely places like old metal guitars.

Bands: The Indicators, Stovall, Auction House Letters, Starr*Hustler, The Wheelknockers, The Belvederes, Schwartzkommando, The Skylarks

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - Andrés Galdames

Name: Andrés Galdames

City: Atlanta, GA

Instrument: Mid 70’s Fender Bassman 100 (Silverface)

Bought it off a band mate in 1994 as I didn’t have an amp.  A roommate of his gave it to him in lieu of rent, and he sold it along with a Peavey cab to me for $150.  One of the best monetary investments of my life.  I can’t play bass without this thing. If I use any other head, it’s just not the same experience.  Like I am playing some sort of foreign instrument that resembles a bass. 

I’m also a drummer. I love the opportunity to play another persons kit.  There is something inspiring about the way other people set up there drums, especially when it’s really different than how I set mine up. It makes me explore different ways to play and changes how I play. I get the same type of inspiration from playing different bass’ through my amp.  I have played a Jazz forever, but when I get my hands around a P bass neck, I switch things up.  Explore a little, as long as I have my Bassman 100 to play it though.  I would hate to hear what I sound like if I were forced to play someone else’s bass through someone elses’ amp.  Incidentally, I use this head as my main guitar rig if and when I ever need to.  Sounds great as a guitar amp as well.

Haven’t had much luck putting a date on the thing.  The chassis has a serial number that corresponds with a 1964 Bassman blackface, but from what I heard that just means the chassis was stamped out that particular year. Bassman 100’s were produced from 72-76.  Who knows, maybe the chassis just sat around the factory that long.

Bands: The Mendoza Line, Atticus Flinch, The Young Antiques, The Starling Family, Band. James Band.

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - Paul Melançon

Name: Paul Melançon

City: Atlanta, GA

Instrument: Fender Telecaster ‘85 Re-issue Pink Paisley

I found this in a music store in Gainesville, GA for $250. Someone had apparently special-ordered it, then balked once it arrived, and I suppose there wasn’t a big market for pink guitars in north Georgia.

I like a tacky guitar. When I found this one I already owned its sister version, a blue flower-print Strat, but it never really fit whatever the hell my style of playing is.  I think I became an actual guitar player over the time that I’ve owned this guitar, and the sound it makes is at least partly why. I’ve tried to make myself the sort of person who plays this sort of guitar.

I do not know what that means.

Band: Paul Melançon

Video: The Weekly Cover Thing with Paul Melancon #63

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - Tracy Clark

Name: Tracy Clark

City: Atlanta, GA

Instrument: Vintage companion typewriter

Virginia Plane was having practice a handful of years ago, and we were tackling a song called “Old Fashioned Girl” written by Mary O. Harrison. I really had no idea what the song was about yet. Being the band’s ‘grab-bagger’ (I pick up whatever instrument I think is needed for the song…it’s anarchy), I knew it needed some kind of percussive sound…but I’m not a drummer. Shaker, tambourine, clavs, and all the usuals weren’t making the cut. I saw a basket with a handle, grabbed some drum sticks and used that for awhile. I was getting close. I decided that the song needed a harder ‘chick chick chick’ and said “if only there was, like, a really old typewriter.” With that, Mary O. said she had one — it had the perfect balance of smack and volume for the song. We’ll take it to shows, set it up on a bar stool and put a microphone right where the typebars hit the roller. Sometimes if I’m lucky, the return ‘ding’ sounds at the end of the verse line. The best part is that the song is about Mary O.’s mom, and the typewriter was hers.

Band: Virginia Plane, occasionally Chickens & Pigs, formerly Preakness

Sound Sample: Old Fashioned Girl by Virginia Plane

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On

That One Guitar - Thom Heckel

Name: Thom Heckel

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Instrument: 1965 Silvertone 1446L

Maybe 8, 9, 10 years ago I had wanted a Bigsby for my Tele and a buddy of mine wanted a lap guitar. So I traded him my 1966 Rickenbacker lap with the Horseshoe “Ry Cooder” pick up, thinking I was gonna take off the “Whoopee bar” and find another bridge for my new kick around Silvertone. Now you see, I’m pretty stupid, but I did take it to practice first and thank god! I had never felt feedback so warm and tingly shoot through an instrument into my pelvis and out of my toes and eyeballs at the same time, ever before. But surely I couldn’t dive bomb the tremolo and have it come back up in tune. Why yes, look at that, she stays in tune.  The neck and the action was like a slip and slide compared to my others.

Now I broke a ton of strings at first because I didn’t know how to handle such a delicate lady, I’m pretty stupid, you see?

But she has taught me the art of a lighter touch, yet we still can scream. The molding of tonal feedback, in which the sustain lends you the ability to skip the sandwich, go have a 3 course meal and come back to a mellow drone of sounds which may be mistaken for an organ, a saxaphone or even whales, is sempiternal. She has truly changed my approach, my style and my sound. I love my big, black, cheap guitar!

Said buddy asked if I ever wanted to trade back…I am sorry MR, and to you as well Nigel for the whole sandwich thing.

Bands: Bouldercrest Singing Group, The Sweetdick Jane

Sound Clip: Bouldercrest Singing Group - Forgive

Info
Comment
Written by John McNicholas On