My Guitars and Other Stuff

Here are some of my instruments and notes on other equipment I use, both on stage and for teaching at schools or in my studio at Red House

PRESENT DAY

My present-day equipment seen at the Waterfront, supporting Doctor Feelgood. My amp is a Marshall JTM30 valve combo, finished in a retro style. A very nice-sounding gain with my Strat, and quite enough poke, despite being only 30 Watts RMS. Out of sight on the floor is a Digitech effects pedal. I use chorus, phase, echo, octave dividers and a little fuzz. A compact and useful gadget. Fanny, my first Fender Stratocaster, built in USA September 1977. I bought her new in 1980 (for Ł320, a fortune to me then) and she has been my main guitar ever since, being played in hundreds of gigs. The only non-original features are the replacement frets, the other ones being too worn down to tolerate any longer. The colour was known as 'Walnut'. Freda, my second Fender Stratocaster, a 2007 '1960s Classic' in Lake Placid Blue. She sounds really 'stratty', much more so than her brown sister, and I now prefer her for gigging. She's lighter for a start, and plays better. Francine, the"Grande Dame" of my Fender collection, a pre-CBS Music Master II finished in January 1965. She was once white, but is now a lovely butter colour. She plays like a dream with a lovely tone, but is really too limited to play live. Fay, my latest acquisition from America, a 1975 Musicmaster Bass. She is effectively the sister of Francine. Again her finish has aged, she was once blue, but is now green. My main teaching amp at schools, incorporating a slowable CD player and several effects, as well as a powerful amp. Quite a discovery, and highly recommended.

VINTAGE STUFF

My equipment in 1976. As well as the Avon Telecaster (see next picture), you can see my first guitar, obtained Xmas 1972! It was a crappy nylon string job. I soon put steel strings on, with predictable results. The amp is an HH 2x12 100W combo, a faithful workhorse which I used until the mid-90s. The foot pedals include the HH reverb/tremelo and distortion channel switches, and my Colorsound wah-wah/swell/fuzz. I actually used this more as an eq boost than anything else. The first riff I learned was...wait for it...Blockbuster by The Sweet! This is my Telecaster copy made by Rose-Morris in the 1970s, in the Avon series. This one dates from 1974, and was my first electric guitar. All the other Avons I have seen on the Web have been Gibson SG copies. She was a pretty cheap guitar, but I did a great deal of work on her, and she now plays almost as well as my "real" guitars. The only drawback is the chunky "C" shape of the neck, and her tendency to screech at higher volume on the treble pickup. I used to gig with her, until I bought the Strat! The full extent of my sound equipment in 1978. As well as the HH combo, I have an HH 100W PA head and two 4x12 speakers of uncertain origin. I bought them from a shop in Nottingham. Then there is my mic stand and Sims Watts microphone, and the yellow Colorsound pedal. I sold the PA to finance my Stratocaster, and the combo was part-exchanged for my Marshall in 1995. This was my bass throughout the '70s, a semi-acoustic made by Landola in the 1960s. Landola are a Finnish firm best known for acoustic guitars! This was given to my father, and helped me learn a lot, playing bass to 'Ziggy Stardust'. I then used it to play in the Pete Douglas Combo, my dad's band. It was sold c.1981. This hefty beast is a CMI double-neck 12/6 string, a copy of the Gibson SG double neck that Jimmy Page has. I bought it in 1977 from a shop in Beeston, near Nottingham. CMI stood for Cleartone Musical Instruments, associated with the Marshall brand. It was a very good guitar, but it had to go in 1980 to finance the Stratocaster.

Back


My present-day equipment seen at the Waterfront, supporting Doctor Feelgood. My amp is a Marshall JTM30 valve combo, finished in a retro style. A very nice-sounding gain with my Strat, and quite enough poke, despite being only 30 Watts RMS. Out of sight on the floor is a Digitech effects pedal. I use chorus, phase, echo, octave dividers and a little fuzz. A compact and useful gadget.	Fanny, my first Fender Stratocaster, built in USA September 1977. I bought her new in 1980 (for Ł320, a fortune to me then) and she has been my main guitar ever since, being played in hundreds of gigs. The only non-original features are the replacement frets, the other ones being too worn down to tolerate any longer. The colour was known as 'Walnut'.	Freda, my second Fender Stratocaster, a 2007 '1960s Classic' in Lake Placid Blue. She sounds really 'stratty', much more so than her brown sister, and I now prefer her for gigging. She's lighter for a start, and plays better.	Francine, the"Grande Dame" of my Fender collection, a pre-CBS Music Master II finished in January 1965. She was once white, but is now a lovely butter colour. She plays like a dream with a lovely tone, but is really too limited to play live.	Fay, my latest acquisition from America, a 1975 Musicmaster Bass. She is effectively the sister of Francine. Again her finish has aged, she was once blue, but is now green.	My main teaching amp at schools, incorporating a slowable CD player and several effects, as well as a powerful amp. Quite a discovery, and highly recommended.


My equipment in 1976. As well as the Avon Telecaster (see next picture), you can see my first guitar, obtained Xmas 1972! It was a crappy nylon string job. I soon put steel strings on, with predictable results. The amp is an HH 2x12 100W combo, a faithful workhorse which I used until the mid-90s. The foot pedals include the HH reverb/tremelo and distortion channel switches, and my Colorsound wah-wah/swell/fuzz. I actually used this more as an eq boost than anything else. The first riff I learned was...wait for it...Blockbuster by The Sweet!	This is my Telecaster copy made by Rose-Morris in the 1970s, in the Avon series. This one dates from 1974, and was my first electric guitar. All the other Avons I have seen on the Web have been Gibson SG copies. She was a pretty cheap guitar, but I did a great deal of work on her, and she now plays almost as well as my "real" guitars. The only drawback is the chunky "C" shape of the neck, and her tendency to screech at higher volume on the treble pickup. I used to gig with her, until I bought the Strat!	The full extent of my sound equipment in 1978. As well as the HH combo, I have an HH 100W PA head and two 4x12 speakers of uncertain origin. I bought them from a shop in Nottingham. Then there is my mic stand and Sims Watts microphone, and the yellow Colorsound pedal. I sold the PA to finance my Stratocaster, and the combo was part-exchanged for my Marshall in 1995.	This was my bass throughout the '70s, a semi-acoustic made by Landola in the 1960s. Landola are a Finnish firm best known for acoustic guitars! This was given to my father, and helped me learn a lot, playing bass to 'Ziggy Stardust'. I then used it to play in the Pete Douglas Combo, my dad's band. It was sold c.1981.	This hefty beast is a CMI double-neck 12/6 string, a copy of the Gibson SG double neck that Jimmy Page has. I bought it in 1977 from a shop in Beeston, near Nottingham. CMI stood for Cleartone Musical Instruments, associated with the Marshall brand. It was a very good guitar, but it had to go in 1980 to finance the Stratocaster.