Fender Telecaster Plus Version One

The Fender Telecaster Plus (Version One) is becoming one of the most collectible Teles of the last twenty years. This first version was built from

1989 to 1995. It had a short style bridge that is similar to the one you'd find on a Stratocaster. It also came equipped with Lace Sensor Noiseless Pickups.....a "Dually Red-Red" in the bridge and "Blue" in the neck. The control plate also differed from the standard Telecaster due to an extra mini switch between the tone and volume knobs which was used to select different pickup settings giving the guitar an expanded range of different tones. The Dually Red can produce a fat Humbucker tone or use the mini-toggle to split the coils for more of a traditional Strat sound. Whatever your preference, the Plus is one of the most versatile production Teles ever made.

So what makes them collectible? One reason would have to be Jonny Greenwood, lead guitarist for the alternative rock group Radiohead, who has gathered somewhat of a guitar player's cult following. The Tele Plus is his signature guitar and for those who are looking to capture Greenwood's sound, the Plus is a great place to start. Another reason, I believe, is that this is a custom Tele without all the frills. No bound Strat-like contour body, roller nut, or locking tuners. You can get all that stuff if you like in the Tele Plus Version Two or more recently the Tele Deluxe. The V1 is just a plain old Tele with upgraded electronics. I think that is what has made this guitar so appealing to collectors. It's not pre-CBS but hey.......if you don't have an extra 20K or more to fork over for a 50's or early 60's Tele, I think the Tele Plus Version One would be a great investment. And they are definitely fun to play as well!

Review: Caravan of Thieves Bouquet

A few months back I got a call on my cell phone. It was Fuzz Sangiovanni from the "Caravan of Thieves". I had spoke to him weeks earlier about several guitars he had seen on our website. He had mentioned that the band would be passing through town sometime in May on their way to the Midwest and they would like to stop in. Sure enough, on Memorial Day I found myself opening up the shop and letting the "Thieves" hangout. What a treat! These folks are definitely from "du Hot Club de France". For those who don't know, this is a reference to the brilliant Gypsy, jazz guitarist from the 30's Django Reinhardt and his band Quintette du Hot Club de France. The "Thieves" as their fans affectionately call them, hail from Bridgeport, Connecticut and include: guitarists, vocalists, and main songwriters, Fuzz and Carrie Sangiovanni, violinist Ben Dean, and on double bass Brian Anderson. Their wonderful debut album is called "Bouquet". It is a combination of Gypsy jazz, swing, and some beautifully harmonized vocals by Fuzz and Carrie who co wrote all of the songs with the exception of Dr Flynn, written by bassist Brian Anderson. Karen and I were treated to a mini concert in our acoustic instrument room which included several tracks from the album. I heard remnants of Dan Hicks, The Ophilia Swing Band, and the Central Park Sheiks all rolled into a tightly knit package. I asked Fuzz if in fact any of the above bands were an influence on the group. Fuzz said he's heard the comparison to Hicks before but that he had never heard his music until they had a chance to go on tour with him this past year. That would have surely been a gig worth seeing! The comparisons don't matter anyway. The Thieves truly have their own style and if you are a fan of old time, acoustic jazz with a swing influence and great harmony vocals don't miss Bouquet or a chance to see them live. And Fuzz.....bring the band back sometime. I've got some new arrivals hanging on the walls you might like to try out!

Review: The Beatles Capitol Releases

There have been thousands of reviews of the Beatles' music over the years. Surely more than any other group in history, their songs and albums have been dissected so many times that no one really needs to hear from another fan his opinion concerning the music of the Fab Four. So why am I writing this review? It's not so much to critique the music but rather to explain for those who may not know that there were different versions of some of their albums.

From the very beginning of their recording career in 1962 up until the end of 1966, there were a different set of songs included for each album released in the U.S. and the U.K. I specifically want to discuss the period from late '65 to mid '66. This is known as the Beatles' mid period and includes the albums Rubber Soul, Yesterday and Today, and Revolver. Having been a fan since the Beatlemania days in 1964, I have long contemplated which period was their best. After all these years of listening, I am convinced this is the time when they were at their most creative as a unit. Of course, many brilliant songs were written and recorded by the Beatles in the late '60s, but I feel this is the time when they were really peaking as a band and not just as John, Paul, or George, with the others backing them up.

For the British releases on Parlophone Records, the Beatles for the most part had control over the content of the albums. Typically they would release a single and an album, which did not include the single or it's flip side, on the same day. For the U.S. Capitol Records releases, the single was included on the album and several tracks from the British LP were left off to compensate.

By the time they got to "Rubber Soul", the Beatles were really upset with Capitol and decided for the followup release, "Yesterday and Today", they were going to make a statement by having an album cover of them sitting in lab coats covered with dismembered baby dolls and raw pieces of meat. Although Paul McCartney claimed at the time that this was the Beatles comment on the Vietnam War, it is widely believed it was done to symbolize how the big American record company had butchered their work. In fact, the original photo on the front of Y&T has long been known as the "Butcher Block" cover. Approximately 750,000 of these sleeves were issued before being recalled by Capitol who felt it was too distasteful. In some cases, the new cover with the Beatles sitting in and around an old steamer trunk was simply pasted over the original. These Butcher Block covers by the way will today demand a hefty sum on the collector's market.

Here are the differences in the albums:
Rubber Soul: The U.K. version contains 14 songs starting off with Drive My Car and also included the hit single Nowhere Man, one of John's best. The US version has only 12 songs starting out with I've Just Seen a Face, an upbeat acoustic song of Paul's actually pulled from the U.K. version of the Help album. Many critics claim this is the better of the two versions because it maintains a more acoustic, folky sound than the UK version.

Yesterday and Today: A U.S. release only, it was meant to be a bridge between Rubber Soul and Revolver containing songs from the U.K. versions of Help, Rubber Soul, and the upcoming Revolver. Though critics panned it for it's choppiness and it did not sell well when first released, it contains some of the best Beatle songs from this period. Imagine having Yesterday, Nowhere Man, We Can Work It Out, and Day Tripper all on the same LP!

Revolver: Long considered the Beatles best album and by some the best rock album ever made, was also released in two versions. The UK release had 14 songs including I'm Only Sleeping and Doctor Robert. The U.S. version was the same with the exclusion of these two songs which had previously been released on Y&T.

Confused? The point is if you are looking for the US versions of these albums because they are the ones that have been stuck in your head for years, the only one you will find at this point is Rubber Soul. The U.S. mono and stereo versions are included in the boxed set The Capitol Albums Volume 2 along with three earlier albums. I would highly recommend it.

You can however, create your own mix of these three albums. Just find a friend and borrow the following CDs. Help, Rubber Soul, Revolver, (these are all the UK versions), and Past Masters Volume 2. You will then have every song you need to recreate the three US albums. Go to Wikipedia or a Beatle source of your choice and get the running order of songs on each album. I would also recommend two singles from this period that were not included on any of these albums. Paperback Writer and Rain. Both can be found on Past Masters Volume 2.

If you are a purist, I would stick with the UK versions as the Beatles intended. But if you are an elder Beatlephile like me and grew up with the US versions of these albums, I think you will enjoy hearing them again.

Review: The Kinks Muswell Hillbillies

Originally released in 1971, Muswell Hillbillies was not well accepted after the Kinks previous album "Lola versus Powerman and the Money-Go-Round, Part One" and the smash hit "Lola" from that album. Though Ray Davies had been under a lot of pressure to perform a similar feat, he resisted in making another radio friendly single and album and came up with MH.... what he then called his "existentialist-type record." It is a marvelous collection of country and urban bluesy rock tunes centered around Ray and Dave Davies hometown of Muswell Hill, a working class suburb of London, that documents the English proletariat and their struggles with modern life, (20 Century Man, Complicated Life), simple pleasures, (Holiday, Have a Cuppa Tea), demons and desperation, (Alcohol, Holloway Jail, Here Come the People in Grey), and dreams of life in a far away place, (Oklahoma U.S.A).

This album was recorded at the end of the counterculture period when folks were getting "back to the land" after the purple haze of the late '60's. I can hear shades of "The Band" in this album who were emerging as a major force in rock at the time as well as "The Grateful Dead" from the same period. Indeed "Uncle Son" could be inserted right in the middle of the "Workingman's Dead" album and sound like it's supposed to be there. I am not a Kinks aficionado and I don't own many of there albums, but I believe Muswell Hillbillies ranks right up there among the all time greats from the period. In recently rediscovering this album, I feel that it's one of those rare recordings that somehow sounds as fresh today as when I first heard it a long time ago. So "Have a Cuppa Tea" and give it a listen! I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Muswell Hillbillies has been remastered and is widely available on CD including two bonus tracks that deserve to be there too!

Review: The Kentucky Colonels Appalachian Swing

Recorded in 1964 Appalachian Swing is considered to be one of the most essential and groundbreaking recordings in bluegrass music history. Featuring the legendary Clarence White on guitar and his brother Roland on mandolin, this album is filled with Clarence's brilliant, syncopated, lead guitar and Roland's innovative licks as well. Just listen to "Listen to the Mockingbird" or "Nine Pound Hammer" and then try and play it the way the brothers do. Rounding out the band were Billy Ray Lathum on banjo, Bobby Slone on fiddle, Roger Bush on double bass, and guest artist Leroy Mack McNees on dobro. For one who played bluegrass guitar, I still consider Clarence White to be at the top of the heap when it comes to flatpicking. Frankly, I don't know that I would have ever had much interest in the genre if it weren't for listening to this album and Clarence's later work as lead guitarist with the Byrds, Muleskinner, and the latter day Kentucky Colonels. (Has anybody out there heard when there might be a re-release of "The New Kentucky Colonels Live in Sweden 1973)?

There have been several versions of this album released over the years. I have a copy of the LP version I bought in the 80's that includes the original 12 instrumentals plus two bonus vocal tracks "For Lovin' Me" and "The Ballad of Farmer Brown". I believe this was also released on CD but may be out of print. Possibly the best version and currently available from Sierra Records includes three cuts from Tut Taylor's "Dobro Country" album, an excellent album itself from the same era and features Tut along with Clarence and Roland. This all instrumental, remastered, version of Appalachian Swing includes: CLINCH MOUNTAIN BACKSTEP / NINE POUND HAMMER / LISTEN TO THE MOCKING BIRD / WILD BILL JONES / BILLY IN THE LOWGROUND / LEE HIGHWAY BLUES / I AM A PILGRIM / THE PRISONER'S SONG / SALLY GOODIN / FADED LOVE / JOHN HENRY / FLAT FORK / Bonus Tracks from Dobro Country: PICKIN' FLAT / A FOOL SUCH AS I / BLACK RIDGE RAMBLE.

Whatever version you might find, I would highly recommend this classic even if you are not a bluegrass fan. Any guitar player would benefit from listening to Clarence White who was a pioneer flatpicker as well as a virtuoso acoustic and electric guitar player. Tragically, Clarence was killed in an auto accident in 1973 but his music lives on and Appalachian Swing is one of the best examples from his legacy.

Rickenbacker "Toaster" Pickups

For all you Rick fans out there. Here's some interesting stuff I've gathered from the Internet on the older style "Toaster" pickups vs. the newer Hi-Gains . Although many are aware of the obvious tonal differences between the two, I for one didn't realize there were so many different versions of the toasters as well.

Vintage reissue models, and some signature models, come with Toaster Top pickups, which resemble a classic two-slotted chrome toaster. Despite their slightly lower output, "Toasters" produce a brighter, cleaner sound, and are generally seen as key to obtaining the true British Invasion guitar tone, as they were original equipment of the era.

Within the Toasters, there are four subgroups based on impedance and time of release. The original pickups were used from approximately 1956 to 1968 (although 4001 models continued to use the Toaster for a neck pickup until around July 1973). Later came the Vintage Reissue pickups of the mid-1980s and 90s; with approximately 12 kilo-ohms of resistance, they had a similar impedance and sound to the high-gains, and are seen by many to be strictly for aesthetic purposes. In the late 1990s, more accurate, scatter-wound pickups were made, with about 7.5 kilo-ohms of resistance, closer to the originals. The final group are found only on 325C58 models, and are designed to replicate the toasters of the 1950s, with about 5 kilo-ohms of resistance.

Scatter-wound toasters, which are spot-on re-pros of the originals, have been available since 2000. Compared to Hi-Gains, they are brighter and more jangly, and have fairly low output. Hi-Gains, by comparison, are louder and distort faster, but are darker and somewhat more midrangey. Pre-2000 toaster reissues are wound hotter than the scatter-wounds (and true vintage toasters), and are closer in tone to Hi-Gains. These are the pickups that many have unwound to be closer to vintage spec. You can easily distinguish the older reissues by the Phillips head screws holding the pickup cover to the base. The newer toasters have vintage-correct flat head screws.

Opening Day!

February 17th, 2009
After a lot of planning, perseverance and perspiration, today we have finally opened our "physical" store in Sharon, PA. This was truly a labor of love and I would like to thank all of the folks that helped make it happen. Most especially I want to thank my fiancee', my best friend, my partner in life and in business, Karen Winner. Without her, this dream would never have become a reality.
As we all know, times are tough right now in the old US of A. Am I crazy for opening a new business in this environment?......... maybe. But from many responses I've already received from folks through our on-line store, I don't think so. There is still a great market for vintage instruments and if you have the "right stuff" it will only increase in value. You can't say as much for 401Ks these days. Besides..........I think owning your "dream" guitar is valuable in itself and knowing it's also become a safe haven for your cash ain't a bad deal either!
So here's to all of us that still crave that special fretted dream machine. Go for it! It's a lot more fun looking at than your 201K!