Conference napalm::guitar

    The Boston area has never had a significant guitar show (that I know
    of).  Kinda strange, since these have been going pretty hot for
    several years now in many other parts of the country.  The closest
    we've come is the N.Y. show, a funky little number held in lower
    Manhattan every September.  That's all going to change now though.
    We've got our first major guitar show scheduled for June 12-13 at
    the Park Plaza.  I plan on being there so I'll let you know how it
    turns out (and how much $$$ I spend :-).
    
    /rick

    I'd like to check out one of these shows. Please post dates.
    Paul

    
    Boston Guitar Show - June 12 & 13, 11-7 Saturday; 12-6 Sunday
    
    100's (sic) of Guitars for sale.  On Display:  The Brian Fischer
    Collection.  Vintage - Collectible - Used.  Plus . . . New Guitars,
    Basses, Amps, and Related Paraphernalia & Memorabilia.
    
    Appearances by:  Reeves Gabrels, Eddie Martinez, Jr., J. Geils, Elliot
    Easton and Others (Schedules permitting).
    
    To be held at:  The 57 Park Plaza Hotel
    		    200 Stuart St.
    		    Downtown Boston
    
    Admission $6 - $1 off admission for bringing a stringed instrument. 
    Children under 12 free.
    
    For more information contact:
    
    	John (11am - 6pm) 617-262-2999 or Russ (4pm - 9pm) 401-766-8657
    
    

Does anyone know if these shows have a lot of amps as well as guitars? 

alan
(who's in the market for a good combo, and maybe even an acoustic at the
 right price.....)

    
    If any noters that read the appropriate material happen to
    notice a guitar show that would be within any reasonable
    distance of Colorado Springs, I'd appreciate your posting
    it here. I know they have lots of 'em in Texas, but that
    might be a bit far :-)
    
    DAP
    

    
    
    
    
    
       YIKES!!!  That was a close one.  I forgot all about the
    Guitar Show.   Can't wait.  I just hope they don't get too
    mad when I drool. 
    
     

    Anyone got good directions to the 57 Park Plaze hotel?
    Or ideas where to park?

    btw, I plan on being there tomorrow when the doors open.  I'll be the
    guy with the goatee and carrying around a Gibson EB4-L for sale.  If
    you spot me, come over and say hi.
    
    /rick

    
    I plan to go, but probably not until Sunday.  I'll be
    looking (probably in vain) for a cheap and playable 
    Kessel/ES175/ES165 or the like.    
    
    ' just noticed that the Sox are in town on both days
    for double headers.  That can cause some traffic problems
    pre and post games.  Anyone know the T stop for this place? 
      
    Dave

    Hey, Rick, is the goatee pre-CBS?
    
    						Brian

    >>Hey, Rick, is the goatee pre-CBS?
    
    is it blackfaced, tweed, tan????
    
    dawg  8^)

    > ...goatee and EB4-L for sale...
    
    HERETIC!!!
    
    Edd

I should be there early on Saturday also. I'll be wearing jeans and probably 
a Kitty Hawk t-shirt (there shouldn't be many of those there! 8^). Oh, and 
I'll be carrying one of those tweed Fender Strat case (no, I'm not selling my 
Strat - I want to try out some amps with my guitar).

alan

    re Edd
      just the EB4's for sale, not the goatee :-)
    
    re black, tan, or tweed
      all three!!!
    
    re tweed case
      man, that's like cutting your finger in the shark tank.
      I'll bet you get approached a lot!

    I went to the Boston guitar show Saturday (& I didn't see anyone with a
    goatee, jeans, OR a T-shirt) & it was OK if you like looking at neat things
    that you can't afford. It seemd as if *everyone* had pre CBS & tweed
    Fender amps & vintage Strat's & Les Paul's. They also were mostly too
    expensive for my liking. There were a couple of good deals on ES-335's
    & ES-135's (I almost took one of these home.) & a surprising lack of
    new fangled amps & effects. Even though these were not the focus of the
    show, I expected tons of gadgets. I guess guitar shows haven't quite
    caught up to computer shows in this respect.
    There were some vintage instruments there that I'd only read about, so
    it was noce to get to see these things in real life. The collection of
    Gibson Firebirds was pretty impressive, & the legendary Fender
    Broadcaster was quite a specimen (only $15,000 !). There were so many
    "limited edition" & "custom made" Les Paul's that one could easily come
    away with the impression that they are common. 
    One of the more interesting *new* things was this piezo contact
    pickup/adjustable tail piece made by Christian Industries (I think I
    have their flyer.) that produces a separate output signal from an
    electric guitar that sounds like an acoustic. I have a feeling there's
    going to be a slew of these around in a year or two. It fits any type
    of guitar (just about) & sounds like a completely different instrument,
    so I'd guess they'll be used a lot in live performances.
    The other real innovation was a couple of handmade basses & guitars from an
    outfit called BSI. I didn't get to play the giutar, but the basses were
    extremely precise, well balanced, light weight & sounded great. I tried
    both the 4 & 5-stringed models, & found they were so easy to play that
    I didn't want to put them down. Each one was equiped with a
    conventional pickup as well as a piezo contact pickup & they were
    contoured in such a way as to be really comfortable to wear & play. The
    price was reasonable too, because the guy's philosophy was that $1000
    is the most *any* bass should cost. These ran in the $600-$950 range.
    I'd like to hear form anyone else who actually made the trek to the
    '57, which is near the Arlington green line station, but you know that
    by now.
    Paul

    
    
    
       Thanks for the report Paul.
    
       Saturday morning I was faced with a blown water pump 
    on Deb's Jeep Wrangler and a Flex Plate that was about 
    to self destruct on my Blazer.  Luckily, the flex plate
    was loose on the torque converter side - 15 minutes later,
    I saved my self four hundred, to five hundred bucks. 
    
       Made for a good Saturday - kinda. 
    
    
       Rick.
    

    I went too,,,,  I droooooled over the 1957 strat that the guy turned
    down a 25,000 offer for.   I walked in with no guitar and walked out
    with a very fine 1964 Martin 018C in prefect condition and a smile on
    my face.  I got the greatest wife in the world!!!,,,  I already have
    two Martins, a Fender Strat Plus, mandolins, Ukes, etc and she lets
    me buy this one too.   She must believe me when I say you can never 
    have enough quitars!!
    
    Bruce 
    

    I also made it down to the show on Saturday.  I'll post a more
    detailed report later but in short I had a great time.  Yeah, there
    was a lot of overpriced stuff, and I heard several other gripes about
    the show that were legitimate.  But overall I saw more nice, cool,
    vintage (and otherwise) stuff in one afternoon than I see in a year
    of combing the shops around Boston.  For 6 bucks, it was about as
    much fun as you could have with your clothes on.
    
    /rick

I tried to make it there, but traffic in town was *murder*! They had Arlington 
Street closed for some parade, and I was stuck in traffic for over an hour;
I ran out of time and had to leave.....  8^(

alan

    re: -1
    
    Alan,
    
    why don't you just admit that you were booked with some other activity
    that day, and couldn't make it!?
    
    8^)

The show was very well run and organized.  I took the Mass Pike in, Copley exit
put me right on Stuart St., a couple of blocks and I pulled into the Park Plaza
parking garage.  A few steps from my car to the elevator, I was there.  What
could be easier?  The show was held in a pair of function suites on the 6th
floor.  It was a lot classier than I was expecting; the thick carpeting and
heavy drapes made the atmosphere slightly soft and muffled.  When I arrived
(around 11:30) it was pretty low key and quiet, but later when the amps and
talk really started cranking it still never got to be too much.

I counted roughly 30 dealer booths at an average of maybe 30 guitars per
dealer; that's close to 1000 guitars, most of them vintage or nearly so.
A few booths had some vintage amps, and several were also selling effects boxes.
Most of the guitar action centered around 60's and 70's solidbodies.  I saw
three booths doing archtops, but not that many to choose from.  One complaint
I heard was "nice guitars, but everybody's got the same ones" which was more
or less true.  I would have liked to see more off-the-wall and lesser name
high quality brands (e.g., Guilds) better represented.

I was very impressed with the quality of the merchandise.  Most of the guitars
were very clean and nice; the weakest ones condition-wise were more like the
best ones I usually see in the shops around here.  I've been shopping around
for the right 60's ES-335 and I played at least a half dozen at the show that
were incredibly gorgeous and well kept.  But none of them were really great
players and this supports a general trend I've noticed that the cleaner the
piece the less likely it is to play good.  This actually makes a lot of sense;
the good ones are more likely to get played and the mediocre ones more likely
to sit in the case for 30 years.

Prices on some things were high, but in general there was at least some good
stuff to be found in anyone's range.  As is always the case, some items are
just hot at the moment and prices seemed to reflect that.  Vintage amps have
gone through the roof; I saw a plain vanilla blackface Twin for $1500, a white
one for $2800, and a clean but worn tweed Bassman for $3300!  (Those Kendricks
and THDs don't look so bad anymore).  All the dealers seemed ready to talk
down though; I saw several buyers knock 20% off without really trying hard.
There were plenty of 70's LPs that were extremely clean and nice in the $600
and $700 range; I think these could've been easily had for $150 or so less and
would've been good buys.

I didn't spend any money, although I was prepared to if the right thing came
along.  Besides 335's I was looking for a nice pre-CBS P-bass, but there
were none to be found.  This was somewhat compensated for by the 4 Thunderbird
basses I saw.  It's probably a good thing that these were out of my price
range :-).  On my first pass through the booths I saw two good deals that
caught my eye; a '67 Gretsch Tennesean and a '65 SG Standard.  Both seemed
priced slightly less than I've seen elsewhere and I made a mental note to
come back and look closer.  Of course, both were sold by the time I got back.
There were plenty of people carrying cases around, but I didn't see too much
on-the-floor dealing happening.  I myself was too busy checking out the booths
and that was probably the case for others as well; I talked to a friend
who went both days (actually, he had a booth) and he said there was a lot
more floor action happening on Sunday.  Probably a good thing to remember for
next time; the dealers must get picked over pretty good the first day and the
floor deals happen the second.  No, I didn't sell the EB-4; still for sale if
anyone's interested.

All in all, I had a great time.  It was kind of overload after awhile.  We left
after about 4 hours and in that time had done the circuit about 4 or 5 times.
This was still a fairly small and modest vintage show, nothing like the big
extravaganzas you hear about down in Dallas.  None of the really big vintage
dealers were there; the furthest were from Maryland and Montreal, the rest
New England and upstate NY.  Reeves Gabrels was the only famous person I saw
and Neal Orsi the only DECcie.  Next time, I won't bring anything to sell and
maybe plan to go for both days; I would have liked to hang out a little more
and pay more attention to the floor action and less to the dealers.  I am
already looking forward to next year though!

Here's a few more quick highlights:

 Most expensive piece I saw  -  a 60' Les Paul Standard burst with really
   mediocre flame; your average PRS top would blow it away.  $27,000!
   I think the nicely flamed ones are trading for more like $50,000 these
   days, so I guess that price is consistent.

 Coolest guitar I should've bought  -  a Danelectro 12-string Bellzouki.
   They wanted $500, my friend offered $250.  They probably would've taken
   $350 for it.

 Most ludicrous  -  a 70's Sunburst Strat, in mint mint mint condition with
   all the tags etc. for somewhere in the $2000 range!!!  The sign said it
   was a "vintage" Strat; yeah right.

 Most jaw-dropping display  -  Brian Fischer from Earcraft in Dover NH.  He
   had a full wall display of the cream of collectible 50's and 60's stuff;
   flying V, Mary Kay Strat, weird custom color Firebirds, etc. all arrranged
   around cool little displays of other retro artifacts.  This stuff was from
   his private collection and just for display, but he also had a large dealer
   booth and lots of nice stuff for sale, including several 'birds.  There
   was a book of photos showing Brian's awesome collection of vintage Firebirds
   and Thunderbirds; I didn't count em but heard someone else say it totalled
   around 90.  Yowza!

 Weirdest  -  A '69 Tele bass (attention Tom Gallo) covering in cowhide,
   hairy side up!  It was too weird.  The body had been hacked under the
   cowhide (someone once tried to make a lefty out of it) and the neck,
   although nice, was probably non-original.  Still, it was a great player,
   the price was $250 and the guy practically begged me to make an offer on it.
   I passed.

/rick

    
    I also had a nice time at the show.  I kind of was hoping
    for more makers and private sellers, though, and I felt
    like the dealers were over represented.  Also, I would have
    liked some playing booths to try the instruments in quiet at
    least for a couple minutes.  
    
    I was primarily looking for a cheap ES175.  I stopped by Mr. 
    Music on the way in, and they had a few that I tryed. All were
    tobacco sunburst, and all were fine.  Notably, at their display
    at the show they had a blond 175 and a 775.  This suggested to
    me that dealers will take their flashiest guitars to a show, and
    not necessarily the best values.  Anyways, I didn't like the feel
    of the 775, and the blond 175 was approx. equal to the ones they 
    left in the store. 
    
    Someone else had an older 175 with one pickup and a volute.  $1800. 
    
    
    I found only one ES165 at a dealer's display.  I liked it a alot, 
    except for the cherry red color, and I made the guy an offer at
    %85 of what he was asking, but he wouldn't budge, and I don't like
    red that much, so I walked. 
    
    QUESTION: Do the GREAT majority of ES175, ES165s have 
    cracked neck binding at the frets?  Seems like most of the
    ones I've looked at do.  The guy at Mandolin Bros 
    says its a care problem, and that if they are properly stored
    in a reas. humid place, (he even suggested dampits might help), 
    the fingerboard won't shrink, which is what causes this.  Is that
    the real story?   
    
    I've seen this on really recent guitars, and
    I'm suprised Gibson hasn't figured out a way to fix this.  Do 
    people just write this off as cosmetic and not worry about, or
    what?  Can a good repairman fix this so it won't happen again? 
    
    Thanks,
                    
    Dave 

    re: Brian Fischer
    
    Yeah he's built quite a collection  out of the misfortune of  the local
    musicians in the Dover area. He never gives anywhere near a fair price,
    that's how he got them all...
    
    re: 70's "vintage" strat
    
    Well it's 1993 and 70's strat are beginning to climb  in value, back in
    the 70's when these were new the vintage instruments were only 20
    years  old or less...say what you will some 70's fenders were pretty
    good, some weren't, no doubt just like the 50's and 60's fenders.
    
    dbii

    Yeah, the Fisher collection was incredible. I'm kind of partial to the
    "cherry" Les Paul in its own separate case. The most expensive item
    there (maybe) was the George Gobel Gibson L5 (?) which wasn't actually
    there when I saw the picture & blurb about it, but if it was there, it
    was probably the most expensive.
    
    I really liked the venue & the low key atmosphere too. (Ever been to a
    "'BCN" stereo closeout at the Bayside Expo ? All the aggravation af a
    rock concert with none of the advantages.) 
    
    I think there was one dealer there from Ohio also.
    
    My vote for the most overpriced item (as a *percentage* of real value)
    had to be the Electro Harminix LPB-1 for $40. This thing is a jack, a
    plug, a pot, a battery, 4 resistors & a 2N3904 (12 for a dollar
    transistor) in a box that could be improved by using a recycled beer
    can. There were few bargains on tubes as well (7199's for $28 each !).
    
    I was *not* expecting it to be a good place to sell stuff (despite the
    "generous" incentive of $1 off when you bring a stringed instrument),
    but it was good to get info on whose buying & selling what out there. 
    
    I don't think I've ever seen that many (6 or 7) white tolex Fender
    Reverb units in one place at once either. I think if I owned them all
    I'd have to try stringing them all up together to get a sound from
    outer space & record some tracks that way. 
    
    The guitar player for The Alarm (Dave Sharp) had 2 of those old
    Bassman's (like the $3300 one) when I saw them at the Paradise. They
    *do* sound nice, but I don't think $3300 worth of nice.
    
    One guy was trying to sell a Chapman "Stick" (12 strings, mixed bass &
    normal, bizarre configuration) which was cool, but a little too wierd
    even for me. I only saw 2 Mesa Boogies in the whole place, one brand
    new at Daddy's, & neither anything special. There were also a few
    scattered overpriced Vox amps (yawn) but it the pickins were slim in
    the amp dept.
    
    The 1993 model Les Paul with 3 pickups all different (small "deluxe"
    humbucker, single coil, new "slanted" wide humbucker neck, mid,
    bridge), & thinner/lighter body in translucent amber was comfortable to
    play, but it just looked like a Les Paul & sounded & weighed like a Strat.
    What's the point ?
    
    Those guys playing the jazz chords (etc.) in the "collection" room were 
    great to listen to, but I don't think I recognized anyone famous there.
    
    The biggest problem I had was the whole experience awakened a desire to
    run out & buy some vintage stuff, which I promised myself I'd never do.
    
    Paul
      

    Re: .23, 70s Strat
    
    OK, so some people liked 'em enough that Fender even reissued the
    buggers, but $2000?  You could have a brand new Custom Shop Strat for
    that kind of money.  The 70s was the time when everybody was fed up
    with Fender's poor QC and this whole vintage mania started in the first
    place!  OK, run down to the store, buy a couple of American Standards
    and put 'em away, tags and all, so you can put your kids through
    college  8^)
    
    Re: .24, LPB-1, tubes
    
    The LPB-1 when discontinued sold for about $25 (that's what I paid for
    mine in 82), well up from the $8.95 or so it sold for when it was
    introduced.  Yeah, it's junk but so is a Fuzz Face, now selling for a
    mere $300 or so.  I'm taking bids on my E-H Hog's Foot starting at $100
    8^)  8^)
    
    The 7199 is an oddball tube, not used in too many amps (there's one in
    my Ampeg G20).  I priced one from a hi-fi dealer for $40, so $28 aint
    too out of whack.  Too bad the amp only cost me $20 8;( 
    
    Welcome to the world of rare tubes  8^)
    
    						George Grunt

    Someplace around my houze I've got the treble booster a'la' LPB-1.
    
    I'd take $35 for it! :-)
    
    re: 70's strats/custom shop strats
    
    I've played two custom shop strats and the quality was piss poor to
    unbelievable. Better yet Fender wouldn't repair the obvious defects or
    refund/replace the guitars. Things like pickups that didn't work (on
    both) and frets  that fell out (on one). Me  I won't touch a fender
    anymore anyway but hey the custom strats are no  big deal, just big
    price tag IMHO. As far as $2k for a 70's strat, yeah I think  that's a
    bit high  but given that the 50's and 60's units are selling fore more
    than  I make in a year, I guess the folk with the  gotta have's need a
    newer vintage  to blow their thousands on, anybody interested  in
    mine?
    
    dbii who has one of those 70's strats...

    OK, I *may* have been a little harsh on the 7199's because my 7199 amp
    came out of somebody's trash. He almost had to pay me to take it. It
    has a blown power XFMR, so I ain't about to sink real money into it. It
    sounds as if now would be a good time to go into the tube manufacturing
    business though.
    
    The LPB-2 was *much* better. It had *two* transistors ! I recall buying
    2 of these things for less than the price of the batteries back in the
    late '70's though.
    
    I happen to own one of the true "vintage" effects , the Ibanez TS-9
    tube screamer, which supposedly change hands for $175. these days
    (Guitar Player, June '93). It sounds decent, but I'd sell it for a mere
    $150 in US dimes. After reading the article I decided to try to sell it
    because I use it so infrequently.
    
    Did you ever watch a show on PBS-TV (CH 44 ?) called the Collectors ?
    After a typical half hour of that, you get to thinking that
    *everything's* "collectable". "Vintage" EH pedals are about as exciting
    to me as authentic buggy whips. 
    
    The Fuzz Face had 2 or 3 miserably obscure PNP germanium (pink geranium ?)
    transistors in it, & nothing else sounds quite the same. I'm not so
    sure I care, though, because they're noisey as all getout, & they eat
    batteries like there's no tomorrow. 
    
    I'd like to find a Fender Marauder (cheap) or a Vox "Beatle" TUBE amp (I
    think they called it a Twin Reverb or Super Reverb ... the audacity !)
    head. No one at the show had either of these animals.
    
    Paul
     

re: .21 "Most expensive piece I saw  -  a 60' Les Paul Standard burst with 
         really mediocre flame ... $27,000! "

I have sometimes seen these referred to as an "unburst" due to the faded color.
27 grand for a poor example in good condition says alot about the vintage 
market.

Jim

    Binding cracks at the fret ends are common and not generally considered a
    significant defect. Binding and fretboards don't expand or contract at
    the same rate, so it's kind of unavoidable. I've seen this "problem" on
    a number of brands besides Gibson.
    
    Best fix is to learn to ignore it.
    
    Danny W.

>re: .21 "Most expensive piece I saw  -  a 60' Les Paul Standard burst with 
>         really mediocre flame ... $27,000! "
>
>I have sometimes seen these referred to as an "unburst" due to the faded color.
>27 grand for a poor example in good condition says alot about the vintage 
>market.

     There were two, what I call "counterfeit" sunburst Les Pauls at the
     show. The one claimed to be a '60 had a standard neck (not skinny)
     the wrong tailpiece, and it looked refinished. The one claimed to be
     a '58 (few SBs were made) most definitely had P90s, but now has badly
     installed humbucking pickups. The sign said it had been refinished,
     but the worst thing about the guitar was that the original Bigsby was
     removed, the holes filled, and a stop tail-piece installed with a
     back-hoe. What a hack job. Yours for only $23,000. Both these guitars
     have weak flame tops and IMO were originally Gold Tops w/P90s. I imagine
     there are quite a few of these around these days.
     	On the other hand, the Les Paul in Brian Fischers' collection is a
     perfect example of a pristine '59 with a rare reddish tobacco sunburst
     finish. Much like Duane Allmans' guitar. 'Course, no one could get
     within 10' of it, cuz it was roped off. The other nice piece was the
     all Cherry finish '59 in the glass case.

     Neal

	I Went to "The Boston Guitar Show" on Saturday. This was 
    more like a big sale than a show. There was about 20-30 dealers 
    there including Daddy's Junky Music, Mr. Music, East-cost Music 
    Mall, and many other dealers from New England.

	I saw lot's of interesting stuff ranging from run-of the
    mill to the high-end (Strombergs, DiAquisto, etc). There was 
    certainly plenty of stuff there to tempt GTS attacks in all of 
    us. I went to the show with a friend and he immediately fell in 
    love with a 1933 Gibson LC "Century Model" flat-top. This guitar 
    has MOP (mother or toilet seat!) covering the entire fingerboard
    and headstock. I thought it might be a little risky to drop $1000+ 
    on a sixty year old instrument with a repaired top and non-original 
    (Grover) tuners, but he just had to have it. The guitar plays 
    excellant. The neck has a heavy v-shape to it. That old wood has  
    great tone and really projects well. This guitar needs some cleaning 
    up to be really nice. I convinced him that he needs to get the Grover 
    tuners off of it right away. I suggested a set of Waverly vintage-style 
    tuners, or Klusons. Stewart Mac sells Waverly's and they look really 
    great on older Gibson and Martin guitars. Pretty expensive, though
    ($110 for nickle-plated)     Any comments ?

	I was on the lookout for a Lap Steel. I just missed buying 
    a beautiful National Lap Steel with art-deco styling and legs that 
    attach to the bottom. I checked out a really nice Gibson EH-150 lap 
    steel with Charlie Christian pickup. I probably should have bought it, 
    but the $350 price tag sort of put me off. I talked to the guy that 
    bought the National. He publishes "Vintage Guitar" magazine and collects
    Lap Steels. He claims Gibson EH-150's regularly sell for $500+. I ended 
    up buying a National Lap Steel that needs work for $50.00. I'm planning 
    a major overhaul on it this summer. Stay tuned for more on the National 
    later.

	Some of the other things I saw at the show that really caught my
    eye.....

	Rickenbacker lap steel with "Bake-lite" body and ohsc. $1800.
	Probably worth the money. Awesome !!

	Rickenbacker double-neck non-pedal steel. One 10-string neck, 
   	one 8-string neck. Curly maple, on legs of course. Looked
	Bulky, but interesting ! $695. 

	National tri-plate tenor guitar. Small body, 4-string. Mint. $1250.
	Highly engraved silver-plated body. I don't know anyone that plays
  	tenor guitar, but it was an interesting piece just the same.

	Several nice Fender custom-shop specials. 

	One guy specializes in metal-flake finishes. He had several
 	Fender bodies in various metal-flake colors including a double-
	neck. These must look really great under stage lights.

	There was a rep from Gibson hanging around near the Mr. Music
	display. He had several "Historic Collection" pieces with him
	including an L5, 59 Les Paul reissue, Nick Lucas flat-top reissue,
	and J45 reissue. I'll take one of each please ;^)

	Overall, this doesn't really qualify as a show like the South-west
	Texas show, but it was fun just the same. Hopefully, the show was
   	enough of a success to do it again. 

	Mark

    I recently got a post card from the Luthiers Mercantile announcing
    that they would be at "The Classic American Guitar Show" at 5 Towns
    College in Dix Hills,NY(Long Island) on Saturday and Sunday May 14th
    and 15th. For further info call Twentieth Century Guitar Magazine at
    (516) 273-1674. The card claims to have some of the World's best
    Archtop Guitars on display and for sale.
    
    							Rick
    

    Is anybody planning to attend the Vintage Guitar Show at the Boston
    Park Plaza next weekend the 11th and 12th?  I think this is the second
    annual vintage guitar show.  I'm going over with a friend Sat morning
    to check it out.  I'm not a collector, just going for the big "C".
    
    Mark

    I'm planning on going
    
    /rick

    
    	I'll be going to the Boston guitar show, probably Saturday the
    11th. I'm on the lookout for a Firebird, and perhaps a Les Paul.
    We'll see. I'll probably be luggin' my James Burton Tele to trade.
    
    
    Brad
    

    I'll be there looking for cool off-the-wall stuff. I'm looking
    for Teisco Del Rays, Kay's, Silvertones, Harmonies, etc. 
    
    I'll most likely be there on Sunday. Hope to see ya there!
    
    Mark

    
    	Any directions?  From the Mass Pike??
    
    	Thanks - Tom
    

    Take exit 22 (Copley Square) off pike.  Go three blocks down Stewart
    St. and Hotel is on the left at the corner of Arlington St.
    
    From 93 south into Boston bear right onto Storrow Drive and follow
    the signs to the back bay.  Exit at Copley Sq. and take a left at the
    first set of lights and right at the second onto Arlington St.  The
    Hotel is 4 blocks down the road on the left.  One block after Boylston
    st.
    
    Hope this helps.

    
        Does anyone know what's the closest subway stop to the show?
    I'm driving down from NH, and I'll just park outside the city.
    
    -Jeff

>    Take exit 22 (Copley Square) off pike.  Go three blocks down Stewart
>    St. and Hotel is on the left at the corner of Arlington St.
    
     The show is across the street at 200 Stuart St. next to
     the parking garage.

     			     ____	
     		\  \	|  ||	 | <--- 200 Stuart St
     	---------\  \	|  | ----
     		  \  \	|  ||    | <--- Parking garage
        Park Plaza \  \	|  | ----
     	  Hotel	    \  \|  | 
        -------------       ----------
     		   Arlington St	    
     	----------------    -----------     			
     		        |  |
     			|  |<--- Stuart St
     	Copley Plaza	|  | ~2 blocks
     	   Hotel        |  |
     	----------------    --------
     			  ^
     			  |
     			  |
     		From Mass Pike Copley Sq exit

    
    	I'd say the Arlington St. stop on the Green Line is the closest
    subway stop to the hotel/convention center.
    
    	

    
    	re; directions - thanks!  Now, let's see... how's this?
    
    	"Sweetiekins, remember the flower show we went to a few
    	months ago?" ...
    

    
    	Last year, my wife came with me, and she was bored s**tless. (She
    thought the Gay Pride parade outside the hotel was *much* more fun.)
    
    	So this year, she's staying home & I'm going with a friend. Which
    is probably better, 'cuz this year she won't be there to say "No way,
    honey".
    
    
    Brad
    

    What time do the show start? I like to go check it out but have to work
    to 12noon on Saturday.
    
    Kham

    Gay Pride is the same weekend again this year, Saturday, June 11.
    Not sure if the parade route will take us by the guitar show, though.
    
    
    Justine
    

    I just called the Boston Park Plaza Hotel and no one seems to know
    anything about a Vintage Guitar show this weekend.  I talked to the
    front desk, the sales office, and the convention center, and nothing. 
    What's up?  Wrong hotel?  Wrong weekend?  Any idea what's going on?
    
    
    								John

    see note .40.  The show is actually across the street.
    
    Mark

    Thanks, I didn't know that that wasn't part of the Park Plaza.
    
    
    								John

    Also, anyone know when it starts and ends?
    
    
    								John
    

    Hey, is anybody still out there?  This is long, so be forewarned.

    As with movies, where the sequel almost never lives up to the original,
    so it goes with the 2nd annual Boston Guitar Show.

    No complaints with the venue, the 57 Park Plaza is comfortable and
    convenient.  This year's show seemed a little bigger than last.  I got a
    program this time; there are 61 dealers listed, but a good number of
    these weren't necessarily dealing guitars.  For instance, the Boston
    Phoenix and two vintage guitar magazines all had booths, there was someone
    doing guitar straps, someone doing cases, etc.  I'd guess about 40 actual
    guitar dealers, slightly up from last year, but interestingly there seemed
    to be less guitars overall (more on that later).

    Many of the same dealers were there from last year; in fact, I recognized
    many of the same guitars from last year!  There were some notable absentees;
    East Coast Music Mall, who had a huge display last year, didn't show and
    Garrett Park Guitars, a large vintage dealer (from Maryland?) wasn't back
    either.  I talked to Garrett Park a few months ago; they said they lost
    money on the show last year.  Mr Music was there and had by far the biggest
    selection; some nice stuff.  Guitar Center also had a booth, fairly low
    key but a few nice, clean pieces including some 50's Strats.  They also
    had a new Vibro-King that was getting a lot of tryouts.  George Gruhn was
    there, in the flesh.  Here's a description of George's booth - George
    sitting by himself, fingerpicking an old Martin, and a few copies of his
    book on the table.  Talk about traveling light!  (I spoke with him briefly;
    he was in buy-only mode).

    "Interesting" guitars were way down this year.  I didn't see a single
    burst (for sale) and very few nice old Strats or Teles.  Most of the real
    eye-catchers were in a couple of "display only" booths.  Bummer.  I heard
    they let VIP buyers in the night before (for a fee, of course) and that
    the dealers were pretty well picked over for the good stuff by the time
    the general public got in.  I can't recall if they did this last year, but
    there seemed to be a lot more worth looking at back then.  Besides Gruhn,
    there was another booth just buying (Alpha Export Office, from California;
    they were buying for export to Japan).  These guys already had a huge pile
    of cases lined up on Saturday morning, perhaps stuff they had picked up
    during the VIP round the night before.  Anyway, they seemed to be getting
    a lot of action, and this also seemed to cut down on floor trading and
    selling; another bummer!
    
    As last year, I had a couple of items on my want list but found almost
    nothing.  I'm still looking for that perfect ES-335 (an early 60's) and
    saw only one, a clean '62 in Cherry finish for $4k! (Tom D, are you
    listening!?).  Almost no cool basses; one off-white '68 Precision for an
    outrageous $2300 and not a single Gibson or Epi semi-hollow.  Major bummer!
    I've pretty much come to the realization that these shows are mostly for
    looking; the selection and the environment are just not there.  Maybe it's
    different at the bigger shows.

    For the second year, I wore my "Rick's Music World" T-shirt (a real place,
    in Seekonk MA).  Both times totally unplanned (it was just my only clean
    shirt!) but, especially this year, there was an unexpected benefit.  People
    constantly treated me as if I were a dealer (no, not that kind :-).  Many
    of the other dealers asked if "we" were doing a booth ("no, not this year")
    and how business was ("we're selling a lot of Strats!").  Even the public
    mistook me for a wheel; a couple of times I would be standing a little
    too close to a booth and got asked "how much for that one?" ("you'd better
    ask Pete over there") or can I take one of these picks ("sure, take as
    many as you'd like").  I even got dealer cost on a guitar strap I bought!

    So, in general I found this year's show somewhat of a letdown.  Still fun,
    but not the major event I was hoping for.  Anyway, if you're not tired of
    this yet, here are a few more highlights that stayed in my mind:
        
    DUMBEST OMISSION FROM LAST YEAR - no snack tables.  The concessions were
    moved out in the hall, with no place to sit while you were eating.  I
    talked someone into letting me eat at their booth ("Hey, anything for
    our pals at Rick's Music World").

    BRUSH WITH CELEBRITY - only one, Peter Wolf.  Supposedly J Geils was
    scheduled to show; I wonder if they would've duked it out if they'd met.

    BIGGEST LAUGH I HAD ALL DAY - a 70's P.O.S. Flying-V in white, with a
    sign on it that said "Korina".  Geeze, some people...

    DECCIE ENCOUNTERS - Neal Orsi and Brad Page.  Brad, did you tell your
    wife about the '58 Strat yet :-)

    BEST FREEBIE - a psychedelic "Cesar Diaz in Guitar-Toonland" poster.

    MOST EXPENSIVE - this one's easy.  A fellow named Kazimierz Krawczak had
    a booth with one guitar that he'd built himself.  It was this outrageous
    Martin-meets-Salvador-Dali acoustic fingerpicker, huge, with this bizarre
    multi-level carved body and high tech floating neck-bridge design thang.
    Even the case was a work of art.  Kaz spoke broken English with a heavy
    Polish accent, bad rumpled brown suit and his breath smelled like he'd
    been smoking nuclear-weapon grade cigarettes.  He had his entire family in
    the booth with him; the whole thing looked like a scene from a bad Reagan
    era (80's) Hollywood movie.  I kept waiting for the punch line; no joke,
    it was for real.  He had worked on the guitar for a year.  I asked how
    much; "$60,000".  Again I waited for the punch line; no joke.  This was
    his 2nd show and he didn't seem to really know how to go about promoting
    the thing.  I hooked him up with the people at the 20th Century Guitar
    mag booth; this is right up their alley.

    CHEESE-LOG SPECIAL - last year it was the fur-covered Tele bass.  This
    year it was a Telestar 6-string/bass double-neck in disgusting vintage
    green-burst.  It was marked at $250, and everytime I walked by it called
    to me like a Siren: "make an offer... make an offer...".  If they actually
    had a case for the thing, I might have succumbed.

    MOST MEMORABLE PERSONALITY - John Pearse had a booth and I stopped by for
    a chat.  Studio musician, Hawaiian Guitar expert, author, gourmet cook,
    vintner, and oh yes he makes some pretty nice strings too.  John is a
    great bear of a man who obviously has a huge appetite for life.  We talked
    a while, I told him how much I enjoyed some of the fiction pieces he'd
    written for Vintage Guitar, and though we never met before I came away
    feeling like I'd just talked to an old friend.  A warm, talented, and
    remarkable man.
    
    /rick

    
    	Rick - great note!  I was struck by the almost total lack of
    	335's too.  Then, I saw the '62 Cherry one.  Looked closer for
    	the telltale mark... it's there!!  Huh?  
    
    	"Where you guys from?"  "Springfield area.  Nice 335, eh?  I don't
    	think the guy who owns it wants to sell it very badly - he's asking
    	4 Grand for it.  His name's Frank Luccesi".  
    
    	Yep, it was mine.  Kinda like seeing an old SO at a reunion...
    
    	Tom
    

    Great review, Rick.  Thanks.
    
    Dave

    Kind of short notice, but tomorrow (Sat, 3/18) is the first annual
    Ocean State Guitar Show, 9AM - 4PM at the United Commercial Travelers
    Hall, 1530 Atwood Ave, Johnston R.I.  Admission is $5, or $4 if you
    bring a guitar to sell.  For directions or other info, call
    
    	508-883-8859 or
    	401-658-4487
    
    (note: I'm not affiliated with this in any way.  I pulled this info
    from the Mass WantAds)
    
    Johnston R.I. is not that far from the Rt 495 belt; probably a little
    over an hour's drive from Marlboro, MA.  I heard a dealer who was going
    say that he was told there would be 200 dealers, but that could just be
    sales b.s. from the promoters.  But if true, that would make it more
    than double the size of the Boston show.
    
    Anyway, I should be there.  Anyone else going down?
    
    /rick
    

    I'm going. A friend of mine will have a table set up and I will be 
    hangin' out with him. Look for "Blues From The Attic".
    
    My understanding is that the show is much smaller than Boston. Probably
    only about 25 dealers. This is a first-ever. The guy that organized
    this show has equipment listed in the Wand-Ads every week. His name is
    Richard and he lives in Cumberland RI. He is suppossedly planning to
    open a music store some time in the near future. 
    
    See ya at the show.
    
    Mark

    Well, the guitar show on Saturday was a very pleasant surprise. 
    I had more fun in the first 15 minutes of this show than I had at the
    two Boston shows combined.  Why?  First, unlike Boston, nearly every
    dealer had something I was actually tempted by.  And there were a
    couple of items I was giving very serious consideration to.  Also,
    although there were some fairly expensive pieces, the rule seemed to
    be what I would call "affordable vintage".  For me, the line is
    somewhere around $1000; anything after that, and I start consulting
    a divorce lawyer :-)  But there were many, many nice, desirable, usable
    axes at and well below that price.  The word I got from a couple of
    dealers was that they were bringing their more functional, low end 
    instruments to this show; that's totally opposite the vibe I got at
    Boston, where the tendency seemed to be more toward fancier and more
    expensive pieces.  And even on the nice stuff, prices were usually well
    within reason.  Perhaps a sign of the economy?  Also, there were no VIP
    buyer sessions before the general public got in so things weren't
    picked over before we got to see em.

    All in all, it was a great time.  The show was small, about 20 dealers
    or so, but it seemed like just the right size.  Everyone seemed in a
    good mood, laughing and joking; much more relaxed and friendly vibes
    than I saw at Boston.  I got there around 10, stayed till closing (4)!
    And the time flew.  I brought a guitar, sold it at the show, and
    successfully fought off the temptation to turn around and spend it;
    I went home ahead of the game.  This is what I always thought guitar
    shows should be about; fun!

    A few highlights:

    BASS DESIRES - another notable difference over Boston, there were
    actually several cool basses.  The loveliest of the bunch was a
    '55 Precision, all there except for a Mary Kay Blonde refin.
    This was one of those axes that clearly illustrates why people are
    nuts about pre-CBS Fenders; they're not all good, but when they are
    there's nothing on earth like em.  This one played like an old
    friend; exquisite.

    DEC ENCOUNTERS - Tom Desrochers, who scored a great deal on a jaw-
    dropper of an Ibanez Artist; probably one of the best values at the
    show.  Also Mark Jacques, but I'll let him tell you about his
    adventures.

    JIMMY CARTER LUST-IN-YOUR-HEART SPECIAL - I saw my first 'nice' L5-S;
    a '74 in cherry sunburst.  Absolutely gorgeous.  I'm not a big cherry
    sunburst fan, but it looked perfect on this guitar.  The subtle flame
    to the wood, the beautiful L5 trapeze tailpiece, the multiple binding,
    the irridescent abalone position markers... is it getting warm in
    here???  A stunning piece.

    EPICUREAN DELIGHT - R.I. Italian bakery strip pizza.  Like no other
    food on earth, falls into the "so bad it's good" category.  I grew
    up on this stuff, so it was a real nostalgia trip.  No guitar show
    should be without it!

    THE OFFER I ALMOST COULDN'T REFUSE - a beautiful Alembic Stanley
    Clark Signature bass.  More different kinds of wood than you could
    count, gold and brass everywhere, near mint condition.  It played
    unbelievable.  The neck was perfect for me, the electronics sounded
    great, I was flying on this bass (actually started drawing a crowd
    at one point).  He was asking $900.  With enough money in my pocket
    from a fresh sale, I still don't know how I resisted.  But I took
    his number :-)

    BEST PLAYER - easy one; a refin '68 Firebird V.  It was an old refin,
    looked like an aged 50's Gibson TV finish.  Some guy Larry had owned
    it at one point, and had all sorts of people sign it on the back
    "To Larry...".  There were changed tuners, a different bridge, the
    long vibrola was from an earlier Gibson (nickel, shoulda been chrome).
    It was a beast, but it played the way a 'bird should.  The mini-hummers
    were particularly gnarly.  My vote for best player at the show (and
    at $650, a decent deal too).

    /rick

    
    	Rick - you sold the PRS and didn't pick up the Alembic ??
    
    	Sheesh, you were droolin' on that bass at 11:30 a.m. - how
    	the hell did you resist??  Esp. at that price?!??!
    
    	Yes, I'm glad I went.  I didn't expect to buy anything but
    	you guys are so convincing when you get to spend someone
    	else's money... ;^)  I brought it in today to show Bob C.
    	and he drooled all over it...
    
    	Even more than you, I can't believe Mark didn't buy anything.
    	Or did he later?  
    
    	Tom
    

    
    	Oh yeah, how could you mention the L5-S and not say
    	anything about Pat...
    
    	Just looking at it was great!  
    
    

    does anyone know when the Boston show will be??

    The Boston show this year is late June (as opposed to early the
    previous two years) and in Andover MA instead of Boston.  I'll post
    the exact date when I get a chance to look it up.
    

	Just back from the "Ocean State guitar show". This was a relatively
    small event compared to the Boston Show, but a great time just the same.
    The location was a club similar to a large Knights of Columbus. Roughly
    20 Dealers were present and at least 500 instruments were on display. 

	I was there with a friend that rented a table. He made out pretty 
    good for the day selling about 5-6 instruments. Most of the sales
    happened during the last hour of the show (3-4 pm). 

	Rick Calcagni and Tom Desrochers were both there. Tom asked my 
    opinion on an Ibanez Artist with burled-wood top. What's there to say.
    It was a beauty, and he had to buy it !!! Rick Calcagni displayed an 
    incredible amount of restraint, passing on a beautiful Alembic Stanley 
    Clarke Bass, a 1949 Gibson L7, a 50's Slab Precision, and many other 
    tempting morsels while the money from the PRS sale burned a hole in his 
    pocket. My hat's off to you Rick!!
    
	It was fun hanging around with all of the dealers at the show.     
    People would bring instruments over to the table and ask us if we were 
    interested in buying or trading. I checked out an extremly cool Supro
    electric 6 string guitar. It had a lap steel bridge/pickup assembly, 
    identical to the one on my National dynamic. The neck featured the same
    "Gumby headstock" that was used on the Dual-tone. I made a low-ball 
    offer on it, but the guy turned me down and ended up selling it to 
    someone else. I guess I should have bid a little higher, but it never
    hurt's to start low. I also checked out a couple of Silvertone Stratatones.
    They were both nice but the asking prices were too high (~$250). 

	I made several rounds to the various dealer displays and saw lots
    of really cool guitars. There was a bumper crop of Les Pauls, 335's,
    Fenders, and other popular models. There was also lot's of nice slightly
    off-the-wall pieces such as:

	Harmony Lap Steel - on legs with a DeArmond pickup.
	Fender Mandocaster - Blonde w/anodized pickgaurd in mint condition.
	Danelectro- 2 Pickup electric.
	Silvertone-Danelectro- single pickup w/amp in case (exactly like mine)
	Silvertone (Stratatone variant) mint w/original Sears shipping carton 
	DeArmond pickup for archtop guitar with volume/tone control. This was
  	   NOS still in the box. I would have grabbed it, but $200.....
	Ampeg Dan Armstrong Clear Plexiglass guitar - Just like the one I
        bought in 1970. 
	
	I got through most of the day without buying anything, but near the
    end of the day, with cash in hand from a few sales I made, I went looking 
    for deals on what was left. 

	I ended up buying an "Old Kraftsman" guitar made by Kay. It is very 
    similar to a Gibson ES125T with a small single-cut thin hollowbody. The 
    neck is very Gibson-like with a nice bound rosewood fingerboard and pearl 
    dots. The tuners are Kluson plate-mounted with white knobs. The headstock 
    is definately Gibson-shaped. It has a hinged trapeze tailpeice with 
    floating rosewood bridge, a single (nickel-covered) pickup mounted near 
    the neck, and volume and tone knobs. The pickgaurd is typical Kay styling 
    with a long swept-wing design. The pickguard and knobs are a nice chreme 
    color which matches the body binding. The body has a tobacco sunburst 
    finish, and features the smallest, skinniest F-holes I've ever seen. 
    I removed the pickup and found a number stamp which ends in 64 ?? The 
    overall condition of this guitar is excellant. The lacquer finish has
    a slight hint of weather checking, which I love. 

	A few replies back I mentioned a bass that is on the front cover of
    Guitar Player (the Red Hot Chile Peppers issue). I incorrectly identified
    that bass as a Harmony. It turns out to be a Kay very similar to the guitar 
    I bought this weekend. Both instruments have the same nickel-plated Kay 
    pickups used on many models at the time. The bass has a single F-hole
    which is the same as the f-holes on my guitar. 

	The nicest thing about this "Old Kraftsman" guitar is the way it plays 
    and sounds. It has a surpisingly loud sound when played unamplified. The
    (plywood) top seems very responsive. Through the amp it sounds really
    sweet, like a good old Gibson with P90 soapbar pickup. The fact that the 
    pickup is close to the neck gives it a really warm jazzy tone. The neck
    has the old V-shaped profile that I love. This guitar plays infectiously
    well. It's a nice, cheap souvenir from the show. I was on the lookout for
    a good, cheap 12-string electric, but nothing caught my eye in that regard.

	All in all, it was a great day to drive to RI, and the show was a
    smashing success. My guess is it'll become an annual event. Can't wait for
    the New England Guitar Show which will be held in Andover Mass in June. 
    I personally prefer Andover to Boston in that it is much easier and cheaper
    to park and easier to find. It's nice to have your car parked right outside
    especially if you are bringing anything in to trade.

	Mark
    

    I forgot to mention one point. The guy that I bought the Kay Guitar
    from calls his musical instrument business "Guitar Technical Services"
    GTS for short. I tried to explain the irony of his name, but he just
    didn't understand what a computer conference is.
    
    Mark 

    
    I forgot to mention a few other souvenirs from the show. I bought a 
    couple of old catalogs from a guy for $5/pc. One is a Harmony Catalog
    from 1972. This catalog has the "Resonant Sound Of Wood" promotional
    logo. 1972 was right near the end of an era. The company was bankrupt
    by '74. The other is a Rowe-DeArmond catalog, also from 1972, which
    includes all of the pickups they were making at that time, as well
    as foot pedals. 
    
    	The pickup I was looking at Saturday is a DeArmond model 1000 
    archtop guitar pickup. It attaches between the bridge and tailpiece.
    The pickup slides on a rod. You can move it close to the the neck or
    bridge depending on how bright you want it. I had one of these years
    ago on the second guitar I owned (A harmony archtop). Whodathunk
    these things would be worth so much today?!? These are desirable not
    only as a collector's item, they sound great!!
    
	I also bought a nice bottleneck slide that appears to have been
    made from a whiskey bottle. The glass is about 1/4" thick. It has less
    radius than the Matteus wine bottle slides I have. Only cost me $3.50.
    For that price, I would have bought more, but it was the only one the
    guy had. I was scouting for old slides or steel bars but there were non
    to be found. 
    
    	I've been playing this Kay guitar a lot since Sat and I'm still
    amazed at how well it plays. I spied the potentiometers using an
    inspection mirror and flashlight. They are date coded from 1964. That
    pretty well nails the date. There are 3 photos of similar models in
    Willie G Mosely's book "Stella and Stratocasters". All are missing
    the pickgaurds. The pickgaurd is clearly the most unique feature on
    this guitar. It reminds me of a bat-wing. I think I might take a 
    picture and send it into Willie Mosely so he can see how these look
    with the pickgaurd in place. 
    
    	Later.
    
    	Mark

If prices in Europe are so ungodly high, why don't people there buy from 
places like Gruhn or Mandolin Brothers via mail?

Jim

>If prices in Europe are so ungodly high, why don't people there buy from 
>places like Gruhn or Mandolin Brothers via mail?
    
    Fair point, although the currencies of certain European countries
    (Italy, Spain, Greece) are so weak at the moment that the advantage of
    "buying abroad" is somewhat reduced. Sure, a Fender Strat purchased
    direct from the U.S. is going to cost half what you'd pay in Italy, but
    if you can't pay in dollars then it's still going to be a hefty sum.
    
    I can only speak knowledgeably about the UK and Italy, and things are
    considerably cheaper in the UK, where there's a huge market for
    guitars, amps, effects and musical gear in general. So you see musical
    instrument retailers everywhere, but there's also a healthy secondhand
    market, umpteen bazaars, flea markets, pawnshops, car boot sales, etc.
    (I'd be interested to know how many of you Americans buy *all* your
    gear brand new from retail shops...even allowing for the relatively low
    prices over there.)
    
    As far as Italy is concerned, we're talking about commodities that, 
    traditionally, have no great market, although things do seem to be 
    changing. Now, clothes or food might be a different story...
    
    Dom

    
    The Boston Guitar show will be held on Saturday/Sunday June 24-25.
    It's actually being billed as "The New England Vintage Guitar Show" 
    and is being held in Andover Mass, instead of Boston. I'll post
    directions as soon as I get a round tuit.
    
    A friend of mine is planning to rent a table. He did the Ocean
    State show last month. He is planning a relatively small exhibit
    compared with the average dealer there. If I decide to part with
    any of my gear (doubtful) I will bring it with me and display it
    at his table. Friday, June 22 is when the dealers will be arriving
    and setting up their displays. Many instruments change hands during
    this time and this is a golden opportunity to get an advanced peek
    at the show. I may take that Friday off and take advantage of this
    very rare opportunity. I'm hoping to come home with a Harmony
    Stratatone to "complete" the collection (that'll be the day).
    
    I guess I better spend some quality time with the family now, as I
    will no doubt be unavailable to them that weekend. 
    
    Mark

    This weekend is the Third Annual Classic American Guitar Show at Five
    Towns College, Long Island NY.  This event is sponsored by the folks
    at 20th Century Guitar magazine.  It's geared to a large degree
    towards archtops, and a lot of famous builders and players tend to
    show up.  Last year, Pat Martino was one of the attendees and also
    performed.  Wish I was going, but I have some friends who are and
    should at least get a detailed report.  I hear this is a GREAT
    show (at least that's what TCG told me :-)
    
    btw, I understand Scott Chinery, the guy who owns the Batmobile and
    perhaps the most insane guitar collection in the world, is now the
    owner of 20th Century Guitar.  It's nice to have a hobby I guess.
    
    /rick
    

    Does anyone have any details on location of next weekends Boston 
    vintage guitar show at Andover?
    
    Mark

    I don't have exact direction yet, but I can  you that it will be
    held in Andover Mass at a placed called "the rolling green", which
    I believe is at a major hotel (Sheritan, Marriot?).
    
    I believe there is a notice in the latest issue of Twentieth
    Century Guitar magazine, Vintage Guitar Mag, and the local
    Want Advertiser. 
    
    Stay tuned. The show is on Sat June 24, and Sun June 25. 
    
    Mark

    Details for the Vintage Guitar Show this weekend the 24th and 25th.
    
    Location is the Rolling Green Ramada Inn in Andover.
    from 495 take 93 south to exit 43A which is Rte. 133.  Bear right
    off of the exit and it's right there by the exit.
    
    Starting time on Sat is 10:00 am

    Heard on the radio this morning, Strawberries Records and WBCN are two
    of the sponsors.
    

    The New England Vintage Guitar show was held this past weekend, in
    Andover, Mass. I spent all of Saturday at the show. A friend of mine
    rented a table and I hung out with him for much of the day. I brought
    3 instruments with me and had them up for sale, but did not get any
    reasonable cash offers. I ended up trading 2 instruments (National
    Reso-Phonic, and Maccaferri plastic guitar) for a Gibson LG1 acoustic.
    The LG1 is in perfect condition and plays great. It is a lot more
    playable (and sellable for that matter) than the 2 intruments I traded
    and I have no regrets. 
    
    There were several large dealers present (Mr. Music, Guitar Center, 
    Ear-Craft, Daddy's, etc.) as well as many smaller dealers. I saw tons
    of interesting pieces. Some of the more interesting sitings included:
    
    	"DanElectro Madness" - There was one dealer present that seemed to
    	specialize in DanElectro's. He had the most complete collection of
        Dano's I've ever seen, including catalogs, amplifiers, and other
    	items. 
    
        Guitar Center had a very impressive selection of vintage guitars 
    	including several pre-CBS instruments. 
    
    	Mr. Music had the largest display at the show. His selection of
        Les Pauls was mind-bogling. I'm glad I wasn't in the market for
    	a LP because I could never make a decision with all of those
        choices. He had one of the new Les Paul "Corvette" models. These
    	are basically Les Pauls with custom color finishes, and scoop
        affect across the front of the body (like the scoop on the side
        of an early-sixties Vette), with "Corvette" inlayed into the
        fingerboard with MOP. These are visually quite striking, but I
        believe it's a flash in the pan for Gibson. Overall Mr. Music had
        a very impressive display. The instrument that caught my eye the
        most was a new Rickenbacker 360-12 with double-bound body and 
    	fireglow finish.
    
    
    	Overall, I would say the show was a success, but I'm not sure how
    the organizers felt about the change in venue. I'm sure they had a 
    larger crowd in Boston. 
    
    	The Ocean State guitar show (part II) will be held in Rhode Island
    in November. I'll post the date and location as soon as I know. 
    
    	Mark

           Hi folks,
    It was good seeing so many of you there on saturday AM...that was my
    first show and I had a ball running into folks I know...not to mention
    drooling over all the cool stuff...mmmmm White Falcons and ES-5's
    and...
    	I kinda wish I hadn't had my kids/girlfriend there...I could've
    stayed all day...(I would've gone sunday too if I'd not had a prior
    commitment!) I wanted to play EVERYthing...but as it were, it was
    difficult getting to everything with my entourage... but they  (my
    entourage) were helpful in locating pieces I was interested in...as
    well as having some fun.
            I was glad to see so many PRE-CBS strats still available, and
    it seemsStrat-mania has somewhat leveled out...the 50's/60's strats
    seemed to be a bit less expensive then I'd thought...(though there were VERY
    few original custom colored ones...plenty of refins though...
    	Guitar Center had an impressive display of pre CBS strats. (Though
    I'd never seen so many original 50's and 60's sunburst ones all in one
    place!)
    	They seemed willing to deal, especially with my trade in stuff
    (a 73 strat w/stagg polepiece PUs, and 63 Guild CE-100 D )
    I didn't trade/buy anything there...A private deal is STILL the only
    way to go, but it re-affirmed that my latest purchase (refin 62
    strat...) was a good deal.
            I saw two nice Fiesta Red Strats...one'62 and one '64, both
    well done refins... the first one was the 62 from a guy in line as we were
    waiting to get in...his price.. $4000...I wished him luck and went on
    my way...the other was one at Sunrise Guitars booth....
            The asking price was right inmy ball park, but any "oversprayed
    headstock" sets off a big alarm for me... besides the fact that the
    neck/frets really didn't feel all that nice... when I said "It doesn't
    'speak' to me"...that was a nice way of saying "I think this neck is a
    repro, I'm wary of the rest of it too..." I just don't trust anybody
    anymore...
    
            I might have been overly cautious, (I recently had the
    experience of taking apart/verifying a "57 Tele" I was considering
    buying (had money down on it), only to find out there was NOTHING on it
    made in "57" except the pots/knobs!)  but in talking with some of
    the dealers, I just got the feeling that they were unloading stuff THEY'D
    been burnt on...too many frankensteins, too many with REPRO parts in
    the 'important' areas...repro necks, pu's etc...
            I played a nice '56 I couldn't afford with a "V" neck...now I
    want one!!!  There was another one there, I picked it up and played it
    because it was "affordable"...
            I talked to the dealer for a while, (I almost fell over
    laughing when he told me what it was all about!) but was having
    fun  working a deal for trade/cash...I told him "I'd think about it" as 
    I walked around some more... he came down to $1200 cash and my  '73
    strat ($800 trade) and the '63 guild...($400 trade)
            This "old" tele had a 'REPRO' neck, non-original
    finish/hardware/2 pu's... ONLY the pickguard, one PU, body, and pots were
    original, (but he was ONLY asking$2500...
            My girlfriend watched in disbelief as I finally got his rock
    bottom price and then reiterated what he was offering me saying, "So
    what you're really trying to sell me is a refinned 50's body and ONE
    pickup and pots for $2400? He was speechless...and all the folks at his
    booth scattered away pretty quickly after laughing out loud...it was
    was pretty comical...
            Then there was the guy (Who had the highest prices there!)
    complaining about how he could only offer me $500 for my strat because
    he "hadn't sold a single thing yet"...and how he had to pay for travel
    and hotel and booth space, etc... I fought the urge to offer him a
    simple solution and explain that if he'd just reduce his prices to
    "reality", making a small profit, he'd start "selling" lots of stuff!
    (instead of trying to "price gouge"... sorry, but offering someone $500
    on a guit he's going to turn around and sell tomorrow for $1000 is just
    plain wrong...he could split that into a better offer, a smaller
    profit, and sell enough to make it work out in his favor...instead of
    being a greedy so-and-so.)
            Whew, but there was one white 63 strat that I saw at the
    entrance when we came in... I wanted it, but it was on consignment for
    $2500 and he couldn't do trade in on it. That one spoke to me!
    	And the White Falcon...and the...maybe it's better I didn't go on
    Sunday!
            Tom T

    The "Ocean State Guitar Show, Part II" will be held in Johnston, RI
    on Saturday November 4. This is the same venue as the last RI show.
    See .53 for the address. I'll post directions later. The show is
    advertized in the latest Want-Advertizer magazine.
    
    I have a table reserved for this show, along with 3 friends. We will
    have a total of 4 tables in the same area. Now comes the hard part,
    deciding what to put up for sale. As much as I hate to sell any of my
    gear, I really could use the money, and the space it would free up. 
    Realistically, it's hard to justify keeping 30+ guitars. 
    
    I am pretty well set to put on a nice display. I have 6 Gruven display
    stands, plus 4 other stands which will allow me to display 10 guitars.
    I also have a nice glass display case which I will fill with lot's of
    guitar parts, and accessories. It would be nice to sell 4-5 items and
    come home with a few grand, especially a month before Christmas!!
    
    I'll keep you posted.
    
    Mark

    
    
    Is this show run by Richard from Cumberland? RI?  If this is the same
    guy, he's been running tons of ads in the WantAds forever, usually 
    Fender blackface stuff at not-at-the-top-but-close prices.
    
    It's not unusual for him to have 8-10 ads in one issue of the 
    WantAds.
    
    

    Kev,  Yes this show is being organized by Richard from Cumberland, RI.
    Richard generally has 1/2 dozen or more ads in the Want Ads each week.
    He is big on vintage Fender and Gibson gear. His buddy, also from RI is 
    a Gretch/Mosrite fanatic. I believe the 2 of them have a store together 
    somewhere in RI, possibly in the Woonsocket area.
    
    Richard is a hellofalot nicer to deal with than the people that organize 
    the New England Show. Those people are egomaniacs, and they play favorites 
    with all of their buddies. I believe it has something to do with the 
    Boston big-city mentality. The Ocean State show is a lot more fun IMHO. 
    There is more comradery between dealers, and a more laid-back atmosphere. 
    Hope to see everyone there. Don't forget to bring lots of cash!!
    
    Mark

    
    	I just returned from the Ocean State Guitar Show. As I said
    earlier, I rented a table along with 3 friends. We had 4 tables
    along the wall right next to the snack bar. It was very convenient
    to be able to grab a cup of coffee or bight to eat without leaving
    my table. There was several chairs right next to me where people
    could sit and try instruments. It worked out perfect. My friends
    reserved the tables very early and specifically requested to be
    against the wall. I think we had the bests tables in the house.
    
    	I brought several pieces with me that I really didn't want to	
    sell. I put top-dollar prices on them with the idea that if someone
    was willing to pay the price, I'd let them go. I didn't sell any of 
    these pieces and happily brought them back home. I also had a lot of
    low-end stuff that I definately wanted to sell, and had no problem 
    doing so. All in all, I sold about $350 and after paying ($50) for
    the table I took home $300. No a bad haul for the day. 
    
    	This is my favorite guitar show in the New England area. I like
    this show much better than the Boston and New England Shows. It's a
    lot more laid-back atmosphere. There are very few large dealers
    present, mostly weekend warriors. None the less, you get to see
    lot's of cool stuff and prices are reasonable. I highly recommend
    this show. Richard will probably be organizing another for the
    March timeframe. 
    
    	Mark 

    I guess an evaluation of the Ocean State guitar show depends a lot on
    your luck that day.  For instance, a friend of mine grabbed a 60's
    Sunn Solarus for $100 (he loves these beasts), so to him the show was
    a gas.  I overheard several dealers who didn't make their day, and they
    seemed less enamored with the event.  Mark, I think you did better than
    most.  As someone commented to me (another dealer), there were a lot of
    "tire kickers" but not too many buyers.
    
    I myself had danger money in my pocket Saturday, but couldn't find
    anything I really wanted.  The doubleneck Gibson mentioned elsewhere
    was a brief temptation.  I'm constantly on the lookout for that perfect
    60's Gibson semi, and there were two candidates; '59 and '63 ES-355s,
    both gorgeous cherry red.  Neither one played well, imo.
    
    Attention Tom D, there was another L5S.  This one was rather beat.
    I've come to the conclusion that this is one guitar that has to be mint
    to be appreciated.  I can generally tolerate player's wear in old guitars,
    but if I ever got an L5S it would have to sparkle.  This one didn't.
    
    Someone claimed that resonator guitar virtuoso Bob Brozeman was there
    and had a jam with some other players; didn't see this myself.
    
    Guitar-wise, the highlight of the show had to be Tom Keating's awesome
    custom solidbody 12-string.  I own one of Tom's instruments already,
    a custom 8-string bass (see note 2368) but had only seen pictures of
    this 12-string guitar.  Words cannot do it justice, and it played
    better than I had imagined.  A work of art!  And unfortunately not
    for sale :-(
    
    My extreme thanks to Mark for letting me display a couple of items at
    his booth.  I got lots of interest, ultimately no sale, but that's
    okay; I decided I really didn't want to sell one of the items anyway.
    All in all, pretty good way to spend a Saturday.
    
    /rick
    

    Northeast guitar mavens have a choice of two shows this weekend; the
    third Ocean State (R.I.) Guitar show and the first springtime version
    of the Manhattan Guitar show.
    
    I'll probably do my usual Saturday hang at the R.I. show, although I'm
    concerned that Manhattan will draw away a lot of the interesting dealers
    and traffic.  Last spring's R.I. show was a gas, fall was a letdown, so
    we'll see what happens this time.
    
    The Manhattan show is a two day affair (R.I. is just Saturday).  There's
    been a fall version for several years now that has a reputation of being
    one of the coolest and funkiest around; less high $$$ vintage dealers and
    more players and neat-but-cheap action.
    
    So is anyone else guitar-showing this weekend?
    
    /rick
    

    I could have rented a table at the RI show this weekend, but I don't
    have any gear that I wish to sell right now, so I passed. Lately,
    I've been really busy on weekends, and we have 2 soccer games to
    go to next weekend, so I may not make it to the RI show at all.
    Too many irons in the fire, I'm afraid!
    
    Mark

    
    Sounds like fun, but I'll have to pass.  'Looking
    forward to your review. 
    
    Dave
    

    Ocean State Guitar Show III, this past Saturday in Johnston R.I., was a
    very scaled down affair.  No doubt there was some effect from the Manhattan
    show also held this past weekend, but it's tough to tell if that was the
    main reason, if the area itself is just dried out, or if guitar shows in
    general are on the wane.

    This seemed about half the size of previous R.I. shows; no more than twenty
    dealers and most displays were small and modest.  I saw virtually no
    collectible grade vintage instruments for sale.  There *were* several such
    pieces in fancy glass display cases; a Gretsch White Falcon, a stunning
    blonde ES-350, etc.  Unfortunately, the display cases were for sale but
    not the guitars :-(  However, I suspect many dealers who were there would
    tell you the show was a success; I saw several of them doing a brisk
    business.  They seem to have a bead on the market down there now;
    affordable, working class versions of classic American electrics and
    acoustics.

    As always, there are a few things from the show that linger in my mind:

    CUSTOM SHOPPING - I inevitably gravitate towards the small, up-and-coming
    custom builders at these shows.  You always see interesting, sometimes
    amazing stuff, and usually at a fraction of what the big guys charge.
    Small as it was, this show still had a couple.  Jim Combra out of
    Portsmouth R.I. was showing two of his very nice PRS-meets-Alembic
    handmade solidbodies.  Beautiful wood, big fat necks (big necks are in
    these days - yay!) and about the nicest done fretboards I've layed me
    mitts across in some time.  Really, these played wonderfully.  His asking
    price was $800 and I'm sure he would've come down.  The other custom
    builder was Kent Hollister from Harwich MA.  He brought several pieces,
    including a cherry red 335 style with carved top and EMGs.  These were
    a little more expensive but still impressive.
    
    BEST WALK-IN - He looked like Leo Fender's grand-dad, hobbling around the
    room in a plaid shirt and lugging a 50's Gibson case under his arm.  Inside
    was a '53 Les Paul Goldtop that he had bought new (and supposedly hardly
    played).  There was some age and corrosion on it, and some scars from a
    failed Bigsby experiment, but it was otherwise remarkably clean.  Original
    tags etc.  He said he wanted to sell it, but when you tried to corner him
    on a price he got evasive.  My guess is it went back home; as someone else
    remarked, "he just wanted us to see what he had".

    RICK PARTS WITH SOME COIN - So far I've resisted the urge to drop serious
    money at a show, but I always come away with a little something.  Someone
    had a bunch of 50's GE NOS 6V6 bottles in matched pairs.  I grabbed two
    sets.  You never know when you'll see toobs like that again.  Don't ask me
    what I paid though; suffice to say, it would've bought a lot of pizzas!
    My other purchase was a copy of "Guitars from Neptune", the just published
    guide to Danelectros.  As books go, it's a pretty low budget affair; mostly
    just catalog reprints.  Still, it's by far the best source yet on these
    strange creatures.  I even got mine autographed by the author.  It says
    "To Rick, a Dano man".  How'd he know?

    ATTENTION MARK JACQUES - I saw several low budget American archtops at the
    show; you would have had a good time.  The best of these was a full sized
    17" Silvertone(???) with an exquisite fiddleback flamed back.  I got yanked
    away just as I was about to investigate further and for some reason never
    made it back.  Oh well.

    VINTAGE TRENDS - Blackface Fender amp prices seemed to have stabilized, at
    around $800.  I saw several nice Deluxe Reverbs, Pros, and Supers at that
    price.  Still a good piece of change, but maybe not so bad for what many
    consider some of the best sounding guitar amps ever made.

    BASS DESIRES PT II - A good show for bassists.  There were three Laklands,
    a modern handmade bass that's trying to be an updated Music Man/G&L.
    These almost played themselves, and every 15 minutes or so you'd hear
    another mad slapper at the booth taking one out for a spin (more on this
    later).  One booth had three 70's Jazz basses, with very healthy price
    tags; one buyer took all three!  But the one that almost got me to raid
    the piggy bank was the Franken-P-Bass.  The neck was a '68, and seemed
    earlier; perfect shape, and the back had that smooth thumb-rubbed-lacquer
    patina that can only be achieved by decades of hard labor in smokey dives.
    Most of the other parts were early 60's, and the body was of unknown
    origin but had that solid-but-featherweight quality you only find in good
    pre-CBS lumber.  The finish was a medium-light orange, like a faded Fiesta
    Red.  Easily the bass looking and playing P-bass I've seen for sale in
    months.

    MOST OBNOXIOUS - It was a close call as to who annoyed more people at the
    show, the mad bass slappers or the harp players.  Everytime a harp player
    cranked up, you'd hear an audible groan ripple through the hall.  On the
    other hand bassists in R.I. don't seem to have figured out that the 80's,
    along with slap-till-your-thumb-bleeds-bass-playing, are over.  It was like
    World War III in there at times.  A close second were the Jaco wannabe's;
    "Portrait of Tracy" has now become the bass player's "Eruption".  You can
    always count on hearing this several times, and always done badly.
    
    /rick

    "audible groan..."  
    
    I'm rollin'!! Wgagagagagagagagagagaaa!

    Rick, thanks for the review. Again, I'm sorry I missed it. Hopefully
    I'll be able to make the next show in the Fall. 
    
    Those harp players are the pits! I swear, the same guy shows up at
    every show and trys every freakin' tube amp and crystal mic in the
    place, then leaves empty handed. I guess it's the only audience he
    ever gets to play to. He thinks he's J Geils. Someone should tell
    this idiot that it's a GUITAR show, not a HARP show.
    
    Mark

    RE: He thinks he's J Geils.
    
    Actually, Mr. Geils plays guitar.
    
    Magic Dick is the harp player.

    I would gather this "Magic Dick" would be quite popular with the
    ladies, yes.

    I won't touch that last reply, but as a side note J Geils was actually
    in attendance at the show.
    

    This is a long one.

    Just got back from the 4th annual Classic American Guitar Show out on Long
    Island this weekend.  The show is put on by the folks at 20th Century
    Guitar magazine.  The setting for this affair is the quiet suburban campus
    of Five Towns College in the town of Dix Hills.  It's in a beautiful,
    green, country setting; you couldn't ask for a more pleasant, relaxed vibe.
    One of the driving forces behind the show is millionaire playboy Scott
    Chinery (who liked 20th Century Guitar magazine so much, he bought it!).
    Some of Mr Chinery's other notable posessions include the original TV
    Batmobile and the most extensive/expensive collection of classic American
    vintage guitars on the planet.  More on him later.

    This was my first "major league" guitar show.  Many high profile dealers
    were there, from all over the country and even Europe.  Size-wise it wasn't
    that big; probably double the number of instruments at the Boston/Andover
    shows.  But quality wise, there was an order of magnitude difference.
    There was almost no junk at this show; everything you saw was top quality.
    That's not to say it was just a rich man's show either; there were plenty
    of fine, quality guitars in every price range.  For example, at Jacques
    Mazzoleni's booth, right next to the $30K Les Pauls and Selmer Maccaferis,
    was an absolutely sweet Weyman archtop from the 40's in immaculate
    condition, for $275! (I still don't know why I didn't snatch this one up).

    Every guitar show has it's theme, and at the Long Island show it's
    archtops and jazz.  About a third of the floorspace at the show is devoted
    exclusively to archtops.  Pretty much every major current builder of
    archtops had a booth there, and I saw more fine vintage L5's and Super
    400's in one day than I had seen in total before.  In the center of the
    affair is a little green courtyard where they had non-stop barbecue and
    live entertainment, all day both days.  It was a great place to sit
    and relax between forays into the guitar jungle inside; in fact, you
    could have spent both days just hanging around the courtyard and had a
    great time.  Most of the live music was jazz, some of the performers
    included Jimmy Bruno, Sal Salvador, Adrian Ingram, Joe Puma, and Howard
    Alden.

    In summary, I'd say this was about as good it gets.  Everything about this
    show was top notch.  I had an incredibly relaxing weekend just eating,
    sleeping and breathing guitar.  If you like guitars, and especially jazz
    guitars, you owe it to yourself to check this show out at least once.

    And now, a few more highlights:

    THE BLUE GUITARS - the focus of the show was undoubtedly the "Blue Guitar"
    collection.  Scott Chinery commissioned 22 of the top builders in the
    world to each build him an 18" archtop in blue sunburst; the inspiration
    for this idea (and the centerpiece of the resulting collection) being a
    gorgeous blue Centura Deluxe that was one of the last guitars built by the
    late James D'Aquisto.  All the big names were there, Monteleone, Triggs,
    Benedetto, Lacey, etc. each trying to outdo the other, and resulting in
    one of the most stunning and unique groups of guitars every assembled.
    You can see 10 of these guitars in the current issue of TCG (13 more were
    still to be completed when the magazine went to press; they were at the
    show).  I overheard that at the big pre-show bash at Chinery's mansion
    Thursday night (VIP invitation only) there were famous rockers (Johnny
    Winter for one) and jazz players jamming the night away together on the
    various blue guitars.  Quite impressive.
    
    CULTURE SHOCK - the Long Island Expressway ("el-eye-ex" to the locals).
    It has exits that are bigger than many Massachusetts highways.  And New
    York drivers are ruder and more agressive than Boston drivers ever thought
    of being.  Driving for those who like it a little "spicey".

    THE RELICS - I stumbled upon a couple of the infamous Fender "Relic"
    series, Custom Shop copies of vintage Fenders that are fake-aged for that
    authentic look and feel.  There were two, a '57 style Mary Kay Strat
    (blonde, maple board, gold hardware) and a '62 style Tele in Sonic Blue.
    The verdict?  50-50.  The fake aging stuff is pretty realistic, but silly.
    And the one place it still fell short was on the neck of that Strat.
    There's just something about old-lacquer-on-old-maple that can't be faked.
    But beyond the tacky cosmetics, these are without a doubt the finest,
    most authentic vintage repros I've ever seen and played.  Even down to
    the most subtle details, like the feel and texture of the wood.  The Tele
    in particular was completely indistinguishable from the real thing.  Which
    also means it played and sounded incredible.  I heard at the show that
    you can now get "un-aged" Relics from the Custom Shop; the same quality,
    authenticity, and attention to detail that I saw in the Relics at the show
    and without the useless dings and scratches.  That would be the way to go.
    For looks, feel and tone these are beyond anything I've seen to date out
    of Fender.  On these instruments, they finally seem to be catching up to
    Gibson in their ability to produce new guitars that truly satisfy the "old
    guitar" jones some of us have.

    RELIC REDUX - 30th Street Guitars (NYC) had their own interesting spin on
    the relic idea.  They took Japanese made Fender vintage re-issues and did
    their own fake aging.  These were selling for about $600, a slight premium
    over the normal price of these instruments and a big drop from the $2k the
    Custom Shop charges for theirs.  They did a nice job with the aging; the
    same realistic looking nicks, dings, cigarette burns etc.  (I'll bet the
    folks at 30th Street had a good time making these; I picture a drunken
    party in somebody's basement).  And the guitars played... well, like
    Japanese made re-issues.  These provided still more evidence to my mind
    that there is truly something special going on with the real Relic series,
    something beyond the aging thing.

    MOST OBSCENE STICKER PRICE - Elliot Mechanic (Mechanicland) had a nice,
    clean, flamey, cherryburst '59 Les Paul for the amazing low, low price
    of $100K.  As one of my friends remarked, "if I had $100,000 that guitar
    is the first thing I *wouldn't* buy".  No doubt Elliot really didn't want
    to sell this guitar (unless of course someone was looney enuff) and was
    just doing a little marketeering; creating a little controversy and maybe
    pushing the market a bit.  I have his phone number if anyone wants it :-)

    BRUSH WITH CELEBRITY - There's a big celebrity concert/jam every year on
    Saturday night and the participants were all hanging out during the day. 
    I kept running into Steve Howe (what a pain :-), and saw Ian McDonald
    (founding member of King Crimson and Foreigner) a few times.  Also saw
    Arlen Roth, Jimmy Vivino (Conan Obrien Show) and wunderkind Smokin Joe
    Bonamassa (who isn't really a kid anymore).  And uh, that's it.

    STRANGE COINCIDENCE - I saw several, no make that many, inexpensive copies
    of Epiphone/Gibson Howard Roberts archtops for sale; Ibanez, Aria, Electra,
    etc.  All nice guitars in nice shape and all very reasonably priced.  The
    Howard Roberts is a unique beast; single sharp cutaway, oval soundhole,
    floating pickup at the end of the neck.  They look very sharp, and the
    oval soundhole seems to make these less prone to feedback than similarly
    sized f-hole guitars.  For a jazz player on a budget, these were an
    excellent value.

    THE SULTAN - I met my most memorable character of the show out in the
    courtyard.  In addition to the food and live jazz, there was a lot of
    wheeling and dealing going on there.  People who walked in with instruments
    would set out their opened cases in the grass, hoping to attract a buyer.
    At first I noticed the guitar case, a big tweed covered archtop job.  Next
    to it, a '53 wide-panel tweed Deluxe and a small cardboard sign scrawled in
    magic marker.  I opened the case and saw an old Gibson archtop, sunburst
    acoustic non-cut, caked with age, with a floating Dearmond "Rhythm Chief"
    pickup installed.  Across the lower bout were three plastic stick-on
    letters, spread diagonally:

			V
			  A
			    L

    I looked up and saw a smiling face.  "Are you Val?"  He was.  Somewhere in
    his mid-60's, large thick black-framed glasses, several strands of greasy
    black hair combed over in a vain attempt to hide a mostly bald head.  The
    man, like the equipment, were well worn but with the kind of dignified,
    honest wear that's just the inevitable result of years of use taking their
    toll.  We talked, about tone and about authentic sound and about the era of
    the big bands when jazz was king.  He seemed to enjoy the interest this
    veritable "youngster" showed, and he told me some more.  About road trips
    along the eastern seaboard, recording dates, late-night club gigs and about
    eeking out a living as a journeyman jazz guitarist in the greatest city on
    earth during it's greatest years.  At some point, I found myself wanting
    to own that guitar and that amp, more than any other item at the show.
    But I quickly realized that what made me want them was something that
    couldn't be bought; it could only be earned, the hard way.  All too soon
    my buddies came along and dragged me off to see something they'd found;
    I could've stayed and listened forever.  I don't why Val was selling his
    rig, if he really needed the money or not.  I hoped that he didn't, and I
    secretly hoped that no-one bought his treasures from him that day.  It just
    wouldn't have been right somehow.
    
    /rick

    Thanks Rick, cool review!
    

    
    	You hot sh*t!
    
    	And you didn't buy anything?!??!?
    

    Great note, Rick!

    re .90
    
    I get real conservative $$$ wise at these shows.  Whenever I buy an
    instrument, it usually takes several days; I think about it, go back
    etc.  Just not an impulsive kinda guy I guess.
    
    I did pick up a couple more of the Guitar Player/Rhino "Legends of
    Guitar" compilations on cassette ($5 apiece); great car tapes.
    
    /rick
    

    Agreed, that was a killer write-up!

    
    Ditto, nice job, Rick!  Next time, take Danny Webber with you.  I'll
    have to take a day off to read *that* note. 8-)
    
    Kevin
    

    I'm jealous! Thanks for the write-up. 
    
    One of my best friends just accepted a job in Dallas Tx. The movers
    carted off his belongings yesterday and we had a little send off for
    him, his wife and daughter.  We're already talking about a trip to
    Dallas to visit.....If I ever make it, I'd love to go while the South-
    west Texas show is running. Supposedly the largest and most celebrated
    show in the Country. 
    
    Mark

    I just read a write-up on the Dallas show; 400 dealers!  That's many
    times bigger than Long Island.  I can't even imagine it.
    
    I heard (from a party attendee) that CBS camera crews were at the
    Chinery mansion for the Thursday night soiree.  Keep a lookout for
    some sort of report on it.
    
    Hey Mark, the Long Island show is about 4 hours eta from here, or
    about 5 if you take one of the ferries (a little longer, but less
    stressful).  You could day-trip it easy with a little ambition.
    See ya there next year?
    

Anybody make it out to the Guitar show in Andover this
weekend ?

I went up for a little while...  It was the first one for
me,, it was fun, loads of guitars, but I heard tales that
in comparison to most of the others, it was fairly small.
(I'd guess there were about 1,000 pieces there...)

Managed to not spend a dime after admission, and I'm still
trying to figure that one out!! :^)

    I went and like yourself, walked out without anything!!!  I was a bit
    dissapointed with its smaller size.  I was predominently looking at 
    accoustic guitars and found that unlike past shows I have been to, the
    pickins were slim.  I didn't see anything that I just had to have at a 
    price I would like to pay..   I did see and play a "Tippin" dreadnaught
    that really turned me on, but not enough to pop $2300.  This guy really
    makes a fine instrument and think he is going to do well.  His influence
    is Martin with a few minor changes which net him an instrument thats
    loud, crisp with great bass and midrance response.   May have to stop
    by his shop here in Mass. and talk some more with him.
    
    Bruce
    

actually now that ya mention it,, there wasn't really that many 
acoustics in general... I saw enough Les Pauls and Strats to fill 
a trailer,,,

And did you see that Tiesco DelRay ? Thing had about 5 pickups,
and 600 switches and knobs,  I haven't seen one of them since
I was a kid..  

    I was there; stopped by late Saturday and also spent some time there on
    Sunday.  Not a big show, but fun for a couple of hours.
    
    I saw lots of nice low end Gibson archtops (maybe because I had my eye
    out for these); several 40's L50s and 50s ES125s and 150s, all in the
    $600-$800 range.  Nice deals on nice guitars.
    
    Sunrise Music from Long Island was doing lots of high rolling; a
    gorgeous, original owner '58 Tele and tweed Harvard walked in and they
    snapped it up, then immediately turned the Tele over for a '60s Strat,
    then a short time later sold the Strat.  Lot's of high $$$ vintage
    pieces were going in and out of their booth for much of the show.
    
    Former DECcie Ron Blomberg had an all (or mostly anyway) acoustic
    booth with some of the coolest guitars and best deals at the show.
    
    One thing I noticed from going both days; lots of guitars that looked
    like good deals on Saturday showed up at another dealer's booth (and
    with a higher price tag) on Sunday.  Dealers checked each other out
    for things that were underpriced and snapped up those that were.
    There were definitely deals to be had, but you had to be there early
    on Saturday and you had to act quick.
    
    For the second year in a row there was some guy from Indiana who has a
    large collection of bootleg video stuff for sale.  Lots of interesting
    items, quality varies, but you can preview before you buy.  I almost
    bit on a Free retrospective, with some nice early 70's concert footage,
    and did end up grabbing some Bloomfield stuff.
    
    Rumor has it they may be moving the show back to Boston next year.
    
    /rick
    

I was there on Saturday, about mid day, and didn't go back
sunday,  but to be quite honest, in the 90 minutes I was there,
I was actually surprised to note that I really didn't see
a lot of buying and successful trading going on...  Then
again, I only ran through the isles twice, then split.

We'll probably go out to the Boston show (If it happens)
next year..  

    
    	I was there on Sat. from noon to 2 or so.  The prices on some of
    	the most beat on Strats and LP's boggle the mind.  But those
    	beautiful new LP's... ahhh, what gorgeous tops!
    
    	Saw a little red Rickenbacher for around $400.  Kinda cool but
    	played a bit stiff.  Rick pickups look really cheap but I'm not
    	familiar with how they sound.
    
    	I have to admit that there are some seriously butt-ugly guitars
    	in the world.  Brand new designs too!  Where they get the backing
    	investment money from is beyond me.  
    
    	Tom
    
    
    
    
    	

    Speaking of beat guitars, Sunrise had this really weathered 60's Tele
    with a deep forest green finish.  The tag on it said LPB (Lake Placid
    Blue).  Sure enough, if you peaked under the guard, there was a
    pristine deep metallic blue color.  The lacquer on the exposed surfaces
    had yellowed so much it made the blue undercoat look vivid green.
    
    They also had one of the infamous "fake" Relic Strats; a powder blue
    50's style Japanese re-issue that had been scuffed, cigarette burned,
    etc.  It wasn't tagged, and I saw several people stop by the booth and
    drool over it, believing it was the real thing ("bet he's asking 8
    grand for it, man").  What a riot.
    
    /rick
    

    Those fake relic guitars ought to be simple to spot. Just look at
    the neck heel for the "made in Japan" decal. 
    
    Mark

    Sorry, it was "worn away"
    

    Heads up, the Long Island show returns in two weeks (May 17-18).  Based
    on reports from previous shows and what I saw last year, this show gets
    better every year.  Looks like this one will be even more heavily into
    the jazz vibe, with lots of celebrity performances and builders in
    attendance.  Leslie West is slated to be at the Saturday night jam
    concert and no doubt will be hanging around; maybe I'll even get to
    kick back a few burgers with him at the barbecue :-)
    
    /rick
    

    
Well my first guitar show experiance happened this weekend down on Long Island 
and it really was quite overwhelming. 

The show was located in Dix Hills,LI at the Five Towns College in a building
that seemed to house some of the college's music department. Dix Hill's seemed 
to be a pretty nice area in that it being somewhat rural and away from the city.

The whole show was very impressive and seemed well run. There was always
something going on,whether in the Jazz Courtyard or at individual booths
where artists were playing.

Just inside the entrance after I checked in my guitar and paid my $9 was a 
fairly impressive line of archtops in new condition. Everything from 
D'Angelico to a Jim Triggs.

Not only did there seem to be thousands of guitars,but alot of jazz guitar 
players. I had been really looking forward to seeing and hearing Howard Alden 
who was a featured artist,but I was hoping to get a chance to play some fine 
instruments too. At the last minute I decided to save myself a buck and take 
the sunburst 67 Guild Starfire 12(within 10 minutes it was sold!)

I was primarily interested in a couple of things,listen to some jazz guitar
and demo an Evans amp and some archtops. All of which were easily accomplished. 

As I was walking around I was totaly blown away by some of the people who were 
just trying out instruments. Some of which just had some incredible chops,almost
to the point whereas it was intimidating. But after about an hour that all
kind of went away...  :^) 

New to me,was a player by the name of Jimmy Bruno. I had heard rumblings about
this guy,but I expected him to be someone Joe Pass's age or Jim Hall. Come to
find out he's only 43 and was simply incredible! I did pickup his "Smokin"
release on Concord and would recommend it to anyone who has a taste for Joe
Pass,Pat Martino and Oscar Peterson! And thanks to Cindy Benedetto,I was able
to get Jimmy to sign the CD. Plus She also was able to get Howard Alden to 
sign a copy of his new release also.

Unfortunately I forgot to ask about Benedetto pickups...  :^(  and
I did not get a chance to talk to Bob Benedetto himself as he seemed to be 
pretty swamped all day. 
Most of the high end archtop builders were using these pickups and I only saw 
one builder who used a stock Kent Armstrong pickup.

It was surprising that there was not a Benedetto booth.....? The Benedettos
were right next to the Buscarino booth,with the Just Jazz Guitar table.

Howard Alden played by himself for a few tunes before he was joined by Jimmy
Bruno and really performed some nice tunes. Howard and Jimmy started this duet
thing and everything was fine until some sprinkles started to come down. At
the end of one of the tunes Howard announced that " now you understand not
only are Benedettos great guitars,but there waterproof too." The rain stopped
there performance unfortunately. They both used Benedetto's with 7 strings
and Evans amp's. 

There were other performers,but these two stuck out in my mind.

John Pisano,Jerry Beaudoin,Sal Salvador to name a few....maybe Rick can add 
a few? There was always a rythmn section of bass and drums. 

Since this was mentioned in the Heritage basenote,I'll mention I was impressed 
with the Super Eagle I tried at the show. It seemed to have a good acoustic 
sound,but the dealer who was selling Heritages did not have an amp so I could
not try it with it's pickup. They also had a blonde Sweet 16 which I played,and
it felt and sounded differently than the other Sweet 16 that I have tried. On 
the same table was a 58 Gibson Goldtop Les Paul for $25k.

The one thing I recognized was that trying to play/demo a high quality archtop
at one of these shows(or at least this one)was more of a chore than what I 
would want to try to accomplish. Of course I'm probably not the first one to
recognize this....but I would recommend you go to gather literature and perhaps
talk to the Luthiers and arrange a second meeting for a real demo.

I had the oppurtunity to play a 7 string Napolitano archtop(Allentown,NJ) and
really found it quite easy to play. I talked to the builder to find out that
the instrument had for strings......013's for the first string. 

I also tried to get a chance at trying a Campellone archtop,but his booth was 
busy.

Some very ornate metal work was shown on a Zeidler 18+ inch acoustic archtop
which was very difficult to play. I later learned the pricetag was $25k

And Scott Chinery was walking around and he brought his collection of Blue 
    guitars.

After spending several hours looking,trying it really seemed like production
instruments from Guild,Gibson and others which were all over the place seemed 
to pale in comparision with the dozen or so luthiers whose instruments were 
displayed.

Equally impressive was after 6 to 7 hours of walking around it really seemed
like alot of instruments were still available. I did see a Bory's 120 with
a price tag of $3k with a Sold tag on it and maybe a couple of more sold signs
but it didn't seem like there was alot of guitars selling. Mandolin Bros. had
a booth which seemed to be a diamond in the rough with a fine example of a 
D'Angelico and maybe a D'Aquisto. 

There was one beat Gibson Johnny Smith for $4k that I remember seeing,lots of 
Gibson L7's both with and without cutaways. A blonde non cut L5 for $4.5k.,only
one L4c for $2.2k,several Guild archtops from $850 to close to $2k,but no 
Artist Awards that I remember.(the cheapest Epi Emperor was $750 Ray!) In 
general I sometimes found myself in a state of shock at either the condition 
of the instruments or the price or both. In some case's I would want to have
some significant work done,before I would use an instrument.

Later in the evening the "Benedetto players" were going to perform at the 
Huntington Hilton,but I was pretty much saturated for listening by the end of
the day.

The music alone was well worth the trip and the $9 to get in...the availability
of the instruments galore was a treat too....

Next time I'll bring a camera!

Rick