(np) zero history (new Gibson coming in Sept)

[Joe Allonby]

That is so cool.


On Tue, Jun 8, 2010 at 9:17 PM, Michael Bailey
<michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:
> Joe Allonby wrote:
>> Ooh. Box or trapezoidal body?
>>
>
> box: he said he made it from a chocolate box,
> this link
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170455938804&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123
>
> goes to a teaser picture which goes away after about a second saying
> the auction is closed...
>
>
> here is what he said about it (responding to my request that he add a
> whammy bar):
>
> Actually, it is a reinforced full hollow body and I don't think there
> would be room for a Les Trem or Bowen Handle because I set the volumes
> a little closer to reach.  I set the stop tail back a little farther
> than normal for nicer harmonics.  It will feed back, especially on the
> neck pickup if you are too close to the front of the amp.  Bo Diddley
> used an amp with built in tremelo (or also called vibrato) for most of
> his signature sound.  You can get them as a stomp box, too, if your
> amp doesn't have it.  He also used short echo or slapback to
> accentuate the trem, and plenty of reverb on leads.   He had Gretsch
> custom make his first box guitars, for $9,000 each!!  I spent a deal
> of time looking for the right box and neck/headstock to look the most
> like in his picture in Guitar Player.
> He hoimemade his first guitar, but not as a box.  He had seen many
> other black blues players who did make their own box guitars and liked
> their vibe.  They came out of the fact most were very poor and they
> usually used cigar boxes and baseball bats cut down the middle and
> piano wire.  A lot of kids used cardboard boxes and paper towel rolls
> or 1x2s with rubber bands, first.  This one is a Wallace and Sons
> Chocolates box with a Maestro neck by Gibson, chrome Grover tuners,
> gold Epiphone (SG) pickups and hardware, with 2v 2T Les Paul type
> wiring.  I used custom cut alder for reinforcement at the corners and
> middle, neck pocket and bridge and tailpiece.  A cream 3 way switch
> surround, jack holder and body binding, with natural stain and 2
> clearcoats.  The neck is screwed and glued, with the screws filled
> over and stained.  Gold Gibson strap holders.  The strap is a modified
> barbed wire leather with black nylon strap extension to fit more
> sizes, especially bigger.  The silk screened street scene on the top
> of the box is like a city in the early 1900s, and a red quality stamp
> on the front bottom.  The box itself is birch ply, the two halves
> glued together with the gold hinges and lock intact.   The black
> plastic control cavity cover is there only for the small chance you'd
> ever have to replace a pot, or wanted to change capacitor values.  I
> reused the Maestro nut but had to super glue string pieces to the
> slots to build them up as one technique to get more life out of it.
> Eventually, it should be replaced with a Graphtech or Gibson LP size
> nut.
>
>
> mike bailey
>
> "walked 47 miles of barbwire, wear a cobra snake for a necktie,
> got a little house by the roadside made out of rattlesnake hide"
>