He took up electric guitar in 1965 after forming a band with Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Signe Anderson, and Skip Spence. Kaukonen originally played country blues and folk. Guitarists also revere Jorma for another track on that album: His beautiful acoustic instrumental “ Embryonic Journey ” introduced a generation of fingerpickers to dropped-D tuning and inspired many people – myself included – to buy their first guitars. His electrifying guitar playing on Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow – especially on the Top-10 single “ Somebody to Love ”– became part of the soundtrack of the Summer of Love era and helped define the San Francisco sound. L-R: Marty Balin, Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner, Spencer Dryden, Grace Slick, Jack Casady.ĭuring the 1960s Jorma Kaukonen was among the pioneers of psychedelic music. Having said this, there are a lot worse guitars out there, and as well as being historically important, the 1820 bass can certainly provide the goods when required.Jefferson Airplane publicity photo by Herb Greene, 1967, courtesy RCA. Over the course of the 70s, the Japanese output improved dramatically, and in many ways these early 70s models are a low point for the brand. These new Epiphones were based on existing Matsumoku guitars, sharing body shapes, and hardware, but the Epiphone line was somewhat upgraded, with inlaid logos and a 2x2 peghead configuration. The Matsumoku factory had been producing guitars for export for some time, but the 1820 bass (alongside a number of guitar models and the 5120 electric acoustic bass) were the first Epiphone models to be made there. Other electric models include: HOFNER ELECTRICS: Committee, Verithin 66, Ambassador, President, Senator, Galaxie, HOFNER BASSES: Violin bass, Verithin bass, Senator bass, Professional bass GIBSON ELECTRICS: Barney Kessel, ES-330TD, ES-335TD, ES-345TD, ES-175D, ES-125CD, SG Standard, SG Junior, SG Special GIBSON BASSES: EB-0, EB-2, EB-3 - plus a LOT of acoustics branded Gibson, Hofner, Selmer and Gianniniīy the end of the 1960s, a decision had been made to move Epiphone guitar production from the USA (at the Kalamazoo plant where Gibson guitars were made), to Matsumoto in Japan, creating a line of guitars and basses significantly less expensive than the USA-built models (actually less than half the price). This catalogue saw the (re-)introduction of the late sixties Gibson Les Paul Custom and Les Paul Standard (see page 69) and the short-lived Hofner Club 70. Selmer were the exclusive United Kingdom distributors of Hofner and Gibson at the time, and this catalogue contains a total of 18 electric guitars, 7 bass guitars, 37 acoustics, and 2 Hawaiian guitars - all produced outside the UK and imported by Selmer, with UK prices included in guineas. Scan of 1968/1969 Selmer guitar catalogue (printed July 1968), showing the entire range of electric and acoustic guitars distributed by the company: guitars by Hofner, Gibson, Selmer and Giannini. Like the Firebird III, V and VII, the Thunderbird models came with a leather neck strap. Nickel plated hardware, single humbucker with volume and tone control. The 1963 Thunderbird II specs were as follows: Honduras mahogany body, through neck, unbound Brazilian rosewood fretboard with pearloid dot inlays. The short scale, single pickup Gibson EB0 was listed at $210 - broadly similar in price, but outsold the Thunderbird II significantly in every year the two basses were offered.Įven though this sheet was produced in 1963, and the Thunderbird II was listed in price lists as early as July of that year, Thunderbird shipping statistics suggest only two basses were shipped from the Kalamazoo plant that year.Ĭustom finishes available for the Thunderbird II were as follows: Cardinal Red, Heather poly, Inverness Green poly, Ember Red, Polaris White, Pelham Blue poly, Frost Blue, Kerry Green, Silver Mist poly and Gold Mist poly. Another surprise is the poor sales for this bass. Considering the extra craftsmanship involved in producing a neck-through bass it is perhaps a little surprising that this price difference is as low as it is. At the same time (July 1963) The Precision had a list price of $229.50 / $240.97 for Sunburst / Custom finish. This was Gibson's first long scale bass, and their first real answer to the Fender Precision. The Gibson promo sheet for the 1963 Thunderbird II bass listed some specifications, and gave a price (accurate for the period July-August 1963) of $260 for a sunburst bass, and $275 in one of Gibson's custom Duco finishes.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |