Julian Cope and The Beast

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Julian Cope is one of my all-time favourite artists and is also quite the guitar collector. One time at a gig I attended in Oxford, between songs he swapped a white Gibson SG Junior for another almost identical just because he fancied changing guitars.

Anyway, I've always wondered about his doublenecked non-reverse Firebird/Thunderbird nicknamed "The Beast" (not that I've personally seen it in action) and whether or not it was an actual Gibson or a custom build.

Earlier I stumbled upon this interview in which Cope reveals that "The guitar was made by Valdez in Los Angeles in 1971, from a 1967 non reverse Thunderbird IV and a 1968 non reverse Firebird."

Just thought I'd share that with you.

Photo: Promo shot of Julian Cope wielding the doubleneck Firebird / Thunderbird for his CORNUCOPEA festival at the South Bank Centre, April 2000.

G L Wilson

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