Seeing Bertram's post featuring the black and white ES335-alike guitar reminded me of the black and white Fender Telecaster used by Deke Leonard of legendary Welsh band Man.
You'll notice that Deke's Tele is painted in a bullseye pattern; this was years, decades even, before Eddie Ojeda from Twisted Sister or Zakk Wylde thought of doing the same. I've seen more recent photos and YouTube footage of Deke playing a Gibson SG decorated with a similar bullseye.
You'll also notice in the photo here that there's a large rectagonal hole cut behind the bridge of the Tele. There is also a hole cut above this, but this is partly obscured by Deke's arm in the photo. The story I've heard is that apparently he was bored one day and started cutting holes in his Telecaster and got carried away. He has joked that the idea was to fill the gaps with a couple of miniature aquariums and keep fish inside.
Check out this video from 1975 of Man performing live on the BBC's The Old Grey Whistle Test which includes some nice close-up shots of Deke's Tele:
For more photos of Deke and the Bullseye Tele see this blog post at Brit Rock By The Bay.
Deke is currently working on a book, The Twang Dynasty, which is to be a discussion of his favourite guitarists, and ought to be one to look out for as I imagine it would appeal to many of the readers of this blog.
G L Wilson
© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!
The Twang Dynasty is now published - see Amazon for details.
ReplyDeleteAnd Deke had this guitar stolen in Europe, so if you see it apprehend the b*****d who took it!
Deke still misses his Fender Custom black & white Telecaster and is still appealing for any information as to its whereabouts. It was stolen on 13th December 1993 from a 'locked' dressing room at the Club Kulturwerkstatt Hoppegarden Hamm, Germany run by a guy called Uli Holesch, who told Deke prior to the guitar being stolen, he was a collector. The police were informed at the time but said there was little they could do. It's a unique guitar so if anybody has any information please contact Deke on his website www.dekeleonard.com
ReplyDeleteDeke still misses his Fender Custom black & white 1959 telecaster and, although it's been a long time, still appeals for any information leading to its whereabouts. It was stolen on 14th December 1993 form a 'locked' dressing room at the club Kulurwerkstatt Hoppegarden, Hamm, Germany run by Uli Holesch who showed Deke his collection of guitars earlier on that day. The police were informed but said there was little they could do. But should anybody have any information please contact Mary Hodge on marymod.mh@gmail.com or Deke's website: www.dekeleonard.com. Thanks
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