R.I.P. Scotty Moore Guitarist For Elvis Presley 1931-2016

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Sad news, Scotty Moore has passed away aged 84.

I just a few moments ago read a comment about him on Facebook written by a guy called Mark Wilson (no relation to Yours Truly):

Met him once, and he autographed my Hofner Committee. I thanked him for inventing rockabilly and he said "It was no big deal". Very gentle and courteous.

More...

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Hotflush Spaceking - Chinese Stratty thing from Aliexpress.com

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Here's another find from Aliexpress.com, something that the seller is calling a "Firebird" but which surely owes much more to the ever popular Fender Stratocaster. It's as if they've taken the design of the Strat, flipped it over, then started cutting bits out. Almost. When I first saw a thumbnail photo, I thought the guitar had an incorrect and far too large pickguard on it; I didn't appreciate the shape until I took a closer look.

You know what? I think I quite like it. Of course, the proof of the pudding will be in how it actually handles and plays. This example is listed at a price that equates to ￡131.32 here in the UK. However, it's always worth checking other sellers prices on Aliexpress because they can vary wildly.

The name on the headstock here, by the way, is Hotflush Spaceking, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same guitar was also being branded with different names elsewhere,

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Chinese counterfeit super bizarrely shaped thing labelled BC Rich

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Words fail me!

OK, I'll try harder.

I saw this earlier on Aliexpress.com (via Facebook). For those not in the know, Aliexpress is one source of Chinese-made counterfeirt guitars, copies of Fenders, Gibsons, Rickenbackers (often dubbed Chenders, Chibsons and Chickenbackers) amongst others such as Gretsch, BC Rich, Ibanez, etc. Occasionally they have an original design or two, perhaps a hybrid guitar based on a particular brand but which never existed. And then there are things like the above pictured guitar, mad designs of their own. In this case they've cheekily put the BC Rich logo on the headstock (yhe headstock itself has the barest amount of shaping from the basic paddle blank shape). You can imagine the thinking here: "Oh, BC Rich do some wacky shaped guitars, just put their logo on it."

Poor ol' Bernardo Chavez Rico must be spinning in his grave.

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

1979 MusicMan Sabre fretless bass guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here we see a beautiful example of the rarely seen, and some would say more aesthetically pleasing, sibling of the Stingray bass guitar, the MusicMan Sabre. This fretless example features two of MusicMan's own now legendary design pickups as opposed to the Stingray's single unit and also boasts its own unique preamp design, with Bass and Treble EQ knobs for both boost and cut, as well as a bright switch and a phase reversal switch, making for an incredibly versatile instrument. According to the seller's blurb, "the classic alder and maple tone wood combination [gives] this bass has a bell-like upper midrange and warm pleasing low end that translates well through the pickups, while the preamp allows you to dial in plenty of treble zing, or as much warm pillowy low end as you'd need, while also allowing you to dial back the bass for a tight, cutting, well defined sound."

Dating from 1979 means that this bass probably pre-dates Ernie Ball's acquisition of the Music Man company which happened at around this time. Certainly the headstock does not have the Ernie Ball logo (see pics above). The Sabre would have been designed by Leo Fender and Forrest White, who also designed MusicMan's other early period instruments, and the Sabre bass itself was produced between 1978 and 1991, but apparently was not a big seller.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of US $2,299.99.

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.