Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: TheIronBeast on August 05, 2009, 12:25:20 PM
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I walked into Guitar Guitar in Glasgow yesterday and hanging on the wall was a Fender Custom Shop Rory Gallagher Stratocaster. This was the first one that I had actually seen in person and as a huge Rory fan and Strat fan I had to try it out.
I was actually really impressed at how close to the original spec that the custom shop guitar was, it has aged 5 sperzel and 1 gotoh tuner, bone nut, aged custom shop 60's wound pickups, nearly all the finish taken off the back of the headstock and needless to say the extreme beaten up look of Rorys guitar.
The guitar felt like it belonged in my hands and it had a very nice played in feel to it, it was just an absoloutely stunning guitar! If it didn't have the custom shop logo and Rory's signature on the back of the headstock I think it would be quite hard to tell the difference between the CS and his actual guitar.
I came home yesterday and I was thinking about it, talked it over with the missus and used the fact that I had a 25% off Guitar Guitar voucher to justify buying one.
I phoned up Guitar Guitar this morning and placed my order for the guitar that I played yesterday and they went and had it setup and threw in some freebies (strings, strap etc) and had it boxed up and shipped, so it should be arriving by carrier tomorrow!
Needless to say I am very happy and excited at the moment! :D
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Congrats!
Tell us all about it as soon as it arrives.... with pictures or else. :)
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:o Wow! You must show us pics ASAP. :D
I saw one in Turnkey a few years ago and I must admit I thought the ageing looked pretty phoney, but the Fender relics seem to vary a lot, presumably depending on who actually did the work.
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that sounds great, hope you're very happy with it.
like Philly, the one i saw didn't look great, and it played terribly! it had really light strings on, and action so low that every note choked out. it sounds like yours is infinitely better! enjoy
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Sounds ace!!! Pics please!!
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:D AMAZING!
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Killer guitar, well done!
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Yep, I wanna see pics too :D
I've lived and breathed Rory since 1980 (I've even touched the real one three times! :lol:), and I have considered one of these. But like Philly and Blue, I didn't like the look of the ones I've seen close up. I've also heard tales of some of the relicking wearing off! (The cracks on the pickguard were etched/painted on the ones I've seen).
Added to that, I've still not paid over £1K for any guitar yet, and a Rory-look-a-like guitar seems a bit of a strange thing for me to have...
BUT!! Having said all that - very jealous here! :lol:
I've had the "what if discussions" with my missus as well, and she'd go for it if I did buy one. But I'm not sure I want to, so out of the three I've seen, I deliberately didn't ask to try them, just in case...!
Looking forward to hearing more about it - nice one :D
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I've also heard tales of some of the relicking wearing off! (The cracks on the pickguard were etched/painted on the ones I've seen).
Yeah, I've also heard that the dirt on relic scratchplates and pickup covers sometimes comes off. Weird concept - a guitar that looks newer the more you play it! :lol:
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I've also heard tales of some of the relicking wearing off! (The cracks on the pickguard were etched/painted on the ones I've seen).
Yeah, I've also heard that the dirt on relic scratchplates and pickup covers sometimes comes off. Weird concept - a guitar that looks newer the more you play it! :lol:
wel duh anti-relics are in with the kids these days!
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I will definitely post pics tomorrow once it gets here. I think the relicing on this one looks pretty good, this is the only Gallagher strat that I have seen in person so don't have anything to compare it too.
Very jealous that you have seen (and touched) the real thing, Andy!
Can't wait for it to arrive tomorrow!
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I will definitely post pics tomorrow once it gets here. I think the relicing on this one looks pretty good, this is the only Gallagher strat that I have seen in person so don't have anything to compare it too.
Very jealous that you have seen (and touched) the real thing, Andy!
Can't wait for it to arrive tomorrow!
Has this one got the bit of mould growing under the scratch plate? I'm pretty sure one of Gallaghers strats had this feature.
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Wow!
This defo needs some Irish Tours then!
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God damn you man! I was gonna go in there and try that out next time i was in Glasgow!! They had one in last year, and my friend and i used to go in just to stare at it, every week (we were students back then).
Congrats though, i'm sure you'll love it!
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Congrats on your purchase. Like Andy, I have touched ( and played but don't tell anyone) the original. I look forward to seeing the pics too.
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:o Wow! You must show us pics ASAP. :D
I saw one in Turnkey a few years ago and I must admit I thought the ageing looked pretty phoney, but the Fender relics seem to vary a lot, presumably depending on who actually did the work.
The Rory Gallagher guitars bodies aren't actually relic'd, they have transfers applied that feature the worn down finish, well, the cheaper ones do, The Iron Beast maybe bought one of the megabucks ones.
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^ I was wondering that, nfe - I've only seen the approx £2K version. They looked like they'd be a good guitar in themselves, but the paint didn't have the chipped/burnt look, and the exposed wood wasn't the grey-ish colour I remember the real one to be... so I had to kinda regard them as Fender CS strats that look like Rory's from a distance :lol: (and as I've yet to be convinced that I need a CS... :roll:)
38th - you played it?!! My contact with it is only through front-row hero-worship.
I did get my Rory Gallagher songbook from the late 70s is signed though - he was most interested to see what on earth they'd put in it :lol:
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i know a guy that did a little tech work on the original. he said the most striking thing about it was the smell!! apparently it stank! :)
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Has this one got the bit of mould growing under the scratch plate?
I always suspected that tone wasn't in the fingers. It's in the smelly mould :D
I'm never cleaning my guitar again :wink:
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^ I was wondering that, nfe - I've only seen the approx £2K version. They looked like they'd be a good guitar in themselves, but the paint didn't have the chipped/burnt look, and the exposed wood wasn't the grey-ish colour I remember the real one to be...
I read an article about the original Tribute series limited run - of 40 guitars or whatever it was - and they were cutting the (remaining) paint with scalpels to get it the right shape. I suppose it's relatively easy to create an old-looking guitar, but very difficult to duplicate the wear on one specific guitar.
I suppose everybody remembers the old story where Rory considered getting the Strat refinished, and they told him the body wood had absorbed so much sweat it looked like it had been floating in the sea for a few weeks.
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I remember him saying in an interview how he had to use a replacement neck for a while because they needed to reshape and dry the original out! :lol:
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I will definitely post pics tomorrow once it gets here.
We're waiting ... :O)
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He's too busy playing Moonchild, Shinkicker, Walk on Hot Coals, Messin with the kid, Tattoo'd Lady, Last of the Independents, Million Miles Away, I Wonder Who, Brute Force and Ignorance, Wayward Child, etc, etc...
:lol:
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Andy is right, I've been jamming (and learning) some Rory tunes this afternoon. I love this strat, the neck feels really nice with most of the finish taken off, the acoustic sound is just fantastic and when plugged in this guitar just screams. I really like the pickups with this guitar too, they definitely have that 60's vintage vibe to them. I'm gonna swap out the three way selector for the 5 way one that comes with it though.
Anyways, as promised ...
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/theironbeast/PICT0345.jpg)
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/theironbeast/PICT0346.jpg)
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/theironbeast/PICT0347.jpg)
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/theironbeast/PICT0348.jpg)
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/theironbeast/PICT0349.jpg)
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/theironbeast/PICT0351.jpg)
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/theironbeast/PICT0352.jpg)
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/theironbeast/PICT0353.jpg)
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh115/theironbeast/PICT0354.jpg)
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Looks great!
Is the low E tuner on purpose a different type?
Now you gotta play it hot and sweaty, so those shiny nickel parts can catch some rust :O)
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Is the low E tuner on purpose a different type?
That's to copy the original - 5 Sperzels, 1 Gotoh, I believe.
It does look cool. I see what nfe meant about the paint, but I like the dirty body and especially the neck!
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Lovely :D
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Words cannot describe how jealous i am right now!
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Fantastic !Bombastic and everything PDT_003 Would LOVE to play that thing... 8) Congrats !
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Looks great to me. Yes Andy I was a mere lad at the time but the guitar was in a workshop and I was in there and was told not to touch. I just played a few chords. It did smell too I seem to recall.
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That's a much nicer looking hunk of wood than the ones I've seen - I'd have been tempted to play it if I'd seen that one in London last Saturday (phew!).
I must admit the tuners business puts me off a bit - and has done ever since I first saw it. It was only in that state out of necessity initially, and then pragmatism. The bridge saddles were all over the place at one stage as well (mixture of types and metals). Like an anorak, I've just been checking my old LP covers etc - and discovered (to my horror!!) he obviously converted from slotted head tuners quite early on (and to screw, not push-in, bushings! :o) - dear-oh-dear Rory, what did you do? :lol: The photo on the back of Deuce is a bit blurry, but there are big coils of spare string on the headstock - so he must have replaced the original tuners already by then :(
It's seems ludicrous, but if owned one, I'd have to have slotted heads, and I'd need to convert back to push-in bushings.
Looks like a lovely guitar though - and with a bit of hard playing the body/paint thing should come up fine I reckon. Wipe your hands on the body after eating fish and chips, that sort of thing! :lol:
I'm curious though - are you gonna be able to take it on stage in front of people? That's possibly the main stopper for why I haven't chased one. I don't gig anymore, so it's kind of daft really, but I realised that I could not take a replica of Rory's guitar on stage myself (gimme the real one, and I'd have no issues!!) - so owning one of these would always have been an expensive "secret" for me. I still wouldn't rule it out, but that's why I've restrained myself from trying one when I've seen them.
ANYWAY - congratulations, I know you're gonna have so much fun with it :D
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It's seems ludicrous, but if owned one, I'd have to have slotted heads, and I'd need to convert back to push-in bushings.
That's one of the problems with relics - if I had one, I'd probably still want to do all my usual mods like changing the tuners and getting rid of the bent-steel saddles. And then you're left with either having to "relic" the replacement parts, or having a weird-looking mix of old and new bits.
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I'm curious though - are you gonna be able to take it on stage in front of people? That's possibly the main stopper for why I haven't chased one. I don't gig anymore, so it's kind of daft really, but I realised that I could not take a replica of Rory's guitar on stage myself (gimme the real one, and I'd have no issues!!) - so owning one of these would always have been an expensive "secret" for me. I still wouldn't rule it out, but that's why I've restrained myself from trying one when I've seen them.
I will definitely play this guitar at gigs. My band plays blues-rock type music and we usually put one Rory cover on the set, we know three Rory songs but we rotate which cover we play depending on the gig.
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That looks awesome indeed - if you come along to any future meets you must bring it with you!!
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Won't be able to make the meet in London unfortunately but if theres one in the midlands area or up north then I will be there with this guitar for sure.
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I'll admit to now owning any RG music (or even knowing any of his songs). As a result I never realised how severly 'weathered' his guitar was/is. I knew it was worn but not as much as this:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/Drnxh_RG_SC1961.jpg)
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That's sex-on-a-stick for me! :lol:
BUT!! I'm finally understanding it's only because it is Rory's guitar, not what it looks like as a guitar...
Ian, go and listen to the opening minute or two of Irish Tour 74 (intro to Cradle Rock) - that's what this guitar could do - you don't have to hear anything else :lol: (but you'll want to hear everything else...)
IronBeast - how's the honeymoon going? :D
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Cheers Andy - will give it a go. It could be dangerous for me though as I don't want any more strat GAS!
I know he also modded his Esquire to have a neck AND a middle pup :o. I'm dead against modding my Esquire so don't want to have too much influence on that!
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Cheers Andy - will give it a go. It could be dangerous for me though as I don't want any more strat GAS!
I know he also modded his Esquire to have a neck AND a middle pup :o. I'm dead against modding my Esquire so don't want to have too much influence on that!
Self-control, that's all you need :lol:
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Cheers Andy - will give it a go. It could be dangerous for me though as I don't want any more strat GAS!
I know he also modded his Esquire to have a neck AND a middle pup :o. I'm dead against modding my Esquire so don't want to have too much influence on that!
Self-control, that's all you need :lol:
:lol:
I'm slowly getting there. My partner, bless her, has just told me that over the last few years all of the guitar related stuff I have bought and sold leaves me £48.75 in debit. Not bad and has cheered me up a little but also makes me determined to only buy what I can afford and, more importantly, be absolutely certain that I want what I am buying and take time to make a decision*
*it took me about 20 mins to decide to buy the Esquire!
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IronBeast - how's the honeymoon going? :D
Excellent actually :D
Used it at my bands gig the other night. We put a cover of Follow Me in the set which was cool to play with the Rory strat! Just a pitty my vocals aren't quite as good as his :lol:. The guitar sounds great through a PA thoug, definitely the best sounding strat that I own!
Ian - definitely check out Irish Tour '74, that will get you hooked on Rory after the first few minutes.
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IronBeast - how's the honeymoon going? :D
Excellent actually :D
Used it at my bands gig the other night. We put a cover of Follow Me in the set which was cool to play with the Rory strat! Just a pitty my vocals aren't quite as good as his :lol:. The guitar sounds great through a PA thoug, definitely the best sounding strat that I own!
I am such a doofus. I thought that you were actually on honeymoon!
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I expect some of you'll remember this pair?
The one on your left is a Custom Shop Fender and the other one.......... isn't! :lol:
(http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk207/RStobbs/UllrikasBoy008-1.jpg)
I sold the Custom Shop version a week after receiving the Clone. It really was that much better.
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No, I don't remember.... who made the Clone?
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Ron from R2/e 8)
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Nope don't remember - looks nice though. Who are R2/e? What sort of price rang are we talking about? What did he clone, the CS itself?
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Looks amazing, IronBeast! Jealous here!