Rant No. 1

[Kilby]

Funnily enough though, and I never realised this until I read your post, if I was still gigging, and if I had a real 62 or wotever, I would take it out and play it. I tend not to look at things in terms of "re-sell value" (possibly cos I never sell anything), so I wouldn't be worried about damaging that value - if it was cute, sounded cute, I'd want to play it in public. (What I wouldn't do is pay the asking price to get one in the first place!!  :lol:)

It wouldn't be resale value that would stop me playing it on stage, but simply it being stolen or seriously damaged.

However if I gigged I'm sure that I would wish to play something familiar & comfortable, therefore some form of ageing would make sense, without being too prescious over scratches & the like

I also wish that Donal would either keep his hands off the back catalogue, or get somebody who knows what theyre doing to take control of the process.

As for his guitar I only ever saw it onstage (about 20 times :)) however friends who watched Taste in the Maritime hotel always said it was always battered.

The funny thing is though thinking about it you always recognised it as Gallagher, even his acoustic playing had the Gallagher tone.

Damn I miss his gigs

[AndyR]

I also wish that Donal would either keep his hands off the back catalogue, or get somebody who knows what theyre doing to take control of the process.

I'm really glad you said that - I try not to state my opinions too strongly on public forums (even face-to-face I can be misinterpreted as arrogant!!) and I was a little concerned that I'd got carried away there...

I do feel really quite strongly about what's happened to the back catalogue though. It's not like he was a deity or they're holy relics or anything. I liked what he did and what he put out, even if it was a little flawed. And he was such a perfectionist - he KNEW those accoustics were there on Bourbon, he KNEW they didn't lock tightly with the track, he decided to mix them out rather than re-record them... Donal's heart's in the right place, but it hasn't made it "more commercial" it sounds badly played!!!

I'm not fussed about the 5.1 remixed boxed set thingy a while back - I've never even heard it and saw no need to get it personally. But I do miss the original cover art on the albums. Especially Top Priority, and somehow TP doesn't sound the same, can't spot what it is though. Photo Finish's remix is a bit surprising in places, but overall an improvement over the original boxy sound - and rumour has it that Rory was interested in remixing that one. Against the Grain is missing some stuff, I think it's a vocal track(?) on Lost at Sea, can't remember... there's loads of little niggles... but Jinx really took the biscuit.

I've just realised, it's stopped me listening to him!!! :(
That decides it - I know which LPs are getting the digital "scratches-n-all" conversion next!

Damn I miss his gigs

+1 

[Philly Q]

Philly, if you're thinking of the remastered CD cover for Irish Tour - that's a late 70's early 80's pic (REALLY annoyed me how his brother repackaged and generally mangled the entire cannon a few years...  

Not sure Andy, I probably am thinking of the remastered CD cover.  But my copy of Against The Grain is an original piece of mid-'70s vinyl, and the Strat looks much the same on that - including a big patch of mould(?) on the scratchplate between the bridge and bridge pickup!  :lol: 

I don't have a lot of Rory material to be honest, but I remember spending hours staring at that cover when I was a kid - I couldn't understand how a guitar could get into that state!

[AndyR]

But my copy of Against The Grain is an original piece of mid-'70s vinyl, and the Strat looks much the same on that - including a big patch of mould(?) on the scratchplate between the bridge and bridge pickup!  :lol: 

I don't have a lot of Rory material to be honest, but I remember spending hours staring at that cover when I was a kid - I couldn't understand how a guitar could get into that state!

Same here - what a gorgeous cover it is...
And while I was admiring it, I was wondering why my JV strat wasn't deteriorating quite so satisfyingly... I was playing 2-3 hour gigs once or twice a week, but it wouldn't even scratch!! I had the mould, the blood stains (I think that helps the mould to grow!), the krud build up around screws, etc, etc, but the scratchplate stayed white underneath it all, and the only dings were major dents from re-arranging the stage/ceiling/pa with it during the finale/encore...
In fact, the biggest area of wear was the frets (lots of grooves from doing obscene things to the mic stand during a histrionic Hey Joe). There used to be a little group of girls that always gathered around my monitors halfway through the second set, I didn't realise why until my girlfriend explained it to me after 6-12 months or so! Ah, the innocence of youth - there was I, doing my level best to be erotic and provocative, and it never crossed my mind it might actually work!! I fancied all of them, and it turns out I could have had any one, or possibly even all, of them... :roll:

Er... I've forgotten, what was this thread about again?

[Philly Q]

Er... I've forgotten, what was this thread about again?

Never mind, I don't want to interrupt your reverie!  :lol:

[dave_mc]

those washburn idols are relics? any of the ones i've tried haven't been- but now that i think of it, i think they've released a newer idol which is a relic- but i don't think the ones machinehead are flogging are relics... i could be wrong, though. :)

There was a off white one that was a few weeks back.

ah, ok, thanks johnny, i think i've seen that one in washburn ads in guitar mags. I actually looked at the machinehead site, and the natural wi65pro actually looks like it might be slightly aged (or burnt? o_O ). the cherry one was the coolest, but they seem to have all gone now...

[dave_mc]

Took me a long time to mention it, but I wholeheartedly agree with that comment.

I noticed that on the "Indy's Ultimate guitar" thread no-one slagged off the relic finishes on those Fano guitars.  They look fantastic, and IMO wouldn't look anywhere near as good with shiny pristine finishes.

i'm not too worried either. as i said earlier, if it makes the non-relics cheaper, i'm all for that! :lol:

[38thBeatle]

Some of you may remember that I too have played the real RG Strat but I should also say that it was a sneaky play whilst the guitar was undergoing some bench work at a shop where my mate worked.We were forbidden to touch it but we figured that it was in a state that there is no way we could have made it worse.This bears out what others have said in that the guitar was in a poor state fairly quickly. As for the Fano's, I was commenting on the design and specification. I really am not bothered too much by relics, I just wouldn't want one myself. Maybe one of Fender's closet guitars( ooh er missus). I am not too fond of some colours on  guitars  but if there was an unmissible bargain then I would overlook my own tatses if it suited me.

[Roobubba]

then I would overlook my own tatses if it suited me.

Sorry to bring nothing to this discussion, but you just cheered me up immensely with that typo!

Roo

[38thBeatle]

Can't blame alcohol tonight either!

[_tom_]

That just means you need to drink more so you can use that as a backup excuse if you've ran out of others. :)

[FELINEGUITARS]

I believe a Mr K Richards was responsible for this stuff, and I can understand his reasoning. People expect him to be playing one of his original teles on stage (and on TV) rather than one straight from the Fender factory (looking all shiney and new.) But again thats all image and I have to be honest and say that Keef with a brand new looking guitar would be upsetting to me.

Sometimes I think Keef looks like he's been relic'd.

[PhilKing]

I do have some old guitars and it has got to the point where I really can't take them out to gig with (though having said that I do play my 66 P-bass out!).  They are now just for recording and playing at home.  I know that they feel great, but AndyR, if you had a £10,000 guitar and it was nicked or damaged at a gig, wouldn't you be gutted?  My 64 Bravewood feels and looks very like my real 63.  I'll take a picture of them both together so you can see.  Using the Bravewood makes much more sense because it is replaceable (though it takes an age to get them!!).  John will make them with a perfect finish, but the point is that a 64 wouldn't have a perfect finish.  All of my old guitars have lacquer cracks, where the finish has fine cracks in it from the different movement of the wood to the lacquer over the years.  I think it looks great acutally!  The Bravewoods (and also some custom made LP relics that I have played), have this and it makes them look more beded in.  You also don't have to worry if you bang them and put a ding into them.  The ones that look cr@p are the ones that have just been sanded.

btw.  Donal is a very nice guy.  I have been to his house in Chelsea a few times, and he really does want to do the best for Rory and his fans.  He was going to try to put out some reissue vinyl, but I don't know where that project is now, since I've moved back to the States.

[Kilby]

btw.  Donal is a very nice guy.  I have been to his house in Chelsea a few times, and he really does want to do the best for Rory and his fans.  He was going to try to put out some reissue vinyl, but I don't know where that project is now, since I've moved back to the States.

Having read interviews with him he seems to be a decent chap I don't doubt his sincerity either. But from what I have heard of the remastered versions, I'd rather he got somebody else to do the job as I found the 'new' versions pretty horrid, and used his experiance to make sure that the original spirit of the tracks where preserved.


For me it's not a case of the originals being perfection, and should be left alone, but they should atleast be as good as the original. Possibly Donal is a little too close to the material, or perhaps he wants to update it to something more modern to bring Rorys name up to date, I don't know, but for me it hasnt been too successful for me :(

But so far I havn't been impressed and I really wanted to be :( as Rory was (and is) my favourite white blues player) he wasn't about perfection and slickness and I liked that so much.

Anyway back to relics (preferbly matured and not the fecked ones)

[MrBump]

I believe a Mr K Richards was responsible for this stuff, and I can understand his reasoning. People expect him to be playing one of his original teles on stage (and on TV) rather than one straight from the Fender factory (looking all shiney and new.) But again thats all image and I have to be honest and say that Keef with a brand new looking guitar would be upsetting to me.

Sometimes I think Keef looks like he's been relic'd.

Yeah, but he is without a doubt an ORIGINAL!

I remember reading once that Cliff Richard had a picture in his attic that, strangely enough, aged instead of Cliff himself.

That picture was said to resemble Keef...