(not)Jeff Beck's early guitar, one for fans of Mott ;)

[WezV]

I am after some info on the guitars Jeff Beck learned to play with.... not the stuff he played in bands early on  - the really early stuff

i have seen a few references to home made guitars that barely played in tune that he made himself but cant find any real info

why, you might ask - lets just say there is currently something in the boot of my mums car that i should be getting my hands on later in the week.  whether she (or someone else) is telling stories i wont know for a while.  but i have a potential restoration job to do and i like to have facts before i begin

obviously my interest is mainly perked by the idea of an old homemade guitar i get to play with- if it does happen to have more of a story all the better

[Twinfan]

Very interesting Wez!  Not being a Beck fan, I have no idea about his guitars but I'll watch this thread with interest....

[WezV]

well it could turn out to be nothing more than setting up an old guitar, which obviously still pleases me

but the few things my dear old mum mentioned got me interested  in a bit of beck history.  i know he liked modding guitars but wasnt aware if he had actually built one or not. 

she also mentioned Mott the Hopple and Ronnie Wood, but nothing with any certainty.  basically it sounds like she talked the ear of somebody she had recently met and came away with some stories and a guitar for me to fix ;)   i will get it later in the week and give the guy a call to see what he wants doing

either way - my interest in becks early guitars has now been perked as i am always interested in homebuilds or early attempts at making guitars better

[Ian Price]

Interesting Wez - not much info on the web about early guitars. He does talk about his first guitar on this though:

http://guitarheroesgear.blogspot.com/2009/02/jeff-beck-gibson-and-fender-interviews.html

[WezV]

thanks ian

i think those two guitars are the most famous... and if my dear old moomaa turns up with a esquire with extra strat contours i will be very happy ;)

i spotted a few references to him playing something he built himself... a bit myth like really.  a guitar with incorrect fret positions done by sight that jeff could somehow play perfectly in tune just by bending every note every other way.  sounds like balls but it got my imagination going.  its clear he worked on his own guitars a lot and worked with seymour duncan on pickups so i wondered if there was any truth to this idea

if my mums really been making friends maybe i will get to ask him ;) 

i am currently watching both my parents go  through an unexpected (for me) divorce.  the random directions they are choosing in the aftermath are quite funny, when i step back.  my mum is currently setting up a leather working business with a hairy biker.... so expect some nice hand tooled leather guitar straps coming this way soon... or not

 

[Ian Price]

thanks ian

i think those two guitars are the most famous... and if my dear old moomaa turns up with a esquire with extra strat contours i will be very happy ;)

Now that would be a very good result (and a great story!!!)

i am currently watching both my parents go  through an unexpected (for me) divorce.  the random directions they are choosing in the aftermath are quite funny, when i step back.  my mum is currently setting up a leather working business with a hairy biker.... so expect some nice hand tooled leather guitar straps coming this way soon... or not
 

Hope it turns out okay. Maybe some guitars finished in leather would be go0d!

[mikeluke]

Wez - your mum sounds like a right rocker!

 :D

[Tellboy]

... a bit myth like really.  a guitar with incorrect fret positions done by sight that jeff could somehow play perfectly in tune just by bending every note every other way.  sounds like balls but it got my imagination going. 

Might be true - I read an article by either Chris Dreja or Jim McCarty from the Yardbirds recounting how Beck would sometimes turn up a few seconds before a gig with his hands covered in oil (after working on one of his hotrods) and his guitar would not be tuned correctly and he would bend notes into tune during the numbers.

Hope things work out with your parents.

[WezV]

Wez - your mum sounds like a right rocker!

never has been before.  she has never shown any sign of interest in music that wasnt by Brian Ferry or rod stewart.  now shes discovered Jazz, moved past that and is becoming a bit of a biker. cant really blame her for wanting to try out new things though!  i am now past stressing about it - for the most part!  if she had more musical knowledge she may have been able to give me more info then and there but was obviously really struggling to describe the guitar.  i did pick up that is was mahogany, currently unplayable and needs setting up for slidework and the guy has had it about 30 years... enough to get me excited but it could still be nothing

tellboy - thanks for that info - it backs up some of the stuff i seemed to remember.  I still think there was something about him playing a guitar made, or heavily modded by himself which seems to fit with becks more famous guitars.  definately a tinkerer at heart!


 

[WezV]

well the project i have is nothing to do with jeff beck in the end  - but i wasnt really expecting that anyway, just my mum dropping names

still a very interesting restoration job which i will fill you all in on in due course

apparently the story goes that its a guitar made by Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople

its a solid mahogany explorer type with a modified rear fin.  definately a homebuild but quite nicely done and should come together well with a bit of work.  no hardware or pickups though so i need to see whats needed

[WezV]

here we go

[Twinfan]

That could be quite tasty when finished!

Riff Raffs would suit that bad boy  ;)

[WezV]

it certainly has a lot of potential

worst bit is the routing which gives away its homemade origins.  all covered by pickups and a scratchplate anyway

the neck shape is great.



its obviously had a headstock snap or two... so i think i want to inlay a graphite bar in the front before reveneering

[shobet]

Reminds me of the Clapton explorer with the cut off bit on the rear fin.

[WezV]

thanks shobet - i know i had seen the look somewhere but couldnt remember who it was

i still cant decide if this guitar has been made this shape from scratch or was cut down later - but i suspect the later