My Past Guitars and Musical Equipment

(Homepage - http://www.shirleyjbutler.ic24.net)

This is about the guitars that I have had/played in the past - distant or otherwise.
	Vox brought out quite a number of odd shaped guitars, some of which I liked and others that were plain ugly. These are three of the Vox guitars that I like, but when it comes to guitars I am also quite conservative and go for the Fender Statocaster and Telecaster and the Gibson Les Paul and SG Standard/Special. I have quite a soft spot for the Burns Legend as well. Here's a tip. Never mention Hofner guitars to me, the only Hofner I ever liked was the violin bass that Paul McCartney used to play, and apart from that I wouldn't give Hofner guitars house room or space on the loo wall.
	The Phantom always looked a nice guitar. However, I remember several different versions/models that came from it such as the Black Marauder, and the organ guitar (above). But that was a long time ago, and I guess that any electric guitar would have looked good to me then, but now I can't help thinking that the Phantom looks a bit stubby to me now
	I must admit I did like playing this model of Vox guitar the MkVI: V222, which I owned back in 1972. The only thing I didn't like about it was the vib arm, it was a bit too long to be practical. I think my favourite guitar will always be a choice between the Fender Telecaster and the Gibson SG Special.
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There are a lot of tricks and gizmos that you can use in playing a guitar to make it more impressive. Gizmos that do auto string bending and such are all well and good, and I suppose that they do have their place, but to be honest they are not for me. I would sooner go for good old fashioned technique rather than gimmicks.
I used to tune up the guitar by ear. That, however, was before I bought a Boss CT-6 electronic guitar tuner, absolutely terrific, it will tune bass guitar, accoustic guitar and electric guitar with both normal and flat tuning. I don't emulate any other guitarist, nor do I have any influences. I am not a tribute guitarist, and I see no point is trying to sound like anyone else. Sure I like to listen to other guitarists such as Eric Clapton and Ry Cooder, but I don't want to sound like them - I like sounding like me. By the way, I also like playing Keyboards and Synths, and I can blow a bit of a mean harp as well. I think the guitar needs a bit of a lift to its sound for certain types of music so I got myself a nice effects pedal in the form of the ZOOM 505 MkII and it includes digital reverb and chorus, and a number of other effects with some equalisation to model the guitar sound and give it the edge.
Back in the sixties to the mid-seventies I used the following amplifiers. My first amplifier was a Linear Conchord 30 watt with a 12inch Goodmans 60watt speaker and crossover unit. The next amplifier was a Burns Orbit 2 40 watt Solid State combo. Next came the Fender Bassman 40 watt top and speaker cabinet. Also had a FAL 4 channel Super 100 watt Solid State top with matching 2 x 15 cabinet. VOX AC30 2x12 combo. VOX AC50 top and speakers I lived in Luton at the time and I was playing professionally. I would have gigs to play with groups, also doubling up on gigs locally especially at weekends and the situation would be that I would be playing lunchtimes and evenings with one group and across the other side of town I would be playing with a combo party in the afternoon, and so I needed two or more sets of musical gear to allow me to flit across town to play a double musical life. This would happen often on saturdays and sundays, then there was also all the gigs I did during the week with my regular band. I had four guitars then that I used on gigs, a couple of electrics (Les Paul, VOX Teardrop), a flat top jumbo steel strung, and a Classical nylon strung. The Linear Conchord was a cheap valve amplifier, and was basically a closed bottom chassis with a mesh grill cover and handles. That amplifier served me very well for a time on gigs. I used a Goodmans Audium 12inch 60watt speaker with it, and it produced a pretty good sound. The Linear Conchord was sold when I got the Burns Orbit II. The Burns Orbit 2, together with a couple of Reslo ribbon microphones, cost me about £25.00 back in the the late 60's, and it gave good service through to at least 1974 when I sold it, and it wouldn't surprise me if it is still going strong. This model of amplifier is now a collectors item and can now be bought as a vintage amp for $750.00 US. My VOX AC50 top and speakers cost me about £35.00 second hand back in 1970, in perfect condition (it can now be bought for over $1400.00 US, same model - just the amplifier top). It was also in the very early 1970's that I bought my VOX AC30 in a second hand shop for £50.00. The VOX AC30 was in quite a sorry state. The controls were crackly when turned, the vinyl was ripped, the piping was practically non-existant, and the speaker cloth was practically hanging in shreds. I bought new piping, vinyl and speaker cloth, and some switch cleaner and I spent some time restoring the amplifier. When I had finished, the AC30 looked brand new, and I used it for a couple of years or so on stage. I forget exactly what happened to the AC50. I sold the Fender Bassman, the FAL Super 100, the Burns Orbit II and the AC30 when I left Luton. Of all the amplifiers I have had in my professional music career I would say that the Fender was my favourite amplifier. It looked great and it sounded as good as it looked. Anyway by 1974 I had sold all my guitars and amplifiers. Frankly, it's my opinion that guitarists now who want to use valve amps are being ripped off right left and center. You can still buy valves and they are not that expensive if you don't buy the Russian equivalents. The fact is you could probably build a valve AC30 for under £60.00 without the transformers, plus a bit more with the transformers, so it amazes me that some people are paying £750.00 to over £1000.00 Sterling for a VOX AC30 reproduction.