Beatles Guitars & Gear
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Extremely Limited Model
Ed Sullivan 40th Anniversary Tribute Guitar
The English Gentleman
1961: 1957 Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet semi-solid
mahogany body, black finish, silver pickguard; Serial #21179:
Harrison found this one through a member of a band called the
Delacardoes, who got a tip from a taxi driver. The driver, Ivan
Hayward, was a former merchant seaman who was planning on emigrating
and had decided to sell the Gretsch Duo Jet he'd bought at Sam Goody's in New York City in 1957. "God knows how I managed to get
75 quid together," Harrison recalls in the Anthology book.
"It seemed like a fortune. I remember having it in my inside
pocket, thinking 'I hope nobody mugs me.' " (As it turned out, he
only had £70 at the time and had to leave an IOU for the
balance -- (Which he
never got around to paying.) The Duo Jet
sported "humped block" inlays, a Bigsby vibrato and two single-coil
DeArmond pickups. Harrison used this sturdy, stylish beauty for
the early singles, the Please Please Me sessions and
innumerable shows in Hamburg, at the Cavern, the Casbah and
throughout Britain until late spring '63. Regarding the Duo Jet, Melvyn Hiscock recalls that Giffin also "had a spare DeArmond pickup which he fitted and generally gave the guitar the once-over. I was Roger's shop manager and was there when all this happened. I even got to play 'Twist and Shout' and a few other Beatle tunes on it." Harrison put the restored Duo Jet to use on Cloud Nine (1987), whose cover it graces. Pictured above is Gretsch's authentic G6128-57 reissue. This Passage Quoted Courtesy of John F. Crowley of www.thecanteen.com. |
Then, after getting a
swankier Gretsch, Harrison gave this instrument to Hamburg mate
Klaus Voormann, who changed one pickup and hung on to it for about
20 years before giving it back to Harrison. Sometime in late '85 or
'86 this guitar was sent to guitar tech Alan Rogan, who gave it to
luthier Roger Giffin for
the rehab work. "I had to rewire it," Giffin recalls, "because true
to form with old Gretsch guitars, the original wiring was
disintegrating." Rogan "was working with George on and off at the
time. He also brought in a '50s Strat and George's original
Rickenbacker 12 string. I refinished the Strat matte black (I've
seen George playing that in a video) but I'm not sure what I did to
the Rickenbacker."
Gretsch George Harrison Duo Jet Models 1957 & 1962
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When the Beatles started to get famous in the early 60s, George bought a 1962 Chet Atkins "Country Gentleman" Gretsch guitar. George can be seen using this one more often than anything else on stage. I am given to understand he didn't use it as much in the studio recordings. There were many attempts at reissuing the Country Gentleman as George played it and finally Gretsch has got it totally right. The Gretsch logo on the plexi pickguard is the only marking, two Filter-trons, Grover Imperials and even the dual mutes have been brought back. Ed Roman now offers The "English Gentleman" Jet black version to commemorate the black & white TV . Affectionately dubbed the" Ed Sullivan tribute model" which was issued in very limited quantities, after the cancellation of the show and 40 years to the month when the Beatles appeared on it in February of 1964. I can remember being glued to the TV set every Sunday night to see those first 3 shows. I was 14 and I wanted to be a Beatle.
George was always my favorite Beatle. Our birthdays are even the same. Ed Roman has Gretsch's exact reproduction of the Original George Harrison Black Country Gentleman. Ed Roman Guitar King offers both versions of this guitar in the deep original brown color. Ed Roman also offers both versions in the Jet black color.
George's Country Gentleman got damaged beyond repair in this mishap. There are other rumors that the guitar was stolen. I have it on good authority that 3 of the Beatles guitars were stolen from a rehearsal studio. One was George's 65 Rickenbacker and one was one of Paul's Hofner's, The third one has not been revealed to me. George replaced his Broken/Stolen guitar with another Gretsch Chet Atkins model, the Tennessee Rose. The Tennessee Rose is a little smaller than the Gent, and also utilized the Electro tone body with the painted F holes. George can be seen playing this guitar in their second US tour, including the massive first Shea stadium concert in 1965. Sometimes the Tennessee Rose with Hi Lo Trons is referred to as "The Ticket To Ride Guitar"
Gretsch 1962 "Ticket to Ride" Reissue 6119HT |
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Beatle Bass
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Hilton Valentine of The Animals & George Harrison were the first guitar players that ever influenced me, I was 14 years old when the Beatles came on Ed Sullivan and my world was changed forever. I moved on to Jeff Beck, & Leslie West and Lindsey Buckingham but years later I came back to really appreciating the incredible talent that was George Harrison. George was my favorite Beatle and ironically the only one of them I never actually met face to face. Today almost 40 years later I am amazed every time I listen to the early Beatle tracks. Remember, George Harrison was the youngest of the Beatles and was only 19 when he was recording all those great songs in the early 60's. I cannot imagine how and where he learned to play so well. Ed Roman |
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This Grouping was Specially Ordered Without Mutes Back in 2004
There are Only 8 of these in the world !! Here they all are in one picture !!!! Usually There Is A Mute System Included No Extra Charge
This Grouping was Specially Ordered Without Mutes
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Carl "Blue Suede Shoes" Perkins
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Legends of Rock
The studio was in Paul's house, while Martin had his own house elsewhere on the property. Carl described Martin's house as a castle. That's where he stayed for the week. "As the time was drawing near for me to go home, I was sitting out on the patio," Carl told Dominic Ambrosio and his camera, his guitar sitting on his lap and looking like a part of him. "And I was thinking how lucky Carl Perkins was. I'm kind of sentimental. Sometimes I can sing it but I can't say it, and that night before, I wrote a song. And in the morning, I went down to the studio and said to Paul and Linda, I'm not good at saying good-bye, but I wrote this song last night, and I want to play it for you.' It was called 'My Old Friend' . . ." Carl
sang it now for Dominic with the extra emotional emphasis on
the refrain: My old friend, won't you think about
me every now and then. . .
"Well, halfway through the song, I see Paul is really
crying, tears flowing down his face, I said, 'Darlin', I don't know what yer talkin' about. How did I know what?' " John Lennon had been killed only months before outside his apartment building, the Dakota in New York. Linda explained that, although it wasn't publicly known, only days before his death, she and Paul had visited John and Yoko at the Dakota. At the end of the visit, as they were saying good-bye, John said to Paul, "Think of me every now and then, my old friend." "Linda put her arms around me," Carl said now on a cold January day in Tennessee sixteen years later, "and she said, 'Thank you, Carl, he needed that.' It was a touching moment and it was a frightful moment for me." The song had just come to him out of the blue that night as he sat alone on the deck off his room in George Martin's castle. And the strange thing, he later told Rick, was that he didn't write the song down--something he always did. Whenever he thought of a lyric, let alone an entire song, he had to write it down right away or he would lose it. "Rick," Carl said, "that song was with me. I couldn't get it out of my head" He was sure John had written the song from beyond and given it to him for Paul. |
Carl
spent eight great days with Paul and Linda, along with
George and Ringo, Stevie Wonder, and the legendary Beatles
producer George Martin, with whom Paul owned a studio on the
island. 
" Carl
said. "And he stepped outside. I said to Linda, 'Linda, I
didn't mean to upset him.' She says, 'Carl, how did you
know?'
Gretsch
Info On Beatles Guitars
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George Harrison Model Ramirez Classical Guitar |
