Reefriderjoe
Joined: May 01, 2024
Posts: 6
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Posted on Oct 18 2024 07:52 PM
I am Jay Mendoza, born in 1957 and raised in Orange County California.
My first connection with surf music was in the late 1950s listening to the radio and Juke boxes at local hamburger joints. I definitely remember hearing Bull Dog, and Rebel Rouser, back then. There was an Ice Cream parlor near the pier in Newport beach where surf music was played and I heard who was probably Dick Dale, but was too young to know who he was. Later, in early 1962 my aunt who lived in Lomita took us to see the Bel-Airs at a local high school auditorium Torrance. I remember seeing the Beach boys on one of their first TV performances, they had those stripped shirts on. By 1964, my friend Mark Talley, who was a multi instrument talented musician, let me play a Fender Jaguar through his Princeton amp, and I was hooked. A few years later I quit playing piano to focus on guitar. The folk rock and British invasion overtook surf music, but I never quit listening to it, it just is the sound we grew up with here near the beach, so it touches something deep inside me whenever I hear, or play it. I lived 15 years in San Clemente after getting out of the Army and currently live in Mission Viejo. I like to play all the classic surf tunes whenever I get a chance, and jam with my buddies too.
Currently I have three Fender tube amps, a Prinecton Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, and Twin Reverb. I built a "parts-caster" Strat back in 1990 from Warmouth parts, and have Seymour Duncan Classic '57 single coils in it, did a three tone sunburst, and put in the Wilkinson VS-100N/CV locking tremolo, which locks the trem when you let go of the whammy bar, so it stays in tune even if you break an string, and will do climbs in addition to dives. Other than a Dusenburg trem , it is the best trem out there. I used Sperzels for the tuners and graphtec nut to help it stay in tune. Flat wound Thomastic Infeld .010" strings are great and give a full rich sound, and soft feel when playing.
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synchro
Joined: Feb 02, 2008
Posts: 4446
Not One-Sawn, but Two-Sawn . . . AZ.
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Posted on Oct 18 2024 08:40 PM
Nice to meet you.
Where do I start? Well, both of us heard first wave Surf in real time. My older sister was in high school when Surf was peaking in the early ‘60s, so I heard Pipeline and Wipeout when they were Top 40 fare. Heard some Ventures at the time, too, which was at least Surf adjacent. Occasionally I’d hear some Duane Eddy, and that definitely caught my attention, as well any number of early ‘60s Rock n’ Roll tunes, which were often very much guitar centered. I was more of the singer/songwriter era, but I never forgot Surf, and when it came back into fashion in the ‘90s, I was all in.
Living in Minnesota, I never got to see any of the Surf bands live, back in the day. However, I spent my teen years in metro Denver, and the local Dairy Queen was owned by one of the Astronauts, so that’s almost as good. 
Like yourself, I love the Fender amps of the mid ‘60s, although I tend to use an amp with an early Vox tone stack often, as well. The sound of a Princeton, Deluxe or Twin Reverb and a Fender is hard to beat.
I have a Warmoth Jaguar. I can’t call it a Partscaster, so I call it the War-Jag. Several of my solid bodies have Thomastik Jazz Swings, and I use Thomastik flats on my Gretsch. The War-Jag has Pyramid Fusion Flats, which are sort of a hybrid flat wound/round wound string which work well for Surf, and are surprisingly good for Country, as well. Warmoth parts are as good as any I’ve ever seen. I’ve had a Fender Custom Shop instrument and it wasn’t even close to the quality of the Warmoth.
Welcome to Surf 101.
— The artist formerly known as: Synchro
When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.
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Padraig
Joined: Feb 26, 2022
Posts: 400
Dollars, Taxes
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Posted on Oct 18 2024 11:46 PM
Hey Jay, welcome to SG101! I hope you can attend the 2025 SG101 Surf Music Festival in Long Beach. Do you listen to any of the modern surf bands? You have a bunch right there in Southern California.
— Patrick
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chiba
Joined: Sep 02, 2022
Posts: 514
Central VA
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Posted on Oct 19 2024 10:40 AM
welcome, Jay! nice to have you join us
— --
Project: MAYHEM by Hypersonic Secret now available!
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ArtS
Joined: May 09, 2008
Posts: 1347
Isle of Kent, MD
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Posted on Oct 19 2024 10:58 AM
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BenPerkins
Joined: Oct 19, 2011
Posts: 144
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Posted on Dec 18 2024 08:46 PM
Aloha, Jay!
— I want to hear Caravan with a drum solo.
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