Menu
On Fri, 26 Apr 2002, Robb Lowe wrote:
> You got me there. There were a few 'hitters' that played Fenders around the
> country, but by and large SoCal was the hotbed of Fender users. If you think
> about it, since there were so few effects and even reverb didnt come along
> till '62, the single coil Fenders and bitey amps were probably out of favor
> for a reason by the people that played big halls or wanting to fill out the
> sound. I cant imagine Scotty Moore vampin' behind Elvis with a razor sharp
> Tele and a Bassman!
Hmmm, well, it worked for the guy behind Johnny Cash (can't believe i
forgot his name now!) who played both a Tele and a Jazzmaster (though not
simultanously, to my knowledge!). Remember that in the '50s Cash was more
of a r&r guy than a country guy, being on Sun label and all. And Paul
Burlison of Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio (who did the
original Train Kept a-Rollin') also used a Tele exclusively. And to
namedrop him again, James Burton pretty much did that with Ricky Nelson,
also on a Tele - following in the footsteps of Joe Maphis, a committed
hollowbody electric user and a guitarist very much in the vein of Scotty
Moore. So, there were quite a few that in fact DID do that.
> I'm pretty sure my dad told me a new Strat in 1961 was around $130-180, and
> the Jazzmaster was closer to $300. I have no idea if those are accurate or
> not, but I can say he had a blonde Strat and a black Jazzmaster in those
> days.
Brian's great site reference reveals the price difference to be much
smaller, which was my memory as well.
> I'm with you on the timeline - James Burton was probably the first 'big
> name' Fender player UH, since he was so good and unique, then comes the
> Ventures and the Shadows, and then the Surf gods (I'll include the Beach
> Boys here) and then Buck Owens. Fenders really did own the world there from
> about '59 through '65, and on in the country ranks, '69 and up in rock.
OK, I can go along with that - except you forgot to list Buddy Holly (and
to a lesser extent Richie Valens), who was obviously very big and played a
Fender.
> amazing isnt it, that the Tele never really 'took off' in rock even with
> those stellar names playing them. I wonder why? uncomfortable? not phallic
> enough? lol.
I thought about that, and I wouldn't say that a Tele didn't take off in
rock. Keith Richards? Status Quo in Europe? Joe Walsh of the
Eagles? Even Brian May played Crazy Little Thing Called Love on a
Tele! Maybe there weren't a huge number of rock big names using them on
stage, but Teles were commonly used in studios by those same names, and by
MANY lesser known guitarists. But obviously, country music is where it
was for the Teles.
> I didnt mean to sound like they were unknown, just that they were never
> 'the' world-beater guitar until Hendrix made them all conquering, must have
> instruments. I mean, remember the Strat WAS scheduled for discontinuation
> because it just didnt sell, till Jimi showed up.
OK, then we are in agreement! It is true that Fender hit a pretty bad
patch towards the end of the sixties sales wise. But don't forget also
that Gibson actually DID discontinue Les Pauls in the '60s! So, it would
appear than that Strats were more popular than Les Pauls in the '50s and
'60s.
> I've enjoyed this Ivan, I respect your history lesson even more than your
> playing and thats saying something.
Thank you Robb. I enjoyed it too - a nice bit of mental exercise, and
gave me a bit of a different perspective on Fender's history thinking of
it in these terms.
ivan
