Dave Rolands 60th Bash

[bazzrd9th]

Hi Guys
Had a magnificent night celebrating Dave Rolands 60th. Find attached (hopefully) a group pic of artists who appeared.
Cheers
Barry

[Ken Byng]

Barry

I only recognise 2 faces (I think). Ronnie Bennett and Brian Hilton.

Looks like evryone is enjoying themselves.

Ken

[bazzrd9th]

Hi Ken
Yes they're there, also Charlie Lansborogh, West Virginia Band, Phil Brady, Bernie Green, John Pettifer, Dave Rolands, Mike Kinney, and my good self. The other lads are from the sixties Merseybeat bands. There were also some lads too inebriated to reach the stage....they shall remain nameless....!!!!!
Cheers
Barry
p.s.
What are you trying to do Ken.....corner the market in guitars....!!!!....that's some collection you've got there.
Which would you say has the best action and sounds the best to you. You've a unique chance to back to back them.
Barry

[Ken Byng]

Barry
I haven't seen Phil Brady for over 40 years, so its no wonder I didn't recognise him. He was the first British country singer I saw, at the Ponderosa in 1969. I can make out 3 of the West Virginia boys (you can just about make out Pecker), but the photo is a little small. Charlie L is recognisable now.

Re my steel guitar collection - there is method in my madness. When I retire from the day job, I will set up a training school for would be steel players. I will supply the guitars, v pedals and amps in the class room so people don't even have to lay out on a guitar until they are sure that they will stick with playing. I'm going to get a purpose-built building in my garden that will be big enough to hold a class up to 6 players, a separate 24 track studio (currently in a bedroom in my bungalow) and a steel guitar showroom.

Re tone and playability, thats a really good question. All of the guitars I own are great guitars, there isn't a duff one among them.

My black Emmons D10 push pull has the best tone, but the others are not a million miles behind. It had a 'Crawford Cluster' on the left knee, but I had 2 of the levers taken off, so it is 8 + 4. Pedal four operates both necks, with a Franklin pull on E9. My mate Ron Mawn (ex Sho~Bud London) owned it, and I pestered the living daylights out of him for it. It is absolutely in mint condition. Ron changed the pedal set up from Emmons to Day for me. He put ball bearings in the ends of the cross rods, and the result is a beautiful pedal action. The tone is stunning.

The Zumsteel D10 is 30 years old, but the engineering is amazing. It has a great action and tone, and I can see why they are so popular. Dead easy to change copedents, and put additional changes on it. I have spare bell cranks and pullers for all of my guitars. It has a very clean and punchy tone, with strong mids. It has wood grain mica finish. I have a couple of chrome surround Lawrence 705's that will be going in the Zum. While I generally prefer single coils, the 705's have amazing clarity and of course no hum. The guitar once belonged to T C Furlong in the USA, and Billy Murdoch sold it to me. Again it is immaculate. The lowest amount of cabinet drop of all of my guitars.

The Mullen Royal Precision D10 has surprised me. Again, the engineering is superb and pedal action is easily adjustable and is very precise. It has the best finish of all of my guitars, and features hard black anodised changer rollers and enclosed tuner head. It sustains well, and because it is a lacquer body it has a slightly warmer tone than the mica finished guitars. I think it sounds more 'Bud than Emmons tone-wise, and the string separation is great. It has Mullen single coils on both necks.

The MCI is probably the closest sounding to the push pull, but pedal and lever action is not quite up to the others. I am doing some work on that. It has red and black mica, and is in reasonable condition. It has 705's on both necks, and has that Emmons 'zing' and sustain. Allegedly Buddy Emmons played it on one of Gerry Hogan's shows, and there is a You Tube clip of Buddy playing one that looks identical to mine. It has the initials BE underneath, but I can't verify the provinence. I have renewed some of the undercarriage, and have still some parts to replace to bring it up to spec. Bobbe Seymour told me that he thinks the MCI tone is astounding, and that they are the steel guitar world's best kept secret.

My Sho~Bud Pro 111 has been completely renovated by Bob Adams and he did a great job. It was my mainstay guitar for 35 years, but now looks brand new. It is sunburst lacquer finish, and was originally mahogany brown. There is an issue with the lacquer finish which I will get sorted this year, but it is beautiful to look at and play. All metal parts are now highly polished and the changer rollers that were grooved are now completely smooth. I have got Wallace True Tone single coils in there, and she sounds beautiful. Its a keeper.

Finally the Emmons LeGrande 2 is a typical modern guitar, but Emmons have retained a signature tone in their all pull guitars. Lightweight SD10 body, I use this guitar when I have a country gig that is up stairs. Blue mica finish, the pedal action is smooth and short. Single coil pick up.

Sorry to harp on, but you did ask

Regards
Ken

[bazzrd9th]

Hi Ken
No probs with the lengthy reply. A great answer and full of first hand valuable information.
I do agree that most of todays instruments are really well made and playable. The one thing I think is missing, and it's a personal minor point, is that there is no longer any distinctive brand tone, except as you mentioned re the Emmons. In many respects it's a plus point, as the personality of the player can shine through, though there are maybe too many clones to differentiate these days. Emmons were perhaps the first major maker of what I call the 'modern' guitar with their first all pull Legrande and you're right, they do retain a certain distinctive sound.
I have two steels myself. A Super pro and an Emmons SKH. I love the Sho-bud to bits, it is so full of character, and looks stunning, though it has certain mechanical idiosynchrasies that one has to 'play round', just like your MCI...!!!!. The Emmons is the best guitar I've ever played, and with truetones on board I can rely on it totally.
I've had a great week. Apart from Dave Rolands' gig and Playing with Phil Brady last night (saturday) I did some filming during the week with Kenny Johnson and Phil and a few of the Liverpool stalwarts and some of the Merseybeat greats. They all sat in a circle with acoustic guitars and reminisced about the great singers and songs that got them started on their musical careers. The archive that Kenny Johnson has is stunning. He has original proofs of all the merseybeat greats and all the county stars, tours and shows he's been involved with. The beatles museum has some of his collection. He has original posters where his band, Sonny Web and the Cascades, headlined over the Beatles. I spent hours trawling through them and chatting to him. A truly wonderful day of history and nostalgia. My favourite picture though, was one of Phil when he toured with Willie Nelson....There was Willie, Nat Stucky, Johnny Darrell, Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Day. There's a picture of Phil and Jimmy Day rat arsed with their arms round each other. and another of Phil sitting on Willies horse on Willie's Ranch with Willie holding the reins. Who today on our british scene, can claim all these honours and have all these memories.
Regards
Barry

[Ken Byng]

Great story Barry.

Well, firstly I will say that the north west has had some of the best British country singers and musicians in the UK. Kenny Johnson? - none better in my view, although I thought that Kevin McGarry did a brilliant job when he replaced Kenny in the Hillsiders. For authentic vocals, Phil Brady is hard to beat. I loved it when the Liverpool bands came down south and sharing the bill with them They had a killer sense of humour, and were a wonderful crack after the gigs.

It always sounds a bit codger'ish when you reminisce about the 'good old days' but certainly I think the 1970's were a wonderful time to be a pro musician in the UK country music scene. A lot of venues would put 2 or 3 bands on in one night, and solo and duo acts were very rare. No drum machines or backing tracks - you had to be able to delivery musically and entertain too.

It all started going pear shaped in 1984 when tours were becoming rarer. A good player can still get work but just a little less of it.

Thanks for the memories.

Ken