A GOOD YEAR IN 1970

[Ken Byng]

This is the first country band that I ever played in - called Country Legend. This was 1970, and they were great times. I was almost 21 when this shot was taken, but thinking about it some of our younger players on this site wouldn't have even been born in 1970! A year or two later I was the proud owner of a D10 blue ZB with a Fender Twin w/JBL's. Shortly after that I was on the way to a full time spell as a pro musician playing 7 nights a week. Those were the days.

[Donny Johnston]

Ken, I feel a Scottishism coming on, whit an absolute stoater of a fotie.
What kind of steel is it. Donny.

[Ken Byng]

Donny - it was a Jim Burns / Nigel Dennis / Gordon Huntley reject called an Ormston. I can't begin to catalogue all of the the things wrong with it, suffice to say it was a pile of rubbish. But it looked the part, and that was what the band wanted. The guitar certainly wasn't a stoater!!!!

[Donny Johnston]

Was that before or after the Rotosound ?

[Ken Byng]

Was that before or after the Rotosound ?

It was a precursor to the Scrotumsound Donny. Later they had put roller nuts in place. My Ormston just had a V section for the strings to pass over to the tuners. A sawing action used to break strings left, right and centre. It was a crude beast with a very simple pull release changer. The only positive thing that I can say was that it had great tone.

[Ken Byng]

2 years after the photo above was taken, I was the proud possessor of a brand spanking new ZB D10 8 + 2. Mr Gordon Huntley was the first to own one a few weeks before me. The guitar cost me £832 which was a small fortune in 1972. You could buy a really tasty car straight from the showroom then, and still have a load of change. Eric Snowball made up a couple of extra knee levers and fitted them for me a few months later. The guitar was a combination of blue and natural birdseye. I was on cloud 9 when I got that guitar. As Donny would say it was a stoater!!

[Donny Johnston]

That is stoater with a capital stoat.

[Danny Mitchell]

Great pic, Ken, are you sporting 3 fingerpicks and thumbpick there? Very interested to know.

[Danny Mitchell]

Also, that was indeed a small fortune in those days, I'd just bought a two up, two down terrace house, back and front garden with outside lavy for slightly more than double the cost of your lovely guitar! It was in Cleethorpes mind you:)

[Ken Byng]

Great pic, Ken, are you sporting 3 fingerpicks and thumbpick there? Very interested to know.

Yes Danny - 3 finger picks. By 1972 I was corresponding with Maurice Anderson, and he advised me that I should wear 3 picks for bigger chords. I stuck with the 3 for another year or so and then reverted back to two. I thought if Buddy and Lloyd can get all that they do with just 2 finger picks then I will do the same.