Connect Black Sabbath/Slade/Queen/Steel Guitar ?

[Basil Henriques]

Well, the players in all those bands and more, all had John Birch Guitars/Pickups..Developed originally for the steel guitar.
Roy Orbison, Brian May, Tony Iommi, Dave Hill (Slade), Gerry Shephard(Glitter Band), all are/were using the pickups that were originally designed for Steel Guitar.

Recently there have been claims that John Diggins made John Birch Pickups..
We all know that John Diggins is probably the best luthier in the UK, but I'm not so sure that's accurate about John Diggins making the pickups. I'd be pretty sure that John Birch made pickups. Why, well, the test bed for the ORIGINAL John Birch Pickups was my Fender 1000, and the year John and I made the prototypes was 1965. John Diggings may well have wired up the John Birch guitars, and definitely worked as a luthier on the bodies, but the encapsulating in epoxy resin and encasing in a stainless case was an Idea that John Birch and I implemented in 1965

I myself persuaded John Birch to leave his job at Ampex as a field service engineer and pursue customised pickup installation and eventually guitar manufacture.

The original concept of Stereo Wiring was because of the requirements of the record contact I had with EMI, the steel guitar was to be recorded in stereo at the Abbey Road Studios and released on their premier label "Studio Two Stereo" the first album release date (1967) pre-dates John Diggins' association with John Birch Guitars by some .

You'll find a bit more about my friend John Birch's association with my music by going to my web site and reading notes of Castaways Live Vol.1+2

http://www.waikiki-islanders.com/html/live_1.html

John Birch was a fan of our band, an Hawaiian Record collector and Hawaiian Guitar enthusiast/player. I still have his Album/Cine/Tape collection, passed on to me when John so tragically died.

33 Innage Rd Northfield was his home, and many days and nights were spent there with us winding coils and testing and comparing magnets etc, (always with copious quantities of tea supplied by Joyce.)

Just in case you thought I didn't know SOMETHING about pickups and their design..

BAsil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_(luthier)

[Ken Byng]

Fellow Southampton steeler Dave Nash once bought a 12 string pick up from JB for his own NASH steel. Probably around 30 years back. It was very well put together if my memory serves me correctly, including being potted to reduce feedback and extraneous noise. This was in the days before steel guitar pickups were widely available.

[Basil Henriques]

I was/am a fan of those bands,
Of course I am.. coming from Birmingham and being as involved with the music scene as I was (and Still am) I couldn't help but get to know the boys in most of the bands/groups.. The Elbow Room on a Monday night in Birmingham in the early 60's would have a lot of us just Jamming'... Most of the Move, Stevie Winwood, Carl Wayne (Big Ears), Roy Wood, Jim Capaldi and lots of us would just have fun playing whatever.. anyone might drop in..The lads From Fairport, Earth, Spencer Davis.. whoever..
I was at the time the only pedal player on THAT scene..

Of course the Castaways in Bradford Street was the initial meeting place for many a soiree and then adjourned to the Elbow Room or the Rainbow, or wherever the flow went.

(Stolen but accurate)
Whereas plenty of Midlanders would find fame (if not fortune!) in the Swinging Sixties, many would find global recognition later on in the 70s but first spent the 60s paying their dues and honing their talents and having an absolute ball!

And the West Midlands was literally teeming with beat groups who seemed to spring up in every suburb of Birmingham and throughout the Black Country, spurred on by the explosion of interest in rhythm and blues and soul music in particular.

Among these “BrumBeat” bands were the likes of the Spencer Davis Group, The Moody Blues, The Move, The Rockin’ Berries and The Idle Race who eventually metamorphosed into the Electric Light Orchestra.

That’s not to forget The ‘N’ Betweens who would eventually change their name to Ambrose Slade and then simply Slade, and other bands like The Uglys whose front-man Steve Gibbons was about to find international recognition in the following decade. There were many others that provided household names including Band Of Joy who comprised of future Led Zeppelin mega-stars Robert Plant and John Bonham and of course a certain band called Earth from the Midlands then changed their name to Black Sabbath….

I could go on for ages and there are many other people more qualified than myself to write in great depth about the vibrant Midlands rock scene in the 60s so there’s no need for me to generalise further on the subject (for more information why not visit http://www.brumbeat.net ?).

Where have all those musical days gone ? They're still in my mind's eye and I can relate to others all of the Shenanigans of the days of yore.. (Well maybe not ALL!)

[Basil Henriques]

From Black Sabbath to Slade in 11 steps
First we start with Black Sabbath
that has member Bob Daisley that was member of Uriah Heep
that has member Ken Hensley
that was member of The Gods
that has member John Glascock that was member of The Juniors that has member Alan Shacklock that was member of Babe Ruth
that has member Dick Powell
that has sibling Don Powell
that was member of Slade


From Slade to Queen in 13 steps
First we start with Slade that has member Don Powell
that has sibling Dick Powell
that was member of Babe Ruth
that has member Alan Shacklock that was member of The Juniors that has member John Glascock that was member of Jethro Tull
that has member Eddie Jobson that was member of U.K.
that has member Bill Bruford
that was member of Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe that has member Steve Howe
that performed on the track Innuendo by Queen