@bill_graham This is a little bit like a person who hords toilet paper during a Covid outbreak complaining about a shortage of toilet paper, but I get what Joe's saying. Supply vs. demand - Economics 101.
EDIT: hords not hordes.
Norman's Rare Guitars, guitar of the day 1976 Martin D-35
Norman's Rare Guitars Guitar of the day
Fender American Professional II Telecaster Roated Pine. Pretty guitar
Normans Reare Guitars
Joe Bonamassa buys a 1962 Fender Stratocaster
@bill_graham Old Norm seems to get a sale for an old guitar from Joe every time Joe steps into Norm's joint.
Joe is his best customer!!
The 62 red Strat is pretty and sounds good too.
Like showing a bottle of Jack to a drunk, Norm knew he would get a sale!!
Here is a similar guitar. I think it's a 1961.
GM said he was a Les Paul man but some years he realized he played a Strat almost as much.
What facial expressions. Something must have been in his trousers bitting him!!
Gibson Les Paul 1958 Goldtop and Sunbursts
https://truevintageguitar.com/blogs/tvg-blog/1958-gibson-les-paul-standard-burst
Gibson Les Paul Jr barn find renovation
Norman Rare Guitars Guitar of the day
1978 Fender Bronco in black
The conflict of the modern day guitar virtuoso
https://www.guitarworld.com/news/rock-guitar-virtuosos-book-herbst-vallejo
Free book
Rock Guitar Virtuosos
Joe Bonamassa on what made Gary Moore a legend
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/joe-bonamassa-on-what-made-gary-moore-a-guitar-legend
@bill_graham Gary Moore burning a hole in the stage with a Les Paul and three Marshalls!!
Albert King once told Gary Moore, "maybe play every other lick. He never listened."
Andy Summers on selling Eric Clapton his Les Paul.
https://guitar.com/news/music-news/andy-summers-eric-clapton-begged-sell-les-paul-200-pounds/
Long interview with Summers
@porkchopbob Joe Bonamassa recently said he was 13 when he heard Gary Moore's Still Got The Blues" then he heard Walter Trout and he was smitten by how they shredded like a hot heavy metal or jazz player on the blues and he (Joe) followed their lead.
Personally I don't like a lot of shredding on the blues. Especially when it's mostly running scales up or down the neck real fast.
Maybe that is why Joe Bonamassa is not one of my favorites but I do respect his talent and ability to o play what he plays clean and in tune. And I love hearing him talk guitars and his collection. Man Joe is a sucker for Les Pauls, Strats and Teles in that Joe buys every one someone holds up in front of him. But Joe loves guitars and I can dig being that way if you have the money.
B. B. King said after Gary Moore died in 2011 of heavy drinking while on vacation in Spain that he and Albert King and Albert Collins really liked Gary and Gary helped them get on some big shows in Europe but he was a heavy metal rocker who later fell in love with the blues.
B. B. said they told Gary several times to slow down a little and go for more feel and expand your vibrato but Gary said he was trying but just couldn't seem to stay away from his long term style when he is trying to play from within as Albert King was telling him.
Albert apparently took to Stevie Ray Vaughn more than Gary.
Other than the Kings and a few others who are good playing the blues, Dickey on lead and Duane on slide is the way I like to hear the blues. Side one on Fillmore East and One Way Out and Trouble No More on Peach are outstanding!!!
Gary with Albert and Albert on the tour. Albert Collins was trying to be kind. Said Gary plays rock blues. Well all of them including B. B. are gone now.
Harley Benton makes really inexpensive copy guitars.
Thought these short scale Strats were pretty cool and less than $100
https://www.guitarworld.com/news/harley-benton-st-junior-sbk
https://www.thomannmusic.com/harley_benton_ms_jr.htm
Rare Guitars
@robertdee Albert King always said nice things about Gary Moore, but I think he was more impressed by his speed and riding the wave of the next generation of players than actually enjoyed his playing. It never did much for me. Same with Bonamassa, he's kind of the Michael Bublé of blues guitar.
@porkchopbob The Michael Buble of blues guitar!! He he!! That was funny.
Gary Moore drew big crowds in Europe and Gary suddenly shifted from his hard rock/heavy metal music to the blues. With that he reached out to American blues players to join him on stage. B. B. King went over and played with Gary and so did Albert King and Albert Collins. And B.B. and Albert Collins appear on record and video with Gary.
I think Gary's popularity in Europe is why these old blues giants went.
I read years ago Gary was disappointed Eric Clapton avoided playing with him. Gary said he eventually was at a gathering in London and Clapton was at the bar so Gary went over and said " Mr. Clapton I'm Gary" and Clapton replied "I know who you are". They chatted briefly and nothing came of the meeting.
Joe Bonamassa just stated the other day that he was 13 when he discovered Gary Moore and Walter Trout and their shredding approach to the blues impressed him and he admits Joe's approach to the blues today is really stealing from the Gary Moore playbook.
But even with slow blues, to me, Gary plays too many notes. He has a good tone, he is clean and his bends and vibrato is first rate. But it's too fast and lacks the kind of "within" feeling I like. Check it out and let me know if you agree.
@robertdee I hate it when people use terms like, "white boy blues" ... but sometimes, it just fits.
These "blues-shredders" can sure play a lot of notes really fast, which is impressive but (to me) they kinda miss the point. Miles Davis once pointed out that, "the spaces between the notes are as important as the notes" (paraphrased from weak memory). Joe and Gary - both great players, but it's like hearing someone speed-read a love sonnet ... or someone who drives their car 120 mph through a beautiful forest or seaside highway. I never saw Gary but I saw Joe twice before he became a world brand. My main knock on Joe - he's just not doing anything that hasn't already been done.
@rusty I agree with you Rusty. Probably Joe Bonamassa would have been better served if he had followed the playbook of the traditional blues players and tried to find his own style within that framework.
I've seen Joe twice and technically Joe has it all, tone is good on the different make guitars he played, clean, good vibrato and incredible speed. But void of a unique style and feeling you get with the Kings, Duane and Dickey etc.
I saw Gary Moore once in the mid 80's before he went blues. Gary was heavy metal I suppose when I saw him. I went with the same guitar nut friend who took me to see Van Halen and David Lee Roth when David had Steve Via. I realized these guys could perhaps run circles around Duane and Dickey with the fast runs and I had not heard of Gary and Gary was another that was similar to Eddie and Vai. Blackmore with Deep Purple was another shredder I saw back then.
I was impressed with their chops but just never really got into that kind of music.
Here is Gary from that time frame and he, to me, uses many of the same heavy metal licks when he was playing the blues.
This track has one of my top 5 blues solos.
Tremendous feeling. Great tone. Clean and it sounds like Dickey not BB or Albert King or Collins etc. It sounds like Dickey.
@porkchopbob Hey Porkchopbob a friend just sent me this from Warren Haynes. Nice slide by a player I don't know at the beginning.
New Gibson Les Pauls are lighter and have thinner neck for easier and more comfortable playing!!
I love the blue color. A bluetop Les Paul!
@robertdee While I'll never be able to afford to be one of those "1958 snobs", I just don't care for the recent crop of Gibson Les Pauls. A Les Paul use to be a Les Paul. There were a few variants - most notably, Standard, Deluxe, Custom and Special - now they come in more flavors than Baskin Robbins! While surgically removing large chunks of wood from the body appeases some players - I'm pretty that the original density was part of what gave the Les Paul its sound(?). As I type - there is a guitar case-shaped package under my Christmas tree that is most certainly not a Les Paul. This one will likely be the penultimate guitar in my collection. My next (final?) guitar will have humbuckers. My "Holy Grail" guitar is a Gibson ES335, but it could wind up being a Les Paul. Of course I might be lying through my teeth and end up with both ... or even several more!
Merry Christmas and Happy Pickin' to all!
@rusty Yeah I am with you Rusty. I am old school and love my Les Paul which weighs 9.5 lbs with no weight relief.
I do understand why Gibson is trying to diversify though. From what I read the younger guitar players are not buying old-school Gibsons and Fenders so they have to add funky options to make sales I guess.
As long as they don't discontinue the traditional models I think it is smart business to keep up with current trends. All they need now is popular current musicians to use these new funky models.
@rusty can post some pix of any guitars Santa brings you?
Also how are the repairs going on your Guild?
@bill_graham Pictures of the new guitar (recent American Fender "Professional" Strat ... according to an elf I know) coming later.
The guitar being repaired is the 1965 GUILD that I bought at a yard sale for $50.00. Repairs include a neck reset -done by one of America's premier luthiers and costing considerably more than the purchase price. I'm not rushing the repair so it'll likely be after New Year's when I get it back. Even with the repair cost, it'll still be well within the value of the instrument. Honestly, I'm more jazzed about getting it back than the new Christmas guitar. I'll certainly update on both asap!
