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Post by snakehips on Dec 12, 2018 9:05:55 GMT
Hi again,
I should point out, for full disclosure sake, after criticising a much loved bluesman, Bukka White, about stripping off the Duco finish (surely one of the best I have seen too !) from HIS guitar and having it plated, that I too have been known to have a vintage National plated.
However, my one (Bakelite neck Triolian) had already lost it's original finish AND neck AND cone AND tailpiece. Just a body really, repainted (but peeling) in metallic gold, with a 12-string neck made by Don Young when he was still at Dobro. The neck was warped, the non-original paint finish was coming off and so needed a lot of work.
I stripped off the NON-original paint finish, got it nickel-plated by the same company Beltona used, and Dave King made a new neck (baritone) for it. That was 15yrs ago now !!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2018 9:17:46 GMT
WHILE we're on the subject of guitars for sale: link |
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Post by Michael Messer on Dec 12, 2018 9:25:17 GMT
 Shine On Michael |
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Post by leeophonic on Dec 13, 2018 20:44:36 GMT
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Post by Michael Messer on Dec 13, 2018 21:49:28 GMT
Lee, am I missing something because he is only playing in Spanish. Shine On Michael |
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Post by leeophonic on Dec 14, 2018 9:19:14 GMT
There was a lot of movement in the strings that I could see from the film , booker plays on the lap also with his steel rod, I know most people sort of know that he mostly played open D with the F# tuned to F but there was a point where I thought I wonder if....
Irrespective at the point the guitar was plated it would/should have been dismantled and re assembled prior to being played again, I wonder who did the work at that time in the early 70,s, Dobro??? Who knows that is still around.
I am always more interested in the pursuit of these things and the back story, the actual possession of the instrument is for someone else in this case, it will make the March sale interesting and if the pound stays low due to Brexit it may go back to the states....
Lee
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Post by Michael Messer on Dec 14, 2018 10:00:55 GMT
Lee, I don't know who did the plating. I think it is chrome plated, not nickel. It will definitely be going to the US and I am not saying the details on here, but for the price of a small house.
Shine On
Michael
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Post by Stevie on Dec 14, 2018 18:19:57 GMT
Perhaps Derek Trucks will have a second go at it?
e&oe...
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Post by Michael Messer on Dec 16, 2018 11:20:35 GMT
I Heard that this guitar has now been put away until the auction in March.
It is out of Derek's league. Hard Rock will go to a wealthy collector where it will take its place in a glass cabinet alongside some other famous National guitars.
Shine On
Michael
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Post by Michael Messer on Dec 23, 2018 11:28:37 GMT
....and on the subject of those cardigans bought for Son House and Bukka White, this is wonderful!
Shine On
Michael
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Post by andys on Dec 30, 2018 22:16:27 GMT
....and on the subject of those cardigans bought for Son House and Bukka White, this is wonderful! Shine On Michael Personally I think that is a shame. Instruments behind glass, never to be played again and just passed from investor to investor. Whatever their history they were made to be played, even if only sometimes. I hope that even if it's bought by some wealthy investor, it is sometimes respectfully brought out and played every now and again. Maybe even brought out and played at events that other wealthy people pay handsomely for and the money goes to charity. I like the fact that some players still gig and perform with their vintage gear, even. Knopfler still records with his old National, Marty Stuart still gigs with Clarence, Keef still uses Micawber and early 50s Fender amps. Young still uses his old Les Paul, as does Jimmy Page. But I've put forward these controversial views before. Classical players think nothing of using a 200 year old instrument in concert. I think Bukka would have been horrified at the fact that his hard worked guitar, that he modded to suit his situation (like many rock musicians did) may never be played again. Maybe I'm wrong. I bet it sounded lovely. I'd have played it in a cardigan too. |
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Post by Michael Messer on Dec 31, 2018 1:03:58 GMT
Andy,
Perhaps I didn't make my point clear. I also think that these instruments should be played, just as valuable & historically important violins are taken out and played. This should happen in a controlled situation, at a concert honouring the artist that owned it, that type of thing. What should not be happening and there is no justification whatsoever that a guitar as important as Hard Rock is being passed around a showroom being played by anyone that fancies a go. That really is not the way a historically important instrument should be treated. There will never be another Hard Rock and there will never be another of Bukka White's set lists stuck to the side of it. This stuff is too precious to be passed around a sale room. It doesn't make any sense to allow that to happen.
Of course it is very important that instruments should be played and maintained correctly, especially as they get older it keeps them from decaying into disrepair. I am sure Hard Rock sounds lovely and it should be treated in a way that it will sound lovely for hundreds of years to come when it is brought out to honour its owner, who just happened to be one of the twentieth century's most important musicians.
My point is that no matter which way we look at this, and as I have said, I agree it should be played, but it just can't be treated like a normal guitar, because it isn't one.
What you say about Bukka White wanting it to be played is probably absolutely right, but sadly, Bukka White and many other originators and masters of the blues had no idea of their place in history. We are dealing with a future form of classical music that as we can see from what is happening worldwide to twentieth century American & British rock, blues, folk, jazz, country...etc, it is becoming classical music and its originators will be studied for generations to come.
So while I do not really like the idea of guitars being stored in glass cases, I really do think that instruments such as Bukka White's National should be treated as extremely important historical pieces. I have been around quite a lot of well known instruments and no matter which way you slice it, once the musicians that owned and played these guitars are no longer with us, or they no longer own the guitars, they are no longer just normal instruments.
Shine On
Michael
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Post by Kris on Jan 1, 2019 23:55:07 GMT
The set list taped to it would cause quite a bit of concern from a preservation/future playability standpoint, I imagine? You certainly wouldn’t want to rip or damage that and it will only get more brittle and delicate with time.
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Post by Michael Messer on Jan 2, 2019 10:07:31 GMT
The set list taped to it would cause quite a bit of concern from a preservation/future playability standpoint, I imagine? You certainly wouldn’t want to rip or damage that and it will only get more brittle and delicate with time. Indeed, and the setlist is already nearly 50 years old. Shine On Michael. |
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Post by slide496 on Jan 2, 2019 12:48:21 GMT
They have preservation, deacidification processes for paper and costumes in art conservation, but I don't know whether that would involve removing it, if the caretaker wants to do that. I guess that is up to the caretaker and his perception of it, its been on there for quite some time, if that is Bukka's setlist.
I still don't see the point of playing it other than a qualified professional do so to check the integrity of the instrument, so they don't come in one day and find the neck cracked or something. I suppose there's no way of knowing if any parts have been replaced on it.
The several times I saw an iconic bluesman's instrument played the "magic" of it was diminshed. Kind of like if someone photographed themself wearing a well known costume of a movie icon. Just my 2 cents.
Lawd lawdy,
Harriet
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