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I don’t think I’ve seen any posts on the regular Strat fora praising Ron Wood. He’s been with the band almost as long as Bill Wyman. And he’s played on so many great songs and albums.
He plays a 55 Strat and 52 Tele among others. A link to an article and vid of Ron going through his live instruments. 55 is his number one but he’s got a 54 back up, you know, like we all do.
https://www.videomuzic.eu/watch-ron-...ction/?lang=en
Uh......there's the not-insignificant matter of Brian Jones who, with Jagger and Keith, actually formed the band and was solely responsible for the fledgling quintet's name. When Jones left the band his shoes were filled by Mick Taylor, whose stint lasted nearly five years.Quote:
Originally Posted by ch willie
Relatively speaking, Ronnie's an FNG.
Yadig?
Ronnie Wood cut his chops playing for the (Small) Faces, with and without Rod Stewart. I was as surprised as were many when he was tapped to replace Taylor. I also think the best songs and guitar work the Stones ever did had Taylor on the fretboard.
Just sayin.'
Edited to add: I always thought the baby-faced Taylor looked so out place among the grizzled veterans of the Rolling Stones. Turns out he's roughly the same age (he turned 72 this year) and he's put on weight, but he'd probably still fit in.
https://mediamass.net/jdd/public/doc...ities/1206.jpg
The funny thing is, Woody's been a member of the stones since 1975, so over 45 years.
Referring to him as a "new guy" is kind of funny at this point. So the Stones had Brian Jones from 62 - 69, Mick Taylor from 69 - 75, then Wood till now.
Bill Wyman was ther from 63 - 93, plus a guest spot in 2012.
I can understand Roger’s point of view, but at the same time Ronnie has been with the Stones for over 40 years now, as said above.
Besides, though I really like the early 70s Stones, 72 being my favorite tour, I’ve always thought that Mick Taylor was slightly too noodly for the post. The Stones never were a jam band, and his solos were casting a shadow on Keef’s rhythm and riffs, which to my ears are the core of the band.
Ronnie os the perfect tool for the job, IMHO. Not as shy as George Harrison, but also not too flashy.
Have I mentioned I love the Stones?
I concur. Ronnie is a much better fit than Mick. But I enjoyed Brian's early contributions as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sérgio
I dig. He has never seemed like a B Jones-level Stone since he came in later. But he’s played on some great songs, even if no album in Exile realm. I love his playing, and I think it fits with the kind of songs Keith and Mick began to write. I think Some Girls is a high point, and I think that eventually, Tattoo You will be reassessed as a very good one. Wood’s playing with Keith on those albums is excellent. And good songs.Quote:
Originally Posted by phantomman
Still. I love Ron’s Fender. Imagine playing a 55 live! Not a replica. And a real 54 as backup—that’s what is fantastic. He’s just a boy with expensive toys.
Any thoughts on 55 models?
I've often considered building a '55 clone -- an ash body in Desert Sand with a gold-anodized pickguard. It would afford me the opportunity to try out Fender's Pure Vintage '54 pickup set which I've always been curious about. But I just couldn't justify the effort and expense merely for bragging rights since such an instrument would seldom, if ever, be played.
Let’s also not forget that in the early 70s Keith played strats too.
:bonkYou’d probably make one equal to it! I always enjoy seeing your builds and hearing the details of what parts you’ve used.Quote:
Originally Posted by phantomman
he still does. I don’t think it too hard to find a vid of tours within the last 10 years on which Keef’s got a sunburst Strat on him.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sérgio
The Custom Shop '54s are the ONLY single coils I use, & they are in all my Strats. They are cosmetically identical to a vintage p'up, & more importantly they sound like glass. They are low output so they give you clear, bell-like tones. You used to be able to buy a set for less than a c-note, but no more. They're hovering around $200 right now.Quote:
Originally Posted by phantomman
Cogs have you had experience with the 57/62s? I’ve got them on one Strat and like them a lot.
to be fair to Ronnie, he's had those guitars since they were just old guitars, not valuable heirlooms. He didn't go out and go Joe Bonamassa on them. :biglaugh:
+1
I believe Keith's Tele/Esquire guitars were similar acquisitions.
what's fairly amazing is how long he's had them. The annals of rock and roll history is filled with sad tales of guitars stolen from music's elite.
IIRC Keith lost a nice '58 sunburst Les Paul with a Bigsby tailpiece several decades ago. Stole it right from the equipment van and it's never been seen since.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ch willie
yes but back then he worked a lot with a strat
Is that a different burst from the one dubbed the Keef burst?Quote:
Originally Posted by phantomman
If you mean the stock pickups that come in the reissue series, yes. I don't hate them, they just don't really stike me as having any personality. They work, & that's about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by ch willie
I guess I should amend my earlier statement to say that all the Strats I've BUILT have the CS 54's. My '65 RI & my latest acquisition guitars are stock & I don't want to change a thing about them. The American Original '50s might get a set, but the '65 is just perfect.
I like the 57/62s when I eq them a bit. I should go to a store and try out different models of Strats to hear the pups--I never do because of being a lefty.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cogs
I actually get very glassy tones from the Duncan SSL set I put in my parts Strat. They're hot-ish pups, but they can sound pretty "vintage" to me. It's my fave of my collection at the moment--the "ugly" one I've shown everybody recently.
The 57/62 pickup set represents (to me) the prototypical Strat sound. Not bad mind you but not particularly remarkable. My favorite Fender pickups thus far are the Fat '50s. However I always keep an open mind when it comes to tone. A decade ago I was convinced that D-Series JBL's were the best-sounding guitar speakers. I've since discovered (or more precisely, rediscovered) how tasty vintage Jensen speakers can be. So it pays to keep an open mind in the absence of empirical data and hands-on experience.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phantomman
Well, I’ll ask permiso to take that as a compliment! I see many folks dissing the fat 50s but to my ears they’re the coolest sounding strat pickups among the modern stuff.
I've never seen a bad review of the Fat '50s. Weird.
My best friend loves those Fat 50s. I stayed away from them because what I write needs a different sound. I've also never heard anything bad about them.
Fat '50s sound their most articulate and punchiest when the guitar is played through a vintage Fender tube amp.
I played through friends' vintage amps when those amps weren't tooo vintage. But I haven't played one of the great ones. I'd love to have a couple of hours with one, just for the experience.
Have any of you built an amp approaching vintage-sound quality? Serious question. Or is it the age of those amps, parts that you can't get now.
I'm guessing it's a little of both. Certain components and materials aren't available now, and those could affect the sound, for better or worse. But also the age of the amp, as things are worn in, certain parts waver out of spec a bit, speakers especially are more broken in, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by ch willie
Also the consistancy of the parts were different then - manufacturing tolerances are far tighter now than then. There are many fantastic vintage amps out there, but then there are dogs - though some of those may not survive now, for any number of reasons.
Those paradigms are known collectively as "mojo" and are -- usually -- quite desirable. But I've witnessed a few rare instances when the opposite was true and the amp sounded like a whimpering basset hound, usually due to excessive component drift.Quote:
Originally Posted by jrgtr42
I believe in mojo. It's a magical quality that I don't want to needle at too much. I like the mystery of it. Why do my parts Fenders, the ones that'd bring me the least return, sound better and feel and play better than my straight out Fenders? I'm not going to question it.
The guitar's not The Holy Grail; its Mojo is.
In the case of a guitar it literally is the instrument since so much of its "mojo" is predicated on naturally-aged woods. That's something which can't be replicated artificially. Body, neck, and fretboard are significantly responsible for how the guitar looks, feels, plays, and -- to a lesser extent -- sounds (especially in the case of an acoustic or acoustic-electric instrument). Electronics can be "aged" to simulate old pickups, pots, caps, etc., but only a skilled player/owner familiar with vintage guitars can determine whether such measures sound authentic.
Agreed there - depending on which components are wavering, it can sound AMAZING!!!! or... not. I've even run across amps that can sound great one day, and like a hippopotomus fart the next. Nothing has changed as far as environment, cables, guitars, it's in the exact same place as before, but it doesn't sound good.Quote:
Originally Posted by phantomman
I had a '62 Tweed Champ - yes !!, they were still making them. It looked its age but it sounded great ... until I went to sell it and something crapped out right before the new owner tried it out. I got a lot less than I was hoping for and that lead to me selling my silver face princeton reverb that I had since new, which also went for a lot less than I wanted. I just wanted to get out of there (guitar show).
I really miss that princeton reverb ('72, '73). no way I can afford one today
Guitar shows are filled with cutthroats. Imagine an auditorium filled with death-row psychopaths & that's a guitar show
I was just telling a friend of mine that Princetons may have supplanted the Deluxe as the best amp ever made by Fender
Lol
Let's keep that narrative going. I stilll want a tweed deluxe, but can't get the scratch at this point.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cogs
Do you want a tweed Deluxe or merely crave the tweed Deluxe sound?
If the latter, consider building one yourself (as I did) or pick up one of the nice boutique repro's from Allen, Victoria, etc. They're relatively well-built and -- after some creative tube-rolling and a speaker change -- sound pretty authentic.
I'm looking for the 5E3 circuit. Doesn't matter to me if it has the Fender name on it - that said, a vintage one would be ideal.Quote:
Originally Posted by phantomman
I'm not against the idea of building it myself, or a clone, though the prices have been as much for a kit as a lower -end fully built. And the higher end ones are almost as much as a new Fender. The '57 Custom series is supposed to be great, but $2K for one of those.
I built my 5E3 clone for about half of what Fender charges for their POS. Every connection is soldered (no ribbon cables), no imported components (save for the F&T electrolytics), no chicom glass (all NOS RCA bottles), and no junk repro speaker (a genuine Chicago-made Jensen). FMIC is currently charging $2195, you should be able to build a better one for around $1200 or so.