I just got back from a semi-impromptu trip to Cleveland to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I won't go into the decision-making process of who's in and who isn't, because everyone has their own opinions on that. My only commentary on that is that there is a very strong emphasis on The Beatles (but that's their current showcase exhibit, based on the Disney+ "Get Back" remastered video by director Peter Jackson. Having seen the entire program, I didn't need to spend too much time with the exhibit. The Rolling Stones are everywhere, as is Jimi Hendrix. Okay, they all belong, but I wanted to see the "lesser known" inductees.
So, I was perfectly prepared to not see some of my favorites (Little Feat, Spirit) as they seemed to fly under the radar for the most part, but after going from the bottom to the top, back down again, and up again, I finally had to ask a staff member why they didn't have anything on display from the only three-time HOF inductee, Eric Clapton? A brief awkward silence, then a handoff to another staffer, who almost apologetically told me, "We used to have Clapton's guitar from Tears In Heaven." He then informed me that items not donated to the museum are privately owned, and lent, such as ZZ Top's hot rod, which they had for eight years before giving it back. Artists, families or collectors lend items. Apparently, Clapton is not a fan of institutions (he said so in one of his induction speeches) and so has not seen fit to contribute to his elevated status.
The one display I liked most was found on the sixth floor, where there are only four displays (and not even listed on the hall's web site). The fifth and sixth floors are both listed as "Legends of Rock," so one has to wonder about the thinking of the sixth floor displays. As I entered the display room, my eyes fell upon a rig used by John Cipollina, one of the two guitarists for the seminal San Francisco acid rock band, Quicksilver Messenger Service. The sands of time are not kind to anyone or anything without care and maintenance. So Cipollina's name is likely unknown to today's generation of guitar players (he died in 1989 from a lifelong respiratory ailment. He was 46). Not only did he play electric guitar with metal fingerpicks, but he designed and built his own amp stack. It's this stack that was donated to the museum in 1995.
There is a John Cipollina web site, and a stock photo of this rig, along with the following description (also used in the HOF):
To create his distinctive guitar sound, Cipollina developed this one-of-a-kind amplifier stack. All of his guitars, including the one here, were wired with two pickups, one for bass and one for treble. The bass pickup fed into the two Standel bass amps on the bottom of the stack. Each Standel was equipped with two 15-inch speakers. The treble pickups fed the two Fender amps--a Fender Twin Reverb with two 12-inch speakers and a Fender Dual Showman--that drove the six Wurlitzer horns. "I like the rapid punch of solid-state for the bottom, and the rodent-gnawing distortion of the tubes on top," Cipollina said.
Cipollina used a custom foot-switched system to select reverb, tremolo, Astro Echoplex (the unit mounted on the right of the Twin Reverb), Standel Modulux (on the left of the twin reverb) or the horns. Truck running lights indicated which effect was being used.
Cipollina also employed a Gibson Maestro Fuzz and Vox wah-wah and volume pedals.
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Originally Posted by blackonblack
