Minor celebrity Tokai users.

I had included the following anecdote in a previous post :


and once tried to bum a strum on Jimmy Armstrong's (ex Van Morrison's Them) original '58, 59 in a drunken stupor

Jim Armstrong is a superb Blues/Rock player well known here in Northern Ireland. Somewhat in the vein of Geoff Whitehorn for GB members (even looks similar).

I didn't mention that around the late 70's or early 80's Jim gave the original LP (can't remember if it was a 58, 59 or 60 'burst but certainly from the classic megabucks era) a rest and started gigging a Love Rock and Springysound after Harry Baird's music in Belfast started importing them.

In recent years I was told that he had finally sold the Gibson original .. and replaced it with a Love Rock!!

It also just occurred to me that its ironic that we buy replicas of the original bursts and then swap out the pups presumably to get a more modern high gain sound as I've noticed a number of people have commented that the Tokai PAF's can be a little weak. Its a matter of taste obviously but the irony is that the most famous users of the original 'bursts (whose influence presumably made them so desirable) used them for the sound and probably didn't give a **** about how they looked.

Odd isn't it?


Cheers

Mark

Click to expand...

Isn't it also a llittle odd that Jimmy Page, who owned at least two of the most desired late 50's Les Pauls, played entry-level Danelectro guitars in latter day Zeppelin?

May be a common effect of getting older and more experienced. I've noticed over the years a tendency to a much simpler setup and less gain. No more multipickup wang bar equipped rock axes and multiple fx. Now I prefer a good solid simple axe straight into the amp.

I know many experienced electric players often end up playing acoustics. Whether this is preference or fading hearing; increased responsibilities or what I don't know. But if generally true we'll all end up playing Tok J200's.

Get in there quick before prices rocket :wink:

For Led Zep I & II Jimmy used his Tele didn't he? I'm sure his LP only came onto the scene either part way through II or before III at least.

As for Tokai users, I was surprised to read in an interview with Brian May in UK's "Guitarist" mag, that the acoustic he used in Queen is a Tokai HummingBird (the scan of that piece is on the registry...).

Skybone said:

For Led Zep I & II Jimmy used his Tele didn't he? I'm sure his LP only came onto the scene either part way through II or before III at least.

Click to expand...

That's true. He didn't own a Sunburst at that time. He did have a black Les Paul Custom (see the LZ DVD RAH concert). That was stolen and then he got the first Sunburst (from Joe Walsh?).

Found this Jimmy Page gear list online - thought it might interest some of you:

YARDBIRDS GUITARS
* 58 Fender Telecaster blonde rosewood neck
* Gibson Les Paul custom black
* Gibson Les Paul w/Bigsby, cherry sunburst- recording guitar

YARDBIRDS AMPS
* Vox ac 30

YARDBIRDS EFFECTS
* Roger Mayer treble booster(concorde)
* Vox Tonebender
* Colorsound Tonebender

LED ZEPPELIN GUITARS
* 58' Gibson Les Paul cherry sunburst changed tuners to gold Grover tuners
* 59' Gibson Les Paul cherry sunburst given by Joe Walsh
* Gibson Les Paul custom Bigsby 3 pickups
* Vox 12 string studio
* Harmony Sovereign acoustic Led Zep III tour
* 1971 Martin D28 acoustic played in the studio and on tour after 1971
* Rickenbacke 12-string used on stage in 1971
* Gibson SG double-neck Twelve/six string double-neck guitar, both fitted with two humbuckers. Jimmy played it on stage for Stairway to Heaven, Tangerine, The Rain Song, and The Song Remains The Same and in the studio for Carouselambra serial # 911117
* Gibson '73 Les Paul Std re-sprayed cherry red, it's seen in The Song Remains The Same, fitted with a Parsons/White B-Bender
* Danelectro '59 DC body. It was made from the best parts of 2 Danelectros, and fitted with a Badass bridge. Used on stage for Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, White Summer/Black Mountain Side, In My Time Of Dying, and often for Kashmir (especially after '77)
* '59 Fender Telecaster, botswana brown first appeared on stage in 1977. Nicknamed "The Brown Bomber". Used on Hot Dog and All My Love during the final tour. It is actually the body of a '59 Telecaster with the neck of his '58 Telecaster, which was ruined by a "friend" who repainted it without asking Page
* '60 Fender Stratocaster (Lake Placid Blue)first used in '79 on stage, especially for In the Evening
* Gibson RD Artist: used at Knebworth for Misty Mountain Hop.
* Gibson SG: he seldom used it, during the '80 tour.
* '66 Fender Stratocaster (Cream): played for All My Love, during the '80 European tour.

LED ZEPPELIN AMPS
* Marshall SLP-1959 100-watt amp which was modded with KT-88 tubes which boosted its output
* 50 watt HIWATT amps
* Univox UX: UX-1501 Amplifier 8 tubes, 140 Watts, 2 guitar, bass and mixer inputs, 2 Volume and Gain controls, Treble, Middle, Bass & Presence controls and Standby & Power switches. Four speaker outputs and a feature that allowed bleding of channels, plus Hi-Boost switch. Bundled with UX-1516 6x12 Guitar Celestion Speaker cabinet for $1400
* Orange Matamps 200 watts

LED ZEP EFFECTS• Vox wah wah
* Univox UD-50 Uni-Drive
* Maestro Echoplex
* Eventide H949 Harmonizer used on stage from 77-79
* MXR phase 90 USED on The Wanton Song and Achilles Last Stand
* MXR blue box used in Fool In The Rain
* Theremin unit used in whole lotta love and no quarter
* Gizmotron: The Gizmotron was a hexaphonic mechanical string bowing device invented by Lol Creme and Kevin Godley of 10CC. It never took off and was some kind of financial disaster. It has been described by Jimmy as a 'hurdy gurdy type of thing'. It existed in two versions: 4 or 6 strings (bass or guitar). The Gizmotron works by having a rubber wheel for each string and a key for each wheel, such that pressing down on the key engages the wheel with a rotating shaft and the guitar string. The shaft rotates the wheel which then excites the string. Jimmy may have used it on Carouselambra and In The Evening to produce the drone sound.

- Chris

indravayu said:

YARDBIRDS GUITARS
* Gibson Les Paul w/Bigsby, cherry sunburst- recording guitar

Click to expand...

Right, I remember seeing a photo of him and that guitar somewhere, and also Eric Clapton with probably the same guitar when recording with Cream which he might have borrowed from Jimmy Page after his 1960 Cherry Sunburst got stolen.

But Brian May is a Tokai user...

Eric Clapton is named in 1.985/86 catalogue in the "people playing a Tokai" page(not oficial endorseer)......

SRV used a Tokai Strat...

Minors and majors :wink:

http://www.tokairegistry.com/images/catalogs/vol12p16.jpg