Good Shit
Just got this clip from Dan Nosovich in Australia using my C.A.R. pickup along with the note below. Nice break in my day.
“Mark aka @juniorjukewalters took this clip of us doing some Johnny Guitar Watson on my tele. Bridge pickup straight into a Bassman RI. I’ve been playing my own (dodgy) takes on rockabilly and instros on the tele in other bands but enjoyed how it went in these fellas.”
TR Crandall Guitars
We’re lucky that many players and customers come through the Joshua Tree area on their way in or out of Los Angeles, and many come to play at our great neighborhood bar, Pappy and Harriet’s. When they do, we love having them come by the shop to hang out, play and talk guitars. But we get asked all the time if there is anyplace on the East coast that someone can see or play our guitars in person. We’re excited that now they can.
We just sent Smith Special #003 to TR Crandall Guitars in New York City. Located in the East Village, Tom Crandall and Alex Whitman have earned a reputation for providing some of the best repairs and restorations available, but also for creating a completely unique experience for musicians who stop by their shop. Not only can you hang out and play their well curated collection of vintage guitars, you’ll get an education about each ones history and what Tom has done to bring each instrument to spot on condition before putting them on their wall for sale. Its not often that you’ll find a shop owner who is also one of the best Luthiers in the business. So on a quiet street away from tourists, we’re proud that our friends on the East Coast can now go to TR Crandall to play and purchase a Smith Special in person, and get the service and experience I want as a musician.
Here are a few photos we took before the guitar headed East. It includes a custom case and black leather strap. If you’re in New York or will be visiting soon, stop by and check it out.
In The Shop With: Adrian Demain
For years I’ve been a big fan of longtime friend Adrian Demain’s guitar playing, and fortunately this weekend, he had a chance to stop by the shop. Adrian lives down by San Diego but lucky for us, he now plays once a month at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs with artist Nena Anderson in a trio that includes bassist Jim Austin. A favorite way for Jill and I to start a weekend; nice dinner in Palm Springs and great Jazz in the Amigo Room at the Ace.
I have always admired the fact that Adrian can play so many styles of music on a variety of instruments really well. From Jazz to Country to Hawaiian and Blues, he might be on guitar, steel guitar or ukulele. Adrian has a solo thing called Exotica-Tronica or you can catch him in current bands Brawley, Tiki Two with Susanna Kurner, Nena Anderson or Billy Watson.
In the video above, Adrian plays “Lush Life” with beautiful restraint and a subtleness that few players can achieve. He plays with so much intent. Then I had the pleasure of playing with him on the song “All the Things You Are”. Adrian played Smith Special 001 while I played rhythm on 003 before it leaves our hands this week. (more on that soon)
Hope you enjoy this session of “In The Shop With” as much as I enjoyed spending a few hours with Adrian talking music, guitars and listening to him play.
Monthly Motivation-Little Rock Getaway
If you’ve been to this site before, you know what a George Barnes nut I am. I’ve been wanting to work out his late 1930’s version of Little Rock Getaway for a long time so last week I spent every evening trying to work it out. I think I’m maxed out at about 80% of Barnes tempo. Any faster than that, the clams start flying, hahaha. I also played it at slow speed at the end of the clip for any one who wants to see the fingering that worked best for me. This is a really fun exercise and even though I’ll never get as fast as Mr. Barnes, I like to challenge myself to try.
First, you can listen to his original version and below that, the video where I’m trying to keep up!
Frankencaster
Smith’s Ranch Boy’s ’94 or ’95
I was recently asked about a guitar I used to call the Frankencaster and thought I’d post some pictures and tell its story. Mainly as a brain exercise to see if I could remember.
The guitar started out as an early eighties ’52 reissue, one with the super thick urethane finishes that I couldn’t stand. I bought it used around 1990 and shortly after, I striped the paint off the body and re-sprayed it copper with a spray can. I used the guitar that way until I left the Fly Rite Trio in ’92.
Work in progress 1993
The body was one of the heavy ones and I was always thinking about chambering it to make lighter. Plus, I had been thinking about putting a guitar together that matched the Summertone amp I had built a few years earlier. So at that point, I took the guitar apart. I started by milling 5/16’’ off the top of the body and then cut four chambers to shave off a few ounces. For the top I used a piece of knotty pine because I loved the look of Gretsch Roundups and added a piece of 1/4’’ rope for binding which seemed like a good idea at the time, hahaha. I finished the body and the neck with shellac. I later found out that shellac wasn’t the best finish for necks because I wore through it in less than a year.
1993
For pickups I used a set of old Carvins that I had and made some Bigsby looking covers for them. That’s when I discovered that the cover has more to do with a pickup than just appearance. I used a B-5 for the vibrato. I ended up cutting the tension bar off shortly after I put it together and went with the neck shim angle/ bridge height that I still use today for my tele conversions. I played it for number of years with my band Smiths Ranch Boys during the mid nineties. I was constantly changing pickups and experimenting with pickup covers.
Temple City 2000
In 2004 I needed something to test out an original Charlie Christian pickup that I had so I took the guitar apart again, planed the pine top off, made the chambers larger and glued a new top on. I got a lot of play out of that guitar. Below is a photo of the remaining parts and a video of one of the first Smith’s Ranch Boys shows at Linda’s Doll Hut (it looks like a DeArmond for the bridge pickup). Who knows, maybe some day it will get put back together for the next phase of its evolution. On second thought probably not.
What’s left of it 2014
