To London and...The Temperance Movement

Well, we're off again, and yesterday saw our Tour Manager, Alnico, visiting the superb Temperance Movement at their secret lair recording studio somewhere in London. 

I'll let Alnico explain:

"We were invited to a secret location on London where they were recording and me and Natasha were treated like guests for the entire afternoon and evening. Everyone involved could not have been nicer to us. We met the whole band and they took some time out later on for autographs and photographs. 

A sincere thank you to Paul Sayer for arranging this for us and the same to the band who were not only very interested in our project but incredibly supportive of our own personal story and the events which went before this. 

Our guitar raises eyebrows wherever it goes and everyone was amazed by it as they always are. In roughly ten minutes it is going in my car for the next part of it's adventure but here it is with 'The Temperance Movement'............."

And seriously folks, if you haven't before you really owe it to yourself to check TTM out.

You can find their web site HERE  

La la laaaa

I Loved This

Well, so much is nearly happening, it was groovy cool to just see this - made by the man they call Moss (who incidentally is going to have one uber cool guitar in the nearest future, but that's for another blog)

La la laaaa

The Story of the Badge on the Strap

If you happen to see The Gimme Shelter One over the next 12 months, one thing you'll notice is that it has a strap. OK, not the most interesting observation, and perhaps what I should have said was that it has a Badge on it's strap, a really special and important badge. And I'm really pleased that our Tour Manager, Alnico, explained it a while ago over on theFretBoard Forum.

I thought we should reproduce what he said here. He wrote it the first evening that he had The Gimme Shelter One at home with him, before taking it to Birmingham for the Official Launch:

"Having this "Fella" here with us tonight has really brought a lot of things home for me. Chief among which is the fact that I literally owe my entire existence to my late Father. That may sound blatantly obvious but read on, it's more appropriate to this whole thing than you may think. 

In 1958 my Grandfather decided he'd had enough and left my Grandmother with my late Father aged 10, my Uncles both aged 5 and my Auntie aged 2. He left them on a park bench with only the clothes they were wearing and walked away from them, knowing they had nowhere to go that night except the Shelters. 

With four young children my Grandmother had to knock on that door and ask for help that night. 

They lived in one room with no carpet or furniture and they slept on blankets. Each day there was no food and my Grandmother had to leave my two Uncles in the care of their 10 year old big brother (My Dad) while she went out to 'Find' food. They drank water from old jam jars and ate whatever their mum would come home with. They had the same one set of clothes they were left in for a whole year while they lived in that one room with, in those days an outhouse for a toilet and no proper facilities. 

My Grandmother was an amazing Woman and eventually she met a lovely man who took her and the four children in and gave them all a nice, comfortable home and the Father Figure the children so desperately needed. 

My Dad became an adult in that year, becoming the 'Man of the House' and so from that moment on, the other three children looked up to him in a way that only people who have been through hell together can do. The remained in awe of him for the rest of his life. Everyone did.
In 1963 after he had been playing at the Cavern Club in Matthew street, he made a decision on his way home, carrying his Futurama guitar that only had two strings left on it (Because he couldn't afford strings) that he would change things. 

The very next day he went to the Army Recruitment Office and joined up. 

He could give my Grandmother one less mouth to feed AND he could send money home every month to help her. He joined the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers and served 12 years until just after I was born in 1972 and he Demobilised in late 1975. By this time he had met my Mum, saved up, got married and bought our first house, the one in Liverpool that we moved into when we left the Barracks at Waterbeach, Ely. 

In those years in the Army he had rebuilt his Mothers life, his own life and that of his Brothers and Sister, along with help from my Grandmother and her new partner but he had also made a life for Himself, My Mum, my Brother and ME. 

We lost this Hero in 2001 to Pneumonia, brought on by an immune system deficiency which was in itself due to over use of steroids to combat Multiple Sclerosis. He took too many steroids to give him a quality of life while he was still the age I am now, rather than live a longer life as a cripple. 

He gave his entire life to all those around him and all because he was left in that position at the age of 10. Overnight he became the Man we all spent his entire life Loving and being in awe of.
He gave everything he ever had and Died with almost no savings and very few possessions but he left me a few of them and one of them has become very special over the 14 years i have been without him. 

Among a few other personal items, he left me his R.E.M.E cap badge from his duty in the Army. 

It has been on my Guitar strap for years, as some of my closer friends will know.
The 'Gimme Shelter' Guitar arrived here today to be taken in by me and my Family for the night and has sat staring at me on a stand all night, but it arrived without a strap.
It simply can't go on tour like that............ 

My Father gave everything he ever had to those around him and he gave me far more than the literal life I have, he gave me a future which he literally built up from a park bench at the age of 10 years old !

The very least I can do is give this "Fella" something he needs and he can wear my Dad's Cap Badge as proudly as I have all these years."

For Lance Corporal Phillip Michael Johnston. R.E.M.E

Funky People, Doing Funky Things etc.

Well, I've got a few more people from the Brum show to show you playing around with TGSO, and today it is three good looking geezers, it has to be said.

I think the really nice thing for us is that so many people just joined in straight away, no bother and did it with a smile.  You can't say fairer than that, let's face it.

But today's victims chaps are all The Fretboard Regulars, which is grandly cool.

Top of the shop is the rather brilliant Hayden Minett of Bulldog Pickups fame, who is basically a walking CV of guitar-ness all rolled into a singular chap.

It is well worth checking out the Bulldog Website:
www.bulldogpickups.com

Whether it is winding pickups, designing amps, being a sound engineer or just about anything else. He's worn the rather stylish polo-neck.

Next, we have one-time South Atlantic island rescuer, long-time radio DeeJay, and superbly cool Tele-playing-meister, the man some of us know as Koneguitarist, a Few as 'Taff' and then some others who just wave at, slightly embarrassed as they haven't been introduced and don't wish to appear too forward.

Needless to say he is one of the corner-stones of The Fretboard, is never grumpy and thankfully won't be reading this drivel.

Taff we salute you.


And finally today we have an authentic renaissance man, writer,
first class cricketer,
collector of Traditional Cornish Pasties and
Guitar Effects Pedals,
I may have that a liitle wrong,
the man that makes the rest of us GAS-heads on the Fretboard look like ineffectual and frankly slack arsed amateurs.

The fellow we know as Gassage.

I need say know more.

Glory Be

La la laaaa

Groovy People, Doing..OK, You Get the Idea

Jason Hunt
(No, I thought it were Bryan Ferry too)

Well, following on from yesterday's post from  the front line of guitardom, I introduce a few more faces.

Top of the shop today is Jason Hunt who in fact organised THE Guitar Show last weekend, and  gave some great support to all the chaps up there on the Gimme Shelter Tour front of things.

It was Jason that got our Tour Manager, Alnico in to hang with the stars, and generally made the whole weekend happen (which you have to say is pretty impressive).

I believe there are other shows coming soon, so it may be worth keeping an eye on the appropriate web site, somewhere near here:

www.theguitarshow.co.uk

Top Geezer Indeedy.

Mark from Guitars4U
No, I don't know if he does that funny
finger twiddling thing like Ted Rogers

Next we have another keeper of the retail flame,
Mark from Guitars4U.

Now, if you haven't checked out his wares, you are seriously missing out on something special, as Mark genuinely has a collector's appreciation of the 'good stuff' and stocks his shop with the best of it.

Based in Ashbourne in Derbyshire (criminally far away from Jookyland) he has a shop, but the rest of us can luxuriate in his web site, for some really special stuff (and dare I say realistic prices? I think so, yep.) Great chap every which way.

You can find him at:  www.guitars4you.co.uk

Mick Taylor
Ecstatic, Somewhere In Birmingham

And finally today with quite simply the happiest chap in the world, Mick Taylor from the rather brilliant GAS-fest that is That Pedal Show.

And we have to say, Fridays have never been the same since we discovered That Pedal Show, it is seriously cool and if by any nano-chance you've managed to escape from a crypt after thirty years of burrowing and just reached a PC and so missed it, you really owe it to yourself and frankly everybody else as they are getting embarrassed in your presence, to visit the channel HERE.

We'll say no more, about it.

Until Friday anyway.

So there we are, thanks to all the chaps for joining in, and if you would like to be a link in our very special chain (baby), there is still time - just pop over to The Fretboard and sign-up HERE.

You know it make essence



La la laaaa

Cool People, Doing Cool Things

Well, I thought I'd share a few more pictures of peeps strapping on The Gimme Shelter One at The Guitar Show - these being some of the industry chaps..

First up, the legend that is Doug from Coda Music, probably the finest guitar shop in the UK today, with Doug being seriously smooth, as you can clearly see...

Next we have Matt from Fender, who over the last year or so has been a fixture on the Fretboard Forum, answering questions, sorting out warranty bobbins and generally being a top geezer. I think he has moved on to amps now, but he is well worth knowing, and one cool chap.

And finally for today, I offer you Harry from the utterly brilliant Harry's Guitars, home to some groovy pedals and other bobbins we need, NEED I tell you. You really owe it to yourself, your mother, your old aunt and everyone else to check his Store out if you haven't.

And there we are, some top fellas there, and so purrrttyyy in their fotos

La la laaa

Day Two: The Guitar Show: Aziz Ibrahim We Salute You

Well, if day one of the show was awesome, Day Two equally saw The Gimme Shelter One reach the parts other, err, guitars don't reach.

Plenty of fotos to show you over the coming days, but the nicest surprise for me was seeing Aziz Ibrahim holding a Jooky, as he is someone I've been awed by for a fair few years now.

Elsewhere, TGSO has moved on to it's new foster home - but more on that later...

La la laaaa

Day One: The Guitar Show - And Scott Gorham Plays Gimme Shelter

Well, I'm totally jealous that I missed it, but it sounds like the keeper of The Gimme Shelter One, Mr Alnico had a ball and worked his nuts feet off making sure that just about everybody there knew all about it.

I'll be uploading all the fotos over the next few days, but I couldn't resist sharing a nice shot of Alnico stood by as Scott Gorham (SCOTT F$%^&*G GORHAM) is playing TGSO.

Now that is the way to start a tour...

La la laaaa

Welcome to Bedford - A Chance To Join The Tour

Well, I'm chuffed to see our tour organiser, the super cool Mr Alnico, has introduced TGSO to it's temporary siblings, given it a warm bed for the night before it moves on to sunny Brum tomorrow and The Guitar Show at New Bingley Hall.

And that is how we are seeing the tour, one part pass-the-parcel to four parts fostering, with each step along the way including time to settle in to new surroundings, a new home, with some comfort and joy.

And that is a plea really. The nice thing about The Gimme Shelter Tour is that there are no rules and there is no fixed time-scale, we can literally keep it going just as long as we have people wanting to join in - so feel free to jump aboard.

And that is quite serious - if you want to join in, Foster our new arrival for a little while, maybe play it at a gig or let your kids take it to school and be in the local paper, here is your chance.

All you need to do is pop over to the Fretboard HERE and register your interest.

All help gratefully received :O)

La la laaa

Dancing Barefoot

Well, The Gimme Shelter One is off on the next leg of it's odyssey and should arrive in it's shiny new Hiscox case in Bedford tomorrow.

 Wherever Bedford is - I think they make vans or something, unless that is Luton.

Anyway, it did strike me that I hadn't caught it in all it's glory with it's spiffy Scratch-It scratchplate, so we took advantage of the sun and did a few more fotos to show it off.

 And rather lush it looks to, and just the right hint of urban decay, lovely.

I also was happy to see that we'd got a close-up of the fretboard or rather the groovy Mother of Jooky paint on the fretboard.

I think it is fair to say that nobody else does it at the moment, but then who knows or cares.

 La la laaaa

Hello Stroud!

Well, things really are-a-moving now, as Ben has finished doing a Video of TGSO - more on that in a few days - and I met up with him in the car park of Sainsbury's in Stroud for another handover.

As we are hoping everybody will do, Ben signed the book to say where and when he played the guitar which will be  lovely bit of case candy for the eventual owner.

Anyway, here's Ben with TGSO, outside Sainsbury's.

It doesn't get much more Rock 'n' Roll than that.

La la laaaa

p.s. Other supermarkets are available

Big Thanks to Hiscox Cases

Well, tonight The Gimme Shelter One (henceforth TGSO as I really can't be arsed with typing that in full ever day for the next n months) will be coming back to Weston S&M, before continuing it's journey tomorrow in a shiny new Hiscox case.

And I have to say a big thank you to everybody at Hiscox who (despite my best intentions) managed to evade those and get us a wonderfully cool hardcase that will protect TGSO over the next few months - and years, let's face it. They are brilliant.

Fotos of that to follow (along with some of the guitar featuring the Scratch-iT scratchplate as some fool forgot to take any with it nailed on, ahem).

So we're off, it is feeling good if a little Whoo-whhoooo at the moment, but as long as it gets to Brum at the weekend we'll be fine.

La la laaa

Off To Buy A Book

Well, today is the first day that The Gimme Shelter One is released into the wild, an auspicious if slightly scary day for all in Jookyland, as you really don't know how these things will be received.

One thing I had forgotten though, which I need to rectify before I meet Ben somewhere near Stroud, who is going to do a video of the guitar being played well ('well', as opposed to if I did one), is that I need a book.

Not just any book, I'm talking about a log book.

A book that logs things, like where the guitar has been, and most importantly who has played it/dropped it/changed a broken string or left it on top of the car and driven off with it gaining more of a relic than I ever intended.

That sort of book.

So I need a book, and we'll leave it in the case, and hopefully one day in the future I and more importantly whoever ends-up owning The Gimme Shelter One, will be able to read what it got up to.

If only people came with such things, it would make life oh-so-mucho-simpler

La la laaaa

In Praise of Scratch-It

Well, I mentioned previously that the star that is Tim Allen of Scratch-It fame, has broken the sound barrier and sorted us out with a Custom made scratchplate for The Gimme Shelter guitar, in a matter of days.

So this morning it arrived and it is perfect. The design is our own, so Tim can't be blamed for that ;o) but it perfectly captures what we wanted and the quality of the work is excellent.

So thanks to Tim for jumping in there and sorting this out - it is very much appreciated.

And if you looking for something cool for that tired old Fender or Gibson, check out their more colourfilled and imaginative work HERE

His Made in the UK thread is on the Fretboard too - and doesn't it make a nice change for someone to be doing something like this in the UK at reasonable prices?