clivemurray.com

I went to the London Guitar Show at Wembley yesterday. Then I came home and wrote about it and posted what I had written on uk.music.guitar.

Here is what I wrote. It is all true.

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it all started when…

[cue wibbly fade effect...]

I got the tube this morning, having made vague arrangements to meet my pal ian at wembley for the show sometime before one, him being in oxford the night before. I arrived at the wembley complex and confusedly followed signs for a bit, though I couldn’t remember if the show was in the arena or the conference centre.

some vague wandering around the complex revealed a guitar show poster outside exhibition hall 1, and all was good.

I went in and before I’d even figured out what was where I bumped into a jemsite fellow who I know (hi John), which was nice. anyway, having located the conveniences and got my bearings, I had a quick wander while waiting for ian to turn up, and happened across the stringsdirect stand and the estimable mr tony jefford himself - a thoroughly top fellow! we had a chat and he advised me to try the guitars on the adjoining stand, made by one mr huber, which alas I never got around to doing.

then my phone went and I went to meet ian at the entrance hall, and we commenced to peruse the rest of the show. I’d hardly gone ten steps from here when I ran into mr paul creedy of this very parish, kids in tow, who told me he had one of his fine guitars on the stringbusters stand. (later I got a quick glimpse of this, and fine it looked, but I didn’t get a proper gander at it - sorry paul!) then ian and I continued our browsing. around this time we realised that both of us had come to a guitar show without a single plectrum. not a pick between us. ian had an excuse as he hadn’t been planning to come and had only squeezed it into his plans when I phoned him the night before, but I really should have known better. once again, tony at stringsdirect came through - he gave us a pick each! thanks tony!

mind you, I personally was just there for a jolly, while ian had more serious intent - he’s been on the lookout for a pre-CBS strat recently, and he was also considering a new tele (cos he doesn’t have any teles), so we were both keeping an eye out for teles in non-offensive colours/configurations and ageing strats. anyway, we hadn’t got very far with this search when we realised that ms jennifer batten was on stage, so we grabbed a beer and hightailed it to the stage.

and very good she was too! she was playing a washburn guitar - her signature model, apparently - with a midi pickup for nifty synth stuff and using a metric ton of effects to create some very interesting sounds. not all of her music was my thing, though she did shred a bit here and there… anyway, we watched about four or five tunes, and then headed back to the show.
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we wandered round some more, and ian recommended I try the john petrucci model musicman guitar, so I asked the sales chap on the stall for a go, and he said “yeah sure when one of these guys gets off” - there were three or four plugin points with headphones and preamps. five minutes later he’d served a bunch of other people and several people had gone ahead of me, so I decided not to bother. we resumed our search for fenders old and new, but then it was time for richie kotzen. we grabbed another beer and headed back to the stage.

richie, for those that don’t know, was one of the late 80s shred crew - he was even on shrapnel records for his first three albums - but has mellowed considerably since then, and now writes superb blues-influenced rock songs. (see here if you need more info)

anyway, gone are the ibanez RGs and marshall stacks in favour of telecasters and cornford err… stacks. and what a tone! it really is in the fingers. richie just sounds like richie. mind you I was gratified to see he was playing an MK50 just like mine…

so anyway, we watched him until he finished his set and were thoroughly wowed (he was worth the entry fee alone without a doubt).
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so. we resumed our browsing, and soon happened upon a large stand, the name of which I forget, but in which nestled a very purty little number… a ‘58 strat in 8.5/10 condition, all original bar one tone pot. ian started sweating. we found out the price - 10k. ian’s been budgeting for a ‘61-’63, not a ‘58, so that was a bit on the high side, though the guy did hint that it might come down as far as 8500…

we went for a wander to take stock.

around this time I located the cornford stand - replete with mr kotzen signing albums and photos - and grabbed paul cornford for a chat. another thoroughly nice chap! we had a bit of a natter about his new club and stuff, and when richie wasn’t busy I went straight into fanboy mode, I grabbed a photo opportunity and bought a signed copy of his new album “change”. richie’s playing at paul’s club in kent next saturday, buy the way… I recommend!!!
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anyway, from there we went for one last browse, but were now of the opinion that there wasn’t going to be anything to whet ian’s wallet sufficiently other than the ‘58, which was a bit out of the range he’d set himself.

until…

again, I don’t recall the name of the stand or the shop, but we were heading down towards the back of the show when I noticed ian break into a run. when I caught up with him he was already being handed a strat to try - and it was Good. it was worn and played, mind you, but then that just adds to the character with proper old fenders, doesn’t it?

it turned out to be a ‘57.

it further turned out to be non-refinished, all original bar two machineheads and two pots.

it further turned out to be the nicest fender to play that I or ian have ever laid spanners on.

it further turned out to be up for 4-and-a-half large.

…

he came down to 4 grand, and it’s now got a new home.
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this thing is luuuurrrrvely. it plays like butter and has that proper ‘quacky’ sound, and it looks like sex on a stick, and… well, I’m just glad I can go round and play it occasionally.

but! that’s not all!

while ian was getting the neck and scratchplate off so all parts could be dated properly and so forth, I became intrigued by the guitars on the next stand. they were superstrat type things, in exotic woods, and with bodies half the thickness of your average ibanez shredomatic. they also had this funny half-headstock, reminiscent of the one on a parker fly, only not shite.

on closer inspection, one was loaded with seymour duncans, one with EMGs, and one with what turned out to be dimarzio evolutions.

“hmmmm…”, thought I, and had a word with the fellow. it turns out they’re all handbuilt by him, and are all made from south american hardwoods, non-painted, all in a quest for tone. so I had a play…

no! I didn’t buy one!

but by jimmeny I’m going to… it was like the first time I played a jem, only better. the necks were amazing, the bodies were superthin and light, but the tone that came out of them was nothing short of awesome. I’m about this (holds up finger and thumb about 5mm apart) close to flogging all 7 of my ibanii and getting doug (for that is the chap’s name) to knock me up a few of those sharpish.

no, REALLY.

(and yes, I know they’re all hardtails…)

his site is here and the guitar that stole my heart is the B2, though the exact variant I fell for isn’t shown there - it was a natural oil finish loaded with dimarzio evolutions and it made me feel… funny.

so that was my show! I was considering going again tomorrow, but I don’t have the cash for a blackmachine guitar yet so I’d best stay away…

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So there you have it…
–c.