AS ONE OF the world's most famous guitarists, George Harrison was on the receiving end of some stunning and groundbreaking guitars, including a prototype Rickenbacker 360/12 12-string, in 1964, and a prototype Fender Rosewood Telecaster, in 1969. But as astute Beatles fans learned in recent years, in 1967 Harrison became the recipient of an unusual prototype fretless guitar built by the short-lived U.S. Bartell company. How the guitar came to be, and how Harrison came to own it, are among the subjects explored by British author Paul Brett in his recently published groundbreaking tome, Finding Fretless: The Story of George Harrison's Mad Guitar (This Day in Music Books).
Brett's interest in the guitar was spurred when his friend, veteran jazz-fusion guitarist Ray Russell, posted a cryptic message to his Facebook page to mark the Beatle's birthday on February 25, 2019, accompanied by a photo of a fretless guitar. He took a little post on Facebook and said, 'I'm remembering George today. He gave me this old guitar. I don't know much about it, Brett recalls. That just triggered my interest. It was a Bartell. I'd never heard of it.
Russell's post sent Brett on a journey to learn more about both Harrison's guitar and the Bartell brand, whose venture into fretless guitars in the 1960s is among the guitar world's most unusual evolutionary branches. At the heart of the story is Paul Barth, one of guitar's unsung heroes. People don't talk much about Paul Barth, Brett says, but he was really one of the founding fathers of the electric guitar.
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Denne historien er fra June 2022-utgaven av Guitar Player.
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TRANSCENDENTAL MAN
Luther Dickinson interpreted a priceless work of art in music. In the process, the blues guitarist wrote his own next chapter.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Together with Tony Levin, Adrian Belew and Steve Vai join forces for a Robert Fripp-endorsed revival of King Crimson's groundbreaking 1980s music.
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His six-string genius has proved vital to the music of Guided by Voices, Nada Surf and other indie-rock favorites. But all he really wants is to make good music.
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With its Wide Range humbuckers, the 1970s Fender Telecaster Thinline scores better than most of its contemporaries.
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Joe Walsh's Jazzmaster, Billy Cobham's bass line... As Bush head out on tour, Gavin Rossdale reveals the history behind a handful of their best tunes
TIPSHEET
We asked Brian Ray for his advice on playing Beatles tunes. After all, he learned from the best.
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A juke joint just wasn't in the cards. So Cedric Burnside turned the old building into a studio for his hardcore blues workout, Hill Country Love.
MADE IN THE SHADE
The Gibson Custom Shop created just 59 examples of the Jason Isbell \"Red Eye\" 1959 Les Paul Standard. We got our hands on one of them.