Jody Carver
From:
KNIGHT OF FENDER TWEED
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Posted 23 Dec 2001 1:25 pm |
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OK due to "popular demand" Iam back. Lets see now,,,,Ok Rob is 100% correct regarding
finishes used by Fender in the early days.
The custom guitar as well as the Dual Pro and
other steel guitars,,,studio deluxe,champ etc etc were finished in what is now called
"butterscotch" back then it was reffered to as "blonde" All Telecasters and its mate Esquire guitars and early P.Bass'es were finished in the blonde "butterscotch" color..
"who thought up that name???". Most all paints and laquers used back then were from
DuPonte and or Sherwin Williams,,,this was a
choice that Fender had,,and this was something that had to do with cost and availability at that time.
Competitive prices and avilability played a
role in what companies Fender would deal with. It is possible that both DuPonte and
Sherwin Williams were the two top suppliers
that were used by Fender.
That decision was made by Donald D. Randall
and Leo Fender.
And that was decided by cost,,availability etc etc.
As some of you are aware,,,there was much finish checking back then...it was considered
as a defective process and many players and
Fender retail dealers objected to that.
Many years later,,the checking finish became
something of a "status" symbol among guitar collectors. I do know that Eric Clapton had a number of Fender guitars that had the "finish check". To tell that story would take all day,,,,in that will be in my Fender
Funnies Book when and If I can get it going.
It will tell how Clapton took a few of his favorite strats to Leo shortly after Leo got back in the music business that he loved so
much and at the time was desinging Music Man
guitars in Fullerton.
Who could better re-finish a guitar other than Leo himself?? I will not go into the events that followed that event as I will save that for my book. Ok with you guys??.
Besides its long like most of my stories and I dont want to write a book here,,,,although
I have many times,,,and there are many who dont enjoy my "History Lessons" as they have called my stories. So to make everyone happy
I will leave that story out.
Rob,,explained it best,,and Rob,,are you sure
you didnt work for Fender??  you certainly know your stuff my friend. My original and
very first Custom guitar had the "butterscotch" finish,,I would rather refer to it as "blonde" that has mellowed with age.
The early 1000 pedal steel had what I would refer to as a "vanilla" color,,boy vanilla
and butterscotch,,,Leo didnt know he could have compteted with Howard Johnson who claimed to have had 28 flavors.
They more than likely stole the idea from Leo I wonder if there are any chocolate chip color guitars out there???.
The first and only Quad guitar I received had what Rob refers to a the "pickled" finish
and that is the same finish and color as the
Fender Stratocasters of that vintage. I would
refer to it as I stated above "vanilla" thats my taste, Later on the white was
called "Olympic White" and was truly a nice
color,,,not a chalky white but a nice smooth
color. It was a more definite white finish.
The Mary Kaye Strat as it is now called,,,,
had a "blonde finish" which Rob makes reference to as being "pickled" he is correct
as he is in all of his comments...( he must have worked for Fender early on and is hiding his age ,,,"grin"
OK, Mary Kaye was asked by Tom Walker then the
original Fender rep who handled all of Fenders sales on the West coast" to have Mary
Kaye pose with a Stratocaster. Don Randall asked Tom to have Mary take a photo with a
one and only guitar of its kind at the time.
A blonde or "pickled" finish with "Gold Hardware",,,this was really a "beauty" ..
Mary was filming a part in a movie I beleive the name was " Calypso Boy".
Mary always used a D'Angelico guitar in her
personal appearances as well as recordings etc,,,but since the Strat was starting to take off in sales,,,,what better could Fender
have in a movie with a beautiful gal like Mary playing a one of a kind beautiful Strat.
What a combination that would make,,,two beauties,,one Mary, one Fender,,,that was a
difficult act to follow. Each one ,,,one of a kind.
That guitar was then taken back to Fender after the promo pictures were taken and returned to Donald D. Randall.
Don had other plans for that guitar. It is something I will never forget.
Johnny Cucci and myself were starting a group
which eventually led to the "Hot Club Of America". Don asked me if Johnny and myself
would play in the Fender "demo" room at the
NAMM show at the Hotel New Yorker. This was
back in the summer of 1956.
Don told me he wanted to present that special
guitar to Johnny. This was un-beknown to Johnny at the time. John prior to that was using a "D'Angelico.
During the course of the show,,,Don asked John how he liked the strat...Johnny was estactic over the newly found Fender sound.
At the close of the show,,,Don told me he was
in fact going to present that special guitar
to John. I didnt tell John of Randalls intentions.
I stood by as Don asked these "questions of John",,,quote,,,Johnny you did a great job
and we appreciate it. How do you like that
guitar?? (the blonde strat) John said ,,,Don
I think it is the most beautiful guitar I have ever seen and its plays and sounds just great.
Don Randall followed with this ,,,"and I will
never forget this",,,,,,John ,,,,,,since you
have used the guitar for 4 days now and you certainly played great,,it would be diificult
for me to sell that guitar as new,,,so since
you made that guitar sound so good,,,I want you to have it. You and that Strat make a great pair.
John just stood there,,motionless,,,Johnny was a very sentimental and loving kind of guy
his eyes filled up,,,and he said Thank you Mr
Randall.
I will never forget that moment as well as
other moments in my life during my Fender
days,,,,they were full of fun,,,emotion,,,hard work,,and most of all I
worked for the best person in the world,,,,,,
Donald D. Randall and natrually Leo Fender.
The Johnny Cucci strat as I will call it was
used on the Hot Club Of America recording and
all other recordings made by Johnny over the
years. He was appearing in the off broadway
show "Three Penny Opera" using the strat,,,and was good naturedly kidded about
his newly found piece of wood by the musicians in the orchestra,,,they were so used to him playing a "real guitar" as they called it referring to the D'Angelico. I cannot take any more of your time and as this is much too long. I will finish this story and how the Mary Kaye Strat found its way into Johns hands and heart, and where it went after Johnnys passing in 1986 and where
it is today..
It is an interesting story, and my friend Richard Smith who knew the fellow who had bought the stratocaster with "gold hardware" that Mary posed with during her filming of "calypso boy" and it wound up with an "Italian Boy" my friend and partner Johnny Cucci. Richard told me Iain wanted me
to confirm that this guitar in fact was the same guitar that was owned by Johnny Cucci.
I then had a few e mails from Dave Van Allen asking me to contact Iain Hersey owner of the
Strat and through Richard and Dave,I was able to help Iain to end his search as far as documentation was concerned.
The strat that Johnny owned had a date of 1-4-56 at the inside of the guitar. However the neck had serial number of 9/5/56,,,,this
was due to a defective neck that John had on his Strat and since he was afraid to bother
Don Randall for a new neck,,I had a new neck shipped to Johnny to replace the defective neck. He was offered another guitar to replace the original strat,,,,but knowing Johnnys reasoning and feelings,,,,this was the guitar he wanted to keep.
All serial numbers etc have been documented
and this guitar was not Mary Kaye's guitar
It was Johnny Cucci's,,
Rob,,,I dont want the last word buddy,,I think you are knowledgable and I appreciated
your comments. And to Jon Light,,,,I will get
what I promised to you this next week Jon.
If you dont mind,,since this story will be in my book,,if and when I do it,,,I will take the liberty of "copywriting" this post.
Thanks to all of you for your time,,,,long stories sure,,,,I have a million of them and
BTW that guitar that Elderly is offering is a
beauty,,its more than worth the price, The
underside is missing "pardon me I hope I get this right" that "flocking fabric" I always
hated to use that word, it scares me,,,,
That word was used on me when a music retailer would ask me to leave his store. Let me repeat that to make my self clear....
"flocking" fabric. It was put there for players in those days to keep from slipping off of the players lap.
The player that comes to mind that played his Custom on his lap was the "late and Great
Les Carrot Top Anderson" Les played steel with the Great Spade Cooley and as he did
vocals with the band,,he told Leo that it was easier for him to put the guitar down after playing and going to the mike to sing rather than to step away and stand up from the guitar. When the "Here we go again" "flocking fabric is removed" it is a good chance that the guitar was refinished.
Does this take away from the original and make the guitar worth less.??? If so,,,since Iam a "Fender Original" would a "face lift" make me less desirable or valuable,,only you can decide that.
Rob,,,,throw a little "vaniila and butterscotch in and sprinkle with Fender Tweed and I think that would make a great
recipe,,,to kick it up a notch as Emeril
Le Gasse would say,,,Food Network.Com
Elderly Music is a fine Music Store and they have fine people. I know I have dealt with them and found a "long lost love" at Elderly
Music,,,,,many thanks to a sweet gal ,,,,,,,
Dawn Nash....ask for Dawn,,,,tell her Jody
sent ya..OLD FENDERS NEVER DIE,,,,THEY somehow sometimes return to their original
owners,,,I know,,,,its happened to me TWICE.
Happy Holidays to all Of You....read this
in your spare time,,,,, Edited for spelling,,,I wanted to be certain that I
spelled "Flocking" correctly,,,you know thats the fabric that goes under the ,,,Oh
forget it...you know what I mean.
And to my Friend Mike Black,,,,Mike read this when you are whipping up an Italian meal for Tom Morrel and yourself.
The wine is on me....man you cant beat those Italians,,,,nothing but "food,food,food and
guitars...no women or Peddlers Allowed
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Copyright(c) 2001 by
Jody Carver "All Rights
Reserved"
Edited for length of post, I deleted one word,,That is The Rest Of The Story 'Good Day[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 26 December 2001 at 06:53 PM.] |
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