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Nice story I enjoyed it. Dennis Machinegun Thompson MGT

Wow! Thanks Dennis. It was a pleasure meeting you and seeing you guys play. Come back to Australia, please!

Great story, Tone.

A guy on a forum I frequent ‘found’ (or should that be ‘stole’) a “63 or ’64 Olympic (i think) for $75 at a Goodwill store in the US…and didn’t know what it was!

That was unsigned, of course ;D

Nice story 🙂

Hey Mike, is that forum you frequent TDPRI by any chance?
If so, I am pretty sure I read the same thread. That lucky b*****d lol
Wish I found something like that at a goodwill.

My best find by far was an old Goldentone Reverbmaster 60 head that I picked up off eBay a couple months ago for only $450. Those things usually go for well over $1000, some even over $2000!

It was a little beat up, had a few small mods done to it and only had one channel going at the time. Fortunately, my dad works with electronics, so he was able to find some old schematics of similar circuits and sorted it out. He also happened to have two matched sets of the correct valves in his shed.

It is still missing a reverb unit, as they are traditionally located in the speaker cabinet, but I will probably just get a new one and place it in the head as there is room for it.

It sounds amazing I must say, really great clean sounds. There is no drive channels which is probably the only downer, but I can just use a pedal for that.

Just bought a Coronet,such elegant little guitars…Wish mine was signed by Wayne Kramer,though!

My solution to thesigned guitars conundrum is to have them sign the bottom of the pickguard. My ’56 Telecaster has its original white guard signed by DJ fontana, james burton, many Sn Rockabilly greats, Link Wray, Bill Kirchen, sleepy labouef, honey boy edwards, eddie bo, and many many other greats of roots rock. It sits safely under my hands as I play. I placed a nice glassine sheet trimmed to sit between the guard and the face of the guitar. G-d and I know it is there and once in a while I unscrew the scratch plate and gander in wonder at al the siggies…

That is a very cool story. I used to be on a total Birdman/MC5 trip too – was never happier than the day I found and bought a 63 Epiphone Wilshire. Had to part company with it eventually, as my style changed and I just can’t afford to own more than one or two guitars at a time.

Old habits die hard though and when I was in New York recently I spent about half an hour in a guitar shop playing this baby: http://retrofret.com/products.asp?ProductID=4181&CartID=4186131242010 – oh yeah!

I love the mini in the Oly. I have a ’65 I picked up for $300 a few months ago. I ended up locating an original pickup for it, as someone thought it would be cool to put a Hot Rails into the guitar.

I do like the original single coil, but I think I might shove a mini into mine as well. I have a Firebird mini available to me (unlike your Deluxe style mini, mine doesn’t have the poles.)

Anyhow – glad to know I don’t have to route the guitar to make it work. Mine still has the trem bar on it too. I actually wrap all the strings except the B, which I attach to the blade and use the wammy bar as a B-Bender. 🙂

That is a 1964 or later. Before 1964 the tuners were 3 on each side like a Gibson.

I have what is believed to be the last Bill Lewis guitar built in Bill’s shop. It was Bill’s brother in laws custom built model, it was the only one with a Bigbsy Tail piece, & ebony V inlaid in the body. These guitars were built in Vancouver B.C. Canada between 1969 – 1971. David Gilmour still has his and used it on lead parts in “Dark Side Of The MOON”. It is rumored that Jimmy Page sold his two for $250,000.00 each. Eric Clapton played one on stage in Vancouver B.C. in 1969 with “Blind Faith” ,George Harrison owned one, I have not been able to find out wether George used it on stage or recorded with it , there were a few others who were lucky enough to get one. Bill’s partner & good friend who was instrumental in the design of the guitar was killed in a car accident, Bill never continued building them after that event. It is believed that between 18 – 22 of these guitars were produced *footnote* several of the parts & bodies were sold off or given away in different stages of completion so there are a few that are not what they claim to be. They changed the way that guitars were made because of the innovations involved in it’s making. It was the first true 24 fret play, the body & neck were carved out of one piece of Honduran Mahogany, the widest & thinnest fret board possible (African Ebony) with two metal rods beside the truss rod to keep it stable, the pickups were designed & patented by Bill’s brother “Jack”, they were the first epoxy encased design with three silver bar coils this is a guess as “Jack” has yet to divulge how he made them, they had coil splitters on the face of the guitar next to the pickup a first perhaps at the least very rare, the body cavity was copper shielded, the electronics & pots were the best available.
I am currently taking offers on this guitar. you can reach me at
[email protected]

The Wilshire and Crestwood had the horseshoe trem, but that Olympic probably had the other Maestro vibrato. It’s the same one that came with the downmarket Gibson SGs and Firebirds.

To be sure, just look for the Three Holes of Tuning Improvement in the usual place behind the bridge.

“I do like the original single coil, but I think I might shove a mini into mine as well. I have a Firebird mini available to me (unlike your Deluxe style mini, mine doesn’t have the poles.)”

Believe it or not, a P-90 will fit in there without routing. You just have to take the cover off and expect a tight fit.

Great article, man. I just scored a 65-ish Crestwood Custom, well used but used well, and am delighted with it. Wanted a batwing for ages but really hard to find here in UK. It’s a stormer and I love it already. Rock on. Len Liechti, Kalamazoo Epiphone enthusiast, Bath, UK.

“That is a 1964 or later. Before 1964 the tuners were 3 on each side like a Gibson.”

Correct.

I have a ’62. symmetrical horns and 3×3 tuners and a way different pick guard.

Deniz picked up a coronet a few years after this, guess he found another one with a neck he liked.

Nice story thanks for sharing in the true free spirit of the internet. Dont kill your hero’s just try treat them with the same respect you should real people, they seem to like that.

liking finding your writings
cheers

Yeah, that looks like my ‘66. Earlier than that they had three a side like most Gibsons. Liked the comment about the three holes of tuning improvement for the trem. Mine got lost, but I still have that stock pickup in a box. I replaced it with a Bill Lawrence hum bucking pickup intended for a Strat, and buried an Alembic Strat-O-Blaster preamp in it, under the pick guard. It’s also sporting a Schaller bridge with micro adjustments for the string tension and micro adjustable saddles. I think it was a prototype, have not found a copy of it anywhere. It stays in tune, always. It was never in tune when it first left the factory. Because I have had it since then, it will always be my favorite but making the transition from that to a 6120 Gretsch neck is not real easy, so it doesn’t get out often. It can be anything you want from it, a clean country twang Tele, or an EVH rocker. I always knew of MC5, but never really made the connection. Too bad, we could have covered everything they did.