John Birch
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mad_dog_cole
- New member
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Thu May 17, 2007 1:29 pm
When my SG bass was being built by John Birch I had the distinct pleasure of meeting him many times of course. At the time (1999-2000) he was an old man of 79 years.
I can assure you that he was no rip-off merchant, he was very much a tech-head. Totally in love with the guitar as an instrument to glorify & love - and to stretch the boundaries of what it was capable of doing. He was of the belief, contrary to that of many vintage afficianos that it was the electrics rather than the wood that gave good tone.
His pups have incredible range and power, combined with his circuits you have to take a long time to figure out the capabilities.
When he asked me why I wanted an EB3 style I said it was because "everyone & their auntie plays a Fender style derivative". he agreed wholeheartedly & told me that one of the earliest jobs he did under his own name was to rework the design of a Les Paul for the exact same reason.
He also built himself an electric guitar while stationed in Hawaii during WW2, so he goes back aways.
PS> I thought I'd better clarify that yes I know the Les Paul isn't a Fender, but at the time he was talking about it was late 60's early 70's when Jimmy Page, Clapton, Kossof etc were using Les Pauls
I can assure you that he was no rip-off merchant, he was very much a tech-head. Totally in love with the guitar as an instrument to glorify & love - and to stretch the boundaries of what it was capable of doing. He was of the belief, contrary to that of many vintage afficianos that it was the electrics rather than the wood that gave good tone.
His pups have incredible range and power, combined with his circuits you have to take a long time to figure out the capabilities.
When he asked me why I wanted an EB3 style I said it was because "everyone & their auntie plays a Fender style derivative". he agreed wholeheartedly & told me that one of the earliest jobs he did under his own name was to rework the design of a Les Paul for the exact same reason.
He also built himself an electric guitar while stationed in Hawaii during WW2, so he goes back aways.
PS> I thought I'd better clarify that yes I know the Les Paul isn't a Fender, but at the time he was talking about it was late 60's early 70's when Jimmy Page, Clapton, Kossof etc were using Les Pauls
Only faggots and sailors play more than 4 strings.