Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Paul,

I didn't get a chance to say Hi Friday ... but I must have spent an hour looking at your 75th Anniversary acoustic. Spill the beans - how did you pull that one off, and how much of my soul do I have to sell to get one?? : )

There's a story here somewhere...C'mon, spill the beans!

What 75th Anniversary acoustic?

Oh, you mean the Shasta 12 that has the special guard with the 75th logo?

Sorry, guys, at this point it's a one-off. I built it (from parts supplied by John Hall) especially for the show at the MOMM. It was built to Kantner's requirements, but both Marty Wilson-Piper played it and so did Paul.

John Hall told me that Marty usually uses his own old relic 12-string (non-Rick and I don't know the brand)on stage. Apparently he saw the Shasta during the sound check and said, "I'll be using that one, please."

Then Paul Kantner did half of his set with it as well.

There are no plans for a production model of this 12.

Fantastic job on the build - it's striking. It was more than a little disheartening seeing the acoustic dept, with guitars not yet built gathering dust. Some very interesting bits and pieces there - did anyone else see the star inlays on the one fretboard? Also the checker binding stash could have tempted a dishonest man.

None the less, up until I saw that Shasta, I was unsure about which Ric acoustic I would buy, and in what finish - if ever given the opportunity. Now I know. Great job once again.

Was the "star fretboard" possibly a spare Lemmy fretboard?

I think your right ... must have been rejected for some reason. It was stacked over with the acoustic parts and pieces ... and covered with dust. Perhaps it will show up on the next "dumpster" bass.

I'm telling you, not that it's ever likely, but if the factory ever had a garage sale, I'm sure many of us would be all over this stuff!

Beautiful guitar, Paul.

Very striking guitar.

There were two "complete" Lemmy necks sitting on a workbench in the acoustic department, and some test body wing pieces! Got a picture of one of them...

Great sounding Shasta 12 string. Paul - it did the deed and you needn't have worried. Though Kantner tested it quite well! Kudos.

Thanks, John...

I had Paul Kantner over to my workshop the week before the shows, just as I was finishing the Shasta up. He requested a quick run-through so he would know how it played in the concert, and of course I was glad to oblige him.

He picked it up, commented on the looks, and immediately began playing it; he was quite happy with it and told his sound guy, Mike Eisenstein that he really liked it, a message which Mr. Hall relayed to me on Tuesday a week ago.

Although he characterized himself to me as a "gentle player" who liked low action and string tension, in fact, he really put it through the test on Saturday night. The strings were fresh, and Marty played it gently for the most part, carefully retuning after each song. Paul barrelled through the first two numbers, retuned once, and that was it. It settled in that quickly.

I spoke later to Marty and he requested that I build him one, too, following on the heels of Jeff Foskett, who asked for an MG Comstock 12 to replace his trusty old J-200 Custom Shop Gibson. With John Hall's permission, I was glad to agree to oblige both performers.

Those who have work currently in my shop need not worry too much...this will not impact things too much, as I've also requested a couple of months of 36-hour days...

Paul,

As one who is waiting, I know that you have to get it while the getting is good! Just post those pictures my friend. I'm not sure about the 36 hour day though. Cheryl and I decided that for lawn watering purposes Monday should be stricken from the calendar. I hope that doesn't screw you up to bad!

Aw, you guys can do that in Boise...in SF the only way to subtract a full day is with the assistance of substances.

Which, BTW, are not necessary to boost to a 36-hour day. That's a Zen type of thing, actually.

I dislike adding the word "actually" onto the ends of sentences, usually. Usually, too. And "too" is as bad as "as well".

And both of those are extrasuperfluous.

Originally being from San Francisco, I'm with you on the substance assistance program available. I don't have the lawn watering issue there. My house in the Sunset has hardly any lawn compared to the 5 acres here in Boise. Glad to hear our watering schedule won't upset the Zen type of thing. Actually (oops! sorry) I'm glad it won't hurt your schedule because being one who is waiting, it won't delay my project...as well

Paul - Interesting to hear that you'll be making two acoustics for those artists. Will you be using existing materials from RIC?