Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

From a mass email sent from TheWho.com :

Dear Collin,

Celebrating the release of Maximum R&B Live double DVD as well as the Deluxe Edition of the classic album The Who Sell Out, we are challenging you to THE WHO WINDMILL CONTEST. This will give you the chance to create and upload videos showing your best imitation of Pete Townshend's famous windmill guitar motion to a special YouTube page.

The grand prize winner, selected by a panel of judges, will receive a Fender Stratocaster, personally signed by Pete Townshend! 25 runners-up will win a copy of Maximum R&B Live, and other prizes .

(NOTE: you must be a UK or US resident to participate.)

One (1) grand prize winner will win a red Fender® American Standard Stratocaster® guitar, signed by Pete Townshend!

Five (5) second prize winners will win a special merch pack including, a Rock Band 2 game, the new Maximum R&B Live DVD and a classic Who target t-shirt.

Twenty (20) runners up will win the new Maximum R&B Live 2-DVD deluxe set.

You can use any type or make of guitar, broom, tennis racket, or even a Rock Band guitar. You can even play air guitar. But please make sure you make it a “Quick One”! Your submission must be 30 seconds or less.

All entries must be submitted by midnight, June 21st. Winners will be chosen and notifed by July 8th.

Contest partners include Universal Music Enterprises, thewho.com , Live Nation, Fender and Harmonix.

WARNING: Windmilling can be dangerous. Make sure, if you haven't done it before, you take a few slow practice strokes before you get up to speed and video your windmill.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL CONTEST DETAILS http://windmill.thewho.com/?utm_source= ... e_20090603

Thanks,
thewho.com team

The best part is the warning about the "dangers" of windmilling.

This one has your name all over it, eh Jake? Win a free Pete-O-Caster too.

Too bad it's a Strat and not a Rick...

Hey, Collin, I got that letter, too.

You're a member of the official Who forum?

JakeK wrote:Hey, Collin, I got that letter, too.

You're a member of the official Who forum?

Yep, a member ....but certainly not a fan. I can't stand most fansites, and this is no different...


well, let's see that wiiiiindmill!

I absolutely guarentee you Jake that if you do a windmill wrong on either of your Ricks you will only be holding the neck in your hand, while the body dangles lifeless from the strap. There's a reason Townshend only used them for a little bit, and that's because they are not made for bashing and smashing things. I read quotes from him where he states his vibrato technique, (side to side, not up and down,) has caused a neck to come off. Think of your Ricks as being more like a violin, a hand crafted fine instrument, instead of a guitar you can do big flashy throw around tricks on.

Now, a Strat or Tele, you can pound nails with them and they can take it, as well as other types of solid body guitars. If you do use a Strat, take the dang trem arm off of it so you don't run it through your hand like Pete did.

That is great advice Mike.I would 100% endorse Mikes comments Jake.Anyway who the hell does windmills apart from PT ?

scotty wrote:That is great advice Mike.I would 100% endorse Mikes comments Jake.Anyway who the hell does windmills apart from PT ?

Jimmy Page. That's where it all started. Pete "borrowed" the idea from him.

winston wrote:

scotty wrote:That is great advice Mike.I would 100% endorse Mikes comments Jake.Anyway who the hell does windmills apart from PT ?

Jimmy Page. That's where it all started. Pete "borrowed" the idea from him.

Negative.

Pete has stated several times that he watched Keith Richards warm up before a show in late '64 by windmilling his arm around until his shoulder was stretched. Richard's had no idea he was inspiring Pete, and has no recollections of ever warming up that way.


Besides....when Pete started doing it, Page was a studio session guitarist-----windmilling would be completely (even more) ridiculous in a studio.

whojamfan wrote:I absolutely guarentee you Jake that if you do a windmill wrong on either of your Ricks you will only be holding the neck in your hand, while the body dangles lifeless from the strap. There's a reason Townshend only used them for a little bit, and that's because they are not made for bashing and smashing things. I read quotes from him where he states his vibrato technique, (side to side, not up and down,) has caused a neck to come off.

Actually, Pete stopped using Rics because they were so expensive---the Who were in massive debt until '69, and Rics couldn't be rebuilt like a Strat was plus they were sometimes hard to get in the UK (some things never change!).

Plus, I'd take what Pete says about the neck coming off with a pinch of salt. He only ever destroyed about 8 Rics, and basically all of them are accounted for in shows, and to my knowledge.....all of them were destroyed when flung headfirst into an amp, or headstock through a ceiling, or thrown across a stage, never once in Pete's hands because of hand vibrato. I'd say in interviews he never dreamt that a bunch of guitar geeks like us would call him out on it!

You know, I believe you are right Colin. I have had Page on the brain all day today for some reason.

I believe a Mr. Thomas Petty practices the windmill maneuver as well.

From just about everything I've read, Pete stopped using Ricks because they smashed up too quickly, and his vibrato technique was seriously damaging the neck joint. I tend to believe that as I had a 67 330 years ago where the neck broke at that exact spot, you guessed it, playing "My Generation". In my defense, it was only the 2nd verse, and I wasn't windmilling or anything.

Cost and availability certainly were a large factor,if not the main, as the ability to rebuild them for the next show. This information is pretty much what was available long before the days of the internet. Good solid information from books and such were expensive and somewhat hard to find, and then some would be conflicting. I'm sure that is the case many here found with the Beatles and so many other groups. Half of the fun was hunting these things down, as well as vinyl records, and feeling a sense of accomplishment.

Please, this is not directed to anyone here, as well as not meaning to offend. This is simply just an observation I've seen mature through the years.

Nowadays, with the internet and all that, you can take a band like The Who and download all of their songs, all of the sheet music, all of the lyrics, and all of the "now" agreed upon history/biography/story in a day. Consequently,any kid can be an "expert" on anything, and give "concrete" advice on things he has absolutely no real world experience with. "Well so and so used this, it must be the best because he's my favorite artist."

Thanks to the internet, I've seen some amazing videos and pictures I never dreamed were out there, as well as become a member of a forum that not only am I proud to be a part of, but one who has brought some great people in to my life that don't seem to mind a completely incorrect run on sentence like the one I just typed! Thanks.

I don't think anybody knows what really went on and why. Look at the Beatles, there will be arguments 'till the end of time over them. Look how much information has changed on how what, and who, had done the things on the records, tours, and what not. So who really knows?

whojamfan wrote:From just about everything I've read, Pete stopped using Ricks because they smashed up too quickly, and his vibrato technique was seriously damaging the neck joint.

In that case, moving on to Gibson SGs seems a rather bizarre choice on his part.

Excellent post, Mike. I consider myself lucky to have been born just early enough to learn the "old way" first, but recently enough to enjoy the current technological advances and make them work for me, productivity-wise.