Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

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Re: Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

Postby ecca » Mon Nov 03, 2014 7:39 pm

I went for a 335 too in 1964, age 16, I'd got the National Coupon , off we went , me and my Mom, to the Band Box in Wolverhampton on the bus.
It was going to take 6 weeks to get it , I was too impatient and was talked into a Harmony H77 instead by the proprietor.

If only........
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Re: Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

Postby Pol » Mon Nov 03, 2014 8:00 pm

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Re: Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

Postby Billyboygretsch » Tue Nov 04, 2014 12:03 am

I had an H78 the one with the tremolo. It as weird in that it was a Harmony but had Main US shop badge and n it as well apparently it was quite the thing back in the 60s for large companies to have products branded. I quite liked the sound but I could never get rid of all the rattles.
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Re: Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

Postby JimN » Tue Nov 04, 2014 12:25 am

I too had a Harmony H77 ( the same as the more well-known H75 but in a red sunburst). I bought it used in 1968 for £55.

The surprising thing is the relatively small price difference between that top of the range Harmony and a mid-price Gibson like the 330 or the 335. The Harmony was around the £125 - £130 mark whilst the 335 was priced at about £170 - £175. That price difference was nowhere near equal to the quality difference. The Harmony was actually DEARER than a Fender Telecaster at the time.
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Re: Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

Postby GoldenStreet » Tue Nov 04, 2014 2:00 pm

Billyboygretsch wrote:I had an H78 the one with the tremolo. It as weird in that it was a Harmony but had Main US shop badge and n it as well apparently it was quite the thing back in the 60s for large companies to have products branded. I quite liked the sound but I could never get rid of all the rattles.


A familiar tune...



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Re: Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

Postby bor64 » Wed Nov 05, 2014 10:04 am

Back to the topic shall we? ;)

My first original 57 two tone strat....sold for (now low) silly money...to harvest money to buy a fiesta 58 .
The guitar changed hands multiple times, it went from my town to Amsterdam from Amsterdam to Suisse and then to Japan each time for more money.
I regret it still, I missed that guitar so much I've bought a other 50's two tone a few years later, but I still remember that first as a better sounding guitar.....
When I was selling my first two tone, I was offered a genuine 59 burst Les Paul including case for just a little more money as I had to slab down for the 58 fiesta....
If had know then what I've know now.....I would have taken a small loan and bought that LP too an sold it for half a million more a few years ago :cry:
"afterwards everyone is clairvoyant"
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Re: Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

Postby stephen » Wed Nov 05, 2014 1:06 pm

My 1963 VOX AC30 BASS amp......
Circa 1963 and in my 4th year at Rock Ferry High School on Merseyside, just about everyone wanted to form a 'group' and try to become the next Beatles. Far more interesting and relevant than learning Latin and preparing for university. A couple of my contemporaries were in the early stages of such a formulation. One had a drum kit and the other a cheap electric, but they had no amplification or bassist. I was thrilled to be asked if I'd like to fill that spot, especially as I couldn't play a note on ANYTHING at that time!
Just one snag though...............I had neither bass guitar nor amp, so reluctantly made my excuses. "Hang on Steve," said Dave the drummer, "Didn't you say that your grandad had left you £500 in his will a few years back? Why don't you use some of that to buy the gear?" Greatly shocked I replied, "Quite simply because my dad would kill me as he's dead set against all this rock & roll stuff and has forbidden me to have anything to do with guitars and anyway, I don't know if the savings account is in my name or in trust."
However, once the seed of this idea had been planted, I couldn't get it out of my mind, so I furtively searched through my father's bureau until I found the TSB savings book and lo & behold it WAS in my name! Of course there was the problem of where the hell was I going to keep this equipment without Captain Davies (my dad) spotting it. Dave soon cleared it with his far more human parents that my stuff could be stashed at his house where we could also rehearse. In my young & eager mind, all this was actually beginning to sound feasible and I started to feel less anxious about incurring the wrath of Davies senior. All that was left was to do the dirty deed..................
After school one afternoon, myself and Luke (the guitar player) in full school uniform inc. caps, went to the TSB and I withdrew £200 facing up bravely to the questioning of the stern faced bank teller. After that, it was off on the underground over to Liverpool and Frank Hessy's shop. Nosing around amongst their impressive stock, we were initially shooed away by their salesman Mr. Michaelson, who obviously didn't want schoolboys with no money putting their sticky little fingers over everything on display. As we were being shown the door, I managed to persuade him that we really were intending to buy something and would he please produce an AC30 Bass forthwith. "Just where are you going to get £115 guineas to pay for it then, boys?" he asked with a smirk. "Right here!" I replied, producing a wad of notes. I can still remember the look of shock on his face and how quickly his attitude changed. Chairs were swiftly produced, an assistant despatched to the basement to haul up the Vox and a Precision Bass was placed in my totally inept hands, as "You'll be needing a good bass to go with that amp."
That £200 wouldn't have covered the Vox AND the Precision, but if it had, I'd have gone for it, as by that time I was fully into the might-as-well-be-hung-for-a-sheep-as-a-lamb mode. In the end, I settled for a more affordable cherry red Burns Bass (a Vistasonic??).
Us two schoolboys with the wad of cash certainly drew the crowds in that little shop, that grew even more incredulous when it became obvious that I couldn't play a note and just thumped about on those strings! Money swiftly changed hands and soon Luke and I were struggling out of the shop and down Church and Lord Streets to the James Street underground station and then onto Dave's house to secrete the gear.
The upshot of this was that my triumph was very short lived. For some reason my dad decided to have a clear out of the papers in his bureau and noticed that my TSB book was in a different place than usual. Unfortunately, he also looked inside...............
After various forms of parental torture, I admitted the extent of my transgression and the only satisfying part of the affair was seeing exactly how utterly amazed my father was that I'd had the nerve to do it in the first place.
Retribution for this defiance was swift and total. First the bass & Vox went back to Hessy's with my dad threatening Michaelson with all sorts of legal consequences if they didn't refund every penny that had been paid, "Didn't it occur to you to ask exactly how a young lad came by such a sum of money?" a furious Captain Davies demanded of a now timid Michaelson.
As for me, I was forbidden to never, ever, ever have anything more to do with guitars/music whilst I lived under his roof and I was also grounded for the next 6 months. So ended a boyhood dream....do so wish I could have kept both the dream alive and of course that amp.
Stephen.
Last edited by stephen on Wed Nov 05, 2014 4:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

Postby Billyboygretsch » Wed Nov 05, 2014 2:14 pm

Who carried the amp home and who the bass. Did your dad make you carry the gear back or give you a lift. What did you eventually spend the £500 on. This would make a good story !
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Re: Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

Postby GoldenStreet » Wed Nov 05, 2014 2:15 pm

Quite an adventure, Stephen, I have to say! I certainly wouldn't have dared to even entertain such ideas... and at the time you were actually doing it! :)

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Re: Early equipment that I used and wished I kept

Postby Uncleboko » Wed Nov 05, 2014 3:36 pm

On a much smaller scale, I remember that having bought a 45 with my pocket money the week before, I was forbidden to by "another one" by my father the following week. I went out and bought "When Will I be Loved" by the Everly Brothers. When my father heard it being played later that day he ripped it from the "gramophone" , bent it up and threw it in the dustbin!!

I retrieved it and tried in vain to straighten it out :cry: :cry:
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