Very intressting but is this guitars that's used by him on records or concerts, or is it Georges collection of rare guitars? I think it's intressting to know know what guitar he had on Why My Guitar Geently Weeps for one example, and even see a picture on it.

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thanks for that great site, TomK! here's what it says about the pale blue Strats in the George pages:

>> 1965: 1961 Fender Stratocaster solidbody, Sonic Blue: Finally, Harrison got that Fender.
In the studio one day he and Lennon dispatched Mal Evans to "get a couple Strats,"
and because Brian Epstein was picking up the bill if they were identical,
Evans came back with two '61s in a rare blue color. Used first on "Nowhere Man"
and then for the Rubber Soul sessions, and regularly thereafter. <<

in the John pages it says:
>> 1965: 1961 Fender Stratocaster, Sonic Blue, rosewood fingerboard: One day in the studio,
during the Help! sessions, Lennon and Harrison sent roadie Mal Evans out to "get a couple Strats,"
and Ever-Smiling came back from Grimwoods in Kent with two '61 models in a rare color
(reportedly, Brian Epstein had agreed to pay for them if they were the same color).
They later put them to work on "Nowhere Man," and used them regularly, including a Sgt. Pepper session <<

there are a couple of colour photos of John with his: [www.thecanteen.com]
i don't know if it looks like the same shade of blue as the ones the Stones had, but
the colours are hard to judge from photos, so i'm not letting that stop me. :E
"Grimwoods in Kent", eh? curiouser and curiouser ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-21 15:38 by with sssoul.

The black Gretsch was his main guitar in the early days. He used that on their first records. You also see him holding it on the Cloud Nine album.

The strat he first used on 'You're Going To Lose That Girl' and later on Rubber Soul. John Lennon used his own strat on 'Nowhere Man'.

The Ricky was used on 'Hard Day's Night'.

The Les Paul, EC used on 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'. George used it on 'Sexy Sadie' and 'Cry Baby Cry'. You also see him use it in the 'Revolution' promo video.

The Epiphone, George used extensively in the studio and on stage eg, Live in Budokan.

The Gretsch Chet Atkins model he used on the televised jam session with Carl Perkins and I believe on the Travelling Wilbury album.

About the others, I'm not sure.

Thanks That's great info. Are we sure that EC did the Geently solo-guitar. George learned something there. I thougt that sound was his...

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from a "10 Fenders to Die For" list: [www.instrumentpro.com]

George Harrison’s “Rocky” [the Strat that i seem to have gotten obsessed with]

A Pair of Beauties!

Some time between late-1964 and early ‘65, at Abbey Road Studios in London,
the Beatles were recording their landmark album Rubber Soul. George Harrison and John Lennon
decided that they wanted Stratocaster® guitars, so they sent their roadie, Mal Evans
out to buy a pair. Mal returned some time later with two matching Sonic Blue models.
The first Beatle to be seen playing his Strat® was John. A photo of him playing it appeared in the Beatles Monthly book.

Famous Sessions

It was George, however, that really took to his new axe. Harrison first played his on
You’re Going To Lose That Girl and the All You Need Is Love broadcast. Both John and George
played their Stratocaster® guitars together on Nowhere Man. George used the guitar
on various Rubber Soul and Revolver sessions.

Specs

Harrison’s Strat® had a neck date of December 1961 and the serial number on the headstock was 83840.
It had a rosewood fingerboard, white pickguard and standard Strat® hardware.
A recent examination reveals that the guitar had at some point in its life been sold by a music dealer in Kent.
A worn label on the back of the headstock reads: “Grimwoods: The Music People; Maidstone and Whitstable.”

Transformation

As the Psychedelic era dawned, the guitar underwent a dramatic transformation.
George had seen performers at London’s Bag ‘O Nails club with their custom-painted instruments
and decided to do the same with his. So, one night, to celebrate the completion of the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper album,
Harrison painted the Strat® in a variety of different colours. Instead of the sensible blue body paint,
his guitar now sported some fantastic artwork and slogans such as “Go Cat Go” and “Bebopalula”.
The Fender® logo was painted over and the word “Rocky” written in its place.

Beyond the Beatles

After the Beatles’ break-up in 1970, “Rocky” was used by George on his Dark Horse tour in 1974,
and more recently, during a photo session for Free As a Bird, a collaboration with Paul and Ringo.
This guitar now resides in the Harrison estate.

I wonder if Johnny (Winter) still has Jimi's 'Flying V'...

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Come On Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> His faboulus Guild is on frontcover to Dylans
> 'Nashville Skyline'.

Actually the guitar you see Dylan with on the cover is a Gibson J-200. George used one on the White Album sessions though so it could be his but as Bob could afford his own guitars I kinda doubt it.

Hmm - maybe we should have a thread like that about the Stones guitars....










just kiddin'
[www.iorr.org]

About the Strats: the amount of Stratocasters available in England in 1964 was certainly not any higher than 100. The amount of sonic blue Strats available in England in 1964 would be around two. Fender started shipping guitars to England from 1964 on (before that england banned the import of US goods in order to protect the market), and they mainly shipped sunburst and red strats (the latter because Hank Marvin the was biggest guitarist at that moment, and he was playing a pink/red Strat). any other colour is just insanely rare. It is almost not possible that the two sonic blue strats hangin on the Vox amps are NOT the Beatle strats.

Mathijs

well but ... the Beatles bought the Strats in late 64 or early 65.
if they must be the same Strats on that july 64 RSG set, then the Beatles must have gotten them from the Stones.
unless they didn't belong to the Stones either - but Keith was playing one of them at the Manchester gig on august 10th.
i am charmed at the thought that the Beatles got them from the Stones!
ahem, sorry: i guess i've already said that. :E

edit: that RSG wasn't july 64, it was june 26th - thanks terraplane! and [www.tv.com]
the Stones had just gotten back from the US, and they also played the Alexandra Palace All Night Rave that night.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-23 13:32 by with sssoul.

with sssoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> well but ... the Beatles bought the Strats in late
> 64 or early 65.
> if they must be the same Strats on that july 64
> RSG set, then the Beatles must have gotten them
> from the Stones.
> unless they didn't belong to the Stones either -
> but Keith was playing one of them at the
> Manchester gig on august 10th.
> i am charmed at the thought that the Beatles got
> them from the Stones!
> ahem, sorry: i guess i've already said that. :E

Are we sure it's the sonic blue Strat Keith's plays? I remember a picture with some bobby's on stage, and Keith playing what looks like a Strat. If I am correct this pic is B&W.

But the connection most probably is Jennings, the original distributor of Vox amps and instruments. They were instrumental in supplying gear to British bands, and they were also the ones whom started importing Fender gear (together with Selmers at Denmark Street). I don't know for sure, but I could imagine that Jennings provided the gear for shows like Ready Steady Go, and bands borrowed and bought gear through them. I guess that when the Beatles went looking for Strat's, they first asked Jennings if they knew some available in the London area. 1964 is also a year that Keith switched guitars every three months, most probably because he lost or damaged them. I guess that he just borrowed or lend them from music stores and distributors.

It would be intersting to send the pics of the blue Strats and the Stones to the author of the Beatle gear book, maybe he knows more about it. But again, I would reckon that these two sonic blue strats were the only ones in the entire kingdom of Brittain.

Mathijs

thanks & praises for knowing all these details, Mathijs!
yeah, the Manchester shot of Keith with a Strat is black and white ... let me go find it.
(and i've written to the Beatles site owner already - i'll keep you posted if he replies.)

ho ho this is getting better and better; ty mathijs and detective-tress-extraordinaire with sssoul...
i can't believe you sniffed this out!! amazing. way cool.

here's a link to the page where we first discussed the blue Strats: [www.iorr.org]
the black & white is ambiguous, of course, but looking at the black & white shot from the RSG set
it sure could be the same guitar Keith's got in the Manchester shot.
i read on that vintage guitar site that the rosewood fretboard was standard for Strats from 1959 to 65 -
is that right?

>> 1964 is also a year that Keith switched guitars every three months, most probably because he lost or damaged them <<

smile: well, he held onto the Epiphone Casino for a good long time! and the sunburst LP.
(by the way, i was also interested to see on that Beatles site that George and John weren't using Epiphones
until 66. i thought Casinos were already known as "Beatle guitars" earlier than that.)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-22 00:56 by with sssoul.

This is interesting about the blue strats. Personally, I'm skeptical that they are the same guitars used by the Beatles simply because it seems likely that either George H or Keith Richards would have mentioned it if they were.

The guitars and vox amps in the picture look pretty much pristine. Is it possible the tv studio had them purely as stage props and they didn't belong to the Stones? Why I say this is they aren't plugged into the amps and I can't imagine why they would bring two sets of guitars to a mimed TV appearance. Mathijis makes a good point about the rarity of these guitars though.

About the Epiphone Casinos -

George, John & Paul all got Casinos in late 1964. Paul's has a Gibson style headstock while John & George's had the Epiphone style headstock. Paul & George had Bigsby vibratos while John had the Gibson style trapeze tailpiece.
Paul used his Casino for the solo fills in Ticket to Ride (so that is the earliest Beatle use of an Epiphone). George & John it seems didn't use theirs until June 1966 when they toured Germany as with soul pointed out. BTW, I just played an Epiphine Casino today and they feel great!

As regards the Cherry Red Les Paul, George & Eric have both stated many times that Eric played the solo on While my Guitar Gently Weeps. George brought Eric to the session as they other three Beatles were indifferent to George's song and didn't seem interested in doing anything with it. After Eric did the now famous solo he remarked it didn't sound Beatley. So they put it through a ADT (?) effect to give it a wobbly sound. I think ADT stands for automatic double tracking. George later returned the favour by playing on Cream's Badge (the guitar through the Leslie speaker).

>> I can't imagine why they would bring two sets of guitars to a mimed TV appearance. <<

there were three sets of guitars on that stage, actually: in addition to the Strats,
Brian's got both his Vox 12 string and his Gretsch, and Keith's got the Casino and an acoustic.
one reason to have more guitars than they needed would be if they had a promo deal with the company that provided them.
but i agree that Mathijs's theory that the guitars were lent to RSG rather than to the Stones
sounds mighty plausible, even if Keith later used one of them in Manchester. their own instruments
had been wrecked by rampant Glaswegians at Blackpool or wherever it was, and they could well have borrowed gear
from the same place that was providing RSG with stuff for promo purposes.
if the same instruments were later sold to the Beatles, that wouldn't necessarily be something
that these extremely busy guitarists would take notice of, remember, etc - that's what geeks like us are for. :E

it all makes beautiful sense - whether it's true or not is a different question, of course!

>> George, John & Paul all got Casinos in late 1964. <<

smile: Keith had his first. see, in some things the Beatles did copy the Stones. :E



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-23 13:35 by with sssoul.

>> Jennings, the original distributor of Vox amps and instruments <<

Jennings Musical Industries, aka JMI. originally located in Dartford, Kent. i love it! :E
and the Stones did have some sort of promo scenario with Vox, as early as 1963 ...
Mathijs, have you got this book? [www.alibris.com]


- Vox PR, 1963 (don't know who took it, sorry!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-22 12:28 by with sssoul.

>> Selmers at Denmark Street <<

some Selmers history: [www.vintagehofner.co.uk]
oh and look - a lot of the Selmers staff is listed here: [www.vintagehofner.co.uk]
any UK-based volunteers feel like looking them up and asking them if they recall those matching blue Strats? :E

One thing to bear in mind is if Keith Richard's strat did indeed end up with John or George then Keith must have had two. There is the famous story of Linda Keith giving a strat which belonged to Keith to Jimi Hendrix in 1966 in New York.

With ssoul wrote:

smile: Keith had his first. see, in some things the Beatles did copy the Stones. :E


Indeed. George almost beat them to the punch on strats though. As I mentioned in another thread he spotted one in Hamburg in '61 or '62 and went back to get it the next day but the guitarist from a rival band (Rory Storm and the Hurricanes also from Liverpool) had bought it.

By the way, George bought his Black Duo Jet second hand from a sailor in Liverpool for 75 pounds. George said it was the first American guitar he ever played.

I think those fender strats must have belonged to a band called the Jinx which appeared with the Stones on the same episode of Ready Steady Go. The Jinx were a British invasion influenced band but actually from Mephis. Therefore, they would have easy access to fender stratocasters. Incredibly their lead guitarist Chris Bell would have only been about 13 or 14 at the time of the televison appearance. This is the same Chris Bell that later joined Big Star.

Here is another shot from that Ready Steady Go TV appearance and you can clearly see Charlie Watts playing on the drum kit that belonged to the Jinx:




In this episode the Stones played 'It's All OVer Now' & 'Good Times Bad Times' which explains why BJ has the 12 string and KR the acoustic.

By the way, it seems quite impossible to find any pictures of the Jinx. I did find one set of B&W shots from a live concert and Chris Bell was playing a stratocaster though it appeared to be a different one to the pale blue strat shown in the picture that with sssoul posted in the George Harrison guitar thread.

brilliant - thanks Terraplane for the correct date of that RSG: june 26th it is.
according to nzentgraf.de, that's the same day It's All Over Now/Good Times Bad Times came out as a single.
as you note those two number are all they aired, but it's clear from the photos
that they must have performed/mimed at least one other number as well. i wonder what - Mona??
ahem, sorry - i digress!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-02-23 14:20 by with sssoul.

The Jynx in late 1964/early 1965....


David Hoback (rhythm guitar), Bill Cunningham (bass), Mike Harris (lead vocal), DeWitt Shy (drums), and Chris Bell (lead guitar).



Mike Harris, DeWitt Shy, and Chris Bell.


David Hoback (left hand and guitar neck), Bill Cunningham, Mike Harris, DeWitt Shy, and Chris Bell.

Photos by Earl Hoback father of David Hoback



ROCKMAN

thank you thank you Rockman - are those from www.boxtops.com, which i can't coax to open for me?
i did find this Chris Bell bio: [en.wikipedia.org])