well hello friends and welcome to ask

0:50

Zach

0:51

today we're going to have a fun topic

0:53

that came up because one of my patreon

0:56

followers asked about it and so

1:00

he had bought an instrument that a

1:03

dealer had said had been owned by a

1:06

guitar celebrity

1:08

and uh we did some digging and found out

1:12

that there was no connection

1:14

and he asked that I do a video about

1:18

this and I agreed because I've actually

1:21

run into this situation a lot because I

1:24

during my time writing for vintage

1:27

guitar magazine I would get a lot of

1:29

requests for verifying celebrity

1:33

connections with instruments and

1:34

unfortunately it was always after the

1:37

fact after they had bought it so uh I

1:40

call these ghost stories and it seems

1:43

like so many vintage guitars have a

1:45

ghost story about

1:47

some you know famous connection that's

1:50

most of the time I would say 98 of the

1:54

time completely

1:56

unverifiable so we're going to talk

1:57

about that and we're going to bring back

2:00

uh the book Nook segment and I'm going

2:04

to talk about a book that I love that

2:07

I've learned a lot about guitar setup

2:09

from and then I'm going to talk about a

2:12

book that's currently in bookstores that

2:15

I think you should avoid at all costs

2:17

and then another book on that same topic

2:21

that you should dig up if you're wanting

2:23

to learn more about this musical artist

2:27

all right so first off I need to thank

2:31

today's sponsor which is Glazer

2:33

instruments and their sister companies

2:36

Glazer bender and Music City Bridge I

2:40

have of course been a customer of glazer

2:43

instruments for 30 plus years they have

2:46

re-fretted or done plec work or done all

2:50

sorts of repairs and have worked on

2:52

almost every instrument that I have

2:55

Glazer Bender makes the wonderful

2:57

convertible Bender that can be changed

3:00

between a b or G bender and I have those

3:04

onto my guitars it's the finest Bender

3:06

system available currently and it's uh

3:10

it can be installed fairly quickly too

3:12

it doesn't have the lead times the old

3:14

vendors used to have and finally Music

3:17

City Bridge makes some of the finest

3:19

tools and uh you know and parts for your

3:24

guitars so they have everything from

3:26

like these this uh driver set that I use

3:29

when setting up my instruments to they

3:32

have a wrap around intonated bridge for

3:35

Les Paul Juniors they have locking studs

3:38

for those bridges they make a wonderful

3:42

three pickup blend control harness that

3:46

you can purchase from them and also they

3:47

have things for working on the Frets on

3:51

your guitar also things for repairing

3:54

the nut and so so there are links in the

3:56

description for all of those also I just

3:59

want to thank my patreon followers that

4:02

supporters that are are just invaluable

4:05

to me

4:07

let's Dive In

4:09

so again

4:10

this all got started because one of my

4:13

patreon followers he had been sold an

4:16

instrument

4:17

and he had been told that it had a

4:20

celebrity connection and

4:23

there was even a letter of authenticity

4:27

that was by an unscrupulous dealer where

4:31

it had no proof of any kind but it just

4:34

claimed a connection to this artist

4:37

and when we did some digging we found

4:41

out that there was no connection and

4:45

that this artist really doesn't sell

4:50

their guitars or give them away and so

4:54

that was kind of another Telltale sign

4:56

so I've run into this a lot through the

4:59

years and I started running into it and

5:03

when I started writing for vintage

5:05

guitar magazine over 15 years ago guys

5:08

would send me pictures of guitars

5:11

and it would be you know I mean one

5:15

example was a guy sent me a picture of a

5:18

60s telecaster and he said uh when I

5:20

bought this I was told that it was

5:24

formerly owned by Joe Walsh

5:26

well I was just naive and stupid enough

5:29

to go uh you know about trying to track

5:32

down Joel Walsh and get an answer and so

5:35

of course I did a lot of leg work

5:38

and we were finally able to get in touch

5:40

with Joe Walsh and then come to find out

5:44

there was no connection at all and so

5:47

then I'm left with

5:50

something that no one really wants

5:53

um to be broadcast you know in a

5:57

magazine the fact that they bought an

5:59

instrument that does not have a

6:01

connection with an artist and that they

6:04

were told it was and

6:08

you know and I had that happen many

6:10

times until finally I stopped being

6:13

involved with that because ninety

6:16

percent of the time it's just untrue and

6:19

it's just I don't know whether it's

6:22

um

6:23

you know just some a romanticized you

6:27

know Vision or or what it is or

6:30

something hopeful that they think it

6:32

would be nice if it had that

6:34

that connection with a celebrity and I

6:36

get it because

6:38

we like to have a story

6:42

sell things I mean think about the old

6:46

story of the used car salesman and you

6:50

know he's selling a car to someone and

6:52

the big story is it was owned by a

6:55

little old lady and she just drove it to

6:58

church in the store you know twice a

7:00

week

7:02

and you know it's basically saying this

7:04

car was really taken care of low mileage

7:07

blah blah blah

7:09

and we like stories so if if you're

7:13

buying some you know a used guitar

7:15

what helps sell it better than you know

7:19

I mean because one you could put it out

7:20

is you know hey this is a used

7:22

Telecaster but if you say hey this is a

7:24

used telecaster and it's owned by Joe

7:26

Walsh well then all of a sudden it has a

7:29

story and it has a premium that the

7:31

dealer can put on the price

7:33

and a lot of unscrupulous dealers you

7:35

know through the years have done that

7:37

and I think

7:38

more recently it's become less common

7:41

you will still see that some on the

7:43

individual level but the purpose of this

7:46

video is really

7:48

to tell you that you need to really have

7:51

a jaundice eye when anyone has when

7:54

anyone claims a celebrity connection

7:57

and you really need to have concrete

8:01

proof

8:02

so

8:03

here here are some things you should

8:05

look for one

8:08

if the uh you know if the instrument is

8:11

being sold you know you should

8:13

probably try to find from a reputable

8:16

dealer and then that dealer should have

8:18

some type of real certificate of

8:21

authenticity and usually a picture of

8:24

that artist with the instrument now if

8:27

it's after they've passed away and it

8:29

was one that they used on stage well

8:31

great have a picture where it's

8:32

verifiable you know where like the grain

8:35

of of you know hopefully there's some

8:36

type of grain or finish or some way

8:38

where you can verify it's the same

8:40

instrument

8:41

uh in the in the old photo but there

8:44

should be something from the estate of

8:46

the deceased artist so uh you know there

8:50

have been you know older uh you know

8:52

session players and such that their

8:55

instruments have been sold off at grune

8:58

guitars or Carter vintage who are both

9:01

of course Very reputable dealers here in

9:03

Nashville and they come with you know

9:07

because many times they don't have a

9:09

photo with the uh

9:12

with the deceased guitarist but they

9:15

have a letter of authenticity that's

9:16

from the estate of the guitarist usually

9:19

their widow or a family member and so

9:23

that's enough

9:26

um yeah

9:28

so I I think in saying this

9:33

I know that we all like to have a a

9:37

storied connection and we like to have a

9:40

story with a guitar because it makes it

9:42

more fun because

9:44

you know these are not living things I

9:47

mean they once were you know they once

9:49

were you know trees but

9:52

you know we like to attach these stories

9:56

and we like to romanticize and uh

10:00

yeah and so many times there isn't you

10:04

know some amazing story about a vintage

10:06

guitar so this is my 57 Esquire

10:10

and you know I bought it a couple years

10:12

ago down in Tuscaloosa Alabama

10:14

and I bought it during the middle of the

10:18

pandemic and so it wasn't kind of your

10:21

normal kind of shopping for a vintage

10:23

guitar I mean I went I drove down there

10:26

specifically to look at this guitar and

10:29

um

10:30

so there wasn't it wasn't like I was

10:32

just down there to shop but still

10:34

because you know you're wearing masks

10:36

and all that junk uh

10:38

you know I wasn't really messing around

10:40

and once I decided to buy it you know I

10:44

paid for it and I left

10:46

and it wasn't until I got home

10:49

and I think Dan strain asked me you know

10:52

this he said hey is there any story

10:55

associated with the guitar because

10:57

that's a common question you know when

10:58

you buy a vintage guitar and this one

11:01

had been spray painted blue and it was

11:03

rattle can blue and it was uh and the

11:06

guy you know was serious enough that he

11:08

removed all the blonde finish put a red

11:11

sealer coat and then put this blue

11:13

finish on top

11:14

so and it you know the neck was played

11:18

to death the Frets were gone and you

11:20

know I've added somewhere to this but

11:22

most of this wear was on the guitar you

11:25

know when I got it

11:27

so immediately you know I mean yeah Dan

11:30

strain said hey is there a story behind

11:33

the guitar I mean and it didn't it

11:34

didn't have to be a celebrity connection

11:36

it would be like uh oh you know yeah

11:39

this uh this hillbilly cat played you

11:41

know country music in the bars around

11:43

Tuscaloosa you know for years or you

11:46

know blues guitarist or

11:48

what have your reggae what have you I

11:51

mean still it you know

11:53

there was that desire for a story

11:57

and immediately I thought I'm such an

12:00

idiot I need to reach out to the dealer

12:02

and uh and find out you know find the

12:05

story out well I contacted the dealer

12:08

Guitar Gallery down in Tuscaloosa and

12:12

they said well

12:13

there's a there is a story but I need

12:16

permission to tell it and so I got

12:19

really excited and

12:21

well when uh they ended up telling me

12:25

that once they got permission from the

12:28

family that sold it

12:29

was that basically the guitar had been

12:33

lost in a poker game

12:36

so they hadn't and then the owner the

12:39

guy that won it in the poker game didn't

12:41

play guitar and it sat in a closet

12:44

so that was that was all the story they

12:45

knew everyone was dead

12:48

so you know it was it was a complete

12:50

dead end it's kind of a it is a fun

12:52

story in that you're able to say hey

12:54

this guitar was lost in a poker game and

12:57

that's kind of fun but uh but there's no

13:00

information about who owned it before or

13:03

you know where it was used or what kind

13:05

of music was played on it I mean it I'm

13:08

just I'm still curious you know because

13:10

of uh you know the wear up and down the

13:12

neck and the fact that the Frets were

13:13

completely worn out

13:16

um yeah it seemed like it would have had

13:18

a a good story but uh I don't uh

13:22

unfortunately I don't get the privilege

13:24

of having the story of this guitar and

13:27

so you know it's uh it's getting its own

13:30

story at this point I guess we have

13:32

blank pages for the first you know

13:35

chapters and then of course you know

13:36

this has been my main guitar for the

13:39

last couple years since I got it

13:41

so

13:44

be very careful when you're uh buying

13:47

guitars and don't allow anyone to

13:50

inflate the value of a guitar

13:53

based on an alleged celebrity connection

13:57

there needs to be verifiable information

14:00

there needs to be a letter of

14:03

authenticity from a reputable dealer and

14:06

they still need to have proof there

14:09

needs to be proof there needs to be a

14:10

photo of the artist with the guitar

14:12

something from the estate something from

14:14

the family and uh

14:17

yeah it just there's just too many

14:19

things being sold as Jimi Hendrix Wawa

14:23

pedal or you know where it's like well

14:26

how are you gonna you know did this come

14:28

from the family you know where is this

14:30

coming from oh well it's some guy that

14:31

you know happened to be at a show in the

14:34

60s okay well where's the where's the

14:36

verification or

14:38

you know proving something like uh

14:41

you know this was a

14:43

you know Stevie Ray Vaughan's you know

14:46

ts808 or something like that well it's

14:48

like

14:49

how are you going to prove it you know

14:51

do you have serial numbers off of a you

14:53

know receipt from Sam Ash or something

14:55

like that you need to prove these things

14:57

before you can attach some you know and

15:01

usually it's some type of incredible

15:03

value

15:05

um on something

15:07

I will say there was one case where

15:11

in uh in these requests that people have

15:14

made of me to help verify an instrument

15:17

and that was there was a an Orville

15:21

335 made in the 1980s that was

15:25

left-handed that was uh owned the the

15:29

owner claimed it was owned by Elliot

15:33

Easton of the cars and so I was able to

15:35

reach out to Elliot Easton and he said

15:38

as far as I can remember I think that

15:40

was my guitar for a while and I mean he

15:44

couldn't say it beyond a shadow of a

15:45

doubt but he could say at least I think

15:47

that was my guitar so you know you could

15:49

kind of add that to it

15:52

so be careful

15:55

um yeah and and if you're if you have an

15:58

instrument like that you know let's not

16:00

tell the story if uh if you can't prove

16:02

anything because it still is kind of

16:04

used as a uh a tool to negotiate with

16:08

and no one wants to sit on a throne of

16:11

Lies when talking about guitars

16:14

all right

16:16

let's talk uh let's go into the book

16:19

Nook segment

16:21

so

16:23

I love this book and this has been a

16:26

really important book for me learning

16:28

about guitar setup and guitar

16:30

maintenance it's called how to make your

16:32

electric guitar play great by Dan Earl

16:35

Owen and of course published by uh

16:38

BackBeat which I think is an imprint of

16:40

uh which I believe is an imprint of Hal

16:42

Leonard this is a fantastic book

16:45

um and very much worth picking up I I

16:50

learned so much about uh

16:53

you know about relief and intonation and

16:57

all sorts of things

17:00

it's a it's a fantastic book and I'll

17:03

put a uh a link down in the description

17:06

for this

17:09

now for a

17:13

a less than Stellar review I'm going to

17:15

talk about another book

17:17

so I was at the local Barnes and Noble

17:20

and I picked up this book and I was

17:24

aghast at the number of historical

17:27

inaccuracies that were in this book and

17:30

so I'm going to tell you about this book

17:32

just so you know to steer clear of this

17:34

because if you go into a Barnes Noble or

17:36

most you know major bookstores it will

17:39

be there in the music biography sections

17:42

and this is the hag by Mark Elliott this

17:46

is a terrible book there are probably

17:48

nuggets of Truth in here there are

17:51

probably interviews that are accurate

17:52

but there are so many inaccuracies as

17:56

far as just even basic things where he

18:00

talks about Johnny Cash being married to

18:02

June Carter in 1960 or talking about

18:06

Clive Davis being the head of Columbia

18:09

in the 1980s when he was fired in the

18:11

70s and was the head of Arista through

18:14

the late 70s and 80s and onward and was

18:16

helming like the careers of Whitney

18:18

Houston and others

18:20

um

18:20

giving Mark Kendrick the great Builder

18:23

credit for for building the guitar that

18:26

uh you know that that Merle played in in

18:29

the 1980s which was made by Jerry Jones

18:31

and it wasn't until into the 90s that it

18:35

just goes on and on and on it seems like

18:37

every other page and uh where they're

18:39

giving credit to uh to guitarist that uh

18:44

and just gross inaccuracies uh also the

18:49

book is very salacious

18:52

um and uh I don't I don't really think

18:55

that's necessary I mean this just didn't

18:57

seem like a a tell-all and uh yeah

19:01

really really disappointed in this book

19:04

and so if you're curious about Merle

19:07

Haggard I suggest you check out uh David

19:10

cantwell's the running kind and I'll uh

19:13

post a little picture of it right here

19:15

it is much better written and they did

19:19

fact checking on it unlike this and uh

19:24

it's a it's a good book and he it has a

19:27

revised Edition and I would I would pick

19:30

that up

19:31

considering I think the book was

19:33

originally written before Merle had

19:34

passed away and so the revised Edition

19:36

includes of course uh further info

19:40

all right well thank you guys I hope you

19:43

enjoyed today's episode about uh the

19:46

ghost stories of vintage guitars and

19:49

celebrity connections and I hope you

19:51

guys will be wary of those things also I

19:54

need to check uh I need to thank

19:57

Glazer instruments Glazer bender and

20:00

Music City Bridge thank you so much for

20:03

your support and help and thank you guys

20:06

and I'll see you next time

20:08

bye-bye