Musings

Scotty became an absolute legend with his yearly appearances at the Viva Las Vegas festival, charming audiences with his great musicianship, hilarious stage patter, and volume of personality.

What can I say? I have a soft spot in my heart for cheesy 80’s metal, and Keel is like melted Velveeta in that genre—the cheesiest!

This Bigsby vibrato was mounted on the Butterball Paige guitar when I got it, but it was not original to the guitar.

Had another good day in Bakersfield, photographing a few guitars at my friend Marc Lipco’s place.

Had another good day in Bakersfield, photographing a few guitars at my friend Marc Lipco’s place.

Roger showed me a cool guitar that Semie Moseley made for him: a small-bodied Ventures model (basically a Mark V that Semie shaped to be more like the Ventures-style bodies).

I can verify that as of tonight, December 23, 2024, Merle Travis’s bent telephone pole still stands, behind Ireland’s 32 bar in Van Nuys, California.

Remembering the time I got to work with Conway Twitty’s wonderful guitar player from the early days, Al Bruno. What a character!

Jon Spencer (he of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) contacted me out of the blue a few weeks ago and asked to book a recording session at my studio. And I think the tracks sound great!

This is a pair of original 1966–67 Hallmark Swept-Wing guitars made by ex-Mosrite employees Joe Hall and Bill Gruggett in Arvin, California.