Musings

RIP to my good friend Peter Huggins, aka “Guitarmaniax.” Peter passed away last night after a battle with cancer.

Guitar mystery of the night: Here’s Johnny Fields, left, early 1950s. His Fender Esquire (Telecaster? No Caster? Broadcaster?) has been customized with what looks to be an extra bridge pickup section from another Fender guitar…

The saga continues on the Fender Woody Pro project. I’ve made no less than THREE sets of these metal strips.

RIP to the great Philadelphia DJ personality Jerry Blavat, the legendary “Geator with the Heater.” got turned on to the Geator a million years ago, when I auditioned for a Morells spinoff band when I was in high school in Missouri.

I had fun yesterday recording and cutting a Custom Record project for my friend Jon Nygren in Wisconsin.

RIP Johnny Powers, one of the last original Sun Rockabilly artists. His “Long Blonde Hair” still stands as one of the most goosebumps-inducing rockabilly singles of the 1950s.

Sally Jo and I soldiered on through “George and Tammy.” We finally finished it tonight. This series failed to capture any joy, any fun, any LIFE of its subjects, George Jones and Tammy Wynette. It’s what rock critics used to refer to as “soulless.”

Yesterday was an intense, nine-hour labor session doing upgrades and maintenance on the Scully record lathe with Jacob Horowitz. Jacob and his Uncle Len are the two guys on planet Earth who are the authority on Scully lathes, and I’m lucky enough to have them here in Los Angeles.

I love going to estate sales. Most of you know that about me. Occasionally I’ll buy a book, or a record, or some tools, but the thing that truly piques my interest is getting a glimpse into the past. Like walking through archaeological ruins, estate sales fascinate me.

Since the seven-foot Baldwin grand piano arrived at my house, I started paying attention to grand pianos. I always thought that all the famous recording studios must have had Steinways. But I discovered that most of that music I loved had been made with…Baldwin grand pianos.