Guitar Amp Repairs, Custom Amp Builds, Speakers – JPF Amplification

As those of you who are into vintage guitars are probably aware, the original incarnation of the Gibson Les Paul released in 1952 was virtually unplayable due to the strings running under (!?) the tail piece rather than over it.

However, help is at hand!

You can now make your 1952/53 playable with the Trapeaze™ from Crazy Pig Designs.

I’ve played a ’52 with the prototype of the Trapeaze™ on it and it really does work, turning an unplayable guitar into an absolute killer.

Now available in all good bookshops (and probably some bad ones), is this fantastic new book about Leo Fender’s involvement with Fender Electric/ Musical Instrument company, from his founding of the company to his departure in 1970 five years after the CBS takeover.

Brothers Martin and Paul Kelly (who are well known at Angel Music!) and Terry Foster have taken years researching this book.

The book not only contains tons of ephemera, include rare catalogues and promotional material, but also Paul Kelly’s outstanding photography (rather than the library photos used in many books).

Will make an excellent Christmas/ Birthday present!

As promised here are some pictures from my trip to the Dallas Guitar Show 2010.

A nice 1959 ‘burst, one of several at the show. Unfortunately I didn’t have $250,000 on me…..

Early 1964 Gibson Firebird I. Very cool and quite rare.

Really cool 1951 Fender Nocaster (have a look at the decal). This guitar played really well and didn’t have the massive baseball bat like neck profiles found on many early 50s Teles, although I actually quite like that profile myself (see Austin post for further details).

1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard Goldtop with twp PAFs. This guitar is actually rarer than a ‘burst, so was a snip at $109,000!

1954 Fender Stratocaster. Note the wear on the front neck pickup cover. This is very typical of early Fender Strats due to the plastic used for the pickup covers. Look at photos of Buddy Holly playing a Strat and you will see similar wear on the front pickup cover; and his Strat must have been fairly new compared with this one.

Another Fender Nocaster and P-bass from 1951.