Willie G. Moseley

RE: Carmine Rojas----I'd thunk it was a Hispanic name, couldn't quite nail it. The idea of "no signature models" has merit, but Beck is still pretty much of a player's player

Mike Mesaros---Smithereens Roscoe Beck---he's even had a Fender signature bass, for Chrissakes Whoever played bass on John Waite's NO BRAKE LIVE VHS, ca. 1983 or so. The instrumental intro to "Missing You" is gorgeous, features a brief high-on-the-register bass solo w/ exactly the kind of tone I wish I had back then. Seems like it was somebody semi-famous as a player's player, but I forgot who. Ricky Phillips---he adds a lot to Styx Dave LaRue---chops out the wazoo, but knows how to stay in the groove (only shows off when gets a solo)

The tune was some kind of stereotypical/egalitarian club fare of the time, like maybe "Jeremiah Wuzza Bullfrog" or "Rollin' Onna River".

It was in a club in Montgomery, AL. IIRC, Lindsey was a teacher from somewhere in North AL prior to getting into show biz. A college professor I know who's a bit older than me says he's got a photo of himself backing up Jim "Gomer" Nabors, who was from Sylacauga.

John Denver? Gene Hackman? Jeezus.... That's actually my then-outfit backing George "Goober" Lindsey; i.e., even more improbable/bizarre than Hackman! I'd forgotten I had this stashed away in an out-of-the-way place in my office. December, 1974. Electra Les Paul copy (a decent-enough instrument for a so-so player like me) + a Big Muff Pi, one of those cheap wah-wahs that had a siren + white noise capability that was supposed to simulate surf and some other sound...I also got a Small Stone and a Mu-Tron III back then but I don't think I had 'em when this photo was taken. Amp was a Kustom piggyback in turquoise tuck-and-roll with a 15" spkr. and a horn. I also sent this to some pro musicians I know, and the best retort I got was from a famous bass player who said "I used to own the same shirt."

Try the Hallmark Guitars web site. They have some Mosrite clones from Korea, and a former Mosrite employee, Bill Gruggett, is an advisor concerning authenticity. Tell 'em I sent ya. VINTAGE GUITAR reviewed the Ampeg copies a while back. Neck is reportedly pretty beefy.

+1

Jeezus, how could I have forgotten Lemmy? Sometimes his nicotine-and-phlegm-coated stuff is a bit difficult to decipher onstage, but he always makes sense. Offstage/on-interview-camera, his perspective is always sensible. I especially enjoyed his offstage remarks on the live VHS of Everything Louder Than Everything Else. It's a '91 Munich concert, and what he said then still holds up almost two decades later.

Elvis. More than one Englishter, like Long John Baldry and Gary Brooker; even the ones whose voice is so stuffy they're speaking English and you still can't understand 'em like Pete Townshend and one of the Gallagher bros. Actor David Hemmings was on the original live version of Rick Wakeman's JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, but since that was narration/spoken word, I don't suppose that counts. Eloquent, however.

As noted elsewhere, the Steve Morse Band's OUT STANDING IN THEIR FIELD and Kansas' THERE'S KNOW PLACE LIKE HOME. And the latter caused me to pull out Styx's ONE WITH EVERYTHING (live w/ the Contemporary Youth Orchestra of Cleveland) again.

One thing I know: The Loch Ness Monster is really a Nazi submarine.

Sunburst Strat w/ clay dots on a rosewood board. Could have gotten in used in '66 for $50; I was 16 and my finances were directed more towards the great American ritual of car dating ($ spent on gallons of Brut, etc.).

Got one beater guitar and one utility bass (but both are still collectible) in my collection that would be the only ones I would loan out (and I have done so). Loaned only to persons I know to be responsible musicians who are either pros or have a pro attitude. Even though those two instruments show a bit of wear, I always ask the borrower to put a couple of band aids across his belt buckle. In fact, I actually furnish the band aids; I stick 'em in the strings---that way, the preventive measure won't be forgotten, and it's a reminder (without being too blunt) to be careful. When I've followed this procedure, all I've ever had to do (at most) when I got the instruments back was get a polishing cloth after the forearm marks on the (glossy) top. Not a problem. One more than one occasion, the player had polished it back up himself, which validates the aforementioned pro attitude.

About a decade ago, I scored a pawn shop deal on a black U.S. Hamer bass that had a P/J configuration, dot markers, and three chrome Tele-type knobs. Nothing fancy at all, and I got it for a song on accounta the magnet on one side of the P-type pickup was broken and wouldn't put out. Replaced with a Fender pickup. For whatever reasons, it felt balanced and just about perfect, ergonomically (for me, at least). This would have made a great utility bass had I retained it. However, with only dot markers and no neck binding, I couldn't see where I was too well, and that was the reason/excuse for parting with it...but I could just have easily stuck white adhesive dot markers on the bass side of the fretboard and/or larger ones on the side of the neck. Over the decades, I passed up many others in pawn shops before I garnered an appreciation for the brand's quality, including ones with wild factory graphics, Zulu finishes, etc. If I had to write about all of the instruments of all brands that got away (buying opportunity muffed or personal collection items that were sold) it'd make a long book...but that's probably the case for most of us.

Coulda been worse. Decades ago teh PA ni my church's sanctuary began picking up police calls. One easily imagine the preacher's sermon being interrupted by the dispatcher; something like "The Lord said unto Moses---Car 22, Car 22..."

I've owned one for a number of years that's a slightly newer model; it DOES have the TransTube logo and sounds great. Playing bass live instead of guitar, I use a Peavey 100-watt guitar head w/ TransTube. No problems from either amp, ever.

Best man at the Paul/Ford wedding: Steve Miller's dad? Seems like I heard Miller note such, and says he got his first guitar lesson from Les.

I have an autographed 8 X 10 from Mr. Polsfuss on my office wall, very near to the autographed one from George Fullerton. There's a phenomenon in the news business where many types of media have all sorts of obituaries "on ice" or in stasis, ready to publish or broadcast when somebody passes away. The one that got me interested in this concept was LBJ's passing in '73, when a startled Garrick Utley interrupted his regular/scheduled reporting on NBC Nightly News to announce the death of Johnson. Then the network went to Ray Scherer for a 15-minute historical retrospective (IIRC Scherer was just a narrator) that seemed to have been obviously "ready to go". Jeffro says electronic and print media have such instantly-available post-mortem stories on file for all Presidents (current and former), the Pope, others. Going to the Gibson site, the tribute there to Mr. Polsfuss seemed to have been already prepared, and how could they get that many comments from that many guitarists that quickly? However, the remembrance is done in good taste, FWMOW. It's not morbid, but it's fascinating, and it shows the amount of respect Mr. Polsfuss had, so it's a rather unique compliment, IMO.

+1 on hoping I don't leave anybody out: JeffR Kizanski kenjones Hamerica All of the above at guitar shows or the first James Burton Guitar Festival (and I' m hoping to go to Arlington in October) I also seen Jack Butler from a distance at his 20-year homecoming pep rally. Couldn't help noticing some dude w/ hair too long for somebody his age + a red SuperStrat-type guitar... Wrote a newspaper column a few months ago titled "Friends I've never met" and posted the text here. Text is still valid.

Favorite: the G & L bass bridge. Simplicity and sustain Least-favorite: The steel-deck truss type, a la the bridge on I-35 that collapsed in Minneapolis. The reason for this is there's a big one of that type that is reportedly the second-longest curved one in the world; it divides the small mill town where we live (city's actually in two counties divided by the river). Built in the late '30s, it was inspected thoroughly by a "snooper" on more than one occasion after the Minneapolis disaster. While safe, it's gonna needs replacement in the not-too-distant future. There's a dam right beside it, which means it's suspended some 200 feet over the river bed. There have been times I've had to walk out to the middle to take a photo of one of the old mills, and it's un-nerving for someone like me who has a phobia about being "on the edge" of something. It really shakes when an 18-wheeler rolls by...

+ 1 also on the Gittler. Avraham Bar Rashi (nee Allen Gittler) said that he stopped with his design when he reached a point where he could take nothing else off and still have a usable guitar. The one in the photo is one of the first 60, made in the US; they got serial numbers in sequential order. An additional 300-500 were made in Israel under name licensing but they had some add-on "parts" that were supposed to make 'em easier to play. A US-made Gittler is reportedly the only (stringed?) musical instrument in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. I own #78, an early Israeli one.; BCR has re-strung it for me. Used to be my "airport guitar" (w/ headphone amp), but I got pulled aside by security folks almost every time it went thru X-ray...and this was BEFORE 9/11. I don't take it along anymore; don't need the hassle...or the body cavity searches.

Looks like it was designed for Marvel Comics superhero the Daredevil...but he happens to be blind, so what difference do the visuals make (including lack of fret markers)???

First I heard was "Memory" on YouTube. Never heard the first song. Her vibrato seemed about right RE the modulation, but seemed like it might not have been necessary for the whole tune. She has what sounds---to me, at least---a naturally-pretty voice as opposed to a classically-trained voice, but considering what she's singing, sometimes there's not much difference. The Missus is a fan. Stories like this are good human interest, Rocky-type episodes. Doesn't do any harm to hear about such an occurrence every once in a while. Could be worse; could be Mrs. Miller, ca 1968.

"I'm so old, to me, "shootin' up" means the enema bag..." ----Rodney Dangerfield HBD

The new TV GUIDE came in the mail today so I was able to determine who he was; didn't know before that perusal. "American Idol", as well as "America's Got Talent", is simply "Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour" w/ fireworks and confetti.