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NAD - A Little Ol' Southern Boogie


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This year was not supposed to be a big gear acquisition year.  There was a possibility that a nice Mexican made Fender Telecaster could be mine.  Those will be made for a while, and they will always be available used.  In another thread I asked for opinions on the Marshall Studio series amps.  Thank you to everyone for the assessments and suggestions of alternate Marshall amp choices.    Maybe, a big maybe, there was going to be a Marshall amp in my house sometime next year.  That got cancelled.  I bought a Boogie. 

As teenagers we marveled at the gear our guitar heroes played.  We wanted the same instruments so we could sound exactly like those guys.  A DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup would make me sound the same as Ace Frehley.  Tried it.  Failed.  Got one notch less naïve about gear.  I got the T-shirt, too.  After a while there were some guitars and amps we got to try out.  Some guitars and amps were only seen in magazines

If I could have my favorite players’ guitars the list would have been really long in 1980.  By 2020 there are very few that I would go out of my way to buy.  Virtually everything I would like to have goes back to around 1980 like some of the Molly Hatchet Hamers and anything Rick Nielsen played over the years.  Find me the missing Alice Cooper guitars that Michael Bruce played, please.  After years of going to concerts some of the players could be associated with the same type of amps, but very few players were known for specific amps. 

The first time I saw a Mesa Boogie amp outside of the pages of Guitar Player Magazine was when I saw the Charlie Daniels Band around December of 1982.  I had front row center at a general admission show.  I got a Tommy Crain guitar pick during the show, and afterwards I got autographs from Tommy and Charlie Daniels.  I remembered the Boogie combos as only being one for each guy, but looking at old videos Tommy had one on his side and Charlie had a pair on his side.  One of Charlie’s amps had a graphic EQ.  Tommy Crain left the CDB in 1989.  Charlie’s pair of Boogies was spread farther apart after that, and the pair of them were always in front of the drum riser or on the drum riser. 

There have been shows without the Boogies, but those had local backline or multiple artists sharing the same gear. 

Go looking for some old live videos of the Charlie Daniels Band and you will notice the Boogies on stage.  Here is an example from 1980.  

For a while there was a Charlie Daniels museum in Nashville.  It was filled with wardrobe and awards.  There was a guitar that Ronnie Van Zant had given Charlie.  At a meet and greet I mentioned to Charlie that I had been to his museum.  He asked what I thought of it, so I told him the stuff I really wanted to see was still being used, particularly the two Boogies.  He asked if I was a guitar player. 

I mentioned the pair of amps in conversation with Charlie at least once more.  While waiting in line for a meet and greet one time it was possible to see the backs of those amps yet not quite close enough to get a photo of the serial numbers.  They are stamped into the metal under black paint, so it is tough to photograph a serial number like that close up.  I talked at least once with Roger Campbell, Charlie’s guitar tech and crew member since the 70s, specifically about those amps. 

By now it should be obvious I was fixated on those amps.  You can go to shows and often see the same guitars tour after tour.  I noticed the amps at CDB shows. 

Both Tommy Crain and Taz DiGregorio died in 2011.  They were a part of the band that became huge in the 70s and 80s.  In the mid 2010s Roger Campbell modified the pair of Boogies with new grills to replace the original wicker grills.  One amp now had a cloth grill with “TC” and the other cloth grill read “Taz.”  They were the same amps.  The Boogie with a graphic EQ got the “Taz” grill. 

The original wicker grills can be seen here:

 

Here are the same amps with new grills: 

 

Charlie Daniels died in July 2020.  At the beginning of this year some of his belongings have been put up for sale.  Clothing, office items, recording and touring gear have been going up for sale.  There were additions after the first items appeared.  For most items there is a higher “celebrity owned” price.  You might find some items that are not too far from a normal asking price.  The Boogies were not in the initial offerings.  I was waiting for them to show up at some point.  Then there was this “if you do not ask you will not know anything” attitude that came over me.  Asking and not following through on a purchase had me a little hesitant, but I did. 

Someone within the Charlie Daniels organization had already claimed the Taz amp.  TC was available.  I dreamed of owning the pair one day.  Having either one of those amps would be special even though to me they will always be a pair.  I was given a price.  There was not a problem with the price (do not ask), just how to come up with the money.  I paid.  Then I had to schedule a time to pick up the amp.  There was a week of waiting for my opportunity. 

My trip to the Nashville area started on Sunday night so I could be there early on Monday.  The amp was waiting for me at Charlie Daniels’ studio which is next to the company office.  I was going to go to CDB headquarters—past the gate!  Stephen Shutts is the person in charge of selling the gear, and he met me at the gate to let me follow him in.  Another guy was there with his son to pick up a Marshall head that Charlie used back in the 70s along with some other items.  I spent three hours listening to Roger educating us on CDB gear.  It was gear talk.  It was CDB history. 

You can tell Roger is a real crew member.  No amp or flight case was too heavy for him to pick up or pull out.  When he looked for something he found it quickly.  At least 45 years of doing that kind of work shows.  He was really nice to the three of us fanboys there. 

What I learned about the pair of Boogies was that they were definitely used by Charlie Daniels on stage and in the studio.  A third Boogie combo with a wood cabinet and wicker grill was used in the studio.  Eventually they were not primary amps even though they were on stage ever since Charlie got them.  The amp without a graphic EQ became the guest amp for anyone who got to jam with the CDB on stage.  The amp with the graphic EQ would sometimes be used if the acoustic guitar or fiddle wireless was not working, and that there were only a very few times that happened in the last 40 years. 

The Boogie that I got was set up on stage with the output going to a 2 x 12” Peavey cabinet loaded with Eminence speakers that leaned back on an angled box.  I got those and a wicker grill, too. 

There has not been time to take a photo of everything since getting home, so here is a picture of the amp I was sent when I first inquired about it. 

20210226_133242.jpg

Some of the photos from yesterday that are on my phone are too big to upload, but I have  photos of the two amps together.  Here is one of me an Roger with the amps. 

20210322_133848.jpg

In the final years Charlie was playing through a Fender Hot Rod DeVille that was behind the amps and a 4 x 12” cabinet on stage behind Charlie for that.  He liked the sound of it. 

I got an amp I can remember seeing used on stage over 38 years ago.  It is in a lot of photos and videos from that time forward that are all over the Internet and YouTube.  I got a piece of CDB history.  I also got a piece of gear that I had thought about many times over the years.  It is actually mine now.  It will be cranked up.  Friends can play through it.  Charlie would have wanted someone to jam on his gear. 

 

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Wow! Nice stories. I remember seeing Charlie waaaaay back. Pretty sure it pre-dated the Boogies, great show! You are a lucky man, Congrats!

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28 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said:

This year was not supposed to be a big gear acquisition year.  There was a possibility that a nice Mexican made Fender Telecaster could be mine.  Those will be made for a while, and they will always be available used.  In another thread I asked for opinions on the Marshall Studio series amps.  Thank you to everyone for the assessments and suggestions of alternate Marshall amp choices.    Maybe, a big maybe, there was going to be a Marshall amp in my house sometime next year.  That got cancelled.  I bought a Boogie. 

 

 

 

 

As teenagers we marveled at the gear our guitar heroes played.  We wanted the same instruments so we could sound exactly like those guys.  A DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup would make me sound the same as Ace Frehley.  Tried it.  Failed.  Got one notch less naïve about gear.  I got the T-shirt, too.  After a while there were some guitars and amps we got to try out.  Some guitars and amps were only seen in magazines

 

 

If I could have my favorite players’ guitars the list would have been really long in 1980.  By 2020 there are very few that I would go out of my way to buy.  Virtually everything I would like to have goes back to around 1980 like some of the Molly Hatchet Hamers and anything Rick Nielsen played over the years.  Find me the missing Alice Cooper guitars that Michael Bruce played, please.  After years of going to concerts some of the players could be associated with the same type of amps, but very few players were known for specific amps. 

 

 

The first time I saw a Mesa Boogie amp outside of the pages of Guitar Player Magazine was when I saw the Charlie Daniels Band around December of 1982.  I had front row center at a general admission show.  I got a Tommy Crain guitar pick during the show, and afterwards I got autographs from Tommy and Charlie Daniels.  I remembered the Boogie combos as only being one for each guy, but looking at old videos Tommy had one on his side and Charlie had a pair on his side.  One of Charlie’s amps had a graphic EQ.  Tommy Crain left the CDB in 1989.  Charlie’s pair of Boogies was spread farther apart after that, and the pair of them were always in front of the drum riser or on the drum riser. 

 

 

There have been shows without the Boogies, but those had local backline or multiple artists sharing the same gear. 

 

 

Go looking for some old live videos of the Charlie Daniels Band and you will notice the Boogies on stage.  Here is an example from 1980.  

 

 

 

 

 

For a while there was a Charlie Daniels museum in Nashville.  It was filled with wardrobe and awards.  There was a guitar that Ronnie Van Zant had given Charlie.  At a meet and greet I mentioned to Charlie that I had been to his museum.  He asked what I thought of it, so I told him the stuff I really wanted to see was still being used, particularly the two Boogies.  He asked if I was a guitar player. 

 

 

I mentioned the pair of amps in conversation with Charlie at least once more.  While waiting in line for a meet and greet one time it was possible to see the backs of those amps yet not quite close enough to get a photo of the serial numbers.  They are stamped into the metal under black paint, so it is tough to photograph a serial number like that close up.  I talked at least once with Roger Campbell, Charlie’s guitar tech and crew member since the 70s, specifically about those amps. 

 

 

By now it should be obvious I was fixated on those amps.  You can go to shows and often see the same guitars tour after tour.  I noticed the amps at CDB shows. 

 

 

Both Tommy Crain and Taz DiGregorio died in 2011.  They were a part of the band that became huge in the 70s and 80s.  In the mid 2010s Roger Campbell modified the pair of Boogies with new grills to replace the original wicker grills.  One amp now had a cloth grill with “TC” and the other cloth grill read “Taz.”  They were the same amps.  The Boogie with a graphic EQ got the “Taz” grill. 

 

 

The original wicker grills can be seen here:

 

 

 

Here are the same amps with new grills: 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlie Daniels died in July 2020.  At the beginning of this year some of his belongings have been put up for sale.  Clothing, office items, recording and touring gear have been going up for sale.  There were additions after the first items appeared.  For most items there is a higher “celebrity owned” price.  You might find some items that are not too far from a normal asking price.  The Boogies were not in the initial offerings.  I was waiting for them to show up at some point.  Then there was this “if you do not ask you will not know anything” attitude that came over me.  Asking and not following through on a purchase had me a little hesitant, but I did. 

 

 

Someone within the Charlie Daniels organization had already claimed the Taz amp.  TC was available.  I dreamed of owning the pair one day.  Having either one of those amps would be special even though to me they will always be a pair.  I was given a price.  There was not a problem with the price (do not ask), just how to come up with the money.  I paid.  Then I had to schedule a time to pick up the amp.  There was a week of waiting for my opportunity. 

 

 

My trip to the Nashville area started on Sunday night so I could be there early on Monday.  The amp was waiting for me at Charlie Daniels’ studio which is next to the company office.  I was going to go to CDB headquarters—past the gate!  Stephen Shutts is the person in charge of selling the gear, and he met me at the gate to let me follow him in.  Another guy was there with his son to pick up a Marshall head that Charlie used back in the 70s along with some other items.  I spent three hours listening to Roger educating us on CDB gear.  It was gear talk.  It was CDB history. 

 

 

 

 

You can tell Roger is a real crew member.  No amp or flight case was too heavy for him to pick up or pull out.  When he looked for something he found it quickly.  At least 45 years of doing that kind of work shows.  He was really nice to the three of us fanboys there. 

 

 

 

 

What I learned about the pair of Boogies was that they were definitely used by Charlie Daniels on stage and in the studio.  A third Boogie combo with a wood cabinet and wicker grill was used in the studio.  Eventually they were not primary amps even though they were on stage ever since Charlie got them.  The amp without a graphic EQ became the guest amp for anyone who got to jam with the CDB on stage.  The amp with the graphic EQ would sometimes be used if the acoustic guitar or fiddle wireless was not working, and that there were only a very few times that happened in the last 40 years. 

 

 

The Boogie that I got was set up on stage with the output going to a 2 x 12” Peavey cabinet loaded with Eminence speakers that leaned back on an angled box.  I got those and a wicker grill, too. 

There has not been time to take a photo of everything since getting home, so here is a picture of the amp I was sent when I first inquired about it. 

20210226_133242.jpg

Some of the photos from yesterday that are on my phone are too big to upload, but I have  photos of the two amps together.  Here is one of me an Roger with the amps. 

20210322_133848.jpg

In the final years Charlie was playing through a Fender Hot Rod DeVille that was behind the amps and a 4 x 12” cabinet on stage behind Charlie for that.  He liked the sound of it. 

 

 

I got an amp I can remember seeing used on stage over 38 years ago.  It is in a lot of photos and videos from that time forward that are all over the Internet and YouTube.  I got a piece of CDB history.  I also got a piece of gear that I had thought about many times over the years.  It is actually mine now.  It will be cranked up.  Friends can play through it.  Charlie would have wanted someone to jam on his gear. 

 

 

 

 

 

LOVE IT!!!   Fantastic story as well. Congrats!

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Cool story Steve.  For your info they did find Glen Buxton’s  original SG and had to do a complete rebuild as it was in pieces. It looked like bad driftwood before Mike Tedesco and Pat Wilkinson did the rebuild for Neal Smith, the original AC drummer who still has it.  Dennis Dunaway the original bassist had the neck but with out the headstock. Gibson contributed period correct hardware and electronics. It’s freaking beautiful and sounded great. There’s a  24 minute video on YouTube on the restoration. With all the reissues Gibson has done I’m shocked they never did a Buxton reissue. I’d might actually pony up the big bucks to get one. 

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I knew about pieces of Glen's guitar being scattered about and getting them back from different people for the rebuild.  Dennis has his basses.  Neal sold a drum kit a few years ago.  Michael Bruce sold off is guitars years ago before the 90s.  His are long gone unless the people who bought them still have them. 

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Glen actually played a few guitars during his career. The white sg custom and white sg deluxe are the ones most associated with him. He had a brown sg that I think Cheetah Chrome ended up with. He also had a eye popping pink Les Paul with a white pick guard, a Rick and a Gretsch. 

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As always, a story well told and worth the payoff!   Congrats, Steve - that is an amazing tale and that Amp was destined to be with you.  
 

Congrats!!

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I gigged with a Mark llB for a long time! No pedals, just a channel switcher and a volume pedal(the effects loop on the Mark llB was hot, a volume pedal controlled the entire amp, yours may be the same) 

Great Score!!! I miss mine! 

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Steve. Congratulations. I would wager that most people don't get to experience this type of arc in their lives. Karmic completion loops rule. And the underlooked phenomena in all this is you get to experience time-travel, now with bonus high-resolution audio.

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