Just before the New Year, I found the Epiphone Sheraton I have been looking for. It is an 1989, Korean built guitar, in Tobacco Sunburst.
It is a very beautiful guitar, and I am very happy with it. It is all stock, exactly as it came from the Epiphone factory and was a fair price and came with a case.
I am enjoying the guitar as it is at the moment, sounds fine through my amp. However, I have started research on the Epiphone forums, about a set of pickups for this guitar.
In due course I will replace all the electrics and mount a new set of pickups in the Sheraton. The guys on the Epiphone forums are amazing, and I now know, where I am headed to find the tone I want for this guitar.
It is not going to be easy, the ideal pickups would be from a 1960 Epiphone Zephyr, they are rare and expensive, so I will have to find an acceptable compromise.
I will try out a few neck pickups, however, I may have found what I am after in the shape of the Jason Lollar Firebird mini.
Living way out in the Swedish countryside, I needed something to pass the time, and decided, to at last, take my guitar playing seriously.
I would love to find lessons. possibly a night class or something, but that would mean driving miles, and as I am interested in blues, there would be no guarantee that I could indulge myself in that area.
Most people I have met in Sweden, are either into dance bands or metal of some description (with the exception of my friend Magnus Jönsson, who has a very good and eclectic taste in music ). So, I started to look around the internet. I have found tons of resources, but I would like to point visitors, to one site in particular.
It is called Deltabluestips (just click on the link to take you there).
Here is the weird part, being born in Liverpool myself in St Andrews Gardens, and now in my 50’s living in Sweden, the site I find most useful, which I found completely out of the blue, is a guy from Liverpool, my home town, who was born in Gerard Gardens (a stones throw away from where I was born), who is in his 50’s. How strange is that, or maybe something Jungian.
It seems this guy who prefers to stay anonymous (for reasons I fully understand), as very similar tastes in music to myself. This guy hangs out in the Egg Cafe and Lark Lane in Liverpool, which are old haunts of mine. So, we have so much in common it is spooky that his site popped up when I was looking for inspiration on the world wide web. Here is an example of what can be found on Deltabluestips:
So if you are into blues, check out Deltabluestips. I wish that “masked man” every success with his project and hope it brings him the rewards he deserves. Thanks fella (whoever you are), hope this post drives loads of traffic your way and more power to you. Keep up the excellent work, if, when I am back home sometime, I can track you down, I will buy you a few pints.
I am at home most days now, looking for a new line of work. Hopefully something will crop up by January. I look after the kids most time, but I need something, to focus on, creatively.
I need that.
So, at long last, I have picked up my guitar. I have a EKO Ranger 6, that I have hawked around with me for the last 20 years, but have never found time to play.
Well now I have that time. I have been looking for guitar tutorials on the net, and I have found lots of brilliant resources which I would like to discuss in greater detail in another post. (that post is now up and running click here)
I have always been deeply into blues and soul music. Therefore, most of what I want to learn to play, falls within these genre.
The John Lee Hooker video above is brilliant, and is a blues number in the key of e (as many of John Lee’s songs are).
The guitar John Lee is playing, looks to be an Epiphone Zephyr, or very similar model, a thinline guitar with twin mini humbuckers, which evolved from the deeper bodied Zephyr jazz boxes.
It is great to try and work out what he is doing and pick it out on my EKO.
I have also bought myself a very cheap electric guitar and amp, that will do for the time being. However, I am enjoying myself so much that I plan to reward myself one day with a “real” guitar.
After much searching and consideration of what would be my ideal guitar (considering my budget), I have decided on an Epiphone Sheraton II vintage sunburst. Hooker, played a Sheraton later in his career, but I would suspect his early recordings sound and tone came from deeper bodied guitars similar to the aforementioned Epiphone Zephyr or Emperor.
If I practice enough, and I am happy with the way things are going, I will get my semi acoustic blues guitar, one day, and hopefully, one that will give me a tone, that will encourage me to practice and practice.
The video below is someone testing the Epiphone Sheraton II vintage sunburst. So if you can imagine me trying to learn the song from the top video, and one day, playing it on the guitar in the bottom video, you get the gist of how I am occupying my time these days.
UPDATE:
My newly acquired Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II
There has been a twist to this story. I spoke to the guy in my local guitar shop and he advised me, in his opinion, to stay clear of recent Indonesian built Epiphones, and he showed me an example of an acoustic, a recent Epiphone that was shocking.
Very poor finish and showing signs of not going the course. So, I decided to hunt for a second hand Epiphone made in the days when quality control was a big issue during builds in Japan and Korea.
I found a used (but in very good condition), Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor (I can’t afford a 1960 vintage Epi’ Zephyr, this is as close as I can get), on Blocket (Swedish, Ebay type site), for half the price of a new Indonesian built Epi’ Sheraton. The serial number is S701xxxx which means it was made in Korea in the Samick factory in January 1997. It is a beautifully made guitar, within its range and price bracket.
I love the way she looks, I love the way she plays, I love the way she feels…….(imagine that to the tune of Dimples by Hooker)
The plan now is over time to change to Gibson pickups and redo the wiring completely so it has a Epi’ body and a Gibson heart and hopefully soul. Once she has had the makeover and the project is complete this Joe Pass will be renamed “Annie Mae”.
Will add to this post when I start the transformation.
Found this amazing and inspirational video, of a music student from Brazil, pedromoser01 playing Jazz , getting some beautiful mellow tones from his Epi’ Joe Pass Emperor II (unmodified with standard Epiphone humbuckers) and a Fender Blues Junior tube amp……..
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
Friedrich Nietzsche
). So, I started to look around the internet. I have found tons of resources, but I would like to point visitors, to one site in particular.
