Watching last week's Sugarplum video of “Holiday In England” reminded me how much I used to like playing the Epiphone Sheraton guitar! The guitar has a natural finish, often called “blonde” in guitar catalogues.
Guitars are funny things and make you play in certain ways as they embody a particular sound and feel. The Epiphone is a louder guitar than a Rickenbacker, and its more aggressive energy is perfect for sweaty club gigs where volume and body are more important considerations than subtle tone differences that may not be obvious to the audience in the midst of the mayhem, and completely lost on the people at the back!
The reasons for choosing specific guitars can vary greatly. For instance, I originally chose the Epiphone not for its inherent qualities, but because I needed a less valuable replacement for the 1964 Rickenbacker 325 I had been using. The consideration was that if I took it overseas on a plane trip when touring, and if it came to grief in the baggage hold, it would be easier to replace or repair than the very rare Rickenbacker! In fact, all the gigs following the 1999 London Forum Mods Mayday featured that Epiphone Sheraton, as it became obvious that the time had come to retire the original “Squire” guitar.
Nevertheless, The Epiphone Sheraton quickly became a beloved instrument and shows up in many videos and recordings of the time. For instance, this clip from Madrid in 2010 with the opening number of “Get Ready To Go” and “The Face Of Youth Today” exemplifies why it was so suitable!
The guitar had been slightly modified by removing the scratch plate, which was fragile, and tended to get in the way with fast strumming. This alteration also made it look like John Lennon's Epiphone Casino!
The next guitar is the blonde Guild F50 acoustic. This guitar was featured in the newsletter Acoustic Alchemy, you can read it here by clicking on the picture for a link,
and was all over the Passengers On Trains and Sugarplum albums.
It is a large-bodied guitar with a curved back that projects a louder sound and is very clear sounding, perfect for picking lead lines or for a more percussive and prominent sound as the higher harmonics stand out.
For instance, on the Sugarplum song “Tapestry Of Fire,” the Guild plays the lead lines and a Martin D18 plays the rhythm sound.
Finally, a guitar that has been in the collection since the 1980s and is perhaps the easiest guitar to play, but has never been played live!
The Tokai Breezysound, an exact copy of the Fender Telecaster. The guitar was made in Japan in the early 1980s, but is actually a hybrid of two guitars.
The guitar originally had a dark rosewood neck that contrasted with the white scratch plate and “butterscotch” blonde body colour.
The original rosewood neck was swapped with a maple neck from a paisley Telecaster! Whereas a maple neck Telecaster would usually have a black scratch plate for contrast, you can see one here being played by Dave Cairns of Secret Affair,
the Squire one was born from a mix of parts, when the paisley guitar owner wanted a rosewood neck for his guitar, and so our one ended up all blonde, maple, and white! The guitar was mostly used on demos you may have heard in previous newsletters, such as “The Reasons Why” and “Nothing You Can Do.”
Although Fender Telecasters are perhaps the most iconic rock 'n' roll electric guitar shape and sound, it's not easy to find a guitarist playing an all-blonde version. Mostly, they come with the rosewood neck or black scratch plate, as seen with Keith Richards, or Dave Cairns above.
But we found a couple. The guitar Steve Cropper used on “Dock Of The Bay” and through the Stax era was the all-white version; fantastic!
And Bob Dylan is also a fan. So, we’re in good company!
