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Guthrie's Number One Axe - As of Now...

 
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alexkhan



Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 2783
Location: Chino, CA

PostPosted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 3:00 am    Post subject: Guthrie's Number One Axe - As of Now... Reply with quote

It's the Suhr Standard that he's seen playing on the upper left corner of this forum. And it used to be mine! Crying or Very sad Wink Here are more photos during the day I hung out with Guthrie and John Payne of Asia in a studio in North Hollywood and I handed him the guitar:

http://community.webshots.com/album/141998919elimpo

The story goes like this: Guthrie and Paul Cornford dropped by the shop on a Monday after NAMM - Jan. 19, 2004. They just wanted to drop by, say hello, and arrange for the Cornford clinic on Jan. 24. Guthrie had already been over to the shop a couple of times and had checked out most guitars, but he hadn't seen that Suhr. So I told Guthrie, "Hey Guthrie, check out my guitar I got from Suhr. I sold my number one (Brian Moore MC/1) and replaced it with this. I finally got my dream guitar."

And then I saw his eyes light up. He had gone through a lot of other guitars at the shop and it was always kind of "ho-hum, another nice decent guitar" kind of a thing. But when he saw and held this one, he looked at it and held it like a mother holding her baby. And I was thinking, "Hey, hey, what are you doing there? That's my guitar..." Confused Laughing But I felt good, thinking, "Wow, this guitar must be real great if a guitarist like Guthrie likes it so much!"

So then, I had him plug it in to the Cornford amps they brought over and Guthrie was just really getting into it. He was really bonding with the guitar and seemed to be in another zone as he kept peeling off jaw-dropping lick after mind-boggling lick after... etc. And I thought... "Cool. Now this guitar's got Karma! Guthrie is breaking it in nice!" After a while I had him go through other guitars including a personal PRS Custom 24 of mine. I thought he'd really get into that since he plays a PRS, but I could tell he was already missing that Suhr.

After hanging out for a while longer, Guthrie half-jokingly said, "I may have to take that Suhr home with me." Inside, I was thinking, "Oh no, Guthrie. This one's the one I've been dreaming of over the nearly 20 years I've been playing. This one's a keeper!" Even then, I had no intention of parting with the guitar. That one was really special. It had some magic to it and really had everything I could have wanted in a solid-body electric guitar.

And then, Guthrie and the Cornford gang came back on Jan. 24 to conduct the clinic and changed everything. I knew that Guthrie was a great player, but it's one thing to see him play alone checking out guitars and gear and then see him play in a real musical context. Jan. 24 was proof to me that Guthrie wasn't just a great guitar player, but that he was indeed a great musician as well with immense potential as a writer. I, along with everyone who saw Guthrie for the first time, were totally blown away. We had seen him before and knew he was good, but had no idea that he was that good. Shocked

Luckily, some customers brought over their video cameras and captured the clinic for the most part. So you have seen the results. The video clips and the DVD don't capture the energy of seeing Guthrie play live in person, but they give you a good idea of what he can do. After that evening I couldn't look at that guitar in the same way anymore. I kept thinking about how Guthrie felt about that guitar over the next few months. And finally, I said, "You know, this amazing instrument will be much better served in Guthrie's hands than mine!"

I finally got in touch with Guthrie through Paul C and Paul let Guthrie know that I wanted him to give the guitar. Guthrie sent me an email saying that he thought it was "a cruel joke". It just happened that he was coming over to the LA area to lay down the guitar tracks for the new Asia album in early-May. So, on a Sunday, few days after he arrived, I drove up to the studio and gave him the guitar. He later advised me that it ended up being the main guitar for the sessions and that he got some surprisingly fat rhythm sounds out of it as well.

So, that's the story. It's his number one axe at the moment although I'm building him another one based on his feedback from this Suhr. The specs are:

Suhr Standard
Basswood Body with Quilt Maple Top - Root Beer Color
Birdseye Maple neck in Slim C shape with Brazilian Rosewood board
16" fingerboard radius
6105 Stainless Steel frets
1.650" nut width
Sperzel Trim-Loc locking tuners
Fishman Standard Piezo bridge/tremolo
Suhr DSH+ pickup for bridge position
Suhr V60LP single-coil in the middle position
Suhr DSV pickup in the neck position
Special 5-way wiring with push-pull pot

The next one will be identical except for the following changes:

Mahogany body with Flame Maple top in Cherry Burst
Mahognay neck with Indian Rosewood fingerboard
Reverse headstock for a different more balanced string tension
Rout behind bridge for trem pull-up

Should be another beauty but we'll have to see if it'll have the same magic that the Number 1 has. Knowing Suhr, chances are good that it will!
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.strandberg* Guitars USA
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kirk95
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Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 58
Location: Boulder, CO

PostPosted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 3:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So what's your #1 guitar now ed?
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alexkhan



Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 2783
Location: Chino, CA

PostPosted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 4:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kirk95 wrote:
So what's your #1 guitar now ed?


Don't have one anymore... Crying or Very sad But there are so many beautiful Suhrs around constantly and I expect to have a bunch of Tylers in as well. So, until another really magical guitar comes along, it's pretty much whatever is at the shop. I really like the Fireburst Suhr Standard with the mahogany body and Flame Maple top that's the "Beauty of the Month" on the TM site's front page at the moment. That's the one I pick up when testing amps or when I want to take a break and noodle on a guitar.

But I've also got my eyes on Thorn. Really, really amazing set-neck guitars. I hope to work something out with Ron Thorn soon and get his guitars in here:

http://www.thornguitars.com/

Some of the most exquisitely beautiful guitars I have ever seen or played... Shocked Plays and sounds amazing, too, and that's really the bottom line.
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.strandberg* Guitars USA
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shredrulez
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 9:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

that's a real cool guitar. would love to hear it being played in guthrie's hands! Very Happy real cool of you to give your dream axe to guthrie. i'm sure he appreciates it a lot.
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kirk95
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Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 58
Location: Boulder, CO

PostPosted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 1:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



Sweet!

I can see this board is going to cost me big bucks... flights to LA, a Suhr and now these Thorn guitars... and we haven't even hit amp yet!

Ed you're out of control! But in a good way! Cool
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frankus



Joined: 13 Sep 2004
Posts: 1100
Location: Chelmsford/Arachnipus

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2004 9:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, when Guthrie said a guy had given it to him, I assumed it was a manufacturer who'd made the thing Shocked like an endorsement. Credit to you for parting with such a thing.

I was quite annoyed, I get to see Guthrie play in a local Jazz band and he used to play a 335, which I loved the sound of. Now I only ever see him with the Suhr, blues jams.. jazz nights.. Sad it is a gorgeous instrument, and he does shine on it... I just would like one night of the 335 with an ebow, slide and the wah and pitch shifter again Wink
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Donnie B.



Joined: 13 Sep 2004
Posts: 101
Location: Chula Vista, CA

PostPosted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For anyone who has seen this picture and is wondering what each guy was thinking..............



Sorry Ed, couldn't help it!
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alexkhan



Joined: 10 Sep 2004
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Location: Chino, CA

PostPosted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

frankus wrote:
Wow, when Guthrie said a guy had given it to him, I assumed it was a manufacturer who'd made the thing Shocked like an endorsement. Credit to you for parting with such a thing.

I was quite annoyed, I get to see Guthrie play in a local Jazz band and he used to play a 335, which I loved the sound of. Now I only ever see him with the Suhr, blues jams.. jazz nights.. Sad it is a gorgeous instrument, and he does shine on it... I just would like one night of the 335 with an ebow, slide and the wah and pitch shifter again Wink


Ahhh, so you're one of the guys Guthrie mentioned as being annoyed and saying it's "blasphemous" (or something of that nature) for him to play a fancy Super Strat on the Fellowship gigs! Wink [/quote]

Not guilty m'lud.. I just pined Very Happy. I can imagine some of the regulars grumbling, you know how a semi howls, well Guthrie always got those BB King type bends where the guitar suddenly announces "I'm a Semi, don'tcha know!!".. I like that (so much so I'm getting a Tokai 335 for crimbo from the missus Wink) after a session or two I was totally sold on the Suhr, that piezo is gorgeous (well what Guthrie does with it Rolling Eyes ).. I want one on all my guitars.. and I fear the quilted maple finish on my prospective 335 copy will never approach the finish on the Suhr, if it did I'd be pulling it apart to make sure it wasn't a photo.
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Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.


Last edited by alexkhan on Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:56 am; edited 1 time in total
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alexkhan



Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 2783
Location: Chino, CA

PostPosted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice job, Donnie... Laughing
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Ed Yoon
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.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.
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kirk95
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Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 58
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You guys are having way too much fun with this stuff!! Wink
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frankus



Joined: 13 Sep 2004
Posts: 1100
Location: Chelmsford/Arachnipus

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 11:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

alexkahn wrote:

frankus wrote:
Wow, when Guthrie said a guy had given it to him, I assumed it was a manufacturer who'd made the thing Shocked like an endorsement. Credit to you for parting with such a thing.

I was quite annoyed, I get to see Guthrie play in a local Jazz band and he used to play a 335, which I loved the sound of. Now I only ever see him with the Suhr, blues jams.. jazz nights.. Sad it is a gorgeous instrument, and he does shine on it... I just would like one night of the 335 with an ebow, slide and the wah and pitch shifter again Wink


Ahhh, so you're one of the guys Guthrie mentioned as being annoyed and saying it's "blasphemous" (or something of that nature) for him to play a fancy Super Strat on the Fellowship gigs! Wink


Not guilty m'lud.. I just pined Very Happy. I can imagine some of the regulars grumbling, you know how a semi howls, well Guthrie always got those BB King type bends where the guitar suddenly announces "I'm a Semi, don'tcha know!!".. I like that (so much so I'm getting a Tokai 335 for crimbo from the missus Wink) after a session or two I was totally sold on the Suhr, that piezo is gorgeous (well what Guthrie does with it Rolling Eyes ).. I want one on all my guitars.. and I fear the quilted maple finish on my prospective 335 copy will never approach the finish on the Suhr, if it did I'd be pulling it apart to make sure it wasn't a photo.
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Fabulous powers were revealed to me the day I held my magic Suhr(d) aloft and said "by the power of great scale!"

I have the power!
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Will



Joined: 09 Oct 2004
Posts: 89

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

shit... that photo of Guthrie must be the hairiest i've ever seen him!!
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