Band gear from

the sixties.

Liverpool Exhibition

​2019

The Hunters in the early sixties.

​Lovely day for a live band at Cullercoats Lifeboat Open Day,

on the right are excellent band PARISH raising money for this very worthy cause. You can just see their canopy on this picture.

This page for players of all instruments ​that perform in the social clubs, and other types of venue. The most popular ones are Guitars, Basses, Keyboards, and Drums. We take a look at guitars played by the world famous, and of different genres from rock and roll, to pop, jazz, blues - and more. All performers are influenced by something we have heard, we have followed that voice or instrument to find out where it came from - and fashioned our own styles on that. Music is a world of wonderful things, hope you find something here that is exciting.

GUITAR FAIR at Fed Brewery in Dunston

​A press photo taken a few years ago, I'm actually in there - are you? 

BILLY FURY STATUE  Near the Ferry landing in Liverpool. Grace and I have visited this many times, and there are always flowers - so it seems that he is well visited.

​

IAN BELSHAM'S GIBSON (Right) Ian has had this beautiful S.G. model for many years. I've played it, great sound, and great action.

​Needles to say, I know that he would never part with it - I believe it's a 1963, and once belonged to the Blue Caps guitarist.

Cahit Berkay of

Turkish Band

Moggolar, playing

a Saz. They are

the Turkish

'Beatles',

playing 

since the

Sixties.

Saw them

live in

Turkey. 

​All related to Cliff and the Shadows. That Antoria that Hank used to play has a tuning head very similar to his new Fender Stratocaster. 

Lead singer/bassist Steve of sixties band 'The Fabs'  playing

an original Hofner bass.

FENDER SQUIRE TELECASTER DELUXE. I bought this beauty with cheap pickups, and without the Bigsby unit. Put new American picks on it and wired it up using proper CTS American pots, and liked to play it a lot. Then I pushed the boat out and decided to buy a brand new Bigsby unit - which took a lot of careful fitting with a new Fender bridge to go with it, and all went well. Trouble was, I didn't like the Bigsby, and was too used to the Stratocaster tremolo to take the time to get accustomed with the different feel. Such a shame, I loved this instrument but decided to sell it at a loss, it was an interesting and enjoyable project. (Wiring diagram below right.)

My Strat collection. Had to move some out and sell them, running out of space. Only two now, I'll manage!

My two KAWAI K1 synthesisers

I played for many years in 60's

band RECALL

HOFNER CLUB 60 DE-LUXE  This gorgeous guitar was a 21st. Birthday present from my parents, and my first decent guitar. I then joined my first band as rhythm guitarist and began learning. After 55 years of ownership, this is how it looks now, and it still plays great. There were repairs, like new pickups, new tuners, new control panel and new scratch plate, and of course I had to re-fret the neck, sand the front down to the wood to re-stain and re-varnish - but it still looks very much like it was when it was brand new. I'd played this in a few early bands, and toured Germany with it playing the American bases there, and I really treasure it. I could never part with it.

THE SMALL FAKERS  (Small Faces Tribute Band)

​playing Haworth Sixties Weekend

LOOKING AT THE GOODIES IN DENMARK STREET. There are times you have to tear yourself away from the window!

​The Hofner Bass looks tempting, but the CBS Stratocaster is a heart-breaker.

World famous CAVERN CLUB (not the original.)

​Another visit to the CAVERN CLUB in Liverpool, always enjoy a look at the equipment modelled on the Beatles musical instruments. Not so many getting up to play and sing this time, but it's a great place to visit and hang around for a while.

​BILLY FURY'S BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY.

​Look at all the flowers.

Des and Buddy were great pals when they toured England

in 1958. They would have had a whale of a time visiting

the many venues, including the City Hall in Newcastle.

The guitar is nicely displayed, and I'm sure they used a 

'Woodies Invisible Guitar Hanger' invented by our pal

Colin Woodland, a great guitarist from Durham.

Here is my beautiful FENDER CBS 1981 STRATOCASTER, which I owned for 33 years. Had to sell it when I was 70 because it is such a weight, and it started to hurt my shoulder. Alex came all the way up from London to buy it, and it now has a great new home. He promised to love and cherish this Monaco Yellow special colour strat, and that was good enough for me. I wouldn't sell this to just anyone. He kindly sent me this photo of Monaco next to his own CBS Precision Bass of the same year of manufacture. Thanks Alex, hope you are enjoying playing this guitar as much as I did.

HAWORTH 60'S FESTIVAL - 2019

​​ON ONE OF OUR​ MANY VISITS TO LIVERPOOL.

The Beatles statues are fantastic to see, then Grace and I visited a pop music exhibition only yards from them, very interesting - and got to play this lovely Epiphone guitar.

THIS IS A GREAT REMINDER OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS!

The Watkins Copycat, in my opinion the best and most affordable Echo Chamber ever made. We all had a tube of spare tapes at hand when performing onstage, we've all experienced the horror when a tape broke - it was like walking a tightrope without a safety net. We have all shouted at band members to 'Do a solo' while we guided the flimsy circle of quarter inch tape around the wheels and onto the capstan. Then smiled with relief when we heard that fantastic echo on our voices. In its day, this was a hell of a machine, so cleverly designed

and reliable. We managed to live with it for a long time.

I had two of these, one for voice, and one for guitar - and recently decided to part with them as I was afraid they might one day end up in a skip, when they truly belong in a museum for future generations to gaze in wonder at. One went to family member Barry Best, and I put the other into an auction where it made seventy five pounds. The one in the picture I still have: got it for a tenner not working and pulled out the motor to fit into one of my two, which made it fully operational again. So the one pictured has no motor, but is available to any buyer near Newcastle who might need it for parts only. There is a contact page on this site to email me. 

​ROGER TAYLOR'S DRUM KIT, ON DISPLAY IN LONDON.

BARRY BEST & HARMONY BASS RESTORATION.

(Left) Checking neck position of bass with no electrics or pickups.

Now the work has been completed after managing to obtain the pickups, which are hard to find these days - and he has now a fully working bass guitar.​ (Above)

New scratchplate, three new CTS pots, new 5-way selector switch, new set of Fender pickups.

Everything assembled on George's new upgrade.

My job now to get the soldering iron out, and a roll of solder - and start wiring. No worries, done this many times. The result is great, sounds like a strat now.  

WASHBURN HB30. Grover tuners, two humbuckers, fitted with new type tune-o-matic bridge that doesn't break strings, never used - 22 years old and pristine, and it's all mine!

Saving it for the right time, and it fits most genres of music - pop, blues or jazz. Lovely to play.

​ALL PACKED UP AND READY TO GO.

​It's quite painful to part with a guitar that has served you so well for 33 years. I bought it brand new in 1981 and loved the feel and sound

​of it very much, and we must have done a few thousand gigs together.

Made of what must be the heaviest wood in the body, this beauty started hurting my shoulder once I'd turned 70, so had to let it go. It now has a great home in London , I hope Alex will continue to enjoy this instrument for many years to come.

CULLERCOATS LIFEBOAT DAY EVENT. Quite a lot more detail to see in this enlarged version of this picture. Excellent band PARISH were setting up their gear under the small green canopy in front of the Lifeboat House. Loads of stuff to buy from books, CD's and DVD's - Craftwork items and all sorts of things. We always enjoy a Kipper Sandwich and a cuppa inside the building where the cafe has a good variety of cakes. It is a lovely day out, and every penny raised goes to maintaining the Lifeboats and equipment.

Terry Hart at ours having a play of my best strat.

We are both Shadows and Buddy freaks. Best pal.

Terry Hart's TOKAI STRATOCASTER

Another two great bands that played the Haworth Sixties Weekend in 2019. Lost my programme so sorry to say I don't know their names .  Left, a Beatles Tribute (can't mistake the wigs) and a rocking blues combo who were on the heavy side. Fantastic entertainment. This years Festival had to be cancelled, but we are hoping it may be back next year.

Waiting for Grace to ask

which one I want for

​my Birthday!

A really good George Formby busker at a 40's Fair in Leybourne, near Hartlepool. Went great with the crowd and sold a lot of CDs.

Music Shop in Denmark Street, London.

ARTHUR RENWICK'S HOFNER CLUB 40.  A nice example of this popular guitar, in really nice condition. It feels good to play, nicely balanced, and has a good action. Players who own this beauty never seem to want to part with it.

​Arthur brought this to our house, and I was unable to resist the chance to take some photos of it. Lovely, and getting rare.

SAYING GOODBYE TO AN OLD FRIEND.

THE HUNTERS  were a UK band who had a few chart hits in the early sixties.

A lot of guitarists will remember 'Teen Scene'- 'The Storm' and 'Golden Earings'.

BRIAN PARKER was lead guitar, NORMAN SHEFFIELD on drums, NORMAN STRACEY played rhythm guitar, and JOHN RODGERS their bassist.

They were called upon to back Cliff Richard for several shows when he was on tour, as the Shadows had contractual commitments, and couldn't do the shows. By all accounts, they did a really good job, and Cliff was very pleased with them. Later in the sixties, Brian Parker joined the chart band UNIT FOUR PLUS TWO, and he co-wrote their biggest hit 'Concrete and Clay'. 

HAWORTH SIXTIES WEEKEND - 2011.  Grace and I have attended these weekends every year they were on, I think it's only one year that the Council couldn't fund the event - which is a great income booster for the area in terms of visitors using the shops, pubs, cafe's and restaurants - not forgetting all the hotels in the area. We always enjoyed going back to the sixties in this lovely place of beauty and character. Being a print designer, I knocked up this postcard, and when we got home ran some off on my printer and posted them to friends - mainly so they could see what they were missing and perhaps join us there on the next one. Grace is with the Dalek (lots of Dr.Who stuff there. THE SMALL FAKERS were on in the park (brilliant!), lots of vintage cars and scooters there, which were great to see, and we joined in with a John and Yoko BED-IN to help raise money for a local charity. (The bed was on the Main Street with passers-by chucking coins into a bucket.) 

JOHN McNALLY of the SEARCHERS

HOFNER CLUB 60 GUITAR FOR SALE.

John has owned this guitar a real long time, and it has all the relevant paperwork to prove his ownership, and I actually saw him playing this at the City Hall in Newcastle in 1964 with the original line-up of band members. Some years later, in the mid-seventies, I went to see them at a nightclub, it was a great show . Tony Jackson and Chris Curtis were no longer with them, and I bought an album from them which they signed for me, they were the days of cassette tapes. I had a nice opportunity to chat with them, and asked John if he still had the Club 60 guitar, commenting that I'd never seen a black one before. He told me it was originally blonde, and that he'd had it resprayed, to look like a Les Paul. Now, of course, he was playing Rickenbackers and other top notchers, but he still had the Hofner. You'd have to search online for the seller to make an offer - I reckon it will go for a few grand. What would you offer?    

Displays at Liverpool Exhibition - 2019  (Left) Cliff and the Shadows memorabilia with Hofner guitar.

​(Right) Replica of Buddy Holly's Fender Stratocaster with wear and tear marks replicated from his using it.

​Dave's Guitarland

USED GRETSCH ELECTROMATIC IN BRAND-NEW CONDITION, hanging in the window of Cash Converters on Wallsend High Street. ​Grace and I spotted it and rushed in to see it, photograph it, and sent the pics to Alan Best, who was looking for one of this very colour. He okayed it so we bought it there and then. (Case included)  Alan is really pleased with it.

From Fender Custom Shop. This special edition of the Fender Stratocaster is modelled on the guitar that Buddy Holly made famous, and it reflects all the details that were on it - like scratches, and damage to the ceramic pickup covers caused by his fast and heavy down-strokes onto the strings with his plectrums, which used to hit onto the covers, causing cracks and bits to drop off.

A brilliant bit of memorabilia which will tempt a lot of players, providing they can afford the price tag of nearly ten thousand pounds. Let's face it...we all want one!   

Brian Parker (left) re-creating some Hunters hits.

NEW TYPE OF TUNE-O-MATIC BRIDGE  Fitted to my WASHBURN HB30. 

For many years I used the standard type of Tune-o-matic bridge that was already fitted to my Les Paul copy guitar, and just got used to all the strings that were breaking at the bridge quite often. I thought it was through the sweat on my hands etching into the string coating, making them weak. Another issue was the sharpness of the saddles: they often cut and scratched my hands, and put me off this type of bridge altogether.

Anyway, the Washburn came my way and I bought it - and searched the net for another bridge that may be suitable to my criteria. The one pictured was the answer, it has a rotating wheel for each string to sit upon and feels so much more comfortable to use. A bonus is that if you damp your strings for effect, this bridge gives you better control, and sounds great. Not for everyone maybe, but it solved my problems.  

ELVIS BUSKER. Great with just voice and guitar, no

backing tracks, or mic. Passers by were throwing coins

into his guitar case. It's Tommy Memphis, and he does the clubs when he's at home in England. He's great with audiences, lots of fun and gags. 

BRIAN 'LICORICE' LOCKING  playing some brilliant solo bass

work at one of our Shadows Club events at the Dunston Brewery. He was a master harmonica player, and the nicest of people.

​Wiring diagram for the above Telecaster.

​I took this photo of a display in Liverpool of the History of Pop Music.

I put the text on this photo eight years ago for my first website, and that was eight years ago - the guitar still looks just as good now, but my ownership of it now updates to 55 years! Time flies, and still I love this guitar.

FENDER STRATOCASTER.  Bought this one brand new in 1981, I really liked the bullet truss rod - and the easy-tilt feature was essential to get a perfect playing action. The CBS era colour was, to me, really individual - and I have never seen another strat in

Monaco Yellow, so it's pretty rare. Loved this guitar, but over the 33 years I owned it seemed to get heavier until it started to hurt my shoulder, so I was sad to part with it. It has a good home in London now, and Alex loves it as much as I did. 

PLAYER GALLERY

Haworth 60's Festival 2019

THE SHADOWS PLAYER'S TOOLKIT. All you need to be Hank,

plus plenty patience and rehearsing 'til you drop. Keep at it!

This is my collection of Shadows books, had them many years. My special Strat has a bird's eye maple neck and ebony fingerboard, & Lace pickups. It sounds amazing when I play it properly! That old Justine tuner still works, I got it off Ron Norton 40 years ago - just shows some things are made to last.

BILLY FURY NEWS CLIPS - FROM FIFTY-ODD YEARS AGO. (Seems like yesterday!)

​​Buddy Holly's Hofner President Guitar.​  

​When Buddy and the Crickets toured England in 1958, Des O'Connor took him to Denmark Street as he needed a guitar to rehearse with between gigs. This is the very one he bought, and when the tour was over he gave it as a present to Des, who treasured it for years before donating it to the Buddy

Holly Museum in Lubbock.