Anyone have a crazy collection to share?

[wileypickett]

Glenn, that's wild! I don't think I've ever heard Telstar before, but that is really cool. Do you know what the keyboard is in The Tornadoes' version? Is it a Moog? I don't know what instruments were available to folks in 1962. That seems very early to me for performance synthesizers.

It's a clavioline -- such a distinctive sound -- otherworldly at the time!

A bit of trivia: the band was the Tornados in the UK and the Tornadoes (as you spell it) in the US. (In the US they shared that name with a few other bands. One of the pics in that clip is of the "wrong" Tornadoes.)

Other things that I find interesting about the song: it starts with electronic noises that Meek produced in his studio -- can't think of any other "hits" that kicked off with pure noise!

I also like how the "4" becomes the "1" in the switch from clavioline to guitar.

 

[chazmo]

Holy crap! I learned a new instrument today! Clavioline! Very cool, @wileypickett ! I had no idea synthesizers (of a sort) existed before Moog. Shocker. Of course, I know about the super-weird Theremin, since I've actually seen things scored for that (and '50s sci-fi made it a household word to me).

 

[GAD]

There are a lot of things that I have collected and most of those are guitar related. That doesn't mean that I still have those collections, since my focus changes from time to time. Of the collections that I still have, my guitar literature collection, which includes books, catalogs, photos, ads and other paper stuff takes up most of the space.

However there are also things that I've collected that are not necessarily a collection. When I started doing repairs for a living it was my habit, after a re-fret job, to throw the old frets in a box that was under my workbench. It turned out that while working on older guitars it could happen that I would be in need of a certain fret type with a specific size for the restoration of an older guitar and quite often I could find a suitable piece in my 'obsolete frets' box; remember that when doing complete re-frets, half of the frets are still pretty good.

So after many years of doing repairs my 'obsolete frets' box is a big drawer now and from time to time I can still find 'the right piece' that I would not be able to find commercially.

Here's the drawer that would never be my choice for the 'drawer of the month' thread:

And here's a closer look:

Even though I realize that I will never have a use for these frets, I cannot get myself to throwing them in the waste bin!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

You win. Damn. I love it!

 

[DrumBob]

Years ago, when I had to wear a tie to work every day, I indulged my love for Art Deco, and started collecting men's neckties from the period of 1945-51 or so. The ties were wide, with very bold designs and colors. Returning GIs after WWII needed clothes, and the US tie industry responded with outrageous ties that were nothing like anything that came before them. I bought them from widowed ladies for a buck or two apiece, or from children cleaning out their father's belongings. Later, I bought them in vintage clothing stores and on Ebay. When I got to about 2500 or so, I stopped. Enough was enough.

When I was able to dress in business casual attire, the ties were put away, and quite a few were sold off. I sold about 700 in one fell swoop to a vintage clothing store in Richmond, VA, and about 25 to a vintage dealer in NYC. I still have perhaps 1200 or so that are hung in the closet, or packed away in storage bins. I need to unload many more this coming year, but I'll keep my favorites. I wore one earlier this year to a celebration of life gathering for my cousin and her husband. It was the first time I'd had a tie on in years. I was paranoid about spilling food on it the whole time.

Being in sales, the ties were a way to start a conversation with potential clients.

I will post photos when I find them on the computer.

 

[chazmo]

Years ago, when I had to wear a tie to work every day, I indulged my love for Art Deco, and started collecting men's neckties from the period of 1945-51 or so. The ties were wide, with very bold designs and colors. Returning GIs after WWII needed clothes, and the US tie industry responded with outrageous ties that were nothing like anything that came before them. I bought them from widowed ladies for a buck or two apiece, or from children cleaning out their father's belongings. Later, I bought them in vintage clothing stores and on Ebay. When I got to about 2500 or so, I stopped. Enough was enough.

When I was able to dress in business casual attire, the ties were put away, and quite a few were sold off. I sold about 700 in one fell swoop to a vintage clothing store in Richmond, VA, and about 25 to a vintage dealer in NYC. I still have perhaps 1200 or so that are hung in the closet, or packed away in storage bins. I need to unload many more this coming year, but I'll keep my favorites. I wore one earlier this year to a celebration of life gathering for my cousin and her husband. It was the first time I'd had a tie on in years. I was paranoid about spilling food on it the whole time.

Being in sales, the ties were a way to start a conversation with potential clients.

I will post photos when I find them on the computer.

Love to see some of that collection, DrumBob. I have a few ties that I got from my dad that i think are from slightly after that era. I wear them from time to time. I think he called them "rep" ties, but I don't know what that means or if I got it right.

 

[Uke]

There are a lot of things that I have collected and most of those are guitar related. That doesn't mean that I still have those collections, since my focus changes from time to time. Of the collections that I still have, my guitar literature collection, which includes books, catalogs, photos, ads and other paper stuff takes up most of the space.

However there are also things that I've collected that are not necessarily a collection. When I started doing repairs for a living it was my habit, after a re-fret job, to throw the old frets in a box that was under my workbench. It turned out that while working on older guitars it could happen that I would be in need of a certain fret type with a specific size for the restoration of an older guitar and quite often I could find a suitable piece in my 'obsolete frets' box; remember that when doing complete re-frets, half of the frets are still pretty good.

So after many years of doing repairs my 'obsolete frets' box is a big drawer now and from time to time I can still find 'the right piece' that I would not be able to find commercially.

Here's the drawer that would never be my choice for the 'drawer of the month' thread:

And here's a closer look:

Even though I realize that I will never have a use for these frets, I cannot get myself to throwing them in the waste bin!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

Think of the Guild history represented in this box.

 

[Uke]

I think he called them "rep" ties

Rep(p) ties are ties that have some sort of "repeating" diagonal line pattern on them.

 

[chazmo]

Rep(p) ties are ties that have some sort of "repeating" diagonal line pattern on them.

Awesome, Uke. Well I'm glad I understood what my dad meant!

 

[Prince of Darkness]

Holy crap! I learned a new instrument today! Clavioline! Very cool, @wileypickett ! I had no idea synthesizers (of a sort) existed before Moog. Shocker. Of course, I know about the super-weird Theremin, since I've actually seen things scored for that (and '50s sci-fi made it a household word to me).

Clavioline - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Interesting to note that the first successful product of The Jennings Organ company was a version of the Clavioline, known as the Univox, which may have been used on the recording of Telstar. Of course, the company went on to further success with their range of Vox amplifiers!

 

[DrumBob]

I'll take some photos of the ties tonight and post them.

 

[tonepoet]

"Telstar" scared the daylights out of me when I first heard it at age 6 or 7. I was down in the basement by myself (which was scary enough). I saw that a 45rpm "single" record was on a phonograph, so I turned it on and placed the tonearm on the record. From the moment the first sounds came out of the speaker I froze with fright and could not move until the song was over. When it stopped, I unfroze and bolted out of the basement scared out of my wits.

 

[DrumBob]

Here's a photo of part of my tie collection. A small part.

 

[Cougar]

Anyone have a crazy collection to share?​

Lapel pins. You won't see the Guild lapel pin -- it's on the lapel!

 

[walrus]

Here's a photo of part of my tie collection. A small part.

OMG, I love every one of those! Such cool designs! I pride myself on wearing some nice ties, and I have a little collection of fun Christmas ties I wear the last classes before Winter Break. But @DrumBob, your collection is tremendous!

 

[DrumBob]

OMG, I love every one of those! Such cool deisgins! I pride myself on wearing some nice ties, and I have a little collection of fun Christmas ties I wear the last classes before Winter Break. But @DrumBob, your collection is tremendous!

Thank you. At the time I stopped collecting ties, I had one of the largest collections anywhere. There was some guy out in San Francisico, a singer in a rockabilly band, who beat me out all the time on Ebay tie auctions. His name was Johnny Whatever, I don't recall his last name. I guess he didn't work during the day, so he was able to snipe me on auctions or sales that ended during business hours. He had a terrible attitude and was banned several times for various infractions. He'd always get back on under different names. We actually did a little trading a couple of times. He claimed to have 8000 40's ties. They were hung up all over his apartment.

It was the bold Art Deco patterns, motifs and brilliant colors that attracted me to these ties. It was also a result of seeing lots of 40s movies and magazine ads with sharply dressed guys.

I still have most of those ties, and a lot of them are among my favorites, but there are others I'd sell if you are interested. Again, those are just a small number of what I still have.

 

[awagner]

Here's a photo of part of my tie collection. A small part.

My late father-in-law had many cheesy 70s ties, and we were thinking about making a crazy quilt out of them.

 

[walrus]

I still have most of those ties, and a lot of them are among my favorites, but there are others I'd sell if you are interested. Again, those are just a small number of what I still have.

Ha! You are a few years too late to make a sale, I'm planning on retiring this May, ties will be not on my agenda!

 

[chazmo]

My late father-in-law had many cheesy 70s ties, and we were thinking about making a crazy quilt out of them.

There were so many super-wide, wild colored ties from the '70s. You should definitely do that, awagner! Men's fashions do seem to be cyclical, but I seriously doubt that wild, weird styling will ever come back.

 

[Rocky]

Other things that I find interesting about the song: it starts with electronic noises that Meek produced in his studio -- can't think of any other "hits" that kicked off with pure noise!

Not sure how much of a 'hit' it was, but Planet Claire by the B-52's. Of course, there's some Meek inspiration there (as well as a million other pre-Beatles influences).

 

[tonepoet]

Other things that I find interesting about the song: it starts with electronic noises that Meek produced in his studio -- can't think of any other "hits" that kicked off with pure noise!

This wasn't a "hit" that started with pure noise. But in 1969 when I was 13 or so, I put this Spirit tune "It's All The Same" on the stereo system and my mother came running from the kitchen terrified. She thought a UFO was landing... maybe she was reliving the Orson Welles' radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds"

Spirit had one of guitar heroes in it... Randy California. A fun tune, give it a listen.