Well, during my recent "clear out", this box came to light and in
the box was another box - the one with the blue on it and you
can just about see that it has "Fender Pickups and pots, written
on the top.
This is what is inside the box - with me so far?????
This is a tale I have told many times, to many people but this
is the first time it's been documented.
So, here we go. . . . . .
I have been a fan of Ritchie Blackmore and Deep Purple for as
long as I can remember and this story goes back 36 years ago.
When I was in the shop, we used to get many regular customers.
Some would come in for a chat, buy a couple of picks and leave
and others would be buying things on a more serious level.
One of the regular "lads", who I got on with quite well, despite
his limited budget in the shop, had got tickets to see Rainbow.
As the days passed, he got more and more excited about the gig.
You have to remember that this is way before the internet and
you tube, so the only way you could see your guitar heroes, was
live - in the flesh, at a gig, or read about them in the musical press.
Ritchie was as well know for smashing up guitars, as Jimi Hendrix
and Pete Townshend. . . . .
. . . and on the night of Thursday the 17th November, 1977,
another Strat bit the dust!!!
This act was actually documented.
On the Saturday, in walked the lad who I mentioned above,
(I'm sorry, after all these years I have forgotten his name)
who was holding a bag with something in it - a black Fender
scratch plate, fully loaded!
"You'll never guess what this is", was his statement - "yes
I can, it's a Fender plate, complete" was my reply.
Well, not entirely complete - the extension over the lower
horn had obviously been "liberated" by another fan.
"Ah but there's more to it than that. . . ."
He then went on to explain that what he had pulled from the
bag was actually from Ritchie's guitar that had been "sacrificed"
at the gig, on Thursday!
Now I was interested!!
Apparently, bits flew left, right and centre and he was just lucky
enough to be in the right place at the right time.
He was short of money and I was interested, so a deal was done.
From a vague memory, I think I gave him about £35.00 for it,
which was quite a lot of money, about £185.00 in today's money!!
What happened to the plate??
Well, the plate was cut up (sacriledge) and used on a guitar that
I still know exists, as well as one of the pick-up covers - shown
here, being played by someone I have known for over 30 years.
Top slide player. . . . . Nice!! :)
The knobs weren't with it but the switch top was, along with the
pots - which I still have, the switch was used on a repair.
So, I still have the original 3 pick-ups. . . . . . I wonder what I will
do with them, after all these years??
There you go, the story of "Ritchie Blackmore's pick-ups!!
Back next time with a bass I have been using and enjoying over
the last few weeks.
Cheers. :)
3 comments:
Never tempted to load them into something and pluck that most famous of Blackmore licks?
I remember seeing Rainbow around that time and he always seemed to bring out a different strat for the encore ;o)
Tempted - Mmm, can't say I have up 'til now - to be fair, they have been in that box since the early 80's ish and I know I still had them
but wasn't quite sure where they were!! You never know!!! :)
Matt, Hi.
I'm guessing that you may be correct - several people of said that on many ocassions, de dragged out a copy, for the ceremony.The date stamp on the pick-ups are 77, so the guitar would have been new, at the time. He perhaps was willing to sacrifise a new one but not one of his favourites. :)
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