Ovation Breadwinner & Viper

Although there were all sorts of odd shapes guitars around at the time,
the Breadwinner always caught my eye.
It looked like it should be comfortable to play and when I finally got
my hands on one, I wasn't disappointed.
Many years later I spotted this and decided to buy it.
This one has an unusual Black finish on it, nice to play - something
a bit unusual.

There is an interveiw from the designer here:
http://www.doremi.co.uk/breadwinner/mike.html

There are quite a few web sites about the birth of Ovation and their
products, well worth a trawl round.

The images below the Breadwinner are of a Viper.
I bought this as the finish matched an Ovation bass I have.
In a world of Les Paul's and Strat's, it is nice to be able to play
something different - in fact, it has just occurred to me, I have never
owned a Les Paul, SG or Strat!














That's all on Ovation for now, I'll do the basses another time.

Perhaps time for some Aria and Ibanez.

Cheers. :)


If you have landed on this page and you want to go to the 
latest post, go here:
Latest post. 

Time for something Japanese. . . . .

All sorts of things we could look at but I thought that I should go from
one extreme to the other!
Up to now, as I primarily play bass, I have listed instruments with
only four strings, so let's jump forward and have a look at something
that has got 18 strings, a 6 & 12 string Twin Neck.

This one is an Ibanez 2640 and as twin necks go, perhaps one of the best.
There are many sounds available, Humbucker, Single Coils and Phasing
positions on the switches allow for some interesting tonal changes.
Both necks can be ran into independent amps or effects, giving even
more possibilities.

I have a thing about Twin Neck guitars, perhaps brought on by seeing
bands like The Eagles, Pilot, Rush, Zeppelin etc - John McLaughlin was
also a a well respected user.
The other well known Ibanez Twin is the 2670, which is highly decorative
with a Tree of Life inlay. To date, I have not played one of these. . . . . . .







One Day!!!
This one is a beauty and feels just right - throw the strap over
your shoulder, adjust for comfort, plug in, shut your eyes. . . .
Ah, some wonderful sounds. Twins are heavy but you don't play
them all night, perhaps for two or three numbers and then put
it down and pick up something else.
I have several other Twins, so as I go forward with the Collection,
I will put up some more.

Cheers. :)

Chip Todd. . . . . .

Well, I know I said we would look at some Classic Japanese gear but
something has happened recently and I thought I would share it.

You may realise by now that I am a big fan of the Peavey "T" series,
with the last couple of posts dedicated to some of my T-40's, with
more to follow, along with my T-60 collection.

The "T" refers to Todd, Chip Todd, who developed the "T" series,
which was Peavey's first venture into Guitars & Basses, starting
back in the mid 70's.

Much to my delight, Chip has once again become active amongst
Peavey players and collectors on this site.
http://peaveyt40.forumotion.com/forum.htm

It is like being able to pose a question, personally, to Leo Fender
or Les Paul - we all have reference from the internet- why
things were made that way or the the design was done this way
because. . . . . .
but the most accurate information is from the man himself.

Chip has now retired from his shop and perhaps has more time to
be involved in preserving of the heritage of his work.
He has written a very honest account, regarding the design and
materials of the T-40, to which I have replied.
If you, like me, apreciate his work for what it is, sign up and drop
him a line.

That's all for now, back to the collection next time.

Cheers. :)

Even More T-40. . . .

Well. . . . . . While I was at it!!

Will talk more about these and other T-40's, another time, after
some gems from The Land of The Rising Sun.

Cheers. :)

More Peavey T-40.

Peavey T-40 "Tanburst" Rosewood

This one is a peach! A really unusual colour, lovely rosewood board
and really nice to play.



The pics were taken some time ago, when it was sunny - a rare thing in itself.
This has the warmer Toaster pick-ups and this particular one is very mellow.
Gigged with this one some time ago, as I went through the colours, so I think
it's time it came out again. . . . soon.









How could you not love this. . . . . . . . .





I thinks that's enough T-40 for a while, something Japanese next time.

:)

Peavey T-40. An All American Classic.

Peavey T-40. Made in USA.

One of my all time favourites, something a little different.




The pics are for one that I no longer have and were taken for the guy who
now has it.
I sold this one after owning it for just over a year, to fund the Red one.

This is the one that I have used in the title page.
I have another Natural with Blades, that is slightly later, which I will put up
at another time but as this one was such a beauty, I thought I would share
this one first.
Here are some details on the T Series.

I do remember these very well, in the late 70's but there weren't many around
and almost all were Natural finish.
The guitars were more common but rarely seen, as the big G and F were
still the ones to have, along with the higher end quality of the Japanese makers.
The T-40, like the T-60, had some unusual features.
The powerful humbuckers can be turned into single coil, with what would
normally be the tone control.
On 10 it is pure single coil and as it is backed off, it starts to feed in the other
coil, fattening up the sound.
This can be done on both pickups, to any degree.
So, you can alter the sound and tone a great deal.
On top of that there is an in/out phase switch, which if used with the volume
equal gives a very empty sound (not much use at all) but if you feed in one more
than the other coils, the permutations are endless.

Various comparisons have been made to a Ric sound, once you have twiddled
the controls to your liking. In reality, there are a lot of sounds it will produce.
The bodies are North American Ash, which are either in five parts or the more
rare three part body. I am not entirely sure why there is a difference.
Most of the early ones were Natural, with many other colour options.
Over the years, there were Dark Sunburst, Black, White, Red, Plum, Red,
Tobacco and like an Orange Sunburst.

They are not light and a lot of players that are used to something lighter may
pass them over but it is not that bad - I have had other basses that are heavier.
What you do get is a great, solid sound.
The necks are a two piece maple, that are joined either side of the truss rod
- a feature to make the neck more stable.
Rosewood was an option but is far less common than the standard maple neck.
The neck is definitely not like a Jazz but I have always found them very
comfortable and easy to get on with.

They are a great looking bass, something different from the norm - many times
I have had players come up to me at a gig and ask for a closer look.
At least a couple of them I know of were hooked and now have there own.

Conclusion - Good looking, great sounding bass, that is very easy to get on with.
Comfortable and balanced on a strap, just right sitting down.
You will not see many of these around and as a bass player, you will definitely
have someone to talk to about it halfway through the gig.

I love 'em.














More Peavey T-40 pics to follow. :)

EDIT :
If you have enjoyed this post - click on the link below.
I am doing a big feature on the T-40 and T-60, with the help
of Chip Todd, himself!!

The Peavey T-40 & T-60 Story. 

A start, at last!

Today is the day! Time for the pictures.

This one is a Canadian Odyssey, made in Vancouver in the 70's.
I have started with this one, as it is one of my favourites and I have family in Vancouver.
Seems like a good place to start.

This is a really nice instrument that just does everything I want it to.
It balances nicely and has a very "Punchy" sound, which I like.
I often describe my favourite bass sound as "BOWWW", as opposed to "Wump" or "Thud"
Weird but it makes sense to me.
Two DiMarzio Precision pick-ups provide lots of BOWWW.


If you have a look here, there are a lot of details about Atilla Balogh and his Company.
Odyssey
















Canadian Craftsmanship, at it's finest.

That's all for now.
Next time. . . . perhaps one of the many Peavey basses I have.

:)

Time for an update. . . .

Time is flying by, almost half the year gone, so I thought I had better
get back to this before another month goes by.

The "Whole Collection" thing is still bubbling under but it is going in the
right direction, some great stuff in there and some not so great but still
interesting, all the same.

I have been managing to play some instruments that I haven't played
for ages and am now making plans to start photographing them, ready
for listing.
So, sit tight and you never know, something might happen before
another month goes by.
So for the time being, I leave you with one of my favourites.
Gigged this a couple of weeks ago.
Just Great.