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Johnny Thunders's TV Junior(s)

vintage58

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Does anyone know what year Johnny's TV Junior was from? And, in a larger sense, does anyone know what he used for that kind of guitar sound? What I've heard is that, aside from the various double-cutaway TV Juniors he played, he simply used blackface Twin Reverbs. I've noticed that his Juniors generally had the tuners changed to Grovers and that, on at least one of them, the bridge/tailpiece was replaced with a "compensated" one. But does anyone know what string gauge he used, if the Twin Reverbs were modified, etc.? Any info would be helpful.
 

Nitebob

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Thunder's TV Jr.

Hello,
The first double cut was a 1960. I know this because I was there when he purchased it from We Buy Guitars., on 48th Street in NYC. I put the Grovers on it. It was mint when he got it. In 1974 Thunders was using a 100 watt Marshall with a Dual Showman bottom with 15" JBL speakers. He later switched to Twins, because he loved Fender Reverb.

nitebob
 

vintage58

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Thanks!

Thanks for replying, Nitebob, it was actually a reply from you that I'd been seeking, as I figured you'd likely have the most knowledge of the subject at hand.

Do you know if Johnny replaced the speakers in his Twin Reverbs? I remember speaking with Walter Lure once, who uses a silverface Twin Reverb, and Walter said that he replaced the speakers in his own Twin with Celestions. I figured it was reasonably possible that he'd gotten the idea to do that from something that perhaps Johnny did with *his* amps. Also, how did Johnny set his amps? Was it basically everything turned up to ten?

Also, any idea what string gauge Johnny used? Thanks again!
 

Lars

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I thought it was a 1960 model.Why am I not surprised that Nitebob was around then?:lol
The New York Dolls were some crazy fuckers at the time.Didn't Dave Johanson become an alter ego of himself as 'Buster Poindexter' later?
I may be getting myself in trouble now but IMHO that whole UK punk scene paled in comparison to the CBGB late '70's.
I do recognise that the British people brought that over here but it never really caught on in the US.I hate that some killer UK bands never made an impact here,but they inspired groundbreaking shit in NYC.Man,I was and still am into that.Probably an age thing but Ramones,Blondie,Talking Heads,Patti Smith,Richard Hell and the others of that genre still make me want to kick down a door for no reason!
Long live Johnny Thunders!Dirty New Yawk street punk.:!
 

Nitebob

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Thunder's Twins and TV Gibsons

Hello,
Johnny also had a 57 TV Special, that he destroyed in Memphis at an Iggy and the Stooges show. He had hit the switch to the neck pickup, which was always turned off, he thoght the guitar was broken and smashed it and tossed it into the audience. A riot insued. Several Dolls were arrested. When they got back to NYC, we got him a one pickup TV Junior, so he didn't have to deal with a switch and 4 knobs. He used .009s. Most of the twins were rental amps. He used 4 Twins at a Bottom Line gig. Everything eas on 10, even the reverb.

nitebob
 

vintage58

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As regards British punk music versus its NYC counterpart -- obviously, these days the word "punk" (i.e., as it applies to music) means many different things to many different people. But for me, when I hear that word, I think Blondie, the Ramones, the Heartbreakers, the Dictators, etc. The original New York punk movement had a lot of heart, which subsequent music labeled as such often seems to lack.
 

vintage58

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Thanks, Nitebob!!!

The info in your second reply is a huge help! Concerning Johnny's preference for one-pickup guitars, your post also goes a long way to explain a photo that appears in the booklet for a live CD of his last concerts in Japan, in which Johnny is shown with a P-90-equipped goldtop, but there's a couple of large pieces of what looks to be black electrical tape over the pickup selector switch. I guess he wanted to avoid another riot (ha!).

Thanks again, though!
 

Nitebob

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Thunders

Hi All,
With all due respect to Johnny, and not wishing to disrespect his memory, the Dolls crew referred to him as Blunders. The TV Special was not the only incident. He covered a clear Dan Armstrong with glue and applied small candy, like you would put on an ice cream cone. He once bought an ES-295, he couldn't control the feedbsck, so it went back to We Buy. By the way the TV Junior cost $295, The Special, $325, and the 295 $375. 1973 We Buy Guitars prices.

nitebob
 

Lars

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Re: Thunders

Nitebob said:
Hi All,
With all due respect to Johnny, and not wishing to disrespect his memory, the Dolls crew referred to him as Blunders. The TV Special was not the only incident. He covered a clear Dan Armstrong with glue and applied small candy, like you would put on an ice cream cone. He once bought an ES-295, he couldn't control the feedbsck, so it went back to We Buy. By the way the TV Junior cost $295, The Special, $325, and the 295 $375. 1973 We Buy Guitars prices.

nitebob
He was a character wasn't he?I believe everyone knew he wasn't going to get old man.I wish I could have seen his bastardised Armstrong.That sounds cool.:yah
Those prices are long gone aren't they? :wow
 

vintage58

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$295 for a TV Junior?!?

Yikes, nowadays that would just barely pay for the brown reissue case!
 

Nitebob

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TV Junior

Hello,
I bought one from We Buy Guitars in 1976 for $425, with a Cali Girl case.....

Those were the days!

nitebob
 

mc5nrg

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Dec 1, 2002
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I attended a Gang War show (Thunders and Wayne Kramer,early version with Ron Cooke)at the now gone Star Bar in Ann Arbor,MI.The bar had one of those typical suspended ceilings with the acoustic tiles.At one point Johnny put his guitar through the ceiling and knocked out a tile and proceeded to knock out a few more,then grab the framework and pull down a good portion of the suspended ceiling.

Thunder's great strength was his songwriting-hard to beat tunes like (You Can't Put Your Arms Around A)Memory.

Note:If the current rebirth of the seminal Cleveland band,Rocket From the Tombs Redux,plays in your area go!David Thomas,Richard Lloyd,Gene"Cheetah Chrome" O'Connor etc..fine tight versions of tunes associated with the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu that grew out of the RFTT.
 

Wattage

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Feb 23, 2003
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Oh man I have a TV Special because I wanted the guitar JT used on the cover of Too Much Too Soon, hah I ain't smashing mine though, those days are over.

nitebob thanks once again for sharing, when is that book coming out?
 
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John Catto

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According to an anecdote in "Please Kill Me" Dee Dee Ramone smashed it up in an argument with Johnny. Nitebob, is there any truth to this as far as you know?

Since we've got some Dolls fans present, here they are playing at the Victory Burlesque Theatre in Toronto late '72/early '73. Yes, Johnny is using THAT guitar, check out how clean the back of the neck still is in the second shot. The opening band was Rush!! playing their first gig off the TO high School circuit.

dollsvictory_01w.jpg


dollsvictory_04w.jpg


dollsvictory_08w.jpg


dollsvictory_11w.jpg


dollsvictory_09w.jpg
 
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lpnv59

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When I saw the Dolls at the Cricket Lounge in Ashland MA, JT was using that Marshall stack. I remember those chrome dustshields shining through the grill. He was playing a black refin LP Special and it was very late fall '72 I think it was. I was a freshman in college.
 

585960

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Apr 5, 2002
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I wonder how hard it is to play in chicks shoes?:)spin I saw the dolls play the Cinderella Ballroom in Detroit where they blew out the PA , within 2 minutes of being onstage! The audience was a riot. I saw more chicks in garter belts than I see on the spice network!!!:lol2:wow
 
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Wattage

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Feb 23, 2003
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HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John those pics ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You always come up with these shots, amazing. Between you and nitebob there is always a good history lesson going on here.
 

Nitebob

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THUNDERS PHOTOS

Hi John,
Great photos! Made me think of installing those Grovers at the rehearsal studio. In more vintage destruction, I installed a third pickup is Syl's cherry red V, in fact, I had to do it twice, as the first V was stolen. Syl also had a 50's P90 Les paul that had a cherry red top, I think it was a refinned goldtop.

nitebob
 

John Catto

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Cheers guys, just one of the doubtful benefits of being old enough to have been there :lolspin

Here's a couple more..

"She went into my head, into my head
A rock n roll nurse, went into my head
Into my head, into my head
While I was lyin' in a hospital bed"

victorydolls-6.jpg


Nitebob, did you work this one? If so do you remember the strippers runway!

victorydolls-7.jpg
 
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