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Went to Songbirds Yesterday and Joe B is now part of the tour story

sikoniko

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Aug 28, 2012
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675
Hey Joe, if you read this you should help them get the story straight.

First, my critique. The tour guide I had (Dave the curator was in NYC) was a good story teller but was also keen on re-writing history. His "facts" didn't line up with documented history of known guitars but that didn't stop him from telling his version of the story. Really disappointing.

Anyways, in the vault tour they had the first known black stratocaster (1954). The story the kid tells is Joe offered to buy it.

I have removed pieces of the story I had originally posted, as I hope the moderators have shared the info with Joe and he can decide what he wants to do with it.

It would be cool to know the significance to Joes 25 year search for this guitar though and why he has a picture of this guitar in his living room.

Im traveling and don't have access to my computer. I took over 200 pictures while I was there. I recommend the tour and to support them, but I don't like that my tour guide is re-writing the history of these guitars (this story was not one of the stories that bothered me). I just think they have a responsibility to keep the right story.

I would have pm'd Joe to keep this discreet but I have tried to pm him before and he doesn't respond so I don't believe he would have read it. this is the only way I could think of getting the message to him.

If if he reads it, mods feel free to delete it. I wouldn't want them telling that story if it was me.
 
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Unbound Dot Neck

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Jun 14, 2004
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1,623
Who ~ What is HAR ,, ? sorry if I asked this before

Joe claims the HAR strat is the first black strat

:##
 

sikoniko

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Aug 28, 2012
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675
EF8535a_0.jpg


http://guitars.com/sites/default/fi...field_instr_image/EF8535a_0.jpg?itok=iJPZXCqH
 

sikoniko

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Aug 28, 2012
Messages
675
It's the Howard Reed Strat and he already owns it so your story doesn't quite make sense, altho I see you've now deleted it.

Anyway ...

http://www2.fender.com/experience/fender-tone/joe-bonamassa-talks-fender-guitar-world/

Also appears the Fender Custom Shop might be working on a limited edition run ...

xx14w.jpg

This is the 1954 Black Fender Strat that is in the Songbirds Vault that Joe made an attempt to buy.

j0aWcMb.jpg


Songbirds has no idea why that particular strat means so much to Joe. They believe it is because Joe thinks he own's the first black strat (according to the Reverb Welcome to Nerdville video), and the one in the Songbird's vault is earlier than the HAR strat.

I will leave the other details I included out.
 

sikoniko

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Aug 28, 2012
Messages
675
That has to be THE most heavily modified 61 SGLP Custom I have ever seen! :wow

You should see the 1958 les Paul that they have converted into a sparkle finish strat. The guitars that were in these cases are in the Les Paul exhibit in the front 'vault' room.

:rofl

hqL7SAi.jpg
 
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Known4tone

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Apr 23, 2015
Messages
134
I was at Songbirds last Friday. They had a couple of guitars that are in Normans Rare Guitars book. The Eddie Cletro Strat and a Marauder with pickups under the pickguard owned by Freddie Tavares. My tour guide knew nothing about Normans ownership. Still a great experience being there.
 

stevechilders

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Aug 29, 2006
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I was told the same basic story, however I don't feel the guide was recounting the black strat story in a negative way towards Joe... I interpreted it as Joe made a pretty substantial offer & the current owner said no.. that was it.
 

ourmaninthenorth

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Mar 28, 2009
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From the Museum's facebook page yesterday, 13th Sept 2017.

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSongbirdsGuitarMuseum%2Fvideos%2F1402344706558002%2F&show_text=0&width=267" width="267" height="476" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>
 

JBLPplayer

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Sep 29, 2010
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1,136
It's a great museum.. very well done. They are all really nice. The Howard Reed Strat resides in California along with Mr Shamblin. The guitar you photographed is Jimmy Bryant's guitar. I am happy to see it in Chattanooga. The Reed strat poster was on my wall as a kid. That's why it means so much to me. It's been in the Nerdville Museum since 2014. Purchased directly from Bill Blackburn who unfortunately is now deceased through Gruhn Guitars in Nashville.
Joe B
 

JBLPplayer

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Sep 29, 2010
Messages
1,136
I was told the same basic story, however I don't feel the guide was recounting the black strat story in a negative way towards Joe... I interpreted it as Joe made a pretty substantial offer & the current owner said no.. that was it.
Only thing I bought and offered money for is merchadise from their gift shop. I have no interest in the Jimmy Bryant guitar. That came from the collection of Kirk Hammett.George Gruhn wrote the article in Vintage Guitar stating the Reed guitar was the first black Strat. I really don't care if it's the first or second because that's not why I bought it. I purchased the Reed because it meant something to me and my journey as a musician. I never imagined seeing the Reed Strat let alone owning it. I actually saw the HAR in 2007 at the RRHOF but it was behind glass. It's a special guitar to me.
Joe B
 
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