The old days...

[Benny]

Greetings everyone! As promised I have an operational scanner, and found some great stuff for all of us to check out. Much of the items I unearthed I haven't seen for years. But there they were, hiding like so much buried treasure.

Attached is a photo from our one of our very first appearances at a NAMM show. I actually think its the first show we did because of the blue, solid spruce Dinky; our first guitar...or was it the "chalkboard tele?"

In the future I will check with Tom for accuracy so that you all get the right story. I hope you enjoy this and other stuff I will post in the future.

Peace,

Benny

[bruce]

Man, that looks old...I don't think I was even born yet.

I like that red 4-string guitar on the left.

[Benny]

Thanks for reminding me. The booth was being shared by our good friend Steve Ripley who at the time had perfected his stereo basses, one of whch is at Tom's right. Yes, we built the parts and Steve electrified them. I think Pat Wilkins' business cards are on the table too, as he painted everything back then. There's an early red/white bowling ball finish on the wall.

Thanks Bruce.

Benny

Now, find Waldo.

[bruce]

Correction: 5-string guitar!

Waldo is there standing with the yellow shirt.

[tom]

january of '86 if i'm not mistaken.

[pluto]

Wow-Tom you look really young. Just curious but given the fact you were a hot rod strat type maker in the 80's, how come you looked so conservative back then? Heck, even Paul Reed Smith had long hair once upon a year!

[killerburst]

Originally posted by Benny
Thanks for reminding me. The booth was being shared by our good friend Steve Ripley who at the time had perfected his stereo basses, one of whch is at Tom's right. Yes, we built the parts and Steve electrified them. I think Pat Wilkins' business cards are on the table too, as he painted everything back then. There's an early red/white bowling ball finish on the wall.

Thanks Bruce.

Benny

Now, find Waldo.

Is that the red/white bowling ball that ended up with EVH and all the Ripley knobs and buttons?

[tom]

why did i look so conservative? that's when we were having kids so i was being dad first and guitar guy second.
that was not the kramer ripley that ev ended up with. the top jimmie record was done with a raw wood one of steve's.

[Scott Peterson]

That is indeed "Old School".

Thanks for sharing - cool to see history!!

[killerburst]

Originally posted by tom

that was not the kramer ripley that ev ended up with. the top jimmie record was done with a raw wood one of steve's.

Besides the raw wood Kramer, Ed had a red and white bowling ball finish guitar with a bunch of Ripley stuff on it. He was pictured with it in an old Guitar World. There's a guy in town here that also had a red/white bowling ball guitar that he put together with your parts when he was in CA. He played it when he was in the band XYZ. He also has a letter from Pat Wilkins saying he only did two red/white bowling balls- his and Ed's. I was figuring that if that was true, then the guitar body in that picture either went to Ed or the guy from XYZ.

[tom]

pat may have only done a couple red and white bb's for others, but he did lots for us. ed's kramer only had one pickup, most ripleys had three. the one in the photo has three and is a dinky shape, so it's one of many.

[Stan Malinowski]

1986, by my calculations tom would have been about 32 years old in the picture!

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by pluto
Wow-Tom you look really young. Just curious but given the fact you were a hot rod strat type maker in the 80's, how come you looked so conservative back then? Heck, even Paul Reed Smith had long hair once upon a year!

don't be an a$$. I'll bet there are some funny pix of ALL of us from 1986. In fact, I'll wager that some of us will appear more "period appropriate" than the rest - especially given that tight pants and big hair were vogue for guitar players, especially in LA!! :eek: :eek:

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by killerburst
There's a guy in town here that also had a red/white bowling ball guitar that he put together with your parts when he was in CA. He played it when he was in the band XYZ.

that guy would be a Mr. Marc Richard Diglio. See what I mean by "period appropriate"?!

http://members.cox.net/eddyrox/xyz.jpg

"Face Down in the Gutter"!!

[pluto]

Originally posted by michaelomiya
don't be an a$$. I'll bet there are some funny pix of ALL of us from 1986.

Nah, not me my friend. I've always looked cool and cutting edge . . . . . even with a mullet! :D

[killerburst]

Originally posted by michaelomiya
that guy would be a Mr. Marc Richard Diglio. See what I mean by "period appropriate"?!



Nope. The guy I'm talking about is Bobby Peiper. He also played with Heaven and Kingdom Come.
This is the guitar he built (also period appropriate)-
http://www.oneflightupguitars.com/sitebuilder/images/bobgtr-499x357.jpg

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by killerburst
Nope. The guy I'm talking about is Bobby Peiper. He also played with Heaven and Kingdom Come.
This is the guitar he built (also period appropriate)-
http://www.oneflightupguitars.com/sitebuilder/images/bobgtr-499x357.jpg

I like it! nice black hardware w/ strathead.

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by pluto
Nah, not me my friend. I've always looked cool and cutting edge . . . . . even with a mullet! :D

Mark, you'll ALWAYS be too cool!:D ;)

[Benny]

Since it seems timely I've attached a photo of Edward's #1 and the aforementioned Ripley. We were asked to make a new neck for #1 as it had some random Kramer neck that Edward wasn't happy with. If I remember correctly, we made one of our Explorer style necks 0.070" oversized at the butt end as the neck pocket was crudely oversized. I had the unique opportunity - besides playing it daily until it was picked up (to help break in the tung oil finish) - to match the peghead graphics to the body. The white field on the peghead was meant for a TA logo, but we were instructed to place a Kramer logo there instead. We also moved the Floyd Rose - and the quarter - to the right spot; the studs were placed along the same line as the standard trem screws, making it impossible to intonate.

The Red on White Bowling ball by Pat was one of our rear rout strat style bodies shaped to match a Kramer, and of course on of our great necks. Again, the guitar was electrified by Steve.

Tom can tell you about meeting Edward when he came to pick up his guitars at the shop. Unfortunately, my camera and I slept in that Saturday.

[Benny]

Correction:
"The Red on White Bowling ball by Pat was one of our rear rout strat style bodies shaped to match a Kramer, and of course ONE of our great necks. Again, the guitar was electrified by Steve."

Sorry about that "ONE."

[michaelomiya]

Originally posted by Benny
Correction:
"The Red on White Bowling ball by Pat was one of our rear rout strat style bodies shaped to match a Kramer, and of course ONE of our great necks. Again, the guitar was electrified by Steve."

Sorry about that "ONE."

Benny, thank you for updating us (and the pix) on the legendary work that the TAG shop did for EVH. We've heard tom's memories of the work he did for Ed, and it's great to get your perspective as well. Welcome to the boards, BTW!
;)