Shads with Semi-Hollow Guitars?

[Arpeggio]

Ulrich, you were absolutely correct with your information. I've been trawling around different sites / blogs related to the Stockton Globe Theatre. I was wrong about the starting date for the "Babes In The Wood" panto...it was indeed December 24th, 1959 as you correctly stated. Given that they played Greenford on December 21st, then they must have done some rehearsing at Stockton on either December 22nd or December 23rd. They can't have gone straight into the show on December 24th with no rehearsal whatsoever. Anyway....this now throws up another point. If Jet maintained that he recorded the 45rpm version of "A Voice In The Wilderness" with the Fender Precision bass on December 20th - then when did the Framus get broken at Stockton? Unless he was mistaken and the single version of "A V I T Wilderness" was recorded with the Framus. He! He! Any bass players out there who could tell (by listening to both the EP Version of " A V I T W" and the 45rpm version) if it's a different (or the same) instrument on both recordings??

Bests.....Rob

PS: After becoming a Bingo Hall and then closing completely in the mid -1 970s, the wonderful Stockton Globe theatre, had become a semi - derelict eyesore. However, after securing £4,000,000 worth of grants - the huge Art Deco theatre is being restored to its former glory as a major venue and will re - open sometime during 2013.

[UlrichS]

Very interesting Ulrich. Very interesting! On the site referred to by Jay....there's a reproduction of a press cutting which states that "Babes In The Wood" at Stockton opened on December 21st...which is, of course, at odds with your own information. Further investigation definitely required!! Strange isn't it...how we all take certain facts and incidents for granted, never thinking of them really closely until something crops up over 50 years later to make us all re - assess events. Bearing in mind all of your dates Ulrich....Cliff and the Shadows must (at some point) have spent some time at the Stockton Globe rehearsing for the panto. Oh how we love it all!! Many thanks Ulrich, as ever, for your invaluable input. Now.....does Heinz Rolli (Chronik - Man) have any additional infromation which could help us all out??

Rob

Hi Rob,

Regarding the dates of the "Babes In The Wood" panto at Stockton, the press article from the BradfordTimeLine website is from the NME (25th September 1959). The full article gives no exact date as you can see below.

NME 1959-09-25 1.jpg

However, I can confirm the Greenford date (sorry for the poor quality):

1959-12-21 p01.jpg

Best wishes,

Ulrich

[Arpeggio]

My Dear Ulrich,
Many thanks again - as ever (see my previous post). There are so many knowledgeable and dedicated fans on this forum - thanks to all of you. Who would have thought that Donna's question (already expertly answered by others) would lead us down the road to attempt to discover exactly when the neck of Jet's Framus was snapped & broken at Stockton almost 53 years ago! Incredible isn't it?? I know that my wife would say....."Get a life!" But....for many of us....these things matter!!!

Rob

[StuartD]

It's amazing what comes out on here after all these years and the story of Jet taking delivery of his Precision Bass has, for me, thrown up another conundrum that I am sure someone will now the answer to:

Did Bruce's Jazzmaster arrive on the same day. I have never seen a pic of the Shads with Jet with the Fender and Bruce with the Vega. Anyone know?

Regards

Stuart

[GoldenStreet]

The black guitar played by Bruce (which I understand he still owns) is a pre-WW2 Vega electric guitar, made in the USA.

Vega were later better known for banjos than for guitars, but were in fact one of the first makers of electric guitars, that particular model being a regular archtop acoustic rendered electric at the factory by the installation of a Rickenbacker horseshoe pickup and controls.

There is a picture of Charlie Christian (c.1918-1942) playing a guitar exactly the same as that one (with a Vega amp as well). I wonder whether it's the same example? Either way, that Vega seems to have found its way to Newcastle by the 1950s, where it fell into the hands of Eddy Silver (Hank's bandmate) and then belonged to Hank himself, later being transferred to Bruce, perhaps when Hank got the Antoria, and then used in "Expresso Bongo".

HTH,

JN

Eddie Silver was American (where he probably acquired the Vega) and later recorded two singles (78 and 45 formats) for Parlophone, "Put A Ring On Her Finger"/"Seven Steps To Love" (R 4439) and "Rockin' Robin"/"The Ways Of A Woman In Love" (R 4483).

From the Bruce Welch Tribute website:-

http://www.brucewelchtribute.com/guitars/50s.html

Bill

[GoldenStreet]

The guitar that Bruce is playing, I'm sure (if memory serves) that there's a publicity shot of Cliff strumming that particular guitar.

Rob

It's certainly very similar in style, but Bruce's guitar has the narrow triangular pickguard and doesn't feature the block fingerboard inlays. It would be interesting to know what make Cliff's is, though.

Bill

[Iain Purdon]

How difficult of an adjustment is that to make...switching to a new brand of instrument, with probably little time to rehearse?
Donna

Don't worry Donna. It's a bit like driving a new car. All the controls are the same and yet it takes time to settle in. I'm sure you'll be fine.
If, however, you try to move from a 4-string to a 5-string bass, as I attempted last year, that's a whole different ball game! I kept aiming for E and getting B. My autopilot wouldn't work!
Cheers - Iain

[cockroach]

Not sure I agree about the difference between Jet's Framus Star Bass and the Fender Precision Bass.

I used to have a Framus bass, and I've played a few Precisions too.

The neck on those Framus bases was short scale and slim as a tooth pick..they were also fairly lightweight, being a hollow, shallow depth body. The Framus had two pickups (neck and bridge) with a rotary switch and two knobs for tone and volume. There was a traditional headstock with two tuning keys on each side.

The Fender has a long scale and the neck is like a tree trunk by comparison..and the Fender being a solid body is much heavier than the Framus. The Fender has one pickup in the middle position...and has a single sided headstock with all four tuners on one side..

These two instruments are about as different as you can get considering they are both electric bass guitars.

Changing basses with little time to get used to the new one would have needed quite a bit of concentration and quick thinking by Jet!

[Iain Purdon]

Although Jet was well accustomed to playing an upright bass, so he'd be used to a thick neck

[chronikman-ch]

That would be Jet's first bass guitar, a Besson-badged Framus. Can't see enough of Bruce's...

George

Jet obviously pleased with his famous Framus bass
The Story of the Shadows page 47