The HGTV channel makes home remodeling look a little easier than my sixty-five year old body finds it nowadays. Have just finished patching, sanding and painting in the newly formed walk-in closet in the master bedroom. Very happy with how it's turned out. Wanted to share it with our daughter Tracy in England, but decided to post the little video I made here for all to see.
Enjoy?Sunday, March 14, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
My Hofner Committee
After retiring in 2005, I found myself so wanting to own a Hofner Committee again. I say again, because on two separate occasions, when I was much younger and living in England, I owned a Hofner Committee. The first was a brunette acoustic Committee that I coerced my Dad into buying for me when I was in my teens. I was an only child and my Dad, more than my Mum, was so soft, and I was spoiled! The guitar was a beauty and my pride and joy. It had it's own special armchair in my bedroom and was surrounded by cushions. I remember the trauma for me when a string broke once and embedded itself in the front of the guitar, leaving a mark that I'm sure only I saw. I wasn't the best of guitarists though and still to this day am limited in what I can play. But I had a good friend, Chris Hills, at Steyning Grammar School, who shared my interest in guitars. Chris had this very basic roundhole guitar with a terrible action. But it wasn't long before Chris was playing the most amazing Chet Atkins style music on this guitar! He and I played in public a few times. This was us in the early 60's playing at his Dad's works Christmas party:
By this time I had added a Bigsby tremolo arm and a DeArmond-style floating pickup to the guitar. You can see a small Watkins Westminster amp., on the right, that we were using.
Soon after this, I traded in the Committee for a solid electric .... oh the folly of youth. We then teamed up with two of our friends at the the school and formed Peter and the Wolves:
We were now using a Watkins Dominator amp., all 17 watts of it! And a Watkins Copicat. Chris was the star of the group. There are few recordings of us. But my cousin Geoff did make a recording at one of our gigs in the 60's using a reel-reel Akai recorder he owned. Several years later he transferred the recording to cassette tape and then in the 90's my sons, without me knowing, transferred the audio to CD and gave me a Peter and the Wolves album for my birthday ... that remains one of the best gifts I've been given. I remember that moment so well. My wife had told me that I was going to be really thrilled with my birthday present. When David and Warren handed me my present, I saw it was a CD, and I remember thinking , oh a CD, that's nice. Then I looked at it and saw what it was. I was in tears, a priceless moment! Just recently I took one of the tracks, our cover of "Pipeline", and added video to it, to share with others:
But I digress. My plan had been to talk about my Hohner Committee's. Now you can see why I called my blog "LORDH's rambles". Oh no, now I'm thinking I should explain "LORDH". That can be for another day. So, to recap, my first Hofner Committee was gone. However, just a few years later, married with two sons, another opportunity arose. An elderly lady, who lived next door to us in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, gave me a blonde acoustic Committee. I was so lucky! But life was no longer just about me, and after keeping the guitar for about a year or so, I sold it so that we could buy Christmas presents for our sons.
It wasn't until I got older, and nostalgia began to set in, that I yearned to own a Hofner Committee again. With the Internet now part of our lives, searching the world for a Committee was feasible. Of course eBay was one of the sites I would often visit. But what I found there were so expensive! More than the 48 guineas I remember my Dad paying for my first Committee. My search for a Committee really heated up when I retired in 2005. One day, during my daily Google search I came across a 1959 Hofner Committee for sale at an auction house in Herefordshire, England. The suggested price range was reasonable. I contacted them and via e-mail they gave me a thorough report on the condition, action, fretting etc and sent me very detailed pictures to show any blemishes. It was a fine guitar indeed, a blonde electric with Bigsby tremelo and what appeared to be a brand new hardshell case. I decided to place a commission bid for the guitar. I set an upper limit I would go to. I struck gold, I obtained the guitar for less than my upper limit! Shipping the guitar to my home was quite expensive though, but it arrived safe and sound. It actually arrived while we were picking up my cousin Geoff and his wife from the airport. They were visiting from England. So I wasn't the best of hosts when we arrived back at our home. Our neighbor had kindly received the shipment for me. The guitar was a joy to behold.
This is a picture of the Hofner Committee, together with my other guitar, a Gretsch G5120 Electromatic.
As I mentioned earlier, my guitar playing skills I would describe as mediocre at best. But the Hofner has inspired me to keep practicing. It's neck is not as wide as the Gretsch and is definitely more challenging in that respect. The single coil pickups are much brighter sounding than the Gretsch's, but of course don't have the "quiet background" the Gretsch's humbuckers provide.
When I went to register the Hofner (serial no. 3186) at the "Hofner Guitars Internet Community", I found it already registered to someone else. This got me interested in tracing the history of my Committee. With help, initially from the website folks, I was able to speak with the previous owner a Jim McGregor of Stirling, Scotland. He told me had bought it from a Jack Rump of Bermondsey, London. I traced Jack and he told me, he bought it used from Selmer in ~1967 for £78. He had Hanks Guitar Shop in Denmark Street, London fit a truss rod to cure the warped neck. There is a brass plate on the head, with the inscription "Music House '75 Reborn". Jack played the guitar for 20 years in a duo, but sold it to Jim McGregor in ~ 2005 for £1000, with a beaten-up case. So I feel pretty good about my purchase: £850 (+shipping) and with an almost new case. Jack thinks the guitar may have been previously owned by Denny Wright. Denny is famous and I saw may have been part of the design committee for the Committee. Denny played with Diz Disley, Stephan Grappelli, Lonnie Donegan and many others. I have been in e-mail contact with a guitarist who played with Denny for some while but haven't yet confirmed he owned my Committee. I find this all quite fascinating.
I play the Hofner each day and am gradually improving my playing skills. Recently I have been trying to master a few bars of "House of the Rising Sun":
By this time I had added a Bigsby tremolo arm and a DeArmond-style floating pickup to the guitar. You can see a small Watkins Westminster amp., on the right, that we were using.
Soon after this, I traded in the Committee for a solid electric .... oh the folly of youth. We then teamed up with two of our friends at the the school and formed Peter and the Wolves:
We were now using a Watkins Dominator amp., all 17 watts of it! And a Watkins Copicat. Chris was the star of the group. There are few recordings of us. But my cousin Geoff did make a recording at one of our gigs in the 60's using a reel-reel Akai recorder he owned. Several years later he transferred the recording to cassette tape and then in the 90's my sons, without me knowing, transferred the audio to CD and gave me a Peter and the Wolves album for my birthday ... that remains one of the best gifts I've been given. I remember that moment so well. My wife had told me that I was going to be really thrilled with my birthday present. When David and Warren handed me my present, I saw it was a CD, and I remember thinking , oh a CD, that's nice. Then I looked at it and saw what it was. I was in tears, a priceless moment! Just recently I took one of the tracks, our cover of "Pipeline", and added video to it, to share with others:
But I digress. My plan had been to talk about my Hohner Committee's. Now you can see why I called my blog "LORDH's rambles". Oh no, now I'm thinking I should explain "LORDH". That can be for another day. So, to recap, my first Hofner Committee was gone. However, just a few years later, married with two sons, another opportunity arose. An elderly lady, who lived next door to us in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, gave me a blonde acoustic Committee. I was so lucky! But life was no longer just about me, and after keeping the guitar for about a year or so, I sold it so that we could buy Christmas presents for our sons.
It wasn't until I got older, and nostalgia began to set in, that I yearned to own a Hofner Committee again. With the Internet now part of our lives, searching the world for a Committee was feasible. Of course eBay was one of the sites I would often visit. But what I found there were so expensive! More than the 48 guineas I remember my Dad paying for my first Committee. My search for a Committee really heated up when I retired in 2005. One day, during my daily Google search I came across a 1959 Hofner Committee for sale at an auction house in Herefordshire, England. The suggested price range was reasonable. I contacted them and via e-mail they gave me a thorough report on the condition, action, fretting etc and sent me very detailed pictures to show any blemishes. It was a fine guitar indeed, a blonde electric with Bigsby tremelo and what appeared to be a brand new hardshell case. I decided to place a commission bid for the guitar. I set an upper limit I would go to. I struck gold, I obtained the guitar for less than my upper limit! Shipping the guitar to my home was quite expensive though, but it arrived safe and sound. It actually arrived while we were picking up my cousin Geoff and his wife from the airport. They were visiting from England. So I wasn't the best of hosts when we arrived back at our home. Our neighbor had kindly received the shipment for me. The guitar was a joy to behold.
This is a picture of the Hofner Committee, together with my other guitar, a Gretsch G5120 Electromatic.
As I mentioned earlier, my guitar playing skills I would describe as mediocre at best. But the Hofner has inspired me to keep practicing. It's neck is not as wide as the Gretsch and is definitely more challenging in that respect. The single coil pickups are much brighter sounding than the Gretsch's, but of course don't have the "quiet background" the Gretsch's humbuckers provide.
When I went to register the Hofner (serial no. 3186) at the "Hofner Guitars Internet Community", I found it already registered to someone else. This got me interested in tracing the history of my Committee. With help, initially from the website folks, I was able to speak with the previous owner a Jim McGregor of Stirling, Scotland. He told me had bought it from a Jack Rump of Bermondsey, London. I traced Jack and he told me, he bought it used from Selmer in ~1967 for £78. He had Hanks Guitar Shop in Denmark Street, London fit a truss rod to cure the warped neck. There is a brass plate on the head, with the inscription "Music House '75 Reborn". Jack played the guitar for 20 years in a duo, but sold it to Jim McGregor in ~ 2005 for £1000, with a beaten-up case. So I feel pretty good about my purchase: £850 (+shipping) and with an almost new case. Jack thinks the guitar may have been previously owned by Denny Wright. Denny is famous and I saw may have been part of the design committee for the Committee. Denny played with Diz Disley, Stephan Grappelli, Lonnie Donegan and many others. I have been in e-mail contact with a guitarist who played with Denny for some while but haven't yet confirmed he owned my Committee. I find this all quite fascinating.
I play the Hofner each day and am gradually improving my playing skills. Recently I have been trying to master a few bars of "House of the Rising Sun":
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