Glasgow 7th Dec - hot off the presses
 

You know, for a while I didn't think I was going to get to this gig :)

Huge thanks to KJ, who came up trumps despite the Mac's (unwitting) best efforts to leave me with a train ticket, a hotel room, and no ticket, and found Shawn and myself a pair of seats in row *J*, in front of Lindsey :) :)

And a big wave to cosmicegg and family! Yay! I finally got to meet a Ledgie/Firefly. Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as we did!

The way to our seats was right past the stage, and I spotted a couple of the crew offstage on Stevie's side, who had a couple of synths set up. Got talking to one of them, and asked what they were for - turns out he plays a number of extra parts from there, including the low strings part on "Dreams", that odd little treated vocal sample at the end of the chorus on "Peacekeeper", and some the brass on "Tusk" (which is sampled a note at a time off the ORIGINAL USC Marching Band tracks on the Tusk master tapes!!! Brett's playing a brass part as well, as is the OTHER guy down in that offstage area.) Nice guy (if anyone gets to say hi at Earl's Court, he's the older guy with the baseball cap and American accent :)).

So - onto the gig. Same set, same stage... No real surprises. The audience weren't quite as madly up for it as they were at the NEC, but the band rocked: I was paying attention to all manner of odd things, rather than necessarily Stevie/Lindsey - things like which songs John uses a pick on, etc. (Mostly because the rest of Fleetfoot Mike would probably kill me if I got to see the Mac without them and didn't do some Useful Research :) :) :) )

Linsey seemed to be having major problems with his guitar in "I'm So Afraid" - a couple of people I spoke to wondered if he broke a string during it - he kept tilting it up to look at it, and several notes in the main 'tune' part of the instrumental sounded odd... I'm not sure he did break a string - seems more as though he managed to pull the top E out of the bridge slot or something. He soldiered on, and (if you didn't know, you'd never have realised he was having trouble) produced a snorter of a solo before the inevitable toss (with perhaps a little more venom than he has been known to) of the Turner across the floor. The roadie (I assume it's still Ray?) handed him a change of guitar for "Tusk". NOT a Turner! For the benefit of guitar geeks like me, it was a white, rosewood neck, large headstock Fender Strat with a vibrato bridge (but no vibrato arm).

A few comments: "What's The World Coming To" is growing on me a LOT. Stevie was HOT HOT HOT on "Gold Dust Woman", "Big Love" was probably the best I've heard Lindsey do it this tour.

And now I'm sat on my bed in my room (a whole 5 minutes walk from the concert), watching the AIDS concert on TV with my laptop on my knees while I type this. I may never see Fleetwood Mac again in concert, but... damn, it's been worth every penny. And we'll always have Birmingham. And London. And Glasgow.

Thanks for the info.:)

Re: Glasgow 7th Dec - hot off the presses
 

I know this man! His name it Mike! Top guy!

Pip

Re: Re: Glasgow 7th Dec - hot off the presses
 

and it don't mean a thing ... if he ain't got no...

Re: Re: Glasgow 7th Dec - hot off the presses
 

and it don't mean a thing ... if he ain't got no...

Yes, Mike's a sweetheart - but be warned, he will talk your ear off! LOL He's also toured w/ Stevie - he did the thunder sound effects for Twisted.

:wavey:

Well, on the strength of the brief chat I had, I could probably music-technology-geek with him for most of an evening :)

Fleetfoot, was that the only time he played a Fender on stage this tour? Are the Turners crapping out from all of the abuse?

He broke the neck of one of the Turners in London, didn't he?

Although I am not that up on what guitar is what, I am fairly sure he played his Fender (white perhaps) at his PBS Soundstage thingee. Also, we got to see up close his three or so racks of guitars after the show - that was unbelievable. So, maybe he is gravitating back to the Fender.

I dunno. I suspect I'm in the fairly small subset of folks who actually pay attention to details like that (hey, I'm Lindsey in Fleetfoot Mike, I have to :)), but certainly that is the only time (and bear in mind I only went to 3 gigs) that *I* know of Lindsey playing an electric on stage that was not a Turner.

I'm not exactly sure why he did - he spent a lot of the verses of "I'm So Afraid" tilting the Turner up to peer at it when he wasn't playing it. In the 'tune' part of the solo (between the verses) a couple of notes on the top E string sounded choked off, but he didn't, as far as I could see, change HOW he played it, or any of the licks he's been regularly playing in the solo (told you I was a detail junkie). Dunno if a fret had popped out, or he'd cracked the nut so the top E was slipping off the edge of the fretboard, or something: he didn't *seem* to be playing as though he'd broken a string.

He did toss the Turner away more violently than usual after ISA, and Ray was pretty much straight there with the white Strat for "Tusk". He played another(?) Turner for the songs afterwards, and he also changed guitar cable - the one plugged into the offending Turner and the Strat was a metal-bodied right-angled jack with a band of red tape marking it, the one afterwards was a straight jack with, I think, a piece of black tape marking it.

To the best of my knowledge, and certainly for the dates I or anyone who's as anal retentive as me has been to (that's chiliD and David at least :)), the only electric guitars he has INTENDED to play on stage have been Turners.

He plays at LEAST two: one in dropped D for at least "Gold Dust Woman" and "World Turning", and one in standard tuning (on the Dance tour he had another tuned to open D for "Over My Head"). If he doesn't have at least one spare in standard tuning I'll be surprised, although one is forced to wonder why he didn't use it on "Tusk"... unless of course it had already suffered during "Come"!

According to Pip, yes: I wasn't in a position to see, being two tiers up and 20 rows back. :)

well,
 

Fastpussy, Nodmod and I saw him throw it "face down" over the stage. A lot of damage was done: pieces of I don't know what (i never hold a guitar, and definately no model 1;) )flew around. The guitartech/stageguy looked shocked when he picked it up. I saw it from close: I was hanging on the man's monitor all evening. I still live on a cloud.....:eek: :eek: :cool:

gerald

Lindsey used 2 Turners and the Strat along with the acoustic guitars he plays at the two Manchester concerts. I also noticed during one of the concerts in Birmingham that there are white numbers on the back of the headstocks on the Turners. In Birmingham he used numbers 2 and 4

The reason for the recent use of the Fender Strat was because of what happened on Saturday 29th November at Earls Court. At the end of "I'm So Afraid", he threw (as usual) his Model One across the stage. The difference, on this occasion however, was that instead of lightly throwing it in an almost controlled manner as he usually does, he really threw it and it flew about 3 or 4 metres across the stage before hitting the stage face down. The pickup cover broke off and half the bridge snapped off. When Ray picked it up, he gave it a double take, and had a sort of "you've really done it this time" look on his face as he was looking at the hanging bridge and strings.

For Tusk he now uses a white Fender Strat on neck pickup position with volume and tone controls at 10.

I'm not certain why he doesn't use one of his 4 other Model Ones for Tusk, but I would guess it's because the internal gain and EQ range of those have been setup in specific ways and wouldn't match the song. Ray could open the back of one of the other guitars and change the settings every time for Tusk, but it's simply easier to use a Strat on neck pickup position to achieve the tone he wants. Another reason is that he throws his guitar during Tusk aswell, and they certainly wouldn't want another Model One put into critical condition while they're far far away from the Santa Cruz factory.

:wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

Ah.

SO there *is* someone as observant and sad as me in the UK :) :)

You own a Turner, don't you? What 'take the back off and tweak' stuff is there on it?

Damn right!!:nod:

:laugh:

Yea there are two internal pots which control (1) gain (max. limit control), and (2) the low-end limit of the quasi-parametric sweep control. I've never even attempted (or wanted) to touch these, as they're only for extra fine tweaking. When I play to an audience of 20,000 in Earls Court I'll remember to open up the back and have a fiddle. lol!:)

:wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

It gives me a heartache to think he's tossing around $4,000 guitars like that. :distress:

I wonder what Rick thinks when he sees his finely crafter instruments come back to him for repairs after so much abuse.

By the way, Lindsey used the Alvarez Yairi acoustic for Over My Head on the Dance tour, not a Turner.

A combination of :distress: and :laugh:-all-the-way-to-the-bank, I suspect. More of the former, though.

Has that been the case from the 30th onwards?

Yea.:nod:

:wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

I think Rick is resigned to the fact that it happens. I've heard Rick comment that Lindsey gives his guitars quite a lot of punishment. He had a replacement Turner on standby when Lindsey threw a tantrum (or was it an RN6?) in New York when "Here Comes The Sun" was dropped from the New Year show.

A guitar is just a tool for a job really, value is relative to those who want one (Yes Seteca, I know how much my guitars cost before you say it!!! :laugh: ) Having said that I would be shocked into an early grave if LB did the same antics with a '58 Les Paul!! :laugh: :laugh:

The Strat is only a Mexican model as well, not an American so I guess there is no problem with throwing that one around!

:nod: :nod:

I'd be almost as shocked if he appeared on stage with a Les Paul at all, these days :)

Unlike a certain Ritchie Blackmore, who used to have several apalling quality Japanese Strat copies that were rebuilt between gigs for his guitar smashing routine. And you could tell, because he'd come back out after the drum solo, and all of a sudden his guitar was squealing and feeding back in that 'crap single coil pickups on a guitar with no screening' way that cheap copies do...

Better to smash a piece of **** than a gem. I used to hate seeing Barf Brooks smash the Takamines. I'd be ten times more impressed if he gave it to some kid in the audience.

Talking Guitars!!!
 

:wavey: THANK YOU for Talking GUITARS!!!
Lindsey IS guitar hyper lately!We read
that they have 17 trucks of equipment
and that Lindsey has 20 Geetars ready!

The first time :cool: got rough:eek:was soooooo
shocking:eek:we couldn't believe our eyes!!!:rolleyes:
We are remembering...that UK electric is very
different from ours! Ray must need to adjust
for the voltage differences! At the Brit Awards
Lindsey shook-up his Turners quite often!:confused:

Bet...The Les Pauls are ensconed at home!Sky:)

Re: Talking Guitars!!!
 

Setaca can probably give a more exact answer, but I reckon he uses about 8 or 9 a night during the current... damn. RECENT.. Mac UK tour.

You're joking, right? :) :)

Re: Re: Talking Guitars!!!
 

Seteca can correct me later ;) but it wouldn't surprise me if Lindsey was using for this recent tour :-

1) 4 or 5 Turner Model 1 C-LBs, I know he's had at least 1 original 1979 Model 1 (trapieze tail) with him, one or two 1979/80 modified and updated Model 1s, one from a few years back (post 1997)with a multi-laminate neck and a brand new one as well (with the red LED indicator light and multi-laminate neck)

2) a Turner RN-6
3) a Turner RS-6
4) a Gibson Chet Atkins CE
5) a Taylor 814CE
6) a Fender Mexican Standard Series Stratocaster

He could of course be carrying multiples of guitars 2 to 5 as backups as well....

That's all I can think of for the moment....



:wavey: :wavey:

Prior to the SYW tour, LB had 4 Model Ones. For the SYW tour, Rick Turner was originally going to retrofit a piezo bridge into his newest Model One, but instead he built him a new Model One and installed a VG-8 pickup system for it. This new Model One is clearly identifiable on stage because it's the only one that has an L.E.D. and the finish is a dark ("new looking") mahogany stain. So LB had five, but after the Earls Court incident...lol...I guess he has 4 and a half.lol!

Yea Madformac's totally right - other guitars on tour with him: 2 Gibson Chet Atkins CEs, 2 Taylor 814CEs, 2 Turner RN-6s, 2 Turner RS-6s. Oh and of course...1 Fender Strat which magically appeared after the 29th November 2003.lol!

The Renaissance guitars (i.e. the RN-6 and RS-6) are all fitted with VG-8 systems and go through that synth module.

He also has an RS-12 and an RS-6-B (baritone) but I haven't seen these on tour.

:wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :cool:

Ahh... new mahogany stain... Knew I forgot to mention something!!!!




:laugh: :laugh:

:wavey:

...are there any pics of LB and his "new" model Turner?

I wanna see this L.E.D :D thing.....

It's not a "new" Model One...Most Model Ones have an L.E.D. which is activated when the EQ system is turned on using the toggle switch. It's just that none of LB's M1s had that L.E.D. until now, but I didn't actually see the red light of the L.E.D. until he threw the guitar onto the ground (again!lol!), which leads me to believe that he wasn't using the EQ system during the song, and that it probably switched on by accident when it hit the ground. It would make sense that Rick Turner installed the VG-8 pickup system into a Model One he'd already made with an L.E.D. - LB wouldn't be using the EQ so it would have been a waste of time to make a new one just so it doesn't have an L.E.D.!

I didn't get a picture of that guitar on the ground with the L.E.D. on, but if you want to know what it looks like, here's a picture of mine with the light on. The dark mahogany stain finish of my guitar is also identical to LB's newest one (i.e. the one we're talking about).

:wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

Hey, how do you guys know the Strat is a Mexican model? Did someone zoom in with a camera on the headstock or is there some other telling aesthetic feature?

Yes Carne you guessed it.. Anybody as anally fixated on guitars as Seteca, myself and by the looks of it a few others.. :laugh: will know, the Mexican models have different headstock logos to the American model. The "Fender" logo is in a bold silver and the "Stratocaster" logo is much bigger than the American model.

I'm sure that Ray must have replaced the pickups or something because it sounded a little more aggressive on the neck pickup than your average Mexican Strat ( I had one a couple of years back for a while)

Here's a close up of the headstock on LB's strat for anybody remotely interested!!!
:D :D

Damn, you guys are sick. :laugh: :laugh:

Now, I'm going to have to check the headstock on my Mexican Tele when I get home. I never noticed the writing is in silver.

The important thing is it makes me feel good that Lindsey played a Mexican-made instrument. We all know he can certainly afford the Made in the USA ones.

Yes, I don't think there's any cure for it.... Finally, at last!! After playing Seteca's and Lindsey's Model Ones in London I'm going to have to buy a Turner Model One C-LB P.. :D :D It's about time too!!!! :laugh:


The Mexican models are a damn good guitar. The pickups, certainly on the Strat are a bit thinner sounding, but overall it's a great buy.

:wavey:

I can get my Tele to sound pretty damn chunky. I love that guitar!