Guitar Archeology

Yamaha SG-2C

Hey Mick,

This is Curt Anderson. I was friends and bandmate with Denny Hart (the
bands we were in together were "Your Square" and "The Broadcasters") who
frequented your shop in the 1980s. Around 1984-ish I traded a black
1970s Ibanez Les Paul and a Orange Yamaha SG-2C to you for a really cool
Custom made Fender Musiclander/Swinger styled guitar, British racing
green, Telecaster lead pickup, Vermillion neck, brass Telecaster bridge.
I love that guitar, and it has been on many records since I moved to LA
in 1988. I still have almost all of the instruments I have ever owned.
Every instrument that I have let go of I have regretted. I have been
thinking a lot about that orange Yamaha and now realize how rare it was.
I am wondering if you remember what ever became of the one I traded to
you so long ago.

I know that many amazing guitars have passed through your life since
then, but I just thought I'd ask and see if you knew anything about my
old guitar, or possibly if you know where I could find another.

Thanks for your time,

Curt Anderson

Curt,
Can't remember what happened to the guitar...  But, here is a pic of it for ya !

Wow! That's it! Brings back memories! Thanks. The search continues...
Curt

Curt

Billy Gibbons (white shirt-center) opens for Jimi

I spent the next few months bouncing around the country with the Who and the Jimi Hendrix Experience while Pete and Sheila ran the new Sunn offices on the corner of Sunset & Vine. The location quickly became a popular destination for local and touring acts. Neil Young was back in the Buffalo Springfield and now sporting …an all Sunn backline. Bands from the UK chose LA as the beachhead of the invasion and Hollywood was quickly becoming British territory. Headquarters for many was the Continental Hyatt (Riot) House on Sunset. Jimi Hendrix was still waiting for his 12” speaker cabinets and in the meantime had taken the horns out of the top of the 100S speaker cabinets. You couldn’t see the difference through the grille cloth and each night he’d ram his guitar into the empty hole. With the feedback and theatrics it looked like he was reaming the loudspeaker. The next night, new grille-cloth, new amplifier. About this time Jimi introduced me to a young guitar player from Texas that had opened for him and made a big impression. Jimi wanted to give several of his older Sunn units to the Moving Sidewalks guitarist Billy Gibbons. No problem. I noticed, the reports of Jimi trashing his gear didn’t go down well with Pete Townshend at all. By the time the Who landed in Los Angeles we were tight and I was excited to show them around. John Entwistle was amazed at the fruit salad at the Room At The Top and Keith Moon loved ordering beer down to the office, so we could close the inner door and do phone pranks. Pete Townshend kept urging me to cover his songs with American acts. The band bonded with everybody in the Sunn office. Peter Burke even volunteered his credit card when Wallach’s Music City wouldn’t take a check from Townshend for a new Les Paul.

Buck with Pete

I watched Pete get especially active with the solid body Gibson SG, chipping chunks out of the beautiful floor. Moon’s cymbals were digging nice scratches too. The school officials were going ballistic waving their arms trying to stop the performance but attracting no attention. Pete whirled and kicked over the PA-head, …which bounced off the floor and immediately started to hum loudly. The teachers may have been freaking out but the kids loved it. After a few more minutes of mayhem Pete threw his mangled guitar down and stomped off. The other band members followed. The Buckinghams’ roadies swarmed the PA, swearing. Bobby Pridden sprang into action rallying his volunteers to pack the stage and load the truck. The school officials were looking for an official representative of the band to complain to, and I seemed to be the only one not involved in the load-out. They asked me to follow them to a school office where they closed the door and informed me there had been extensive damage and the fire marshal had been called about the smoke machine. I assured them the band was fully insured and any damage would be covered. I then let them chew on me long enough for Bobby and the kids to get the truck loaded, handed them my Sunn card and excused myself. As I walked through the gym I could still hear the PA humming loudly. Back at the motel I was greeted like a hero when Bobby told the story.

Here are some pics of Mick’s Vintage Guitars.   Hard to believe it has been 30 years…

Mick's Vintage Guitars first location California Ave. in West Seattle

The next Location in West Seattle

2nd Location on California Ave. in West Seattle

Some of the old stock..

Mick's Vintage Guitars Inventory

Where are they now ??

The Rolling Stones played Hullabaloo with the Kingsmen and were impressed by the Sunn units. They spread the word to the Who and others.

The Rolling Stones with Sunn Amps

I became attached first to Keith Moon, because of his love of practical jokes and my fascination with his completely unique playing style. Pete Townshend nurtured my friendship with Keith because he needed help with the wild man. These guys were all on passports and high jinks that wouldn’t slow down an American act coul…d get a British band thrown out of the country. As Moon’s best friend, John Entwistle was glad to have Sunn’s credit cards to pick up the bar bill and whatever damages may accrue. Most of the recreation on those early tours took place in the hotel bar where there was always some drunk “straight” businessman who was incensed to see longhaired freaky foreigners in sissy clothes flirting with the barmaids. Many was the night, we stood up together for Queen and country. Moon seemed to enjoy pushing the situation to the limit to see if I could get us out of there without a fight. Moonie was a daily challenge to my finely honed peacekeeping skills. In Kansas City, the Who were opening for the Buckinghams (“Kind of a Drag”) who were on their fifth hit single on Columbia from producer Jim Guercio. The sound check was short and friendly and the Buckinghams agreed to let the Who use their PA to keep the set change to a minimum. The mostly teenaged audience filed into the hall looking white, upper middle class and bored. When the Who walked out on the stage in their Carnaby clothes the first few rows of standing students pressed forward to get a better look. The venue for the Who/Buckingham confrontation was a new high school gym. The bands performed on a stage made from beautiful inlaid wood. The Who launched into their set and got a good reaction to “Boris The Spider”, which I had learned that afternoon, Entwistle wrote. The rest of their set was received politely, but attentively. For the finale, Pete announced a song that would be released in the US within weeks “I Can See For Miles”. A few chords in, the audience came alive, and I found my new favorite Who song. As the finale built Bobby switched on the tiny smoke machine and the shit hit the fan. Pete started swinging his guitar like a pickaxe, Moonie kicking over his drums, Roger swinging the microphone in large arcs and bouncing it off the floor. I noticed several school officials spring into action. Nobody had warned them about this madness.

The Who with The Buckinghams

Buck Munger was scoring points with Keith Moon and John Entwistle with my terror filled tales of the Marine Air Wing and Phoenix Police Department. They offered their experiences traveling Europe and humorous impressions of America. We definitely shared an appreciation for the practical joke. Moon’s squint-eyed impression of actor… Robert Newton’s Long John Silver was classic. Entwistle exhibited the dry English wit. They prepared me for meeting their band-mates with some essential background information. Pete’s an old codger and Roger is a pretentious rock star. Why right now, that disgusting Roger is down in his room with a bunch of teeny-bopper groupies. Where the actual idea came from, I can’t remember, but the next thing I know I’m on the phone calling Daltrey’s room in my best Phoenix Police Department Desk Sergeant voice “ Hello, Mister Dawntree, this is Sgt Mullen of the Kansas City Police Department, we have a report that you are entertaining under-aged minor females in your room, sir, is that true? Daltrey, stuttered “No, that’s not true, who told you that?” “Well Mr. Dawntree, we have dispatched a radio car to answer that complaint, that should be there any minute, and you can make your statement to the investigating officer.” Hanging up the phone I could see Entwistle and Moon bursting with appreciation for my performance. We could hear feet scuffling outside in the hallway and after a moment there was a knock on the door. Daltrey came in, nodded to Keith and John and stepped into the bathroom. In a few minutes he came out and announced he was going to find Pete, and left. Keith and John, who had been quiet since he came in the room, let out howls of laughter. They pummeled me with compliments. We had a relationship. I had never met or dealt with the Who’s managers. With the Jimi Hendrix Experience most of the communication away from the site flowed through either Chas Chandler or Gerry Stickles. The only time I got to talk to Jimi was at the sound check and after the show backstage, which was always a circus. With the Who I had an off duty relationship with everybody but Roger. I noticed even Townshend liked to join Keith and John in the Roger chop-sessions. The band dynamic was interesting. In public, Daltrey shined and accepted the presumption that, as the singer, he must be the leader of the band. In private, Roger shrunk to the bottom of the pecking order behind John, who was below Keith who was always challenging Pete.

The WHO Sunn Amplifiers

Buck Munger would now be figuring out what to do with the Who, who were on the radio in LA with “Happy Jack,” sounding nothing like the band that exploded at the Monterey Pop Festival. Several cocktail conversations with Pete Townshend had calmed my fears. The destruction was limited and mostly cosmetic. Bobby “Plum” Pridden, the …equipment manager, would repair and maintain the gear. Grille-cloth is easy to replace. Pete suggested we run an ad, “Even The Who Can’t Bust ‘em.” He loved Sunn’s heavy-duty cabinet construction, built from three-quarter inch plywood-compared to the normal half-inch in the best of the competitors. I flew to Kansas City to meet the Who, deliver the equipment and get signatures on the contract. On takeoff, I spilled a drink on the guy sitting behind me in First Class who, in a genuine twist of fate, turned out to be Joe Banaron, CEO of Thomas Organ, the owners of Vox Amplifiers. Months before the Who had destroyed a stage full of Vox amplifiers on the Smothers Brothers show. Joe remembered. Landing in KC, I took a cab straight to the motel and stopped by the coffee shop where I met Pridden on his way to the airport to pick up the gear. On the drive out and back, Bobby briefed me on the situation. It was just Pridden and the band. The booking agency had sent someone along as Road Manager but he “lost a lot of the band’s money” and “the lads ran him off”. Roger and Pete had their own rooms and John & Keith shared a room. Roger “pulled all the birds” and Pete was the reclusive genius. Bobby described himself as a poor kid from the slums of London that got his big break in life with the Who. It was easy to see the depth of his loyalty. Back at the Motel I decided to start with the rhythm section first, so I had Bobby drop me off with Entwistle & Moon. It took me a few minutes to understand the accents completely but I made out that John was the one who got the band interested in Sunn, having borrowed a 200S unit belonging to the Moody Blues. We talked about the Monterey Pop Festival and the post show buzz on both the Who and Hendrix. On the same small label in England, the two acts were well aware of each other, and I sensed some real hostility.