Old Black

Last updated
Neil Young playing Old Black on the CSNY "Freedom Of Speech Tour '06" Ny-ottawa-jul-2006.jpg
Neil Young playing Old Black on the CSNY "Freedom Of Speech Tour '06"

Old Black is the nickname given to Neil Young's primary electric guitar. Most of Young's electric guitar work has been recorded using this instrument. Though he has used a variety of different instruments, this Les Paul has remained ubiquitous and an obvious favorite. Young acquired Old Black in early 1968 in a trade with then Buffalo Springfield bassist, arranger and engineer Jim Messina.

Contents

Appearance and customization

Old Black is a 1953 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop that has been customized extensively over the years. The instrument was traded for a '58 Gretsch 6120 with Jim Messina, the acting bassist and engineer for Buffalo Springfield (and Young's first solo album in 1969). Aside from replacing the (non-standard as of 1953) stop-tailpiece with a Bigsby B-3 vibrato tailpiece, by 1969 the guitar had changed little from what Messina handed him. It was featured prominently on a host of Springfield demos and was the sole electric guitar used on Young's first solo LP. According to personal hands-on testimony, acquired during the Crazy Horse gig at the Troubadour on April 22, 1969, (w/ sit-in by Stephen Stills) the guitar sported a Rowe-De Armond M5-A bridge coil, Bigsby B-3 vibrato tailpiece, a (shaved, non-standard) ABR-1 Tune-o-matic bridge, chromed brass pickguard, truss rod cover plate and aluminum cover on the neck P-90 coil, Grover C-102 'Roto-matic tuners, an added 1/8" ebony headstock facia with thin crème binding, pearl inlays of the Gibson logo, the 335 'wheat-stack' and a lustrous black lacquer over-spray on the entire neck and body.

After finishing the first Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young LP, and due to constant issues with hum from the (notorious) DeArmond single coil, Neil pulled it and left it at a guitar repair shop to hopefully resolve the grounding issue while substituting a Gretsch Filter-tron for a short time. The guitar shop folded and the DeArmond disappeared with the owner. By 1972-73 he had switched to a '63 Firebird pickup, exchanged the Grover tuners for Schaller M6 tuners, the B-3 tailpiece for a B-7 and installed a mini-circuit switch to by-pass the on-board electronics. Eventually he had additional work done necessitating the addition of another aluminum back mounted cover plate and a maple inlay was added to the back of the neck running all the way to the end of the body.

Old Black is notable for its dilapidated condition, black and gold paint worn to bare wood, corroded aluminum, brass, and nickel plated hardware, caked fret board, and a microphonic Firebird coil essential to its sound.

Condition

Old Black has seen considerable wear and tear over the last 50 years in Young's possession, with most of the black and original lacquer worn from the mahogany neck and generally about 40% from the body as well. An inlaid maple stripe, extending dead center on the back from the head-stock crown to the end bout, has not passed the test of time well. An additional round aluminum access plate is present on the back underneath the bridge coil, which allows access to the associated wiring. The head-stock still has the ebony fascia and inlays are still in place though worse for wear, but the creme binding has long since fallen off. The original neck P-90 is still in place with its custom made cover that was broken on one corner in the process of attempting to fold aluminum to the proper shape.

Other modifications

Old Black has also been fitted with a range of hardware over the years including; Chromed brass truss cover, pickguard, Grover C-102 machines, Schaller M6 machines, a Bigsby B-3 and B-7, a 'shaved' Gibson ABR-1 'tune-o-matic' bridge, mini-toggle by-pass switch in the front of the guitar dead center of the original control knobs. (allowing bypass of the on-board controls, sending the signal directly into the amp.) and a non-1953 issue stop bar tailpiece that was removed with the installation of the B-3. Additional modifications: the addition of a Firebird pickup in the bridge position replacing (in order of succession; the original factory P-90, Rowe DeArmond M5-A and Gretsch Filter-tron), a chromed brass truss rod cover, a pair of strap-lock knobs. Old Black is rarely seen without Young's famous Ace cloth guitar strap which has also seen repair, maintenance and modifications over the years. (The "peace" guitar strap has been reissued by D'Andrea under the original Ace brand.)

Usage

Early on, Young strongly favored the Gretsch 6120, which he used in the Mynah Birds and Buffalo Springfield, though towards their end he acquired a Stereo Gretsch White Falcon and later removed the master volume, which he has sporadically used as well throughout his career. On a radio interview in 1969 he stated he owned an 11-guitar collection, but from then onward, the majority of Young's electric guitar work has been recorded using Old Black (with the exception of the so-called "Ditch Trilogy"). On stage he has toyed with Telecasters and Flying Vs and was even photographed jamming with Jimmy Page using a borrowed Rickenbacker 615, but he always comes back to the LP. Within the last two decades he has outfitted two original '53 Gold Tops identical to Old Black as "Black-ups", though the gold finish remains on both.

See also

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. Its appearance is similar to the Jaguar, though it is tonally and physically different in many technical ways, including pickup design, scale length and controls.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson ES-335</span> Semi hollow body electric guitar

    The Gibson ES-335 is a semi-hollow body semi-acoustic guitar introduced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958. It features a solid maple wood block running through the center of its body with upper bouts that are hollow and two violin-style f-holes cut into the top over the hollow chambers. Since its release, Gibson has released numerous variations of and other models based on the design of the ES-335.

    The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to the Jazzmaster, it was introduced in 1962 as Fender's feature-laden top-of-the-line model, designed to lure players from Gibson. During its initial 13-year production run, the Jaguar did not sell as well as the less expensive Stratocaster and Telecaster, and achieved its most noticeable popularity in the surf music scene. After the Jaguar was taken out of production in 1975, vintage Jaguars became popular first with American punk rock players, and then more so during the alternative rock, shoegazing and indie rock movements of the 1980s and 1990s. Fender began making a version in Japan in the mid-1980s, and then introduced a USA-made reissue in 1999. Since then, Fender has made a variety of Jaguars in America, Mexico, Indonesia and China under both the Fender and Squier labels. Original vintage Jaguars sell for many times their original price.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Jazz Bass</span> Fender model of bass guitar

    The Fender Jazz Bass is the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental frequency. The body shape is also different from the Precision Bass, in that the Precision Bass has a symmetrical lower bout on the body, designed after the Telecaster and Stratocaster lines of guitars, while the Jazz Bass has an offset lower bout, mimicking the design aesthetic of the Jaguar and Jazzmaster guitars.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Firebird</span> Solid body electric guitar

    The Gibson Firebird is a solid-body electric guitar manufactured by Gibson beginning in 1963.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Epiphone G-400</span>

    The G-400 is an Epiphone solid body electric guitar model produced as a more modestly priced version of the famous Gibson SG. Currently, Epiphone is a subsidiary of Gibson and manufactures the G-400 and other budget models at a lower cost in Asia. Visually and ergonomically, it is almost identical to a 1962 SG.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Jaguar Bass</span> Electric bass guitar

    The Fender Jaguar Bass is an electric bass guitar currently manufactured in Mexico by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

    The Gibson Melody Maker is an electric guitar made by Gibson Guitar Corporation. It has had many body shape variations since its conception in 1959.

    The Fender Telecaster Bass is an electric bass introduced in 1968 by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. With few physical changes through the 1970s, it was discontinued in 1979 and reissued in 2007 by Fender's subsidiary Squier as the Squier Vintage Modified Precision Bass TB, which was discontinued in 2014.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Univox Hi-Flier</span>

    The Univox Hi-Flier is an electric guitar marketed and sold by Univox from roughly 1967 to 1977. With its reversed offset body, the Hi-Flier has an intentional resemblance to the Mosrite Ventures model. A bass version of the Hi-Flier was also available.

    The ESP EX is a series of electric guitars produced by ESP produced in the United States, Europe and in Japan with the ESP logo as part of the ESP Original Series.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Les Paul Studio</span>

    The Gibson Les Paul Studio is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation since 1983. It is a model of Les Paul with some features omitted to appeal to musicians looking for the tonal qualities of the guitar but with less of an emphasis on cosmetics and to reduce the price of the instrument.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gretsch White Falcon</span>

    The Gretsch White Falcon is an electric hollow-body guitar introduced in 1954 by Gretsch.

    The Fender Bullet was an electric guitar originally designed by John Page and manufactured and marketed by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was first introduced as a line of "student" guitars to replace the outgoing Mustang and Musicmaster models.

    The Epiphone Sheraton is a thinline semi-hollow body electric guitar. Though the Sheraton and all its variations were introduced under the ownership of the Gibson Guitar Corporation, Epiphone is the exclusive manufacturer.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gretsch 6128</span>

    The Gretsch 6128 is a chambered solid body electric guitar manufactured by Gretsch since the mid-1950s.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Spirit</span> Guitar model (produced 1982-86)

    The Gibson Spirit was a guitar model sold under Gibson and Epiphone USA nameplates in the 1980s. This article does not refer to the made-in-China Spirit guitar sold under the Gibson Baldwin Music Education nameplate.

    The Gretsch G6131, popularly known as the Gretsch Jet Firebird, is an electric guitar made by Gretsch. The most popular use of this guitar is by late AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young and Crowded House lead singer and Split Enz co-frontman Neil Finn.

    The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele, is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful solid-body electric guitar. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Cabronita Telecaster</span>

    The Fender Cabronita Telecaster is a class of guitars built by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation based on their Telecaster body shape. The name Cabronita is Spanish slang and roughly translates as little bastard or little devil. While retaining the shape and general feel of a Telecaster, they are a radical departure from the traditional electronics and sounds associated with the instrument. Like virtually all Telecaster submodels, they are labeled simply as a Fender Telecaster on the headstock logo, identifiable only by their features.

    References