the beginning and the end of real country music

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 6 Jan 2014 8:05 am

This is Bill HATCHER'S thread...I got confused...sorry,Bill!

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 6 Jan 2014 11:17 am

Steve Hinson wrote:
Alvin Blaine wrote:This is who I think of when I think of a 355 with an echoplex.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDSr_eGX6Wo

Then he and Grady Martin worked together on many projects.
That's a 345 Hank is playing...rosewood fretboard.
That's probably the first 345 made...Gibson made him that and a matching six-string bass in about'58,I think...
A couple of people in town have told me that they thought Hank owned"Big Red"before Grady did.

Obviously Hank was a Gibson artist(Byrdland)and they were making stuff for him to use and evaluate...
I never once thought about the difference in distance between the pickups...crazy!

I didn't even look close enough at that guitar to notice it was the 345. I know the 355 had the split diamond headstock inlay, and the vibrato tailpiece.

I can totally see "Big Red" being something Gibson made for Hank, with the 24 fret neck and pickups, then Hank giving it to Grady.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 6 Jan 2014 3:04 pm

the pickups on that 355 look stock to me.

i sold my 355 and my original market sound echoplex last year. got a small fortune for them!

btw....i have played guitar for henry mancini on several concerts including the atlanta symphony and the pittsburgh symphony. he didnt tell me i had the best sound like he did grady, but he didnt fire me either. lol

only cut i could find from the mancini country https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OhaHzVOXMM

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 6 Jan 2014 5:06 pm

Bill,do they look the same distance as stock to you?
I gotta get Pete Wade over here with that guitar!
I have a Market Sound Echoplex too,just changed the tape on it and it sounds like a million bucks...noisy,but there is a guy in AZ who freshens them up and I think I'm gonna let him do it...

Was your 355 an old one?Mine is a 2006...it's mono w/no Varitone but I have a pedal called"Filter King"with a Varitone switch and inductor built in...I think I'm about 85-90% there as far as the Grady thing,tonally...

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 6 Jan 2014 5:13 pm

THAT'S the tone,on that cut!They brought Pete Wade in to finish after Grady got fired...some of the cuts the guitar tone is brighter,I think that's Pete...a great player too!

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 6 Jan 2014 7:34 pm

i had one from the custom shop. it was as good as any i have ever seen from the vintage era. i fixed hundreds of guitars. i know what to look for. i was very surprised how good it was. i just wasnt playing it. sold it to a guy in australia.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 6 Jan 2014 7:41 pm

Steve Hinson wrote:Bill,do they look the same distance as stock to you?
.

well look at the end of the fingerboard and look at the bridge. those are two things that do not change on gibsons. i see no distance out of the ordinary from the bridge to the pickup or from the end of the fingerboard to the pickup.

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 6 Jan 2014 7:53 pm

Interesting...what I was looking at was the distance BETWEEN the pickups...they look closer together...I never noticed it till Bob mentioned it...I've got a larger picture of that guitar(it's in Marty Stuart's book)...gonna look at it.

My 355 says"Custom Shop"on it too...all I did was flip the magnet in the front pickup so it would be out of phase in the middle position...as you know,Gibson stereo guitars are out of phase in the middle position so that if you play it thru a Fender amp with reverb,it will be in phase(the channels on those amps are out of phase with each other)...now Grady didn't use both channels,so he got an out of phase sound...kind of like a fretted Dobro sound...

Jim Hartley · Post by **Jim Hartley** » 6 Jan 2014 9:35 pm

Hey Steve,

I'm not sure if one of the sub gigs you referred to was the night you worked with us, but I know you played both that night. Problem was though, every time I made up my mind which one I liked better, you'd play the other one and get me all confused again. Hope we get to do something together again soon. Stay warm.

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 6 Jan 2014 10:58 pm

Yes sir,Jim...it was one of the nights...that was really fun...hope to play with you again soon!

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 7 Jan 2014 5:03 am

Bill Hatcher wrote:
Steve Hinson wrote:Bill,do they look the same distance as stock to you?
.
well look at the end of the fingerboard and look at the bridge. those are two things that do not change on gibsons. i see no distance out of the ordinary from the bridge to the pickup or from the end of the fingerboard to the pickup.

Your missing the part that "Big Red" has two extra frets and has a shorter lower horn. With the 24 fret neck it pushes the neck pickup almost an inch closer to the bridge pickup.

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 7 Jan 2014 6:32 am

Alvin Blaine wrote:
Bill Hatcher wrote:
Steve Hinson wrote:Bill,do they look the same distance as stock to you?
.
well look at the end of the fingerboard and look at the bridge. those are two things that do not change on gibsons. i see no distance out of the ordinary from the bridge to the pickup or from the end of the fingerboard to the pickup.
Your missing the part that "Big Red" has two extra frets and has a shorter lower horn. With the 24 fret neck it pushes the neck pickup almost an inch closer to the bridge pickup.

I'm looking at the picture in the Marty book...it's a much larger pic...and the pickups do look closer together.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 9 Jan 2014 10:18 am

ok got you on the two extra frets!!! that would for sure push the neck pu towards the bridge. thanks for pointing that out.

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 9 Jan 2014 11:37 am

Well,I ain't gonna have my pickup moved...that sounds incredibly messy!Can you imagine?

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 9 Jan 2014 1:17 pm

Wonder how many 24 fret 3xx series guitars Gibson made?

Friend of mine has a '58 ES-330T, the single P-90 pickup sunburst. I didn't think that model came out till '59, but his is dated '58. It's a cool sounding axe, but totally different from the 335-355. Looks the same from a distance, but the construction isn't the same.

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 9 Jan 2014 3:30 pm

Alvin Blaine wrote:Wonder how many 24 fret 3xx series guitars Gibson made?

Friend of mine has a '58 ES-330T, the single P-90 pickup sunburst. I didn't think that model came out till '59, but his is dated '58. It's a cool sounding axe, but totally different from the 335-355. Looks the same from a distance, but the construction isn't the same.

Yeah,the 330 doesn't have the block running the length of the body...gotta make a difference!

A friend of mine brought over an early '60s 345 this afternoon and we sat around A/Bing it with my 355...it was a sweet sounding guitar...a little better than mine...but then old guitars ALWAYS sound better,no?
We messed with mine till it was in the ballpark bigtime,though...

Bill Cunningham · Post by **Bill Cunningham** » 9 Jan 2014 5:52 pm

Steve Hinson wrote:This is Bill HATCHER'S thread...I got confused...sorry,Bill!

My 21 hours of fame. Someone (and a pro at that) had me confused with Bill Hatcher.

Seriously, what years did they make those 3xx's with unequal cutaways?

Steve Hinson · Post by **Steve Hinson** » 9 Jan 2014 9:00 pm

Bill Cunningham wrote:
Steve Hinson wrote:This is Bill HATCHER'S thread...I got confused...sorry,Bill!
My 21 hours of fame. Someone (and a pro at that) had me confused with Bill Hatcher.

Seriously, what years did they make those 3xx's with unequal cutaways?

Bill,"Big Red"is the only 3xx I've ever seen with a short treble horn...Hoot Hester calls it"that flop-ear".That guitar keeps getting stranger and stranger...especially with the distance between the pickups thing...

Joe Casey · Post by **Joe Casey** » 10 Jan 2014 5:33 am

The only real answer to the original question. Is because I retired. It all went down hill from there.

David Mitchell · Post by **David Mitchell** » 10 Dec 2024 5:15 am

Big Red in action by the original owner and luthier Dean Porter from McDermott, OH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoiBJLLJVy4&t=127s