The Gibson J200 (Dylan/Harrison/Lennon, etc).

[Roger Rettig]

Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch were boyhood friends in the Newcastle area of Britain but travelled south to 'seek fame and fortune'. They'd hang around at the Soho coffee bars and took every opportunity to play.

Hank was the 'real' musician of the pair and, when he was offered a spot on Cliff Richard's new group (being formed to make the most of his big new hit, 'Move It' in October, 1958), he agreed 'provided that my mate can come along too'!

So: Bruce was also a part of the new 'Drifters' but he ultimately fully justified his position. He is an excellent rhythm player and, as anyone who has ever done a session for him in subsequent years can attest to, he has an almost painfully acute ear. He was always the one responsible for tuning the Shadows' instruments while on tour and there are many stories about studio players almost wilting under his rigid and unerringly accurate sense of pitch.

I sometimes wonder how he'd have dealt with the E9 neck and that cursed F lever position - he'd have probably wanted to end it all!

A good player and a nice man, though...

[Joachim Kettner]

A spontaneous jam between Bruce Welch and Tommy Emmanuel. I thought it would be interesting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV9IVbe- ... ure=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=socAPFml ... ure=relmfu