500 Words Harvey Thomas Guitars

I love kooky guitars like Vox Phantoms, Burns Bisons, Microfret Orbiters. Bring them on.

I like individualistic builders like Bernie Rico, Doug Irwin, Tony Zemaitis, Andy Beech, Dean Zelinsky, and in this segment of 500 Words, I would like to talk about Harvey Thomas.

Harvey Thomas (1920-1987) was a musician and a machinist from Washington State. After modifying some of his own guitars Thomas decided he could easily make his own. Sometime in the early sixties Thomas made his first prototype guitar.

Thomson’s aesthetic was eccentric, to say the least. Perhaps partly inspired by custom car builder Ed “Big Daddy” Roth (perhaps not) Thomson’s guitars wouldn’t look out of place in a Rat Fink cartoon. Angular, outrageous, gaudy, they perfectly evoke the transitional period from the stuffiness of the 1950’s to the libertine 1960’s.

Ever the businessman Thomas heavily courted the likes of Chet Atkins and Hank Williams Jr. to endorse his guitars.

Even though Thomson wasn’t successful in luring in Atkins or Williams one of his Iron Cross themed guitars wound up in the hands of Mott the Hoople’s Ian Hunter.

It is also reported that Deke Dickerson also owns one of Harvey’s guitars too.

Taking a look of at a Thomson’s catalog one gets the sense of the range of Thomson’s work. Thomson produced semi-hollow bodies, solid bodies, double and triple necks. There are also photos of Thomson playing acoustics and reports of him making guitars covered in raccoon fur.

Sadly there doesn’t appear to be any footage of Harvey Thomas when he was playing a triple neck guitar in his one-man band. However, there is some film footage of him playing a 335-style guitar with a thumb pick.

But other than kitsch value why would you buy a Harvey Thomas? Rarity? Artist affiliation? Nostalgia?

Just buy what you like. Either a Harvey Thomas “Riot King” sets your hair on fire or it doesn’t.

I think they would be great if you were playing in a garage rock psychedelic band like Flamin Groovies, Dead Moon, or The Mummies. I’m sure they would produce a satisfyingly lo-fi sound and would look great on stage.

Part of rock ‘n’ roll is image. When Wilson Picket and Aretha Franklin went to Muscle Shoals studios they were surprised to see that the sessions guys looked like shopkeepers and accountants.

Obviously, that didn’t diminish their chops but you get the idea; rock is a visual medium.

Apparently Thomas’ guitars have the reputation for being quite playable and have been known to have very hot pickups. While larger companies like Gibson, Fender, and Gretch concentrated on making sure every nut and bolt on their guitars were beautiful Thomas took a very “get it done” approach to guitar building.

So far there doesn’t appear to be much of revival effort to revive Thomas’ guitars so if you want one originals regularly appear on eBay.

For More Van- http://vanwilks.com

From the New record 21st Century Blues-

Live in Austin Texas-

Break out of the practice rut. Scott helps you think outside the box and find new and meaningful ways to play better.

Want more Scott? http://www.scottgailor.com/new-products/scott-gailor-technicolormonochrome-cd

Telecaster Master Adam Lopez joins us to discuss his latest release For more go to- http://www.adamlopezmusic.com

Check out Adam’s set in Austin Texas when he is joined by the one and only Bill Kirchen
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Plus, we have the Tone Poet himself back for another visit, Adrian Galysh discusses his latest “Into the Blue” for more go to- http://www.adriangalysh.com

For more- http://www.vanhoosevintage.com

500 Words Mosrite Guitars

Quirky.

Kooky.

And simply weird Mosrite guitars are a thread that unifies country, surf, garage rock, psychedilic and punk.

Guitarists as diverse as Joe Maphis, Tommy Bolin, Jimi Hendrix and Nokie Edwards all used one.

As a young man Bakersfield resident Semi Moseley started playing in an evangelical group and that love of the guitar would lead him to a career as a guitar maker. Moseley initially started working at Rickenbacker under the tutelage of Roger Rossmeisl and would later work with another early electric guitar pioneer Paul Bigsby.

With a $20 loan from a friend, Raymond Boatright, Semi Moseley started making his own guitars. If you hadn’t guessed by now the name “Mosrite” is combination between both Boatright and Moseley’s last names.

While that knowledge may not score you any points with chicks it may help you get a free drink at a bar.

During Mosrite’s early days both Boatright and Moseley approached guitar wiz Joe Maphis about making him a guitar. Joe said yes and soon Moseley produced Joe’s famous double neck Mosrite.

The early Mosrites were boutique instruments and cost nearly twice as much as a Stratocaster of the same era.

And as you may have long suspected the original Mark I design is based on a Stratocaster that’s been flipped upside down but that’s where the similarities end.

With the Mark I you can see both Roger Rossmeisl’s influence with how the top is curved and with the “zero fret” and the vibrato system is an updated version of a Paul Bigsby design.

In addition to the changes mentioned the Mark I further differentiates itself from the Stratocaster by including a 3 x 3 headstock design and two P-90 inspired pickups.

Mosrite would continue to produce custom guitars most famously (or perhaps infamously) the flower power surfboard series of guitars for Strawberry Alarm Clock.

(Additional triva; members of Strawberry Alarm Clock would go on to form Lynyrd Skynyrd)

A little later the Mark I was joined by the Mark II which would later become closely associated with Johnny Ramone.

At it’s peak Mosrite had a crew of over 100 and produced 1,000 guitars a month.

But the history of Mosrite is a rocky one with frequent location changes, on and off again production, and even bankruptcy. Perhaps most devastating of all Simie Moseley died in 1992.

Today Mosrite still exists but it’s a matter of debate concerning who exactly owns the rights to produce new Mosrites.

Simile’s daughter, Loretta Moseley, however, still makes Mostrite branded guitars and basses.

For more information please check out http://www.mosrite.us

For more Marc Ford- http://marcfordmusic.com

Aggressive, Soulful & Vital. Lance Lopez is bringing his unmistakable brand of Blues Rock with Supersonic Blues Machine (Fabrizio Grossi & Kenny Aronoff) and he’s not alone, with a who’s who guest list including: Billy Gibbons, Warren Haynes, Robben Ford, Walter Trout, Chris Duarte & Eric Gales. Plus, a solo live album “Lance Lopez Live in NYC” produced by Paul Nelson (Paul Nelson band/Johnny Winter). Lance joins us for an in depth conversation.

For more on Supersonic Blues Machine- http://supersonicblues.com
For more on Lance- http://www.lancelopeztx.com

500 Word Micro-Fret Guitars

Quick! Name the guitar company that had Carl Perkins, Mike Rutherford, Mark Farner, and Martin Gore as one of their many fans?

Nope, it’s not Fender, Gibson or even Gretsch .

I’ll give you a couple of hints, the majority of their guitars were semi hollowbody electrics and some even featured a built in wireless system.

You may be forgiven if you said Rickenbacker but it was Micro-Frets.

Who?

You’re forgiven if you hadn’t heard of Micro-Frets because they sank beneath the waves in the Seventies.

Started by Maryland based engineer Ralph S. Jones in the early Sixties Micro-Frets had more to do with Washington state based builder Harvey Thomas than any of the major builders at the time.

Like Harvey Thomas’ designs Ralph Jones’ guitars where both idiosyncratic and forward-looking.

Jones’ guitars used a 52-piece “Micro-Nut” compensated nut that allowed a player to intonate each string at the nut.

While some of Jones’ guitars sported DeArmond pickups quite a number of Micro-Frets also sported pickups by the late Bill Lawrence.

During their heyday Micro-Frets produced mandolins, baritones and basses but they are most closely associated with their unique looking guitars.

Both rockabilly legend Carl Perkins and Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore favored the dual cutaway Spacetone. While difficult to describe the Spacetone looked somewhat like a Gretsch Duo Jet with the paintjob of a Burns Double-Six.

Somewhat more unusual was the Orbiter. Imagine what would happen if you hired Gumby creator Art Clokey to cross Gretsch Billy-Bo Jupiter Thunderbird, and a Rickenbacker 360 then you may get an idea what an Orbiter looked like.

Yeah, funky but in a good way.

Another standout is the Huntington. To say that the Huntington is something like a paring of a BC Rich Seagull that has gone through some radioactive mutations does the guitar a disservice. But there are some guitars that are so amazingly bizarre they are beautiful.

Information concerning Micro-Fret guitars is somewhat spotty but there appears to be an effort during the Seventies by a man named David Sturgill to keep the name going with the short lived Diamond-S model.

In my research I’ve only been able to find one demonstration of a Micro-Fret guitar on YouTube, a Stage II posted by mjm33mjm. Tonally the Stage II seems to have it’s own thing going for it and is somewhere between a Jazzmaster and a Rickenbacker or some sort. The sound is throaty, woody but still has plenty of punch and sparkle. Granted, a Micro-Fret Stage II would probably not the first guitar you would reach for if you were in a Gorgoroth cover band but it wouldn’t be out of place if you were playing early Elvis Costello songs.

More recently, however, a partnership between Will Meadors and Paul Rose has arisen to get Micro-Frets back on their feet again. I have a soft spot for early Sixties oddity guitars so I for one can’t wait to see them up and running again.

For more information check out http://www.guitar-list.com/brands/micro-frets and keep an eye on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Micro-Frets-157147700976396/ for updates.

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