|
Case Candy: Picks, Strings and Straps
One of the first pages that went up on Scotty's site when we started it
ten years ago was a page about Scotty's 1954 L5.
At that time it was owned by Memphis native Robert Johnson and on
display at the Rock 'N Soul Museum there in town. The Rock and Soul
Museum was the first Smithsonian Museum outside of Washington D.C., it
was called the "Smithsonian Rock and Soul Museum" for 10 years
while the Crossroads Cultural Exhibit was running, which featured the
L5. Since then we've
expanded on its history as the guitar has changed hands and only days ago
Robert emailed me to share some insight as to how it came to be owned by
him, and also to share some pix he took of the case and accessories he
still has. I've included them as follows:
The well worn front and rear of the '50s Gibson
model 600 case that came with the L5 guitar
Photo © Robert A. Johnson
Hello James,
I want to thank you for mentioning me on
Scotty Moore's Web-site. I get emails and messages frequently about this
and the great history you have provided. Enclosed are pictures of Scotty Moore's L5 Case and the stuff that came with the L5 when I
bought it from the 3rd owner.
The wear pattern on the interior Gibson model 600
case that came with the L5 guitar
Photo © Robert A. Johnson
Around 1991 I was working in Nashville Producing a record and used
Scotty Moore's tape duplication company on McGavock St. I would always
hang out and talk to Scotty and marvel at his Ray Butts Echo-Sonic amp.
One day when Scotty was signing some photos for me, I asked him "what
ever happened to your original L5 Gibson?" He immediately said, my
friend Jack Eubanks has it. He got it from me when I acquired the Gibson
Super 400. I said do you you have a phone number on him? Scotty reached
for his phone book and gave me a number. I thought this cannot be that
easy.
Scotty backstage at the Mosque
Theater with L5 and case - June 30, 1956
Photo © Al Wertheimer courtesy Guitar Player
Magazine
I called Jack Eubanks and left a message on his answer machine. I
never heard back from him. About a year later, I got a call from Jack
Eubanks who said he had been living with his daughter out of town for a
year and just got back and my message was on his answer machine. I asked
him did he still have the Gibson L5 and he said no and that he sold it
to a friend by the name of Joe Calhoun in Georgia in the mid to late
1960's. I said Jack, if you can take me to Joe Calhoun I will pay your
expenses and give you $1,500 in cash.
Strings and polish from the case pocket
Photo © Robert A. Johnson
A few days later Jack made
arrangements to meet Joe Calhoun so I drove up to Nashville from Memphis
and picked up Jack Eubanks and we started our journey to the Middle of
Georgia to a remote place on the Highest Mountain top in Georgia, the
home of Joe Calhoun. We walked in and there was the Scotty Gibson L5 in
all it's Glory. Joe had it in a new case, but the old case was right
next to the Guitar. We chatted a while and listened to Joe Calhoun rave
about Jack Eubanks being one of the great guitar players of all time,
never once highlighting the brilliance of Scotty Moore.
Thumb and finger guitar picks along with Gibson
and OK Houck flat picks from the case pocket
Photo © Robert A. Johnson
Thumb and finger guitar picks from the case pocket
Photo © Robert A. Johnson
I had stopped by
Gibson along the way and with my track record of playing guitar for
celebrities and platinum studio work, I could get Gibson Guitars from
Dave Berryman at artist cost, so I picked up a reissue Gold Gibson
ES-295, just like Scotty's first guitar for a possible trade and cash.
My plan worked and I traded Joe Calhoun the ES-295 plus an undisclosed
amount of cash, paid Jack Eubanks his commission and we all left happy,
especially me. I always wondered why nobody else ever asked Scotty Moore
where his famous Gibson L5 was?
I video taped this whole episode and recorded all the phone
conversations in the acquisition.
Guitar Straps included in the case
Photo © Robert A. Johnson
Guitar Straps included in the case
Photo © Robert A. Johnson
When I got back to Nashville, I stopped by Gruhn's Guitar shop and
showed the guitar to George, his comments were it looks authentic but it
has been re-fretted, I thought who gives a crap, this is the Holy Grail.
Joe Calhoun, Jack Eubanks and Scotty Moore had worn the frets down so
Joe Calhoun had the Guitar re-fretted, the repair tag is still on the
case which I have along with some amazing case accessories.
The original knobs and switch tip said to be from
Scotty's L5
Photo © Robert A. Johnson
I kept the original case when I sold the Scotty L5 guitar. The OK Houck Picks are awesome and very 1950's. Anyway I thought
you would like the pictures. I took the original knobs and switch-tip off the L5 as
souvenirs and switched them with one of my Gold-Top knobs and tip. I
still have the E.P. D-35 Martin and strap.
Kind regards,
ROBERT JOHNSON
November 30, 2012
A bit about
Straps
Vintage advertisements for Bobby Lee straps
courtesy web
Leather guitar straps by
Bobby Lee
were said to be some of the earliest patented of the more popular
designs and began in 1948. They were soon replicated by other brands.
Many of the guitar manufacturers soon offered straps through their own
label and would ship them with their guitars.
Scotty with his new L5 in Texarkana, AR
- Sep. 2, 1955
Photo courtesy Steve Bonner
Two of the straps in Robert's case resemble Bobby Lee style straps that
Scotty had been pictured using on his 1954 L5 in 1955 and 1956, though
no brand name is apparent. Initially, like his ES 295, Scotty
attached them to the strap button at the bottom end and then looped an
end around
the headstock, though the one in the case with a buckle attachment
appears to have been shortened to an insufficient length to complete a
headstock loop. Robert said it had been cut with a razor blade or
knife and the hole was remade with something homemade, not a leather
tool for sure. It was altered long long ago and looks pre-1955.
Scotty onstage at Houston City Auditorium - April 21, 1956
Photo by John D. Greensmith courtesy Ger Rijff's
"Fire in the Sun"
The other strap, broken, in the case Robert was told was a very early
1950's and possibly a strap that Elvis used in the ES-295 and Martin
Parlor Guitar days. Twentythree years ago everybody's memories were sharper.*
It
at least appears long enough to have been attached in the manner that
Scotty subsequently was most often pictured when he owned and played the
L5. Sometime in September of 1955 Scotty changed that way he
attached and used the strap. Lacking an upper
strap button, the L5 afforded itself to be secured with the strap
passing from around the back upwards beneath the fingerboard and slightly
knotted above. As advertised by Bobby Lee (above), this method
gives better balance than the headstock wrap, takes pressure off the neck and prevents the guitar
sliding back and forth. Scotty also continued this method of
strapping the guitar when he later switched to playing his
Super 400.
Examples of Vintage Bobby Lee Straps, two with rings for head stock loops
Photo courtesy
Heritage Auctions
Simple '50s era braided rope guitar strap
Photo courtesy
silvertone14
When Elvis started out, performing with his first Martin, the
000-18, he
used a simple braided rope strap. When he switched to a
D-18 prior to the D-28
he used a strap like the later western style one (if not the same) only
wrapped at the headstock just above the nut before the tuners.
During this (the L5) era Elvis is regularly pictured using a decorative leather
"western style" strap looped around the headstock with a metal ring and
a simple unstitched squared off tooled leather shoulder pad.
Elvis, with his D-18, and Bill at the Louisiana
Hayride - Jan. 8 (or Feb. 5), 1955
Photo © courtesy of
Louisiana Hayride Archives - J. Kent
Elvis backstage with D-28 at Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory, Tampa,
FL July 31, 1955
Photo by William V. "Red" Robertson © EPE.Inc.
Elvis with D-28 and western style leather strap at the Cotton Club - Oct. 15, 1955
Photo © I.G. Holmes courtesy Steve Bonner
Elvis with D-28 and western style leather strap backstage
in Minneapolis - May 13, 1956
Photo courtesy Emil Flaim
Elvis backstage stage in Tupelo with Bitsy Mott and Tom Diskin - Sep. 26, 1956
Photo source FECC/bluejeans1944
Elvis with D-28 and western style leather strap on stage in
Tupelo - Sep. 26, 1956
Photo courtesy Steve Bonner
Elvis used this strap, or one like it, consistently with his
D-28 through November of 1956 and then another
similar one initially with his J-200. By
the 1970s Elvis often used straps of contemporary designs with weaves
and patterns made popular by companies
like Ace and others, companies inspired by Bobby Lee.
Page added December 3, 2012
* Note: To clarify some points that may have been misremembered overtime, Gail Pollock
who worked for Scotty at that time has said that neither Scotty or her were aware that Jack Eubanks had Scotty's L5. They both knew him well and he never told them about owning the guitar and only had heard about it when they met Robert in Memphis for the first time in the early '90s. She doesn't recall doing tapes for Robert at McGavock St. and Scotty's Amp was never kept there. The
excessive wear and tear of the case is evidently the result of use of the subsequent owners since Scotty has always been and still is meticulous about his guitars and cases. Given that the subsequent owners were also players the guitar
picks may well be theirs also since the thumb picks are not of the shape Scotty used and in 38 years she has never seen him put on a finger pick nor is there one in his personal collection of picks. In his opinion finger
picks are for banjo players.
added December 4, 2012
|
