Guitar Playing and Stunt Flying

I wanted to post this for the longest time. I have long held a belief that there is a corollation between guitar playing and stunt flying. I believe that it is no coincidence, that a lot of stunt flyers play guitar. For instance:
1. Bob Hunt
2. Bill Werewage
3. Tim Meeks
4. Gene Schaeffer (replaced Jimi Hendrix in a Band!)
5. Jimmy Casales
6. Lee Strickland
7. Milton "Hot Hands" Graham (the Blues-Leo fender G&L) Met Albert King.
8. Windy Urtnowski's daughter (if he would learn, he wouldn"t always place fifth.
And many many more, but I forget their names. I know that United States Nat's-Advanced winner, John Sunderland plays drums. As for all of you closet Accordian playing stunt flyers, don't be shy. I know that in my case, the more guitar playing I do, the more it seems to compliment my stunt skills. As to the corollation between rocket science and stunt flying; that is for another post.

I've played in bluegrass/folk and rock bands for the past twenty-some years. (About the same time I re-started in control-line come to think of it).

1971 Gibson SG, Deacon Rhoads custom-buit six string electric, Canadian-made Norman acoustic, Stelling Bellflower 5-string banjo, and a few others. Marshall and Vox amps.

They play guitar cuzz they ain't up to Sax.

Selmar 1937 Selmar 'Balanced Action' Alto Saxaphone
Serial no. 25002

Just do a search on Saxaphone, kansas city and Bill Crane. A little siftin and you'll find him. That would be one of the other Bill Cranes in KC, there are 3 of us. I last played in the Parkville volunteer band unlike my more famous local contemporary. It is kinda fun getting his phone calls though. They go something like this 'Bill Crane? Can you and your guys play my party at the Nationals on the 18th?' 'I think you want the other Bill.'

Really though, many stunt folks have played musical instruments, no need to just limit it to guitar.

Here's a picture of my sax's descendent. It doesn't sound as good as mine, and I don't know why they didn't go back, but this is what they look like now.

The MARK VI is better...
Ion

I like the intonation of the balanced action, I played a couple VI's back in high school when the KC schools were top dog and all those kids had one, but they just were not as rich as this one I have.

Hear, Hear! Selmer SA-80 MK II

Rascher was Right

I bought a MINT 1965 Gibson Mustang with the Very rare ( they made them less than 4 month and discontinued them) white knob 1964 Gibson amp. Belive it or not I got them from an old lady (Original owner)at a garage sale! Both guitar and amp were near showroom condition. All the tags were there, case everything! Including original bill of sale. She took lessons for less than a year and put it away. Yes her lesson plan books were there even. The guitar had one small dink in it from Drunk Uncle Joe. His zippo fell out of his pocket and I dont think she ever forgave him for it! I needed the cash and sold them earlier this year on ebay. A month later I bought a Gibson Epiphone ( another oldy and MINT)at a garage sale for 15.00!! Iam keeping this one tho. I rarely play but always have to have a guitar around in case. I'll have to play it before the next contest. Maybe it will help?

Have Fun! Bruce

Bruce,

I play pretty regularly. I don't think it helps me. Sigh... Flying more might help. My son plays 2-3 hours a day. Every day. He's a great flyer when in the mood to fly (seldom). Hmm....

Milton,

Well, Nils Norling is a big time player. Has a pile of different guitars too. One is a very nice Tacoma, several Ovations and Gibsons.

I play a 1968 Washburn acoustic that I like. It was a hock shop special. But my son is the real guitar player in the family. He's a music theory major in college and has a Taylor 814 acoustic, a 1970 Gibson SG Special, a very cool G&L Legacy Special and an Ovation thin body acoustic/electric. I play some, but he can play.

Tom Morris
Ronnie Farmer
Randy Smith (Has a lot of very nice guitars I hear and He plays a little too)
I also have been playing for about 10 years.

Kazoo, and I hum alot!

What is a guitar?

The picture on my post is actually me.

I too have a pile of guitars, but right now this is my favorite because I'm getting into that Merle Travis thing. It is a late 50'sh Gibson ES125, it was given to me when I was 14 by an uncle who wasn't playing it. Too bad he lost the bridge and Tailpiece.(how do you lose the tailpiece?) Also there is a picture of my home made 6 string Lap Steel, I made it a six string cause I already had spare parts for guitars lying around. Need to find an original tailpiece for the Gibson, and a bridge, the current bridge I cut on a bandsaw out of Oak, It gives me a better sound than the generic adjustable bridge that I had on it.

you can get perfect knockoff pieces for the tailpiece and bridge for these from an aftermarket manufacturer. I replaced these parts for a friend on a es-125 about 12 years ago. I think I paid about $20 for the parts. Can't remember the name. Call a local luthier and he can hook you up. Or search google or similar engine. Good luck. Beautiful guitars.

Try http://stewmac.com/ for parts.

Randy- I think you actually have to get paid before you're in the 'big time' guitar playing class. I haven't gotten paid to play a guitar for years. I'd rather play for free, that way when I screw up nobody can ask for their money back
At the moment & have seven guitars:
1953 Gibson ES-175 ac/elec
2001 Epiphone jorma K. Riviera (335 style)
2002 Ovation Collectors (African Cherry top)
2003 Ovation Elite ac/elec 12 string
1980 Ovation Pacemaker 12 string slothead
1985 Ovation Custom Balladeer
199? Tacoma Papoose

Hi Derek,

I too play the Guitar. Well, I'm not to good at it though, but I love doing it!

I am not great either but I do enjoy playing. I have played in a few bands (Bass and Guitar) and I like them both. Good to hear that you play too, maybee next contest I will bring a guitar and we can jam!

>Tom Morris
>Ronnie Farmer
>Randy Smith (Has a lot of very nice guitars I hear and He
>plays a little too)
>I also have been playing for about 10 years.

Have heard Ronnie play in his basement, he's good.

Yes I have, many years ago. He was very good then too. He will tell you that he cant play a lick though.

The two of us who fly u control are both musicians. He plays electric bass and tuba. I play trumpet and drums. hmmmmmmmmm?

Looks like we got enough people to make a good band! All we need are the dancers! Maybe call them the Stuka Stuntettes? Wonder if the judges would score you better if you flew the pattern to music and the dancers dancing down wind? Wait , that wont work. On the west coast they would call them dirtettes! < Please note inserted smiley face! Lifes too short not to have fun!

>Maybe call them the Stuka Stuntettes? Wonder if the judges would >score you better if you flew the pattern to music and the dancers >dancing down wind?

I don't remember dancers, but Bob Hoover (I think) used to fly and aerial ballet to music.

Ahh Bob Hoover! Didnt they call him RA Bob Hoover? Not sure why. Ive got a ton of old 8mm and super 8 home movies of him flying his yellow P-51 and Rockwell aero commander. I filmed everything! I filmed them in the 60's and 70's. Mr Hoover sure put on one heck of a show! I had hoped to transfer them to VHS last winter but my wife talked me into transfering her dads films first( hes getting old and really wanted to see his films once more). Ive got home movies from the Glenview Nats, All the local airshows including the Lake Geneva Playboy club (Jim Bede and the BD-5) and local club stuff. All the old clubs are now long gone.
I did get my wifes dads films done and they came out perfect. I used the American grafitti soundtrack and then went into Santana for sound. Yes Guitar is one of my hobbys but shooting film is still ahead of that.
What really impressed me with the early Navy Nats was the trust. They had hangers of tables set up to work on the planes. Rows and Rows! You could have left your life savings (in cash!)on your table and it would be there when you got back. Nowadays you cant park and lock your car at a show or contest and worry it wont be there when you get back. Iam stopping here before I get politicaly incorrect.

> Ahh Bob Hoover! Didnt they call him RA Bob Hoover? Not
>sure why. >Bruce H

Hi Bruce,

Hoover is called R.A. "Bob" Hoover because his name is Robert A. Hoover and he uses the nickname "Bob".

Well, since were on this topic, here is a few of my collection. Been playin since I was 10 or so. About the time I initially started flying control-line.(First plane was a plastic testors cosmic wind)

Duck,

Man, you sure like Telecasters. (or at least the Telecaster design)

I was more a Strat guy when young. Sigh. Those were the days.

You might want to check out the fine guitars the Will Hinton makes.
We, (TOM MORRIS, BOB HUNT, WILL HINTON, AND MYSELF) had a nice jam session at the 2004 FCM contest here in Muncie this past Aug.

Allen

>Duck,
>
>Man, you sure like Telecasters. (or at least the Telecaster
>design)
>
>I was more a Strat guy when young. Sigh. Those were the
>days.

Randy, they are all Fenders. I also have a strat (50th anniversary) and a Gibson Nighthawk. Too many hobbies.....

Nice batch of Tele-types I thought you might be interested in looking at these. They belong to a guy over on the Ovation Fan club site. He recently found the uke in Japan. Had the Tele, said he couldn't resist when he saw the uke.

Now guys, I am going to hit you with a left curve. The replacement neck on my Leo Fender G&L was designed by me, on the same CAD program that I used to develope my Backfire series of stunt ships. A custom guitar shop in Santa Monica, CA built the neck for me. It took me a while to convince them to make it. They said it wouldn't work. I told them to trust me, I am a model airplane builder!!

Hey all,
I been playing for about 10 years or so. Im no Jimmy Hendricks (yes the mispell is a pun), just kinda play for my own exentricities, also play the mandolin and the violin/viola.
Does Robbie Gruber know how to play? if he does thatd be perfect, if not, SOMEONE TEACH HIM!

i can run a mean sound board did it for a few years for a local band had a blast well i think i had blast dont rember much you know the 70s thing.

Hey Milton,

Glad you posted this thought. I'm amazed at the number of PAMPA members who are musicians. I play Piano, Bass and Guitar. None of them very well. Still have my '59 Les Paul Gibson which I bought new and a B-25 Gibson Standard that I stole at a pawn shop about two years ago. Also a '56 Fender "Twin Twelve" Amp. Great sound.

You started this with Guitars but I know fliers who are concert pianists, banjo experts, key board whizzes. Have no idea if there is a correlation but there do seem to be an awfully lot of musicians in the stunt world. I really wish I had known Windy played because I had my B-25 with me at Texarkana but didn't find out until later he played. The ol' "Silver Foxx" used to be pretty darn sharp on Guitar also.

I've said it before on here. There is a direct correlation between playing a musical instrument and flying good PA. It is a discipline called PRACTICE. It takes lots of it to be proficient in flying and playing. Also the modern pattern has a flow or rythym to it. I tried the bagpipes in 58/59 and again in 97. MY wife fools with guitar, I just listen. I'll stick to my stereo. Ha.

I've played guitar for a couple of years now, and just started fly control line a year ago.That is pretty strange how many people play guitar and fly planes.I once had a beautiful fender bullet, made in the late 70's(I think).But it was stolen at the middle school that i use to go to, after a proformance.

Its really amazing that such a high percentage of stunt flyers are guitar players or wannabe's ,or does the same percentage apply to the whole populace.Its easy for young men to find a role model among music stars who play guitar ,be it rock or whatever music form you like. I played bass professionally for maybe 20 or 30 years in Toronto and later Vancouver mostly in dance music and jazz.Always kept my Fender Precision and at least one acoustic .Eventually got burned out and tired of the scene so I got a couple of guitars and a drum machine and learned the bar chords and pursued a career as a single in bars where I had to sing country stuff, but To be honest I didnt have the singing talent to get me out of the very worst bars with hookers and drugs etc. Exciting in a way but then model airplanes came along and I sold all my axes ,amps and mikes and went to the local hobby shop and started my new exciting career as a bad stunt flyer.Now that I think of it,I have lost my chops for sure but I"ve learned a lot about model airplanes. Keith V

Keith,

And still didn't improve the crowd you hang with.

I played professionally while in college. Only way to pick up extra cash. Couple of bands, a duette for awhile and ultimately as a single.

Couldn't take the hours.

Bick Brannen, famous for his take-apart Barnstormer, makes high-zoot flutes:

http://www.brannenflutes.com/

Geez, you WOULD use the term 'play'!

I was in a rock band in high school (attempting to attract women), have owned maybe 8 guitars, and currently have an old Ovation Ballader Model 1111-4 (good looking piece, but not my favorite).

But 'play'? Well, I guess that leaves me out! Hahahaha.

[photo not recovered: 3e69bb3870f12ad5.jpg]

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." -George Bernard Shaw

That's right Larry

You PLAY with women

You WORK your axe.

Sorry Guys; I see no correlation between the two.
There are a blue million " Guitar Players " in the United States.
I doubt if 1/2 of one percent of the guitar owners in the States fly
Ukies.

I think the questions would be:

1: what percentage of UC fliers play a musical instrument(or just Guitar)

2: what percentage of the population as a whole does same?

then compare the 2, then we'd know if the number is just average or above or below.

But in reality, even if the percentage is high, I imagine it is a coincidence. Although someone had a point, it takes a lot of patience and practice and discipline to be a good guitar player, and the same is true for a good flyer...so guitar player doesn't = flyer, but people with those attributes probably have a proclivity to play instruments, be machinest, model builders, work on cars...the list goes on.

Mouse

I suspect some of the same personality traits that tend to attrach folks to controline are similar to the traits that attrach them to guitar.

Maybe it's the wires? When I was a kid I used to use old guitar strings for leadouts....

Larry- Have you been to the Ovation Fan Club site? Lots of "O" info.

http://www.ovationfanclub.com/cgi-bin/ubb/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi

Hmm, 1111-4. Standard Balladeer acousic-only in natural finish? My 1612-4 is nearly the same guitar with a little fancier trim & electronics added.

I was in a band in JR. High school trying to be cool. But my brother plays. He has opened for Hellen Ready. He was playing a Guitar that I built. I have built a few but don't really play wirth a darn.

I can play the radio!

Some really interesting experiences were put forth here. One thought of mine is that, firstly, based on my experiences, stunt flyers tend to be some really talented hombres. The fact that they do this hobby and play an instrument tends to speak to the possibility of excess mental energy. Yes, I believe stunt flyers have a surplus of mental energy that either allows or compels them to engage in very complex and difficult intellectual activities as an outlet for the extra mental horsepower. Maverick\Rich Oliver described stunt as one of the last bastions of real modeling. You have to know, and be competent at so many disciplines. The total experience of precision aerobatics from plane conception to a successful contest conclusion, requires an outlay of gray matter that is really incredible once examined. Couple that, with the competence required one of the chordal instruments, and we start to paint a picture of an individual either with the capacity and or the willingness to expend some heavy doses of neurons in their leisure activities. In addition, it has been proven that heavy use of your brain in problem solving related activities will tend to increase the amount of neurons and axions in the brain to compensate for the increased load. I am quite sure,that we are all aware of the problem solving nature of precision aerobatics. My guess is that, the chordal instrument playing comes into play as an outlet for the "extra capacity" developed as a result of "popping mental weights" doing stunt. In my case, the then new combination of the Saito 72 in conjunction with the "clean sheet" Backfires, literally pushed me to my limits mentally. I noticed my guitar playing time picked up drastically when I wasn't working on the 4 stroke\plane problem.

Milton,

You may be correct in your theory about excess energy. I have been in the process of learning a few things I simply didn't have time to learn during my college and young adult years, they are in no particular order, Trigonometry, Calculus, Orbital Mechanics and so on. I have just begun on the last two so am a very fledgling person when trying to do Calc and Orbital problems. Whew!

Jim Pollock Tounge hanging out after the mental gymnasitcs required to do Orbital problems!!!!

All Right Guys!
Answer this one !
If you had to give one or the other up(Guitar or PA Plane) forever.
Which would it be?
I have not be able to reach a decesion.
I,ve been trying to do both for half a century.
still can,t figure which end of the guitar to blow in.
Play most everything in the key of L .

>All Right Guys!
>Answer this one !
>If you had to give one or the other up(Guitar or PA Plane)
>forever.
>Which would it be?

I think I'd have to dump the planes, but not an easy decision.

What's the Key Of L?? . . . Loud?

Loud IS good. My '79 Hamer Sunburst, (bought new in '79 now battered and worn) plus a really good low-gain small tube amp cranked equals BLUES BLISS.

Oh yeah - I play slide guitar.

Gitslide - get it?

RC

I've been playing acoustic blues (lotsa slide) on and off for almost as long as I've been into control line. Recently I've become interested in 'Old-time' and early country music.

I've recently sold my Beltona Tricone, 1936 Gibson 'Kalamazoo' LG24, Yamaha AEX502 and my small valve amp due to unemployment.

However I still have:

1974 Dobro Model 30 (Round neck - National cone)
1930's Michigan 'Dobro'(Round neck - spider cone)
1930's Gibson 'Cromwell' archtop (with really old Selmer pickup)
Modern Aria archtop
Danelectro copy (for occassional forays into electric)
Fylde Othello 12 string
Angelica 12 string (12 fret slot head - needs work)
Danelectro Honeytone mini-amp

I also play banjo, mandolin and dulcimer:

1922 Fairbanks Vega Special (5 string open-back)
1920's Windsor Popular (ditto)
Modern A-style Gremlin mandolin
Mid-Missouri mandola
Junk shop dulcimer

Oh and a cheapo Uke!

I've just got back from the UK Nats where I met:

Mike Nelson - Control liner and Bluegrass mandolin maker/player.
Barry Robinson - Top UK F2B flyer and guitar maker/player.
PP Van Meer - Belgian electric blues player.
Tony Toogood - Team race pilot and blues player.
There was a cheapo 12 string in the bar in the evening!

More on the Nats to come when I can get my act together!

Rgds

proparc: No offense, but I don't agree. As pointed out by a couple of others here, guitar playing also is a popular pasttime among the lay (non CL flying) public, and probably picks up roughly the same % of adherents within the CL community. Correlation is not causation.

I probably could take a sample of death row inmates, and find some "remarkably high" % of Jimmy (Hendricks or Ray Vaughn, take your pick) wannabees, too.

Also, you probably could scrape together a pretty impressive list of elite PA flyers with decidedly below average musical (guitar or otherwise) skills.

The way you could argue your point would be to say: reasonably active people in one avocation are more likely to engage in other pastimes, related or otherwise, than sedentary, inactive people. And CL folks are in the former category, I think we agree.

Currell (I played the trumpet once, and not too well. My parents pushed me into it)

>I've been playing acoustic blues (lotsa slide) on and off
>for almost as long as I've been into control line. >
>
>Tony

Tony my man, you gots to lay some of that slide on me!!

I have been playing since I was 15 when I built my first guitar out of parts, bought my first amp for $10 and stepped on my first Big Muff.

I play Heavy Metal mostly, and jam on Blues with my friends. I can play several Judas Priest, Scorpions, Ozzy (Randy Rhoads was a God), Black Sabbath, Accept, etc albums cover to cover for fun.

Thse days I really like Disturbed, Linkin Park, and have revisited some old Iron Maiden and Dio. I listen when I hit balls at the driving range mostly.

When I was in high school I recorded an album with my band Phoenix. It was a 9 song original demo. Too bad the other members of the band were raving egomaniacs, as it was originally a lot of fun.

My guitar is nothing special but it is completely hot rodded from one end to the other to play blues and Metal. My amp, the Johnson Mellenium 150 will play any form of music on the planet. I have the manual printed and use it for programming. Most people never get past the presets.

Sounds like we might have to jam at the Nats sometime in the next few years. Same influences, same tastes. I mostly play metal and punk as well (although lately I've been getting more into jazz; Al DiMeola is a absolute genius). Megadeth and Pantera tend to be the bands whose songs I know best.

>My guitar is nothing special but it is completely hot rodded
>from one end to the other to play blues and Metal. My amp,
>the Johnson Mellenium 150 will play any form of music on the
>planet. I have the manual printed and use it for
>programming. Most people never get past the presets.

What do you do to 'hod rod' it? My standard operating procedure is to immediately dump the stock pickups and tremolo system, replace them with something good, and to 'scallop' the frets with fine sandpaper to get more grab on the neck. My latest such monstrosity is a 1990 Ibanez 540 PII, with an EMG 81 pickup in the neck position and an EMG 85 in the bridge. (Nice thing is, most of the skills needed for modding the guitar, I learned from stunt... )

I use a 100W Randall Warhead amp. Just crank to 11, have fun.

>What do you do to 'hod rod' it? My standard operating
>procedure is to immediately dump the stock pickups and
>tremolo system, replace them with something good, and to
>'scallop' the frets with fine sandpaper to get more grab on
>the neck. My latest such monstrosity is a 1990 Ibanez 540
>PII, with an EMG 81 pickup in the neck position and an EMG
>85 in the bridge. (Nice thing is, most of the skills needed
>for modding the guitar, I learned from stunt... )
>
>I use a 100W Randall Warhead amp. Just crank to 11, have
>fun.

<Chuckle>. You go boy.

I ditched my Laney 100 half stack for the Johnson because I could not afford all the stomp boxes and figured the digitally intergrated amp was the future for a practice and sudio amp. I stand by my assessment....even though you can not beat a rectified TUBE HEAD FOR SOME SERIOUS PAINT PEALING HEART THUMPING METAL!!!!

I basically have a metal bridge humbucker pickup and Dimarzio stacked humbucker single coils in the middle and neck positions for blues (fat Stevie Ray sound). The neck has the big frets like a Les Paul so I have never found a need to scallop. The trem is a Jap copy of a Floyd which I went through and upgraded with beefier tuners. I find it actually superior to the old Floyd Rose, but I have yet to see the newest "full tilt" Floyd. Either way, it is worthless, but it does the job.

Mr. Smasher, perhaps you could come out to the house and entertain us with some home-grown guitar. Got a Fender tube amp and some kind of squealer/compressor and a first rate bassist. No leslies, darn it!Stevie Ray strat on site but bring your own if prefered. (Always) BOM

That's just the sort of music I expected of you, 'Zilla. I am increasingly convinced you should be flying combat.

Hey- Alan just passed me a list of his guitars:
1961 Fender Strat sunburst
1968 Gibson Melody Maker
1999 Gibson SG Special Arctic White
1997 Fender Standard Strat MIM
2000 Epiphone Blues Zephyr Deluxe
1968 Gibson ES335 TDC
1972 Gibson LP Goldtop P-90
1978 Gibson Flying V II
1999 Gibson EDS 1275 Doubleneck
1999 Gibson Les Paul Studio signed by Les Paul himself.
1968 Gibson EB3 Bass
1996 Gibson Chet Atkins steel string acoustic
Godin Acousticaster 6
Godin LGT
Godin Multiac Nylon String
Godin Radiator
2000 Fender USA Strat Deluxe Noisless
1986 Fender Japan Super Strat Floyd Rose
1989 Fender Japan Tele
2001 Fender4 Jazz Bass
1985 Hamer Standard (Explorer) White
1984 Hamer Standard Flametop
2001 Hamer Standard Flametop
1995 Hamer Orion II
1994 (?) G&L Comanche Mary Kaye White
1967 Guild Jetfire (?)
1958 Fender Lapsteel

Now I know where all our money is going!
Mary

I have only a small collection compared to Alan's, but here goes:
1967 ES-335TDC
1969 ES-150DC
1963 Strat
1985 Amer Std Strat
1962 Reissue Strat
1999 Amer Std Tele
1974 Tele
1974 20th Anniversary Les Paul Custom
1979 Les Paul Deluxe
Ibanez Artist AS300
Ibanez Talman
Charvel Model 4
Ibanez 250 bass

Andy Lee

Andy- Your collection has shrunk. So has mine but I've got less crap now. Mare made me sell off a few besides. You didn't mention the flying '335 either. At least that's appropriate to the forum!
Alan

Here's the flying guitar.

COOL!

Charlie Pate put forth one of the toughest questions, at least for me on this forum, and one that I have considered many times, and that is; if I had to give up guitar playing or stunt, what would it be. Well obviously, the nature of the activities are such that, in my case, they tend to be complementary. But that said, model aviation for me, is not so much about what I do, it is actually who I am! I started at the age of 4 and by the time I was six, I was heavily engaged with the "Ambroid." Blues playing has a certain thrill to it, but I have NEVER in my life come across a better class of people in ANY other sphere, than model aviation enthusiast. In my humble opinion, I consider modelers as a group to be without peer. Of course, I am sure Navy Seals, and other military Special Forces teams feel the same way about their associates, but I don't do night jumps!
Bob Hunt said it best for me; modelers are not just his friends, they are his family!
Normally, as humans, we are loathe to relinquish any hard won positive skill if we don't have to. But, getting to teach Scott Dinger his first basic stunt moves, and collaborating with Larry Renger\AKA "Designman" and John Wright\AKA "John O. Wright" on some tough aerodynamic and mechanical force problems, pretty much seals the deal for me.

Modelers is de bestest people. no doubt

I have ;
Fender Strat mex.
Fender Strat 40th annv.
Stephens Tele Mod.
Chet Adkins Gibson country Gentleman( custom shop version)
Gibson Byrdland

Fender twin 135
Mesa Trem O verb
Crate 50 c
Play in key of E ; sounds like L !

1948 Hoffner accustic
Cherry sunburst cutaway with f holes and taperd neck, very sweet playing axe.
Dwayne

Gotta put a plug in for Bill Bischoff. Plays Bass with a large assortment of Axes- one of the few electric bass guitarists who can hang in there in 2/4 time where most of my Flathead banjar pickin' happens. If I could get him off that Hendrix stuff, well, who knows what could happen. (Bill is the Carrier/Slow Rat flyer who taught Doug Moon the basics-Doug may have something to say about that!). Mike Darnell, owner of the largest Hobbyshop in Dallas, collaborated with Bill to develop a snaredrum cut in half fitted with an electric bass neck to bring to life a bass-banjo. And you thought we just sat around and fiddled with model 'planes. All seriousness aside, there does seem to be a relationship between C/L flying and music. I like my stunt ships to stay in rhythm with a smooth waltz and my racing planes to swat it out a'la Pike County Breakdown, but the opposite is usually the norm. A Stelling is a banjo, but a Gibson is an Instrument! Best regards, dale gleason

>Gotta put a plug in for Bill Bischoff. Plays Bass with a
>large assortment of Axes-

I have to drop a nod to John Grigsby (half of Ultra Hobby Products). He plays like Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Sorry
;I can,t remember his name ( Tom Dixon would know.)
Guy came over from England to fly in VSC
He flew in ignition; had O&R 23 powered plane.
Found out later, he did Guitar work on the James Bond
movie Theme.

WOW!

I've played harmonica for years, since 1953. I soon discovered the "harmonica holder" that would place the 'harp' at my mouth, so I could accompany myself while playing piano. Then I discovered the guitar! Wow! I have played 'harp' while driving, playing other instruments, and building wing structures. But, I never play while flying.
I had a Blues Band in the '60s, have had the pleasure of sitting in with Sly Stone, John Lee Hooker, and Big Mama Thornton. (and many more)
None of these folks flew C/L, but when I began playing Alto Sax in '67, (1932 Conn "Lady in the Bell") I was elated to find a fellow Sax Maniac (Tenor) that was also a Nobler Pilot! Leonard was a dedicated Pattern Man, and flew more than he played. Lost a GREAT sideman, but gained a swell flying partner!
Doug Ellis, noted Speed Flyer, was an old friend that began playing guitar for physical therapy following a Motorcycle accident: his left wrist was shattered, prognosis: "Never use wrist or fingers again!" Doug bought an Ovation, played along with Chet Atkins records for months, and mastered it in a year! PLUS, model engine work and innovation on aluminum Speed Ships! We would play between rounds of flying, and building, and working. I had my Auto Shop then, and when Doug dropped by, we planned or played.

>I've played harmonica for years, since 1953. I soon
>discovered the "harmonica holder" that would place the
>'harp' at my mouth, so I could accompany myself while
>playing piano. Then I discovered the guitar! Wow! I have
>played 'harp' while driving, playing other instruments, and
>building wing structures. But, I never play while flying.
> I had a Blues Band in the '60s, have had the pleasure of
>sitting in with Sly Stone, John Lee Hooker, and Big Mama
>Thornton. (and many more)
> None of these folks flew C/L, but when I began playing
>Alto Sax in '67, (1932 Conn "Lady in the Bell") I was elated
>to find a fellow Sax Maniac (Tenor) that was also a Nobler
>Pilot! Leonard was a dedicated Pattern Man, and flew more
>than he played. Lost a GREAT sideman, but gained a swell
>flying partner!
> Doug Ellis, noted Speed Flyer, was an old friend that
>began playing guitar for physical therapy following a
>Motorcycle accident: his left wrist was shattered,
>prognosis: "Never use wrist or fingers again!" Doug bought
>an Ovation, played along with Chet Atkins records for
>months, and mastered it in a year! PLUS, model engine work
>and innovation on aluminum Speed Ships! We would play
>between rounds of flying, and building, and working. I had
>my Auto Shop then, and when Doug dropped by, we planned or
>played.
>
Absolutely fantastic story! Imagine sitting in with the "Boogie Man" himself. "Boom Boom Boom" was one of my favorites. For me, hanging out with Albert King was the highlight of my blues experiences.

So there I am, a member of only a week or so and poking around the older messages, when there, large as life I find my name. Small world or what?
But
Are there any CL fliers who make and play the bagpipes? Northumbrian in my case but I'll accept any of the lesser types of bagpipe.

Seriously though there does seem to be a correlation between music and the sort of logic that spawns computer programmers, physicists, mathematicians etc and the same leanings seem to apply to CL fliers especially stunt fliers

Hey, this concept has never even crossed my feeble mind...BUT, I started flying models about the same time as I started playing the guitar...AND most, if not all, of my HS flying buddies played some kind of instrument...Fifty years later I still build and fly models.... and still play the ol "Git-box"....Hmmmmm.....

Any artists? Here's mine http://enverart.ebsqart.com

methinks that the guitar is a very popular instrument, therefore you could say that there are a large number of (insert fanatic pastime here) that play guitar. I worked for eleven years at a large pulp mill where only a handful of folks were pickers, now i work for an electric motor service shop where approx. 50% of the employees are dedicated pickers. interestingly enough, i used to play every sunday night in a coffee shop over in bill littles hometown of aberdeen, nc (eternal c's). those were the days! all the expresso you could stand, and super fast bluegrass breakdowns! I currently own a vast assortment of guitars (from stellas to a fairly nice takamine ef 340), a couple of fender mando's, an atrocious harmony tenor banjo, a harmony rocket hollowbody double cutaway electric, and a bazillion harmonicas. my latest pride and joy is an early sixties tru-tone amp. seven watts of tube tone bliss courtesy of western-auto, who marketed the amps way back when. i believe they are the same as kay 703's and harmony 5003 series amps.

I have been a guitar player (as well as several other instruments) for 20+ years and played in several very popular L.A. Hard Rock / Heavy Metal bands during the late 80's to the Mid 90's. I gave up the band thing in around 1996 due to the fact that it was putting a real damper on the time I could spend with my kids. Anyone who has played in a band that plays shows knows that it is a full time commitment and takes up most of your free time. I did some solo work in 2000-2001 and made around 30k on mp3.com when it was an independant music site. I still have most of my music equipment except about 7 guitars I sold in like 97. I kept my favorite stuff including 2 late 70's american made BC Rich Guitars (Bich and Mockingbird, both neck through Maple with rosewood stripes). I have a Marshall original 100 watt JCM 800 lead series full stack stashed in the garage collecting dust. I have a Line 6 Pod Pro full Rack mount unit. I have a full Rockman rack mount setup with a Quadra-verb Rack and A 16 channel Mixing board with very nice Vocal mic and a computer setup as a hard disk recorder. I have a few other things including keyboards, a ibanez bass and violin. I haven't played for a while though.

I am also a graphic artist but have been working on planes mostly as of late.

Website http://home.earthlink.net/~fivewrights/robert.htm

>Any artists? Here's mine http://enverart.ebsqart.com

Ron B.
F4Fguy

No, but I've been a paid up member of Actors Equity for more years than I like to remember. I also play classical guitar.

If this photo comes through great. If not I will do it again on my PC at home.
I play some string, but over 35 years as a drummer, has been fun. This photo is a Roland TD-20 6K worth, loads of fun!

>>Any artists? Here's mine http://enverart.ebsqart.com
>
>Ron B.
>F4Fguy
>
> No, but I've been a paid up member of Actors Equity for
>more years than I like to remember. I also play classical
>guitar.
>
>Ron B.

I have a Takamine classical that I never play. It is strictly my electric and the BLUES.

I play Guitar also--so whats your point!?! If you got an old strat, put a resistor between the pickups and volume knob, and watch the magic begin! All the hip 60s rock stars had this modification done,like say hendrix, clapton or maybe page and beck. What type of resistor did they use? well you can just FUGGEDUBOUDIT because their equipment tech, will not devulge the Info to all of us "peons' claming that this sort of "sound" will cause corruption amongst all the ditto (dildo) heads on this here big blue marble we all live on. I would suggest you study Randy Holden from Blue Cheer if you think Im BSing you here. But you wont, and thats the way I like It. I like the SG --< Paul