Toothy Smile

Monday night Jeff said that Andrew Bird has "free reign" to play whatever he wants on their songs and then called him a "free range bird."

The Late Greats

"The greatest singer in rock and roll

Would have to be Romeo"

Explosions in the Sky

Old Springs Pike

Office

It looks like a Dano Deluxe, maybe? Hard to tell.

Hey VC,

Tonight at Bill's Blues Bar in Evanston, IL Old Town School of Folk Music Wilco Ensemble alums "Sleepy Kisser" will be playing a 2-set tribute of our favorite Windy City Rockers. Please come join us for some all-out sing alongs. You know the words. Here are the details:

Sleepy Kisser

July 26th at 7pm

Bill's Blues in Evanston

1029 Davis Street

www.billsbluesbar.com

Rock on,

SK

I'm pretty sure that guitar is a Gibson small body. The thin waist and type of sunburst looks classic small body Gibson to me. I could be wrong, but Santa Cruz don't burst 'em like that one and the tuners look like white buttons (another Gibby characteristic). Plus, the pickguard extends up over the rosette unlike Santa Cruz' typical OM style pickguards. I'd say maybe a Gibson L-00 or Nick Lucas. I wanna say Jeff has been seen playing Gibson's new Legend Series 1937 L-00. But, I'm not sure and can't verify where I got that information. Pro musicians often times play a lot of one-off, custom made guitars with their own specifications in mind. So, it can be pretty hard sometimes to identifty them to the standard models we all know. Anyway, I believe the custom that was referenced in an earlier post is a Breedlove.

The Martin 000-15S usually run for less than $1000 street price. They sound really good and have a warm tone because of the all-mahagony construction.

I know I'm a little late to the lovest, but I just wanted to add a big thanks to Jeff and Sue for being such benevolent givers to a great cause - Letters to Santa. Thanks to Ken and his family as well for being the uber-host to this monumental event. It was truly an honor to get to share the stage with Jeff and to see all the great musicians of the Wilco Ensemble bring the rock like nobody's business.

Some quick highlights for me (besides eating shrimp cocktail between songs) were Ken and his son playing Dash 7 with Jeff, Jeff talking about the music and the listener and the impact fans like us have on his songwriting, Jeff channeling Pat Sansone for the Townsend windmill on I'm A Wheel, talking shop with Jeff on vintage guitars and, of course, playing Blasting Fonda with the man that penned the song. Truly amazing night.

Here are pics of Jeff's axes taken at the Wilco Ensemble's 2/24/07 Living Room Show.

Breedlove Custom, Jeff Beck Custom Tribute Esquire, Martin Pre-War 0-18 (used to record California Stars, among many others)

Unfortunately, the Martin Pre-War 00-18 didn't get any play time this year:

These are fun guitars and they pop up a lot on Fleebay. It looks like the one you bought is a Stella Harmony 943 model based on the sunburst finish. You've got the trapeze tailpiece and floating bridge too. Stella Harmony's were actually made in Chicago and are usually circa 1960's. Inside the soundhole should be a date stamped to determine what year your guitar was made. They were intended to be student guitars, very affordable, and now somewhat of a collector's item for baby boomers who either learned on one or are just nostaligic from the folk boom era.

I happen to love these guitars. They have fat necks and look cool. Some say they are pretty pedastrian in tone but I think they make the perfect couch guitar. The only downside is that they are usually in shitty condition and you'd have to put more money into it to get it stable. That usually means a neckset since no trussrod, and that could send you $200 plus. Not a good thing if you've purchased the guitar for less than half that price. Or, just leave it as is and you have yourself a nice slide guitar.

I have 2 Stella's, both in non-playing condition. One is from Ebay and the other I picked up at a garage sale. When my daughter gets old enough to play I may restore one for her to learn on. Good luck and keep us updated on how it turns out when it arrives.

You can find newer model J-45's for just under your price range at any of the stores already mentioned. I'd add Make N' Music to the list and Guitar Center (cringe) because they always have them in stock. I'd test drive a few before buying because J-45's can be hit or miss. Although, some of the reissues coming out of Bozeman (where they are made) have been pretty consistent in my opinion. If you're going vintage, Chicago Music Exchange on Lincoln just north of Belmont always have a few on hand (that's where I've bought mine actually).

If you're at all interested, I'm thinking about selling my Gibson J-45 pretty soon to thin the herd and would be happy to let you take a look (I live in Chicago) before I test the waters on various guitar buy/sell forums. It's a 60's reissue J-45 in cherry sunburst with a K&K pickup installed. It's a limited edition model with only 72 of them made in 2004. It's sweet, but I'm biased and you'd have to check for yourself.

More interestingly, the guitar is fresh from playing with Tweedy at last weekend's living room show. If you sift through the 2/24/07 Jeff Tweedy Living Room concert pics in the After the Show section you can see pics of the guitar. PM if you're interested. Thanks.

I believe from the Burn to Shine 2 DVD in Chicago. Great performance ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpkTCKMAv6U