Sat 5/4/02

We met Bill Lawrence at a trade show once. He was a wild man. He told us some story about being in a knife fight... and then started showing his scars... It was weird.

This week: Prices slashed on Bill Lawrence Pickups!

They're removable soundhole pickups for your acoustic guitar.

See you soon,
Carl

Sat 5/11/02

I went to Madison Square Garden last week to see Paul McCartney. He was FABULOUS! He did a two-and-a-half hour show, with no break. (Actually, the band took a break, while he did some acoustic songs...) He sang every song and sounded wonderful. It was a 34 song set, with 21 Beatle songs.

When he played bass he used his original `63 Hofner 500/1 that he bought after the first Beatle album. As I'm sure you know, he used his `61 Hofner 500/1, now referred to as the "Cavern" model, on the first three 45s and the first LP. (See explanation below for a definition of these strange terms.)

And when he played guitar in the show he used his lefty 1960 Les Paul sunburst. The cool thing about this guitar, besides the fact that only four were made, is that it was at one time owned by Pittsburgh Guitars. Way back in 1984 a guy bought it at a house sale in West Virginia. He sold it to a local folk singer. He sold it to a sleezy local guitar dealer. He sold it to me. I traded it to Rick Nielson from Cheap Trick, and a couple of years later he sold it to Paul McCartney. I would have kept it, but it was left handed. And I had to pay the rent...

And now Paul is using it on stage!

The one thing Paul doesn't use on stage is a music stand. But he probably uses one in rehearsal. And if he does, it very well could be a Hamilton 400-N...this week's special!

See you soon,
Carl

PS: This Week's Customer Web Site:
Dave Davies

PPS: Years and years and years ago, people would take flat pieces of vinyl and scratch bumpy grooves in them. Then, when you dragged a needle through the groove, and it bounced on the bumps, sound would be generated, that often sounded like music. Big pieces of vinyl that moved slowly were called "LPs"... smaller pieces, that moved faster, were called "45s". (For some strange reason, the smaller ones had bigger holes in the center... No one ever really explained that.)

Sat 5/18/02

My sister, the judge, was in the store yesterday, picking up her son who takes lessons here. She said she just read an article about job related stress. It reported that the least stressful job in the world was......guitar repairman! We tried to tell Scott about it, but he was so peacefully relaxed that we couldn't get through to him.

Her comments did make me think about job-related anxiety, and for that matter, life-related anxiety. Of course, we're always happy here at Pittsburgh Guitars, but sometimes little things get to you, and you let them build up into unjustified, self-generated worry... In reality, though, 99% of the things that we worry about aren't the big deal we make them out to be.

Occasionally, without warning, I sometimes find myself at complete peace with the world... It kinda sneaks up on me, and suddenly everything seems clear... It's cool when that happens. It passes quickly, of course. But it's good to feel good. Imagine that you're on a warm, white sand beach, under a straw cabana, with a frozen banana daiquiri in your hand, and the pure blue ocean gently washing up on the shore........hmmmmmmmm.... That sounds good..... Let's all try to be as relaxed as a guitar repairman.

Scott, by the way, uses tubular guitar stands in the repair shop.

I remember the first time I saw a tubular guitar stand. In the old days, Hamilton made a terribly un-cool stand that leaned waaay back, but it was awkward, so folks would just lean their guitar against their amp, which, by the way, is not a good idea. So when the first tubular stands hit the market everybody loved them. Lots of different stands are now available, but the good old tubular is still popular. It's the special this week.

See you soon,
Carl

PS: This Week's Customer Web Site:
1964

PPS: You may have noticed that there are three different Beatle tribute bands coming to town in the next two months. The absolute BEST Beatle band, "1964," is playing next Friday, May 24th at the Benedum. If you'd like to see a fabulous band that does early Beatle stuff with all of the right equipment, call the Benedum and get tickets. I know the whole tribute-impersonator stuff is a bit weird, but if you've ever tried to play a Beatle song correctly you know how hard it is...and these guys have it down cold. It's impressive.

Sat 5/25/02

A few weeks ago we rented a guitar to an ad agency for a photo shoot and now it's 20 feet tall on a billboard! There's an exotic furniture store down the street called Perlora, and they do exotic billboards. On this one there are two shots of a guy in a tux playing a cello, looking real formal, and then in the third picture he's on his Perlora couch with his tux shirt open and his hair messed up and he's wailing away on a 1983 blue Strat.

Hey, it could happen....

(You would have figured out the year on the Strat anyway, since `83 was the year with the strange vibrato, the non-laminated pickguard and the input jack where the third knob should be...)

In honor of the Fender Guitar on the billboard, (which, by the way, doesn't mention Pittsburgh Guitars) we're featuring Fender Strings in this week's email special.

See you soon,
Carl

PS: This Week's Customer Web Site:
Scott Hall

PPS: Next Monday Fender is lowering the price on their American Series guitars by 5% of the list price. In the stores this is going to lower the selling price by around $40. We've already lowered ours.