In Conversation: The Bakersfield Sound - '50s Fenders & stories from Bakersfield's golden age. 

My dad had that same exact rig and same color in 1962.DuoSonic and Fender Champ. In 1963 I was 2 yrs old and somehow found a writing pen and dug 3 holes into the body right above the pickguard between the pickups. Luckily I did them in line. He had a machinist friend that made 3 s.s. square metal pcs. and put my dad’s initials on them,& they epoxy’s them over the holes.

Love Ken's drip! That jacket is killer!!

Wow. My dad often talked about the Blackboard. He played all over southern California from 60 to 63.

What a great story! Duo Sonic and Musicmasters are such fun guitars, they sound amazing and are surprinsingly very versatile, the short scale might scare some people off, but to me they feel great, my 1963 Duo Sonic is one of the favorite guitars i own, theyre also a great option for having a pre CBS Fender without breaking the bank.

My first quality electric guitar was a 1950's Musicmaster given to me for Christmas by my parents in 1968. They bought it from my brother's friend for $25. I ultimately refinshed it and traded it for a 1950's Les Paul Jr. plus $100. at Cottons Pawn Shop in Grand Prarie, TX. Wish I'd kept either guitar but had great times with both. Now I'll have to check out Mike and Mikes. Great video.

Great history love old guitars and old dudes I would watch the country music shows with my dad on the week ends and seeing Larry Collins I had to have a guitar and at 71 I'm still picking great show thanks !!

No one can relate a story like Ken Bow..He's a fantastic speaker and a friend.

What an absolutely gorgeous looking and sounding combo. Great content!

Fascinating conversation and guitar/amp combo. Ken is a joy to listen to. That guitar neck is so short!

Enjoyable conversation. When someone decides to sell something like this, It is a plus that there are sympathetic people who appreciate what it means and take care to "rehome" it respectfully.

Thanks for this one, and for putting Bakersfield in the title. I grew up there (born in '58) and bought my first two guitars from Glen's Music, not far from where Parlier's was, in '75. Traded them later that year to Gene Moles, who used to have a place out Edison Highway in the area Ken mentioned. Gene was a player and tech who was close to Buck and I used to drive out to his place and just sit on stools and chat. I still have his written receipt in the case. Very nice people, as Ken demonstrates. But I left in my '20s too...

great discussion of Americana, above and beyond the classic guitar and amp

Playing a strat I bought at M&M while watching this video = good times.

Great episode. Dr. Ken Bow is a treasure.

Glad this popped up in my feed. Good stuff. Thank you.

Beautiful instruments, interesting story. Very enjoyable video

Such a lovely interview and an incredible piece of history. So stoked to hear that the next custodian is bringin' them back "home."

This is such a delightful interview. The pictures also give the interview depth. Great video!

This is awesome, thank you for posting this. Very cool

What a great story and a lovely guy! Top quality, wholesome content from The Guitar Bar as usual!

I’m honored to play the drums for the Uncle Bobby Durham Paradise Country Band, here on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Oh man, I absolutely love stuff like this. Such a great watch.

Cool video and such a great sound...

What a great story. Thank you guys for sharing it.

Very nice story. I love the history ❤

So cool!! 🎸

Love this story!

Super cool story! Thanks for sharing!!!

Nice to see some appreciation for the less desirable Vintage Fender Models

Those black and white photos of the Blackboard( the outside shots with motorcycles) are from Bill Ray's book, "Hells Angels of San Berdoo '65". Ray documented the Angels' trip up to Bakersfield and the Blackboard was the home base for the weekend. The book also has a few shots from inside the Blackboard

Wynn Stewart was also a big part of the Bakersfield Sound.....his steel guitarist was Ralph Mooney and icon musician for Waylon Jennings later on and Joe Nichols who played lead guitar later on for Merles "The Strangers"......Moserite and Fenders were very popular in the '60s especially when used by "The Ventures" on their albums ....Buck Owens was a session player for Capital Records in Los Angeles in the late '50's....if you listen to Wynn Stewart's Challenger Records recordings from '55-'56 you'll hear a young guitar player named Eddie Cochran....

I'm a lifelong Bakersfieldian and I'm tickled pink this guitar is coming back home. Thanks for sharing, fellas. 😊

Fantastic piece of music history!

Such an awesome story! Thank you for sharing.

Wonderful! Thank you for making this

Great interview. I have a 61 princeton with that music store badge. Don’t know who owned it previously though.

Really enjoyed this guys

Awesome story!

One of the coolest videos I’ve ever seen on RU-vid. Well told, well shot, just tremendous. A guitar nuts dream! Keep ‘em coming!

Great story! 🤘

Awesome! Love the story.

Excellent, really enjoyed that.

Good to hear a human story about old guitars, one that doesn't begin and end with the auction price, the year it was made, and a famous former owner. Sorry to ruin the like count though, it was at 335 before me

The Tweed Harvard Amp is rare and I have one HeHe! Steve Cropper recorded most of his STAX studio recordings on a Tweed Harvard.

Really enjoyed the vid. Cheers

What a cool stylish guy Ken is.

Tell y’all what, I grew up in Bakersfield and remember goin into Parliers in 66’ - this was after they moved the store from near this ole” flophouse near the SP depot to “uptown” Baker street - i remember the Parlier badge on all the fender guitar cases and amps - but little did we know know in 66’ that 50 years later, Fender would re-make everything from that era - now Moserite, we all go dumpster divin at his factory and would cobble up enough parts for two guitars and 3 peddle steels When I turned 21, we went to the Black Board - the lucky spot was out near FootHillbilly high that I went to - first time I played a Strat, was Jelly Sanders’s Strat his son let me play - Jelly played with many of the Honky Tonkers at the time -

Good video and story. Easy to put a second pickup in a Musicmaster as they were all routed for a second pickup to be a Duosonic. A little electronic modifications and a Duosonic pickguard and bingo....a custom.

I've had a 1960 Duo Sonic since '84/'85. A few years back, I swapped out the dying p'ups with a set of Lollar Sixty Fours and the incorrect (courtesy of a previous owner) tuners w/a set of period-correct Schallers. A previous owner had also stripped the original finish off and gave it a coat or ten of clear poly. I had it re-stripped and sprayed w/Dakota Red nitro. One of the clear coats had a very faint tint to "age" the color just enough that it doesn't look like new. It plays and sounds like a dream. At some point, I'm going to send the original p'ups out to be rewound and either kept as a set of spares or list 'em on Reverb.

Very cool. Did pops happen to grab a sunburst Gibson in 59? Lol

Love them shoes too.

Awesome....

Fascinating social document and really well shot but whenever there’s music there’s this constant ‘bassy bubbling’ sound all the way through it…? What’s that about and can it be cured, please?

My first electric was a new '64 DuoSonic in Dakota red...

I love dude's jacket.

Where can I get a bridge like this one?

We love M& M's!

Curious now to know w3hat he got for it. I bet it was into 5 digits.

Gut Terk at 3:02 ❤

How much did you get for it? Mosrite necks, like Ric 12s, are too narrow.

Other musicians from that period were Rose Maddox and The Maddox Bros, Tommy Bonds etc ...

Aww

Mosrite it’s also the sound of Bakersfield

I did not know Yogi Berra was a Musician! 😅😅😅

great work.... Bakersfield Sound may not have ever made it as well as Nashville? However, The less produced sound that came out of Bakersfield was superior by far to what was going on at the time in Nashville. Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley IMHO added to many Violins to the mix... and tried to spruce the Honky Tonk sound up, and I think much of it lost its character.

Gene Moles possibly did the work.

Please don't over analyze this music. Great video!

He looks old enough to have bought in in '58

Gimme a break. How much do you need to blow your own horn?

meh

Damn, I though Ken was 80yo and the original owner!

Those. shades.