Guitars of the Stars (GOTS for short) is a series that I plan to use to solve the mysteries of guitars in live performances + music videos. I plan to incorporate celebrity interviews when possible as well. Credit this time goes to: www.askzac.com/post/the-black-betty-les-paul-story Which guitars do you GOTS to know about next? Submit to tradetrogly@gmail.com
It was never a mystery. The black Betty Les paul.was a gold top. Then routed for humbuckers. The it had a neck swap to an Ibanez and Di'angelico. I've known that for atleast 30 years.
We still did it in the 80’s tho usually nothing we couldn’t reverse fairly easily & never ever to 50’s stock, not anything to do with monetary value just that messing with them classics was sacrilege to us
Just like old cars back in the day... My dad told me about tearing ass through the woods in old galaxies and stuff he'd got for like $50... Whoops... 😬 I did the same thing with his 76 f100, cause the floor was gone, literally gone in one spot. It was my trail truck for a while, screw it it needs a new can anyway and they're cheap. So it ended up beat all to shit, the body had been pretty straight other than the bed side got messed up when he hauled his Fatboy and the strap broke or something, just rotted floorpan.
Most people do. That why things that old stuff, guitars and otherwise, that’s still around in original condition is worth so much. If everyone kept theirs and never modified them they wouldn’t be worth anything.
Please explain. Are the headstocks designed to crack to protect the rest of the neck, or are you just saying that Gibson had quality control issues or are poorly designed?
@@eljison That's half a joke ! Gibson's headstock are not design to break to protect the neck. They are just VERY fragile. Gibson stick to this design since the 50's for historical reasons but it is weak point.
Bill didn't just play all the smoldering leads on Black Betty, but he came up with the revved up arrangement for it too. On top of singing it. The Ram Jam version is definitely his baby.
Bill Bartlett played in the late 60’s band “The Lemon Pipers”. They had a hit on the radio back then called, “Green Tambourine”. There is a video of this song here on RU-vid. Bill is playing the Les Paul when it was still in the original condition that he bought it in
@pedraw, there are at least two different videos of them playing that song. He's definitely playing a Telecaster in the top listed one and a Les Paul in the other. Cheers
@@Dan.Solo.Chicago I followed your lead and checked out the green tambourine video, and Bill Bartlett is playing the gold top , with the gold top finish on it!
@@brythecracker @William Olsen @Dan Solo Chicago Thanks ! from way back in the day I always thought both tunes were tops, but for different reasons. Who knew (not I !) that it was the same guitarist (AND guitar ! ) ?? Check out the tapping at 1:50 of the G.T. vid. Some excellent mods by him, as someone said, ahead of his time. DIY mods that extensive rare fifty years ago !
I just spoke with Bill Bartlett, he told me about this video! So he has seen this. He really likes the video. I thought I should share this here. Bill said he'll never let the guitar out of his sight. And he serenely will not send it through the mail for a video. Also he doesn't want people to see the back of the guitar.
Documenting it better will help the instrument's status and value after he's gone. Is Bill still based out of Ohio? Austin could probably do it in person.
@@davidmckean955 Bill lives in Liberty Indiana, he's 80 now and still has some more guitars. He did an interview for I think "Ask Zach" where he showed photos of the guitar. Bill himself has made some modifications to it over the years.
In 2015, I interviewed Bill Bartlett for a Reverb article on Mosrite amplifiers, as he'd toured the Mosrite/Bakersfield factory when on tour with the Lemon Pipers in early 1968. He's a fascinating man with some fascinating musical memories. I recall him telling me the story of all the mods he did on the "Black Betty" Gibson, but did not take notes. He told me he wrote one of the "Black Betty" lyrical lines or couplets, but did not claim any of the copyright, which I think he should have. He told me of attending Syracuse University in 1962 and some of his later-to-be-famous classmates: Lou Reed (then playing in a band called LA and the El Dorados); Felix Cavaliere (later of the Young Rascals): and Mike Esposito (later of the Blues Magoos). Talent!
I've read that the song Black Betty, allegedly, originated sometime in the 30's. Names like Huddle Ledbetter and Alan Lomax are mentioned in various sources.
It was actually recorded by Bill Bartlett’s previous band, Starstruck. But that band had broken up before Bartlett landed a contract, so the label “helped” him form a new band and the Starstruck recording used on Ramjam’s debut album. Awesome song, and Bartlett’s solos should by rights get a lot more kudos.
I like that this highlighted a heavily and uniquely modified guitar. I know collectors might look down on that, but when the work is done well I love mods like this, even more so when they're on vintage guitars. It could've just been another 50s goldtop sitting in a case collecting value and dust, now it's something totally unique and beautiful and I'm a big fan of that.
That one isn't hard to find details about. It started life as a 1961 sunburst and had a few pickup swaps over the decades, mostly due to damage from sweat and/or beer getting into the electronics. The only non stock part was a DiMarzio bridge pickup.
I'd LOVE to see one episode on Ace Frehley's guitars, he's the reason I like Les Pauls but I never understood how many he has or how the guitars were made
Ace's Deluxe of course. From the odd neck humbucker route, heel carve and head stock binding all the way to it's demise as a black double cut. That 7th fret inlay will get you there.
I had one of those PT Teles for a while. White binding. I can’t recall if it was bound on the back as well. Maple fretboard. And HUGE frets. I never played much in the round up selling it to someone in Indonesia, I think. A Very good looking guitar.
Writing before watching to say Thank You for doing this! Been a fan from back in the day when this was on the radio and have been wondering about this guitar since first seeing the video.
The guitar in my photo yonder is my 1975 (September) 2351TB lawsuit era Ibanez. It was my main guitar for years until the truss rod finally gave out and I had to replace the neck which I had fabricated by a Chinese factory a few years ago. It's flawless. They made it identical to the original. Gibson mustache head stock and all. So sweet.
Even the pre Ibanez lawsuit models too! I have a ‘74 (or earlier) Ibanez Les Paul Custom and the only thing that sucks about it is it has a bolt on neck. I’ve owned it since 2009 and got it for $375.00 which was really cheap at the time for a custom especially. I haven’t checked super recently, but the post lawsuit models are still pretty sought after since they’re vintage now and a part of history! I’d take one of those over an epiphone every day of the week with their hideous headstocks. In my opinion a lot of the post lawsuit models are even better, you just don’t get the open book headstock. Burny, Greco, and Tokai are definitely superior though. I have an 08 (I think) Burny SG and four Gibson SG’s (one a ‘74 and an ‘85) and I like it better than my Gibsons most of the time. Gibson charges way too much for a LP standard. I’d take a Burny, Greco, or Tokai any day over a Gibson. You get basically the same damn guitar for $4,000 shaved off the price lmao while still getting a set neck guitar too. And if you don’t like the electronics, change em. Gibsons designs are beautiful but their higher end guitars are astronomically priced for the average working class person.
Cool story. I started a band a few months back with some older folks in their 50’s and 60’s (I’m 24) down in Miami and our keys player was married to the bass player of ram jam. Sadly he’s gone, but she told us tons of stories and that’s when I first heard this song. She’s one of girls on the motorcycles in the back throughout the music video.
AWESOME!!! Thanks for starting this series. Learning about the history of guitars that we’ve seen over the years is a great idea. I loved the story of this Les Paul. Thanks Trogly for the endless great content. Your channel is a repository of knowledge that I can always come back to for this, that & all things guitar. ✌🏽❤️🎸
Not filmed 'somewhere'- Hicksville, Long Island. When I moved here 15 years ago 17 year old musicians were telling me about it (I'd never heard of Ram Jam until then). Multi-generational Ram Jam pride runs pretty deep here
Absolutely fantastic story, you really did your homework on this, top job...this song and anything to do with it fascinates me, it has so much history and still sounds great today.
It has been half a year since the first episode and i am still super hyped for the next episode. No matter how long it takes, i am looking forward to it.
It's funny you started with this guitar, because of all the guitars in all of the videos I have seen this is the one that has perplexed me the most. Thanks for sharing!
The more I look at the headstock, I think he was aiming towards a D’Angelico New Yorker look. It has the same notched double scroll and even the deco style tuning pegs.
This new series just cemented your place as my favorite guitar history channel on RU-vid. Thank you very much, from a crazy music nerd... who doesn't even play guitar!
Great video, you told the story well. I was curious about that Guitar I assumed it was a D'Angelico with Gibson pickups ('was not even close). Thanks for doing the research. Good Luck with the new series!! Looking forward to more!!
An idea for an episode...'where are they now?' There are famous guitars that disappeared into secondhand-land and are now lost. Some, like Jim Hendrix's Flying V, were identified. But where is the red Telecaster Clapton used in the Yardbirds? And the semi bass played in the Yardbirds? The Gretsch hollowbody John Lennon used for Paperback Writer? The stripped natural Strat with the broken pickguard Jeff Beck used in the early 70s? Does Richie Blackmore still have the ES335 from the early Deep Purple days, and if not, where is it?
Bill Bartlett was also in the Lemon Pipers, and it looks like he might be playing a pre-mod version of that same guitar in the video of their hit “Green Tambourine”.
Great Series Trogly!! I would love to see an episode talking about Paul Kossoff's stratocaster. He was the guitar player on FREE and it is said that Dave Murray from Iron Maiden owns it now.
@@EarthAltar Did you hear about KK Downing's Gibsons Flying V, that Michael Schenker had been in the same music store earlier in the day and asked the store to hold the V. Which of course they said they would do until KK, walked in and bought it later that day.
Now that was awesome. I had a 1985 Carvin DC150, and those pickups sounded great. I had the SD22 in the bridge position. The coil splitters and the phase switch gave that guitar so many sounds. Great video.
I know Ace Frehley customized a LP Standard to a double cut (although I don't believe he did the work himself). He had some wonky UFO guitars as well as the smoker. Wow, so many cool guitars out there to document.
Awesome video! A guitar that I have been interested in for awhile, and is quite recognised in certain circles, is the Seven Mary Three/Jason Ross "HB" Telecaster. Thank you for creating this quite interesting series!
That's pretty cool the song is about Betty Page. She wasn't very widely known back then. She became more of an icon after Dave Stewart put her in his Rocketeer comic books.
Dave murray yeah. More on his strats please. Squiers and covered humbuckers. Has dave ever played an SSS strat? Edit: are those carvin pickups? Nice. Niccccccce.
Bill Bartlett played in a local band in Cincinnati with my father in the 80's called "Southern Rain". My dad still keeps in touch with Bill, and my friend Jeremy delivers mail to Bill's house in Liberty, Indiana. I have a VHS tape of Southern Rain playing at Hamilton High school in Hamilton, OH for their film class, and Bill used that double neck on a couple of songs. Bill lost a few guitars many years ago in a house fire. I have multiple cassette tapes of Bill playing with southern rain in local Cincinnati bars. Bill is as good as anyone on guitar. Bill stopped playing guitar quite a bit lately and has really moved forward with playing piano. ALSO, that 2009 video of Bill, he didn't play as well as he could have because Bill had a wart removed from his hand the day before the show and the soreness made it harder for him to play. ONE MORE THING FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW, Black Betty....that we've all heard was not actually recorded by Ram Jam, but a Cincinnati based band called Starstruck, but when Bill joined Ram Jam, they had the recording released under the Ram Jam name. The bassist on Black Betty is David Goldflies, his dad was my elementary school music teacher.
Great stuff. I remember Black betty in the UK charts when I was 11 - long ago... Love seeing these pics of the guitar from that video. Looking forward to the next installment..
This was a fantastic deep dive into a guitar I didnt know I really wanted to know so much about. I do want to offer an opinion as to why Bill Bartlett may have opted to use his Esquire in 2009 to perform Black Betty. There was an interview with David Gilmour that took place in the early 2000s. He was talking about his signature Strat he was most known for..(not the consumer based copy...his actual black Strat....) He said he left it behind at home on the previous tour because he was quite aware that it was begining to feel "rather delicate" and he didnt want to rush irreparable damaging the instrument "in the rigors of touring". I'm guessing Bill may have felt the same way about this Gibson being it has seen a pretty extreme life of continuous modification that it may also be a fragile bit of guitar that hed rather not see fall apart on stage in front of people. Just a thought. Then again he may as you suggest be a bigger fan of the Esquire. Fascinating new series. I'm wracking my brain thinking of guitars Id like to know more about. I think every one knows Jimmy Page with a Gibson and a Marshall stack. But I have always been a fan of his Danelectro. Maybe you could cover that one?
I dunno. I personally really like seeing musicians who clearly love their instruments and wear them to the bone and take the time to keep them in working order. It gives them a unique charm that can only be achieved through true admiration for an instrument and enjoyment when playing. Who cares if it isn’t mint anymore? Not like he cares and he clearly has enjoyed his time with it. In my eyes a mint guitar is a sad guitar it means they’re not played much and were merely something to show off. I love seeing musician’s daily drivers ones which they truly made their own. It’s really cool to see!
