Beautyfull!!! Saw him in the mid 70`s with Deroll Adams, Werner Lämmerhirt, Hannes Waader and other several times in Germany and I loved it! Thank you for uploading!
Just FYI, in 1963, an Epiphone Texan (& all Gibbons and Epiphones) had an 1 & 11/16” nut width. By late 1965, the nut width on all Gibsons and Epiphones had gone down to 1 & 9/16”.
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing him play in 1974, at Ian Anderson’s club in Guildford. I bought a copy of his album “When I Leave Berlin” there, which I still have. I can actually say I shared a stage with him, as I did a floor spot that night with an old friend of mine - but Mr. Jones was probably blissfully unaware of our presence. Regardless, it’s a show I’ll never forget - what a great singer and player he is. Your video is a wonderful reminder of this time :)
Interesting video. I attended the LCF guitar making course back in 1989 & Pete Stanley was a fellow student making banjos. Big age difference or so it seemed at the time. He taught us loads about the banjo. Great guy. I always wanted an Epiphone Frontier but instead ended up with a 68 Texan. It's a great guitar that gets a lot of use at my studio. It has a low action and is loved by all the electric players moonlighting on the acoustic
I got my Texan during the pandemic when my 50 year old Epiphone FT-570 finally became unplayable. It was a heck of an adjustment getting used to that thin neck, but I’ve managed to adjust. Like yours, mines a cherry burst and I really appreciate the its appearance. After 5 years of playing the Texan I’m still loving the sound it produces. It’s said guitars don’t really open up until about 10 years of age but every few months as the strings get changed it seems to open more and more.
Lovely video, Michael. My first encounter with Epi Texans was probably 1967ish in my local folk club where I used to sing and play a Framus dread belonging to my singing partner. Sitting 6 feet away from Wizz playing his Texan was a revelation - glorious sound which even those at the back of the room still heard despite no PA or anything back then. made me very disatisfied with the Framus! And with my playing...Thankfully he guested at our club several times in the next couple of years. As did Al Stewart, also playing a Texan - equally glorious sounds both fingerpicked and strummed. It still remains my idea of what an acoustic guitar "should" sound like! Never did manage to own one, as, by the time I could almost afford one (before used prices went silly) I had discovered the joys of a wider nut and never looked back. Thanks for bringing back the memories, Michael.
Not only Wizz Jones… In the years of ole Paul McCartney, Peter Frampton, Steve Marriott, Graham Nash, Tom Rush, Dave Mason and a lot of other notorious players took to the FT_79 because of the very affordable price and good build of a legit American jumbo dreadnaught. Me, a very lousy player, could never deal with the narrow neck (pretty much as, accordingly, never got along with Martin’s 000-28 Eric Clapton V shaped neck, shame on me). Keep on regaling us with your delightful and instructive (and, why not, inspiring too) videos Michael! I love ‘em ❤
John Renbourn, Bert Jansch,and Martin Carthy were my heroes all throughout the late sixties and seventies. I grew up with British folk music (and Pentangle of course). Still have all of these guys recordings even now. Those were the days Michael. Folk clubs were alive and well in those days and I miss them. Romford folk club was my first venue in I think 1966 run by Vince and Madelyn Bell in the Swan overlooking the market square. Wonderful times and great musicians. Thanks for reminding me Michael 😊👍. Oh nearly forgot - you missed out Nic Jones, sadly only a short career owing to his terrible accident driving home from a gig but still a wonderful guitarist and singer!
Thank you so much for watching! I tend to put Nic in the “second wave” alongside Martin Simpson - he is in no way forgotten and I was listening to Penguin Eggs just yesterday in fact!
Ah - that’s true and as you say now Martin has become ‘the man’. I’ve been to many of his Sheffield masterclasses. That’s where I also met Ian Brown and through him your good self at his July gatherings 😊
@@MichaelWatts Jones was pro since '66, made his first records at the end of the 60s/beginning of the 70s.He was most certainly around, just a little less well known than the Pentangle crowd -at the time.
I'd never really considered Epiphones, though I do have an Epiphone resonator, bell brass and weighs about 10pounds. A totally different beast. I'll have to check them out, thanks.
A trip down memory lane in every respect. Wizz was greatly under-rated. I thought he had packed up gigging, so it's nice to see he is still on the go. He'll be well in his 80s. Also detected a bit of 'I got a feeling' or something by pentangle at the beginning. I might mentino that the other Texan palyer of note was Paul Wheeler, a contemporary of N Drake and J Martyn. I looked up the width of the Epi, and it comes in at a stingey 1 9/16 - that's 1/8 narrower than all my Martins!
I have an Epiphone kind of similar to this though I don't know if it's specifically a "Texan". Mine's a cutaway with an inbuilt mike of some kind and a 6-band equalizer. Inside it, it says that the model is AJ33CE-NA. Sounds interesting that you can widen the nut 1 millimeter because it is indeed very narrow. Incidentally, I saw Renbourn play in Cork City a couple of years before he passed away and had a chance to speak with him briefly. About guitars, he basically said it didn't really make much difference to him what he played. "At the moment it's that one up there," he added, pointing casually at his Ralph Bown hanging on the wall.
Being a 'Les Cousins' veteran, I remember the aforementioned period very well. Anyway ... I recently acquired a beaten up old Hagstrom [made in Sweden] J-45 type guitar - it's interesting, since I repaired the neck and flared it in on refinishing it. Also, It currently has a brass bridge-saddle and is strung up with D'Addario 'Chromes' c/w Telecaster neck pickup in the sound-hole. I'd like to use it next Tuesday at The Six Bells, Chiddingly, since enjoying your video here, but it needs a proper set up really ...? Maybe someday I'll bring it all back!
I played my first real Gibson J200 in Selmer's, Charing Cross Road (where Wizz got his Texan), in about 1970/71, having lusted after one due to it being the guitar played by Michael Chapman on his "Rainmaker" and "Fully Qualified Survivor" albums (well, he was playing one on the album cover, but played a Martin when I saw him live). They were £400 in those days. In 1974 I bought an Antoria J200 from Guitar Village, then in Shaftesbury Avenue, for just under £100. It was a blond one (I always really wanted the tobacco sunburst) but it was a good guitar, envied by my mate DT who had a real Gibson Hummingbird. Cut to 1997 when I had the money to buy a real J200 and I was disappointed. The guitar that spoke to me, having played Gibsons, Martins, Lowdens, Guilds, etc, was a Taylor 514c, stood at the back in Rose-Morris in Denmark St. I'd never heard of them. A great guitar (to me).
@@MichaelWatts I fear it is no longer what it was, what with all the development round there in recent years. We moved up north to the Yorkshire Dales 11 years ago. I called in around 9 years ago on a trip down south and it seemed to have got a bit seedy (or maybe that's just me?). I am hoping that, eg, Hanks and Rose-Morris still survive, along with Ivor Mairants and Hobgoblins round the corner just off Oxford St, and....err....what was it called in Charing Cross Road beginning with an M????..... Anyone remember John King Music and Hands Music Centre in Kingston Upon Thames yonks ago too? Happy Days.
Love the sound of the old epiphone its distinct. The new master build J45s are currently giving Gibson their parent company a run for it money. Enjoyed the playing. 🤩👍
Nice! I have a ‘66 Texan which has been around the block a couple times I regularly gig it and it takes the thrashing well, I hunt out those skinny necks, bought it a year or two ago from vintage and rare guitars in Bath to replace my ‘68 Gibson J50 which was in the early stages of falling apart, I also wound up buying a 66 J45 later from someone who brought it to the workshop to show me, among the best j45s I’ve played, the Texan gets a lot of attention from those in the know, and shrugged off my those who think it’s in the same category as modern Epiphone’s, it sneaks under the vintage radar a tad
I had a 1963 just like the ones Epiphone sent the Beatles. Yesterday? There is a video of McCartney playing his currently on UA-cam. I gave mine to one of my students as a legacy gift when he graduated college. Back In 1971, an artist friend of mine was getting ready to record an album with Leon Russell in LA. He offered to buy my guitar a plane ticket to fly it out to California. I declined.
It sure does remind me of Renbourn and Jansch from a certain period. Although that is probably just as much your playing as well... I just picked up a 1962-63 Framus Hootenanny 12 string, very much like what Lennon was playing on the Help movie. Mine has a slot headstock though, where his had a paddle. (The serial numbers are quite close between the two!) Funny how it also has a very 'period' sound when compared to my Taylor GA 12 string...
@@MichaelWatts oh, I know. Next week I'm taking in my 1910 Washburn Brazilian rosewood size 1 or 2 parlor guitar for her neck reset. I can't wait to get her back and see how she will play. The luthier send he couldn't find a single crack in the Brazilian, it was the first in a lifetime of guitars that he had seen in that condition. I'm starting to really love the small ones, smaller than the Martin size 0. I was lucky enough to get a 1963 Martin 5-16, a tiny little thing that was played by the likes of Ian Anderson, Sting, Bobby Gentry, and many others. They sometimes refer to it as a Terz.
Looking at the details of that Epiphone Texan Michael, I would hazard a guess it is actually a 1966 rather than a 69. By 69 they had a smaller pickguard which was screwed to the top, and the bridge was reversed to a belly down version. Gibson also recycled serial numbers from earlier in the decade too, which can lead to confusion. I have a soft spot for the old Kalamazoo era Texans.
My Yamaha LL6M A.R.E., LS6, and FG830 are so good for fingerstyle guitar. My FG830 sounds better than the D-28 I played at the Martin Factory Tour a couple of years ago.
Beautyfull!!!
Saw him in the mid 70`s with Deroll Adams, Werner Lämmerhirt, Hannes Waader and other several times in Germany and I loved it!
Thank you for uploading!
Thank you Dirk! Really glad you enjoyed it!
Just FYI, in 1963, an Epiphone Texan (& all Gibbons and Epiphones) had an 1 & 11/16” nut width. By late 1965, the nut width on all Gibsons and Epiphones had gone down to 1 & 9/16”.
That’s good to know - the plot thickens! The legend of the Texan bouzouki necks!
Another really interesting listen, thank you.
Thank you Philip!
Lovely playing.
@@JohnMoseley Thank you John!
Mahalo Nui Loa Michael! Great sounds.
Alohaaaaa Victor! Mahalo for watching!
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing him play in 1974, at Ian Anderson’s club in Guildford. I bought a copy of his album “When I Leave Berlin” there, which I still have. I can actually say I shared a stage with him, as I did a floor spot that night with an old friend of mine - but Mr. Jones was probably blissfully unaware of our presence. Regardless, it’s a show I’ll never forget - what a great singer and player he is.
Your video is a wonderful reminder of this time :)
Thank you so much for watching! Wizz is a total legend (although he won’t admit it)
Interesting video. I attended the LCF guitar making course back in 1989 & Pete Stanley was a fellow student making banjos. Big age difference or so it seemed at the time. He taught us loads about the banjo. Great guy. I always wanted an Epiphone Frontier but instead ended up with a 68 Texan. It's a great guitar that gets a lot of use at my studio. It has a low action and is loved by all the electric players moonlighting on the acoustic
Thank you so much for watching!
I got my Texan during the pandemic when my 50 year old Epiphone FT-570 finally became unplayable. It was a heck of an adjustment getting used to that thin neck, but I’ve managed to adjust. Like yours, mines a cherry burst and I really appreciate the its appearance. After 5 years of playing the Texan I’m still loving the sound it produces. It’s said guitars don’t really open up until about 10 years of age but every few months as the strings get changed it seems to open more and more.
That’s awesome! Thanks for watching!
Lovely video, Michael. My first encounter with Epi Texans was probably 1967ish in my local folk club where I used to sing and play a Framus dread belonging to my singing partner. Sitting 6 feet away from Wizz playing his Texan was a revelation - glorious sound which even those at the back of the room still heard despite no PA or anything back then. made me very disatisfied with the Framus! And with my playing...Thankfully he guested at our club several times in the next couple of years. As did Al Stewart, also playing a Texan - equally glorious sounds both fingerpicked and strummed. It still remains my idea of what an acoustic guitar "should" sound like! Never did manage to own one, as, by the time I could almost afford one (before used prices went silly) I had discovered the joys of a wider nut and never looked back. Thanks for bringing back the memories, Michael.
Thank you Keith! I hoped you’d dig this one!
Certainly did, Michael. Apart from showing my age, anyway!
Not only Wizz Jones… In the years of ole Paul McCartney, Peter Frampton, Steve Marriott, Graham Nash, Tom Rush, Dave Mason and a lot of other notorious players took to the FT_79 because of the very affordable price and good build of a legit American jumbo dreadnaught. Me, a very lousy player, could never deal with the narrow neck (pretty much as, accordingly, never got along with Martin’s 000-28 Eric Clapton V shaped neck, shame on me). Keep on regaling us with your delightful and instructive (and, why not, inspiring too) videos Michael! I love ‘em ❤
Thank you so much Fernando!
Great stuff. I have a 65 J 45, with the narrow nut, and I like it. Btw, check out Wizz and son on 2 seas session. Fabulous stuff!
Thanks, will do!
Bert Jansch was amazing, and his Yamaha L Series guitars are quite well known.
Yes he was!
John Renbourn, Bert Jansch,and Martin Carthy were my heroes all throughout the late sixties and seventies. I grew up with British folk music (and Pentangle of course). Still have all of these guys recordings even now. Those were the days Michael. Folk clubs were alive and well in those days and I miss them. Romford folk club was my first venue in I think 1966 run by Vince and Madelyn Bell in the Swan overlooking the market square. Wonderful times and great musicians. Thanks for reminding me Michael 😊👍. Oh nearly forgot - you missed out Nic Jones, sadly only a short career owing to his terrible accident driving home from a gig but still a wonderful guitarist and singer!
Thank you so much for watching! I tend to put Nic in the “second wave” alongside Martin Simpson - he is in no way forgotten and I was listening to Penguin Eggs just yesterday in fact!
Ah - that’s true and as you say now Martin has become ‘the man’. I’ve been to many of his Sheffield masterclasses. That’s where I also met Ian Brown and through him your good self at his July gatherings 😊
@@MichaelWatts Jones was pro since '66, made his first records at the end of the 60s/beginning of the 70s.He was most certainly around, just a little less well known than the Pentangle crowd -at the time.
I'd never really considered Epiphones, though I do have an Epiphone resonator, bell brass and weighs about 10pounds. A totally different beast. I'll have to check them out, thanks.
They can be very cool!
A trip down memory lane in every respect. Wizz was greatly under-rated. I thought he had packed up gigging, so it's nice to see he is still on the go. He'll be well in his 80s. Also detected a bit of 'I got a feeling' or something by pentangle at the beginning. I might mentino that the other Texan palyer of note was Paul Wheeler, a contemporary of N Drake and J Martyn. I looked up the width of the Epi, and it comes in at a stingey 1 9/16 - that's 1/8 narrower than all my Martins!
Dude!!! So good
Glad you approve!
Great stuff Michael as always!!!!
Thank you so much Scott!
I have an Epiphone kind of similar to this though I don't know if it's specifically a "Texan". Mine's a cutaway with an inbuilt mike of some kind and a 6-band equalizer. Inside it, it says that the model is AJ33CE-NA. Sounds interesting that you can widen the nut 1 millimeter because it is indeed very narrow. Incidentally, I saw Renbourn play in Cork City a couple of years before he passed away and had a chance to speak with him briefly. About guitars, he basically said it didn't really make much difference to him what he played. "At the moment it's that one up there," he added, pointing casually at his Ralph Bown hanging on the wall.
Ah dear John. Much missed. Glad you got the chance to chat with him Jimmy
I have an Alvarez slope shoulder dreadnought.
I have a soft spot for Alvarez and Yairi guitars
Being a 'Les Cousins' veteran, I remember the aforementioned period very well. Anyway ... I recently acquired a beaten up old Hagstrom [made in Sweden] J-45 type guitar - it's interesting, since I repaired the neck and flared it in on refinishing it. Also, It currently has a brass bridge-saddle and is strung up with D'Addario 'Chromes' c/w Telecaster neck pickup in the sound-hole. I'd like to use it next Tuesday at The Six Bells, Chiddingly, since enjoying your video here, but it needs a proper set up really ...? Maybe someday I'll bring it all back!
The six bells is legendary! Get in there!
I was a Cousins visitor. Still have backache from the all-nighters.
I played my first real Gibson J200 in Selmer's, Charing Cross Road (where Wizz got his Texan), in about 1970/71, having lusted after one due to it being the guitar played by Michael Chapman on his "Rainmaker" and "Fully Qualified Survivor" albums (well, he was playing one on the album cover, but played a Martin when I saw him live). They were £400 in those days. In 1974 I bought an Antoria J200 from Guitar Village, then in Shaftesbury Avenue, for just under £100. It was a blond one (I always really wanted the tobacco sunburst) but it was a good guitar, envied by my mate DT who had a real Gibson Hummingbird. Cut to 1997 when I had the money to buy a real J200 and I was disappointed. The guitar that spoke to me, having played Gibsons, Martins, Lowdens, Guilds, etc, was a Taylor 514c, stood at the back in Rose-Morris in Denmark St. I'd never heard of them. A great guitar (to me).
Oh man… the sounds Chapman was getting at the time! I might have a look round Denmark street soon and see what we can find
@@MichaelWatts I fear it is no longer what it was, what with all the development round there in recent years. We moved up north to the Yorkshire Dales 11 years ago. I called in around 9 years ago on a trip down south and it seemed to have got a bit seedy (or maybe that's just me?). I am hoping that, eg, Hanks and Rose-Morris still survive, along with Ivor Mairants and Hobgoblins round the corner just off Oxford St, and....err....what was it called in Charing Cross Road beginning with an M????..... Anyone remember John King Music and Hands Music Centre in Kingston Upon Thames yonks ago too? Happy Days.
Love the sound of the old epiphone its distinct. The new master build J45s are currently giving Gibson their parent company a run for it money. Enjoyed the playing. 🤩👍
Thank you Alastair and yes, you’re quite right! The new Murphy Lab Gibsons are impressive too
Nice! I have a ‘66 Texan which has been around the block a couple times I regularly gig it and it takes the thrashing well, I hunt out those skinny necks, bought it a year or two ago from vintage and rare guitars in Bath to replace my ‘68 Gibson J50 which was in the early stages of falling apart, I also wound up buying a 66 J45 later from someone who brought it to the workshop to show me, among the best j45s I’ve played, the Texan gets a lot of attention from those in the know, and shrugged off my those who think it’s in the same category as modern Epiphone’s, it sneaks under the vintage radar a tad
Very cool! Thanks for watching!
I had a 1963 just like the ones Epiphone sent the Beatles. Yesterday? There is a video of McCartney playing his currently on UA-cam. I gave mine to one of my students as a legacy gift when he graduated college.
Back In 1971, an artist friend of mine was getting ready to record an album with Leon Russell in LA. He offered to buy my guitar a plane ticket to fly it out to California. I declined.
Thank you for watching David! That’s a very generous gift!
It sure does remind me of Renbourn and Jansch from a certain period. Although that is probably just as much your playing as well... I just picked up a 1962-63 Framus Hootenanny 12 string, very much like what Lennon was playing on the Help movie. Mine has a slot headstock though, where his had a paddle. (The serial numbers are quite close between the two!) Funny how it also has a very 'period' sound when compared to my Taylor GA 12 string...
There’s magic in old guitars
@@MichaelWatts oh, I know. Next week I'm taking in my 1910 Washburn Brazilian rosewood size 1 or 2 parlor guitar for her neck reset. I can't wait to get her back and see how she will play. The luthier send he couldn't find a single crack in the Brazilian, it was the first in a lifetime of guitars that he had seen in that condition. I'm starting to really love the small ones, smaller than the Martin size 0. I was lucky enough to get a 1963 Martin 5-16, a tiny little thing that was played by the likes of Ian Anderson, Sting, Bobby Gentry, and many others. They sometimes refer to it as a Terz.
Lovely video Michael 👍
Glad you enjoyed it Phil!
Looking at the details of that Epiphone Texan Michael, I would hazard a guess it is actually a 1966 rather than a 69. By 69 they had a smaller pickguard which was screwed to the top, and the bridge was reversed to a belly down version. Gibson also recycled serial numbers from earlier in the decade too, which can lead to confusion.
I have a soft spot for the old Kalamazoo era Texans.
Thank you Steve! That’s some high level geekery at play and I am very grateful!
it is the Yesterday guitar
It is indeed!
My Yamaha LL6M A.R.E., LS6, and FG830 are so good for fingerstyle guitar. My FG830 sounds better than the D-28 I played at the Martin Factory Tour a couple of years ago.
Sounds great for an inexpensive guitar.
Well, you’re still paying vintage prices for a 1969 model like this one but it’s not sky high