I play a telecaster today partly because of Keith Richards. I started playing telecasters back in ‘83. They are a very solid, durable reliable good sounding guitar for rock n roll, country, blues and jazz.
I always loved the look and sound of a Tele with a humbucker in the neck. I put together my own Micawber this year and it's my number one now. Cheers Keith R, keep on rocking.
3:02 when the humbucker was first installed, the pole pieces faced upwards. It was only years later when the pickup was flipped upside down. I don‘t know when but I think sometime in the 80‘s.
I believe it was Pierre De Beaufort who turned the pickup and recently it has been turned back to the original way. Thank you for noting that, you beat me to it. Have a great day !
The PAF in the neck is the ONLY place I really like HB's.But that standard neck SC is pretty nice as well; hard to choose, maybe more HB if playing a lot of slide. Open and drops have finally caught on, thankfully, - really expands the vocabulary, as in all those QOTSA songs in C standard. Teles can have unbeatable mojo.
Thanks for making this.!! Clapton did not give this guitar to Keith. He may have given him another Tele but not Micawber. These are from Ted Newman Jones. He states this himself, and Greg Prevost stands corrected also on mentioning it was from Clapton. there are many others that say the same thing. I thought Micawber was a 53' Fender?
Hey Man, if u r interesting in Stones music equipment, wich song in wich tuning. It`s the very best book about the Stones in general, and of course of the instrument. The book is called, "the Rolling Stones Gear, all the instruments from Stage to Studio". Then all yours questions will be answered. And you and many other guys will read, that there is no open g in "Gimme Shelter".
Yes, as I was skimming thru the comments, I kept thinking about Babiuk's great book too. That book was infinitely delayed, I remember. Andy and Greg kept updating, and adding. Now, that everyone expects to know everything at all times, it is hard to come up with a really groundbreaking book. I used to hang out on a Stones site, all the time. The reviews about that book are a big reason I left. (btw they also did a Beatles Gear book)
At a critical juncture in the timeline, narrator completely skips over the monster album Sticky Fingers (between Let It Bleed & Exile On Main Street) an album which (I suspect) already saw Keith using the open G tuning on a 5-string Telecaster.
I have 2 Tele's..butterscotch blackface with rails standard tuning Babe...and a hollow natural wood in 5 string open g Blondie...best guitars in my opinion.
You are correct of course. I think I wrote the script wrong; meant to make it clear that Let It Bleed, not Exile, was the album that was their “love note” to Brian. But for some reason I always thought Fingers came right after Exile and not before. I’ll see if I can add an notation to the video; if not I’ll put it in the description. Thanks for pointing that out. 🤘🏻
@@TheGuitarHistorian I saw an interview once that stated Keith got the 5 string idea from Ry Cooder…they played together ..i dont remember when.. but they worked together for a short time. Ry is the king of open tunings.. not only for slide but for rythm and picking. he modifies them and calls them coodercasters
@@fredtheted2259 nobody claimed he was.. just that he passed it on like all the others.. Elizabeth cotton was once asked what tuning she played in.. she said the one my pa used….
@@johna.4334 Darryl is American like me but i get you . For me . Stones need to retire or call themselves something else . Personally , Brian Jones was my favorite original LEADER !!!
No Sympathy was recorded and 68 I believe he got this guitar in 70 or 71. It’s not 100% known what guitar he used for the solo on Sympathy. There are pictures of him with his Les Paul Custom which was his main guitar at the time, but I can’t imagine he got that biting, trebly sound on a Les Paul so I think it’s more likely he recorded it on a different Telecaster.
It was probably the LP Custom, through a Vox Supreme. I think the Vox amp had a treble boost, which would account for the trebly tone. You can see Keith playing the Custom through what looks like a Vox in a clip of the Stones rehearsing Sympathy in the studio. He hits a chord and it sounds close to the more trebly sort of tone we hear in the solo.
I don’t believe Keith has taken the original Micawber on the road for quite some time now, due to it’s value and the fact that it’s irreplaceable. What you see onstage are replica Micawbers made by Fender, a la their distressed instrument line. Keith has had a number of guitars stolen over the years, most notably his Dan Armstrong that he used on the 69/70/71 tours.
Not many know this story , but, when I was in england I took a job as food delivery ,and one day I delivered sandwiches to abby rd But later found I'd been cut .not really,
Um that's funny because the Telecaster bridge pickup IS a lap steel pickup! If you knew anything about Fender is that he reused a lot of things and parts from other guitars that they manufactured is nothing new. This was used because Leo Fender lacked the technology and the funds to make a new pickup at the time that the Broadcaster (later named the Telecaster) would be constructed with and all other guitars sharing its' lineage! It would be like removing a Telecaster pickup to replace a Telecaster pickup - stupid really! Also worth noting is that Sperzel wasn't even a manufacturer until the 1980s - LONG after these modifications would be made. The original machine heads were SCHALLER made and used until the early 2000s. There's also McCawber 2 which shares the same bastardisation and it is a 1952 Telecaster which Keith has used since the late 70s. It is a backup and is used on all the albums that the Stones did since Beggars' Banquet. There's a really interesting article from 1989 on it where all these guitars are discussed in full available from Guitar Player Magazine.
@@kevinhepp6604 Malcolm was one helluva a fine rock-n-roll song writer and rhythm guitarist. The riffs he was able to write and play with those little tiny fingers on that Gretsch guitar that was almost as tall as he was is inspiration for all of us that don't have fingers 12 inches long like Chuck Berry did. RIP. Keith was a big fan.
The Rolling Stones was always the kings of Rock And Roll since 1963!!!!!!! Because The Beatles isn`t Rock And Roll! They never were! They were just a ordinary rock band!!!!!! The Beatles never made a single Rock And Roll song! But The Rolling Stones have made Thousands of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve even heard reports it could be a 52 lol. I don’t think anybody knows. It’s probably a partscaster in some respects. That’s probably where the confusion comes from. It’s possible the body is one year and the neck another.
Too say that McCawber has more mileage then Blackie, or Jerrys Wolf is a big mistake. We are talking about guys who played 300 gigs a year against guys who might play 50 shows every 5 years. Do better research.
I’ll stick with my assessment thanks. Jerry played wolf from about 1970 through 1993 and Clapton played blackie for about 12 years before he switched over to his signature models. Keith has used Micawber both live and in the studio from 1971 UNTIL PRESENT DAY. So, again, thanks for your comment but I think Micawber blows the 2 guitars you mentioned away by a factor of 10. How’s my research?
And yes the Stones play about 30-40 shows per your these days, but through the 70s and 80s they toured a hell of a lot more than that. So you’re just totally wrong.
Keith is not really a lead player, per se. Why do you think Ronnie Wood is in the band? Keith is into the rythm and groove aspect and as such is a big driver of their sound.
It's a LOT more fascinating that KEITH is still here. He's going to outlive us all.
Native American legend says coyotes, cockroaches, and Keith Richards will be the last creatures on earth. So far they're right.
Keith will outlive the cockroaches.
I play a telecaster today partly because of Keith Richards. I started playing telecasters back in ‘83. They are a very solid, durable reliable good sounding guitar for rock n roll, country, blues and jazz.
Who has the one dislike on this video? This was a great history of an iconic guitar. I'm not even a big Stones fan and I loved it.
A Beatles fan perhaps.
One thing is where he got the name. Charles Dickens. Keith us a fan of classic literature!
❤
I always loved the look and sound of a Tele with a humbucker in the neck. I put together my own Micawber this year and it's my number one now. Cheers Keith R, keep on rocking.
The follow up to Let It Bleed ('69) was Sticky Fingers ('71). Exile followed in '72.
Correcto mundo!
Glad somebody else is awake !🎸🤯
Big mistake there. How do you miss Sticky Fingers!?
Wanted to post the same comment 😄
Those are also their best three albums in my opinion. Let it Bleed ranks #1 for me. But only ever so slightly.
AMEN you can't beat the Master. ❤️ Philadelphia USA
Thank you for speaking for the guitars what great storys you have much appreciated
That’s a great synopsis of a legendary axe. Thank you.
Thanks, i enjoyed this a lot. 😊
The greatest rock and roll player .
I consider him the greatest rhythm guitarist ever.
That's subjective. He's influential for sure.
You must be tone deaf.
Micawber definition: a person who idles and trusts to fortune. Seems an apt name for a Pirates' weapon of choice. 😉
awesome video and if u have more videos on specific guitars like this im subscribing forsure!!! im a geek when it comes to this stuff
3:02 when the humbucker was first installed, the pole pieces faced upwards. It was only years later when the pickup was flipped upside down. I don‘t know when but I think sometime in the 80‘s.
Very good point thank you for adding that history!
I believe it was Pierre De Beaufort who turned the pickup and recently it has been turned back to the original way. Thank you for noting that, you beat me to it. Have a great day !
Great video.
very good man.
The PAF in the neck is the ONLY place I really like HB's.But that standard neck SC is pretty nice as well; hard to choose, maybe more HB if playing a lot of slide.
Open and drops have finally caught on, thankfully, - really expands the vocabulary, as in all those QOTSA songs in C standard.
Teles can have unbeatable mojo.
Bless the Algorithm for letting me find this channel.
Wonderful
Nice work here! Also, Is that the Dave's Guitars phone-on-hold music in the background?
no coverage of when he changed the bridge from ashtray with trad saddles? :P
Thanks for making this.!! Clapton did not give this guitar to Keith. He may have given him another Tele but not Micawber. These are from Ted Newman Jones. He states this himself, and Greg Prevost stands corrected also on mentioning it was from Clapton. there are many others that say the same thing. I thought Micawber was a 53' Fender?
I do this G Tuning a bit differently. I tune my Guitar to Open E & put a capo on the 3rd Fret to get Open G w/ a High G string.
My dream guitar
what wood is this body made of?
Micawber actually does speak and has been speaking for 51 years
Hey Man, if u r interesting in Stones music equipment, wich song in wich tuning. It`s the very best book about the Stones in general, and of course of the instrument. The book is called, "the Rolling Stones Gear, all the instruments from Stage to Studio". Then all yours questions will be answered. And you and many other guys will read, that there is no open g in "Gimme Shelter".
Yes, as I was skimming thru the comments, I kept thinking about Babiuk's great book too. That book was infinitely delayed, I remember. Andy and Greg kept updating, and adding. Now, that everyone expects to know everything at all times, it is hard to come up with a really groundbreaking book. I used to hang out on a Stones site, all the time. The reviews about that book are a big reason I left. (btw they also did a Beatles Gear book)
Guitars can speak, and that's the Blues, the whole blues and nothing but the blues, so talk t'me Lucille...!!!
You give voice to an inanimate object that would be silenced...except when it's rocking!! LOL.
It was Ry Cooder who turned him on to open tunings
Keith Richards o imortal 😎💯♊😜🚫👍🙌
So the bridge is like the GE Smith signature tele. A pedal steel bridge PU. Then a PAF hummer reverse mounted on the neck. Makes sense. I guess.
At a critical juncture in the timeline, narrator completely skips over the monster album Sticky Fingers (between Let It Bleed & Exile On Main Street) an album which (I suspect) already saw Keith using the open G tuning on a 5-string Telecaster.
I have 2 Tele's..butterscotch blackface with rails standard tuning Babe...and a hollow natural wood in 5 string open g Blondie...best guitars in my opinion.
Norm from Norms rare gtrs was involved with Lucy. he has a short vlog about it
This whole thing is all wrong, Brian Jones died years before exile was being recorded and you meant to say coming off Sticky Fingers not let it bleed
You are correct of course. I think I wrote the script wrong; meant to make it clear that Let It Bleed, not Exile, was the album that was their “love note” to Brian. But for some reason I always thought Fingers came right after Exile and not before. I’ll see if I can add an notation to the video; if not I’ll put it in the description. Thanks for pointing that out. 🤘🏻
i don't know if those two mistakes mean the whole thing is all wrong....but well noted errors. i saw those too.
@@TheGuitarHistorian I saw an interview once that stated Keith got the 5 string idea from Ry Cooder…they played together ..i dont remember when.. but they worked together for a short time. Ry is the king of open tunings.. not only for slide but for rythm and picking. he modifies them and calls them coodercasters
Ry cooder was shown open tunings just like keef,he wasn’t the originator of open tunings
@@fredtheted2259 nobody claimed he was.. just that he passed it on like all the others.. Elizabeth cotton was once asked what tuning she played in.. she said the one my pa used….
Who took the place of Bill Wyman?
Darryl Jones :)
@@SuperAnimelover100
Who?
@@johna.4334
ua-cam.com/video/Ot5GhLb3-Bk/v-deo.html
@@SuperAnimelover100
Oh...thanx for sharing. But Bill Wyman's replacement is not British. It just doesn't work for me ;~\
@@johna.4334
Darryl is American like me but i get you . For me . Stones need to retire or call themselves something else . Personally , Brian Jones was my favorite original LEADER !!!
Why would the neck pup matter? Every image I've seen shows the selector set at bridge only. Might just as well be a broadcaster.
You mean Esquire? You’re right he does tend to favor the bridge pickup but I think that’s more live. I think he does blend when in the studio.
@@TheGuitarHistorian Think X2 vs. know. I can only go by what I see.
You are correct. I keep looking at pics and they all show the bridge
just got a sick tattoo dedicated to MICAWBER ...
"Exile on main street" is the Richards`s album,and "Brenda" was dissapointed,with his Masterpiece.-
was this the SYMPATHY guitar?
No Sympathy was recorded and 68 I believe he got this guitar in 70 or 71. It’s not 100% known what guitar he used for the solo on Sympathy. There are pictures of him with his Les Paul Custom which was his main guitar at the time, but I can’t imagine he got that biting, trebly sound on a Les Paul so I think it’s more likely he recorded it on a different Telecaster.
He used his les Paul custom mostly on that album
It was probably the LP Custom, through a Vox Supreme. I think the Vox amp had a treble boost, which would account for the trebly tone. You can see Keith playing the Custom through what looks like a Vox in a clip of the Stones rehearsing Sympathy in the studio. He hits a chord and it sounds close to the more trebly sort of tone we hear in the solo.
Keefer is so old...he sat in the sand playing guitar as the pyramids were being built....Long life brother..
A lot of guitarists will leave both the neck and bridge pickups open for their own signature.
The Humbucker had the pole pieces near the neck for years and sounded better that way....72 73 75 78 81
thought he got this before sticky fingers and used it on brown sugar with the single PU in the neck?!?!!
It wasn't Micawber but a Tele that was at hand in Muscle Shoals.
Not on Exile but Sticky Fingers!
I don’t believe Keith has taken the original Micawber on the road for quite some time now, due to it’s value and the fact that it’s irreplaceable. What you see onstage are replica Micawbers made by Fender, a la their distressed instrument line. Keith has had a number of guitars stolen over the years, most notably his Dan Armstrong that he used on the 69/70/71 tours.
The Dan Armstrong was stolen from Nellcote, not during a tour.
Not many know this story , but, when I was in england I took a job as food delivery ,and one day I delivered sandwiches to abby rd But later found I'd been cut .not really,
Um that's funny because the Telecaster bridge pickup IS a lap steel pickup! If you knew anything about Fender is that he reused a lot of things and parts from other guitars that they manufactured is nothing new. This was used because Leo Fender lacked the technology and the funds to make a new pickup at the time that the Broadcaster (later named the Telecaster) would be constructed with and all other guitars sharing its' lineage! It would be like removing a Telecaster pickup to replace a Telecaster pickup - stupid really! Also worth noting is that Sperzel wasn't even a manufacturer until the 1980s - LONG after these modifications would be made. The original machine heads were SCHALLER made and used until the early 2000s. There's also McCawber 2 which shares the same bastardisation and it is a 1952 Telecaster which Keith has used since the late 70s. It is a backup and is used on all the albums that the Stones did since Beggars' Banquet. There's a really interesting article from 1989 on it where all these guitars are discussed in full available from Guitar Player Magazine.
The other on is called Malcolm isn’t it, the book stones gear is interesting
@@kevinhepp6604 Malcolm was one helluva a fine rock-n-roll song writer and rhythm guitarist. The riffs he was able to write and play with those little tiny fingers on that Gretsch guitar that was almost as tall as he was is inspiration for all of us that don't have fingers 12 inches long like Chuck Berry did. RIP. Keith was a big fan.
its a 53....malcom is a 54
According to Richards the whole Clapton story is not true...
The Rolling Stones was always the kings of Rock And Roll since 1963!!!!!!!
Because The Beatles isn`t Rock And Roll! They never were! They were just a ordinary rock band!!!!!!
The Beatles never made a single Rock And Roll song!
But The Rolling Stones have made Thousands of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-k.
@@TheGuitarHistorian the beatles made a ton of rock songs though!😊
@@TheGuitarHistorian what should that suppose to mean?
Pretty sure it’s a 53 not a 54
I’ve even heard reports it could be a 52 lol. I don’t think anybody knows. It’s probably a partscaster in some respects. That’s probably where the confusion comes from. It’s possible the body is one year and the neck another.
If that telly could speak...and it does...it would say
Please give me to someone who can actually play something
And even tune me right!!!
Uhhhhhhhhhh...
Too say that McCawber has more mileage then Blackie, or Jerrys Wolf is a big mistake. We are talking about guys who played 300 gigs a year against guys who might play 50 shows every 5 years. Do better research.
I’ll stick with my assessment thanks. Jerry played wolf from about 1970 through 1993 and Clapton played blackie for about 12 years before he switched over to his signature models. Keith has used Micawber both live and in the studio from 1971 UNTIL PRESENT DAY. So, again, thanks for your comment but I think Micawber blows the 2 guitars you mentioned away by a factor of 10. How’s my research?
And yes the Stones play about 30-40 shows per your these days, but through the 70s and 80s they toured a hell of a lot more than that. So you’re just totally wrong.
Only utter BS could have stopped the greatest R&R band in the world. BS with a capital C.
It wasn’t a gift from Clapton. Stop rehashing the same bollocks.
Is he the most overrated guitar player ever? I think so
Yes, go watch Matteo Mancuso. But don't ask for music after.
Keith is not really a lead player, per se. Why do you think Ronnie Wood is in the band? Keith is into the rythm and groove aspect and as such is a big driver of their sound.