From the SG Book by Tony Bacon - Bart Nagel was still in high school, about nineteen years old, when he worked at the Roberto-Venn School Of Luthiery in Phoenix, Arizona, and learnt to make guitars. Someone brought in an SG with a severely damaged neck, and Nagel took it over. He built a new neck with twenty-three frets - "just for fun," he recalls - and he put a Gibson logo on the headstock "so that it would look like a Gibson, still, but the inlay was made out of silver, not mother of pearl, and the `I' was dotted with a tiny star". Nagel also used a star inlay at the fifth fret and a couple of dragon-like shapes at the twelfth. The three-piece mahogany and rosewood neck was a little fatter than a regular SG, Nagel says, and he "beefed it up" where it met the body. He left Gibson's original electrics in the guitar as they were, although for the selector he made a switch with a tiny silver hand holding a glass ball. Also, he decided to use some of the fine woods available at the Roberto-Venn school, inlaying rosewood and ebony into the existing body. The result was a distinctive body face, with a pinstripe running just within the perimeter that outlined a central portion of beautiful bookmatched figured rosewood, along with some ebony detailing at the bridge and the cutaways. He gave it a transparent pickguard to better show off the timber. When Nagel was all done, he sold the guitar to a local acquaintance, who then decided he was more into Les Pauls and returned it. Nagel took it along to a Yes gig in Phoenix in April '73 and showed it to Steve Howe. "Steve played around with it a little bit," Nagel remembers, "but he decided he really liked hollowbody guitars better." Nagel stayed friends with Howe and later made him an electric lute. Nagel still had his SG, and in July '74, Frank Zappa played Phoenix. Nagel was a fan - the first concert he ever saw was the Mothers, and he knew Zappa liked SGs. "I was hanging out by the stage door, chatting with the crew," Nagel says, "and they felt quite friendly toward me. They didn't chase me away. Frank arrived in the mid afternoon, and I showed him the guitar. He took it inside the venue and left me sitting out there, and then he sent somebody back out a few minutes later to come get me. He said yeah, I'll take the guitar: come by tomorrow and I'll give you cash." Nagel's recollection is that he got $800 for the guitar. "He was playing at the Celebrity Theatre and there was a hotel connected to it, so I met him there for breakfast the next morning and collected my money."29 This was one of Nagel's last achievements as a guitar maker, and soon he became a photographer, a career he has followed successfully to this day. Zappa made some changes to the electrics of the Nagel SG (aka Baby Snakes), adding numerous switches for coil-split, pre-amp, tone range, and phasing, and he continued to use it regularly on stage in 1976 and '77.
Great to see Tim playing Frank's famous guitar! So many amazing air sculptures were created with that instrument. Some of my favorites being the Inca Roads solos included on the Shut Up 'N' Play Yer Guitar records.
I just heard you mention Phil X. I used to jam with Phil and his brother Jimmy back in Toronto in the early nineties. He would host the best jam nights around!
It's funny, in his song "Be In My Video" Frank roasted all of the 80's music video cliches with lines like Atomic light will shine Through an old Venetian blind Making patterns on your face Then it cuts to outer space
The more I learn about Tim Pierce, the more impressed I am. And I am not easily impressed. His discography is evidence just how versatile and hard working he truly is.
Someone just needs to wire in or restore the circuit to be able to bypass the added features in the guitar. Sounded great though. I love the old green ringer Octavia effect.
It's good to see Ahmet has lost none of his youthful pizazz. Also, i can't believe that mofo from The Who said Frank's tone was shyte. Its a unique and awesome blend of razor blades on meth scratching a blackboard. I hope my neighbours agree. Ill give them a blast now.
You would need to study all the recordings involving this particular guitar. All situations when he falls into the background. If the guitar is noted to sound so horrible then just like detecting finger prints one should be able to ear out the guitar itself and hear whether it's boosted or simply rolled off and played lightly. Frank eventually found himself a rock star and probably relegated a lot of work to the band. That is one thing about him is he surrounded himself with talent. He also paid them. Not that he was arrogant. Any analyse the guitar sound. The finger prints. And see if the thing is always boosted that way. It should be doable.
So yeah Tims dads livelihood was in jeopardy until Tim turned 18. If Tim got busted being involved with a felony BAM his dad's security passed would have been yanked. So Tim did need to be careful in all the things he did in that atmosphere. There is a discipline there.
I think the way the inheritance was distributed. Don't quote me but I think Dweezil and Moon got a lesser share of the conservatorship, leaving Dweezil out of all decision making and not able to play his dad's music live.
My killing me curiosity, is when & where , the pick ups were changed. & ... my humble opinion, I would not have a luthier or ANYONE ,, "fix it" . (look at it , explain it , as Tim did. Ok ?! ) If you need to do rhythm, grab ANOTHER guitar or guitarist. ha ha ha
@@RocktailsRadio I know,, (kinda) I see the way, Ahmet looks & speaks on "Baby Snakes". I see Stevie Vai , is doing some great new projects & doing Utube interviews. I'm sure you & MANY others would love to see , Steve witn Baby Snakes & ofcourse, tell some stories.
@@RocktailsRadio P.S. ,, One of Steve Vai' new Projects 2o24 promoting, the recreation of King Crimson with Adrian Belew . ( Tony Levin , Danny Carey )
I have no idea what's going on, but dweezil would definitely know what's going on because he has the other half of the collection with similar stuff going on..
From the SG Book by Tony Bacon - Bart Nagel was still in high school, about nineteen years old, when he worked at the Roberto-Venn School Of Luthiery in Phoenix, Arizona, and learnt to make guitars. Someone brought in an SG with a severely damaged neck, and Nagel took it over. He built a new neck with twenty-three frets - "just for fun," he recalls - and he put a Gibson logo on the headstock "so that it would look like a Gibson, still, but the inlay was made out of silver, not mother of pearl, and the `I' was dotted with a tiny star". Nagel also used a star inlay at the fifth fret and a couple of dragon-like shapes at the twelfth. The three-piece mahogany and rosewood neck was a little fatter than a regular SG, Nagel says, and he "beefed it up" where it met the body. He left Gibson's original electrics in the guitar as they were, although for the selector he made a switch with a tiny silver hand holding a glass ball. Also, he decided to use some of the fine woods available at the Roberto-Venn school, inlaying rosewood and ebony into the existing body. The result was a distinctive body face, with a pinstripe running just within the perimeter that outlined a central portion of beautiful bookmatched figured rosewood, along with some ebony detailing at the bridge and the cutaways. He gave it a transparent pickguard to better show off the timber. When Nagel was all done, he sold the guitar to a local acquaintance, who then decided he was more into Les Pauls and returned it. Nagel took it along to a Yes gig in Phoenix in April '73 and showed it to Steve Howe. "Steve played around with it a little bit," Nagel remembers, "but he decided he really liked hollowbody guitars better." Nagel stayed friends with Howe and later made him an electric lute. Nagel still had his SG, and in July '74, Frank Zappa played Phoenix. Nagel was a fan - the first concert he ever saw was the Mothers, and he knew Zappa liked SGs. "I was hanging out by the stage door, chatting with the crew," Nagel says, "and they felt quite friendly toward me. They didn't chase me away. Frank arrived in the mid afternoon, and I showed him the guitar. He took it inside the venue and left me sitting out there, and then he sent somebody back out a few minutes later to come get me. He said yeah, I'll take the guitar: come by tomorrow and I'll give you cash." Nagel's recollection is that he got $800 for the guitar. "He was playing at the Celebrity Theatre and there was a hotel connected to it, so I met him there for breakfast the next morning and collected my money."29 This was one of Nagel's last achievements as a guitar maker, and soon he became a photographer, a career he has followed successfully to this day. Zappa made some changes to the electrics of the Nagel SG (aka Baby Snakes), adding numerous switches for coil-split, pre-amp, tone range, and phasing, and he continued to use it regularly on stage in 1976 and '77.
So when is Dweezil going to be on the show?
Dweezil is having to auction off his guitars, to get money together to tour. Please help your brother.
TOY MATINEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the most beautiful sounding album on the planet! Fantastic show, thanks a billion!!!!
Dweezil would have been an ideal person to do this exploration :)
Dweezil is going on tour featuring the music from Apostrophe. Get tickets now! www.dweezilzappa.com/pages/tour
yeah, Dweezil would know all the info............
@@RocktailsRadio I'm a poor sap that lives in the UK so he'll probably be avoiding going overseas :(
and Vai would have some info on that guitar i'm sure
how about Adrian Belew?
THANKS to everyone joining us on this Friday night (4/05)!
Thank you from Quebec ! I love Tim Pierce ! Beautiful mind and heart !
It’s Tim Pearce, it will always be awesome when he plays a guitar
Great show. Very informative!!
Thanks so much for listening!
Great to see Tim playing Frank's famous guitar! So many amazing air sculptures were created with that instrument. Some of my favorites being the Inca Roads solos included on the Shut Up 'N' Play Yer Guitar records.
Great show! loved it! Working on Tim's course right now! it's fantastic! everyone should pick it up, it's a total bargain! Thanks everyone! Mahalo!
Thanks for watching!
Another good show in the books. Love the interviews and Ahmet leading the way. Like a bunch of friends having a drink and shooting the sh*t.
We appreciate you!
Thank you for this podcast. I enjoyed it.
Tim is one of the nicest human beings alive
I just heard you mention Phil X. I used to jam with Phil and his brother Jimmy back in Toronto in the early nineties. He would host the best jam nights around!
I have wanted that guitar for 40 years.
Fantastic
So cool such a humble cat. So so glad this is here today!
This is like me and my buds hanging in the 70's and 80's just riffing on each other.
Felt like ten minutes
Thanks for watching!
A wet street at night, breaking a mirror and fire were the hallmarks of a great Springfield video.
It's funny, in his song "Be In My Video" Frank roasted all of the 80's music video cliches with lines like
Atomic light will shine
Through an old Venetian blind
Making patterns on your face
Then it cuts to outer space
Amazing show!!👌🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Tim is king
Right On 👍 big THANKS ☮️✌️
The more I learn about Tim Pierce, the more impressed I am.
And I am not easily impressed.
His discography is evidence just how versatile and hard working he truly is.
Great content, thanks Ahmet 👊🙏🤘🇦🇺
Once upon a time, we were in Albuquerque New Mexico......
Someone just needs to wire in or restore the circuit to be able to bypass the added features in the guitar. Sounded great though. I love the old green ringer Octavia effect.
Yes! Give us the Horsepower!!!
We are working on it...
Well this is neat!
Thanks for watching!
Can´t wait for the launch of "HORSEPOWER"! (..hope you don´t kill each other before it even starts..) LOL
"Holding Baby Snakes Guitar" correction "HUGGING" .the baby snakes guitar...
mmm hmmm
Great guests lately
Thanks for joining!
Ahmet (Rick) good show.
OMG. Rex Bogue was the luthier that made John McLaughlin's famous double-neck electric guitar.
Fun fact. Satriani was hired to play on the 1st Crowded House but ended up sing background vocal.
I would melt if I could play one of Frank's guitars.
Dweezil could fix it.
Dweezil is going on tour featuring the music from Apostrophe. Get tickets now! www.dweezilzappa.com/pages/tour
Love me some Oki Dog!
Wow ! Tim Pierce ! You never see him on UA-cam !
Exactly. Perfect human/musician to be all over UA-cam and social media. Thanks for watching!
Rex Bogue (RIP) did the electronics.
396 could be a hit song
It's good to see Ahmet has lost none of his youthful pizazz.
Also, i can't believe that mofo from The Who said Frank's tone was shyte. Its a unique and awesome blend of razor blades on meth scratching a blackboard. I hope my neighbours agree. Ill give them a blast now.
Dweezil should have been the guy to do this.
You would need to study all the recordings involving this particular guitar. All situations when he falls into the background. If the guitar is noted to sound so horrible then just like detecting finger prints one should be able to ear out the guitar itself and hear whether it's boosted or simply rolled off and played lightly. Frank eventually found himself a rock star and probably relegated a lot of work to the band. That is one thing about him is he surrounded himself with talent. He also paid them. Not that he was arrogant. Any analyse the guitar sound. The finger prints. And see if the thing is always boosted that way. It should be doable.
So yeah Tims dads livelihood was in jeopardy until Tim turned 18. If Tim got busted being involved with a felony BAM his dad's security passed would have been yanked. So Tim did need to be careful in all the things he did in that atmosphere. There is a discipline there.
Mike Landau and Bruce Gaitsch were Richard Marx go to guitar players.
Why are the Zappa siblings so divided? Perhaps the way they were raised?
I think the way the inheritance was distributed. Don't quote me but I think Dweezil and Moon got a lesser share of the conservatorship, leaving Dweezil out of all decision making and not able to play his dad's music live.
Dweezil is going on tour featuring the music from Apostrophe. Get tickets now! www.dweezilzappa.com/pages/tour
@@RocktailsRadio I read there has been a recent settlement on that issue allowing him to do so
Super Distortion pickups don’t cause Fuzz
That is correct.
My killing me curiosity, is when & where , the pick ups were changed.
& ... my humble opinion, I would not have a luthier or ANYONE ,, "fix it" . (look at it , explain it , as Tim did. Ok ?! )
If you need to do rhythm, grab ANOTHER guitar or guitarist. ha ha ha
Thanks for watching. No one is going to fix/change it. The suggestion was to make sure the wiring and circuitry is working the way it was intended.
@@RocktailsRadio
I know,, (kinda)
I see the way, Ahmet looks & speaks on "Baby Snakes".
I see Stevie Vai , is doing some great new projects & doing Utube interviews.
I'm sure you & MANY others would love to see , Steve witn Baby Snakes & ofcourse, tell some stories.
@@RocktailsRadio
P.S. ,, One of Steve Vai' new Projects 2o24 promoting, the recreation of King Crimson with Adrian Belew . ( Tony Levin , Danny Carey )
ua-cam.com/video/GGGWfoJ7uLE/v-deo.htmlsi=vxWzZ1pTEon2JLOa
its broken, it wont sound normal , yep thats Frank's tone lol ❤
Sadly the homeless situation may force Sunset Sound out of business.
Adele
What te fuck does Ron Jeremy do in this video?
Don’t be mean to Brendan!
Hurtful.
@@brendansmith15 Just kiddin'... FZ liked a bit of humour.
He's got the look, but does he have the weapon?
@@danaveye3977 You mean the big, juicy, women-eating whatchammacallit?
Whoa! This guy is a Zappa?
Strong jock/frat boy/cop vibes from this dude.
Is he trying to be Joe Rogan or something?
Thanks for watching!
Long intro guys, you can make that shorter ta know 😮
Oh no i lost the chat
Frank never played clean rhythm... I wouldn't be surprised if that fuzz circuit was on all the time on purpose.
Wouldn’t doubt that at all, but a couple switches aren’t working properly.
@@RocktailsRadio That should be easy to fix.
U
Musically I DESPISE the 80s. The absolute worst.
I have no idea what's going on, but dweezil would definitely know what's going on because he has the other half of the collection with similar stuff going on..
BTW love Tim pierce!
Tim’s solo on Runaway is BJ’s best guitar solo in their entire catalog.
Agree. 100% you can tell it’s not Sambora on that song. Way out of his league.
@@zenlandzipline it’s so good it almost sounds like a Lukather solo for that time.