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lemonjefferson
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Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 83
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 Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 3:31 am Post subject: looking for a Fender Robben Ford made in Japan |
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Hi everyone,
Im looking to buy a Fender Robben Ford made in Japan (between i think 1984 and 1993-94).
If anyone has or knows of one please let me know.
thanks very much
LJ |
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lemonjefferson
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Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 8:29 am Post subject: esprit |
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to add to my previous message - I am also trying to locate a Fender Esprit Ultra (not elite) also made in Japan but rarer than the Fender RF.
many thanks |
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BlueRunner
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Joined: 19 Sep 2003
Posts: 646
Location: City of Trees, USA
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lemonjefferson
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Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Fri May 18, 2007 11:40 pm Post subject: esprit |
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thanks fo reply,
I have a few leads (one in Japan and one in US) so theres hope, also I found the Esrpit Ultra to be much rarer than the Robben Ford model because the Esprit Ultra was only made for one or two years before Fender changed the model over to the signature.
Last edited by lemonjefferson on Mon Oct 08, 2007 7:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
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henkholland
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Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 249
Location: the Netherlands
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lemonjefferson
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Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 12:02 pm Post subject: esprit |
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many thanks
yes thats a great site.
I wondered how exactly Robben actually discovered the esprit ultra - did he actually have a hand in designing it or was it already a Fender model that he happened to try out in a shop one day - (I know this subject has been covered before but it was vague on this point).
As soon as someone mentions Robben Ford I think of the esprit ultra the same as SRV and his beaten strat or Jimmy Page and the Les Paul!
many thanks |
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lemonjefferson
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Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2007 5:47 am Post subject: fender robben ford |
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Hi guys
After a worldwide search for one of these elusive guitars I managed to track down a Fender Robben Ford Japan model, Ill post some pics in a couple of weeks when it is shipped to me. Many thanks to everyone for the kind information and advice you sent me.
If anyone else wants one of these and cant find one maybe I can lend some search tips to track one down - you need a lot of caffine and no sleep for about a week - I forgot to mention!
thanks
LJ |
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Aeolian
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Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 886
Location: SF Bay Area
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 10:46 am Post subject: Re: esprit |
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| lemonjefferson wrote: | | I wondered how exactly Robben actually discovered the esprit ultra - did he actually have a hand in designing it or was it already a Fender model that he happened to try out in a shop one day - (I know this subject has been covered before but it was vague on this point). |
This was the result of collaboration between Dan Smith and some others at Fender, and Robben. He wanted something similar to his 335 but more compact. Since he had played archtops for many years, he suggested spruce for the top instead of the more common maple. This and the chambers became defining elements of this guitar. I remember at a clinic someone remarking that it was similar to a chambered PRS (one piece back, chambers, carved top, set neck). Robben chuckled and said "yeah, but this was first". The published Fender history has it released only as an 84 model (coming out sometime in 83) and then being discontinued during the sale/transistion of Fender to the Smith consortium. Then brought back later as the RF model with conventional humbuckers instead of the Schallers in the 84 versions. I believe that Robben changed out the Schallers on one's he used and Fender moved away from those pickups by the time of the re-release. I have an 84 Elite and I changed out the Schallers as they were overly hot and muddy. I also changed out the Schaller stop bar for a conventional Gibson one, something I noticed Robben doing while he was still using the various Baker built versions (prior to leaving Fender together with Gene and using the now famous instruments Gene built under his own name). The Schaller stop bar has an issue where as it wears where the ball end of the string goes, it tends to twist and ball and cut the string, and you lose lots of E and B strings. Garth Webber still uses the stock Schaller stop bar on his RF as he feels that there was an effect on the sound that he didn't like with the Gibson bar. (can't remember if he wrote that here, or told me separately)
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There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com |
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frank0936
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Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Posts: 916
Location: Fairhope, AL
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 1:49 pm Post subject: RF model |
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On one of the RF DVD's he says that he changed the pickups because the stock ones "were no good". He also talks about changing the stop bar because he liked the Gibson one (I beleive he said it was larger). That's the same interview where he says he has had the volume and tone controls on the guitar bypassed for about a year. He also talks about wanting a guitar smaller than the 335 and mentions the collaboration with Dan Smith.
Frank |
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lemonjefferson
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Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 6:00 pm Post subject: esprit |
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My favourite tone of Robben Ford is the sound on Talk to your daughter (aint got nothin but the blues e.g.) I think that was most peoples first album of Robbens, Im pretty sure that was an esprit ultra. Ive seen him with Bakers which sound great but always preferred him with old Fender RBs!!!
The 335 sound on inside story is very different in contrast. But of course Robbens playing is amazing on all his albums. |
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bottom line
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Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 13
Location: milwaukee
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 8:49 am Post subject: looking for a Robben Ford made in Japan...? |
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If you look closely on the headstock of Robben's "Talk To Your Daughter"
guitar, you will see that the word Esprit doesn't appear written in the inlay.
This tells me that it is NOT an Esprit Ultra model.
Further, the truss rod cover has his signature engraved on it,
which tells me that the guitar is most likely one of the earliest RF signature guitars, made in Japan.
The answer can be found by examining the serial number of that guitar.
Does anyone know it? |
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Aeolian
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 886
Location: SF Bay Area
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 3:22 pm Post subject: Re: esprit |
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| lemonjefferson wrote: | | My favourite tone of Robben Ford is the sound on Talk to your daughter (aint got nothin but the blues e.g.) I think that was most peoples first album of Robbens, Im pretty sure that was an esprit ultra. Ive seen him with Bakers which sound great but always preferred him with old Fender RBs!!! |
When Robben severed his ties with Fender and went with Gene, he publically said that he didn't use the Fender RF's much for recording. And that most of the BlueLine recordings were either the Tele or his 54 Goldtop. During a break in an Ojai clinic, he told jconstant and I about Misdirected Blues being the 355 that he'd brought to that clinic. He has a decent stable of guitars and often tried several on various songs to see which sounded like the best fit to him.
The Fender RF's were used in public because of the endorsement deal. In Europe he used them almost exclusively. In later BlueLine years and afterwords, he used them much less in the local US shows I was at. The Red Lady and the solid maple top got some use around the Tiger Walk timeframe, but it was usually the Tele and one other. Like one of his 355's, Sakushta (sp?) occasionally the 54, and maybe a Fender RF.
Interestingly, most folks expect that he primarilly uses humbuckers. But that thick tone comes from the way he plays. Very few recordings are with humbuckers. Besides his old 335 and a mini humbucker Epi Riviera, all the guitars I've seen are either single coil, or have coil taps/varitones. The only BlueLine recording that sounds like humbuckers to me is Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, which is much duller sounding than any of the other songs.
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There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com |
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Millibobs
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Joined: 25 Apr 2007
Posts: 291
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| Posted: Tue May 22, 2007 11:12 pm Post subject: tone |
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Interesting stuff about what guitars Robben uses. Oddly enough, as a long-time LP player and a humbucker obsessive, I find my best sounds (and therefore playing) come from either my US Standard Tele or my PRS SE Soapbar - both of these outshine any 'buckers I have ever heard.
Do you know what pickups Robben has on his Tele? I'm sure it'll have been covered previously, but it takes some tracking down!
Still working on that thick, single-coil tone.......and the technique of course, the technique....looks like a lifetime of work ahead.... |
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lemonjefferson
Senior Member
Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:05 am Post subject: Esprit |
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Heres another thought:
When I hear Garth Webber I hear some similar Robben sounds, and even other guitarists who use Fender RF guitars have almost a unique sound that I have heard on the Talk To Your Daughter album. The Baker to me sounds more like a conventional Les Paul tone.
Im trying to say that the Fender RF (like it or not) has a very unique sound that sets it apart from other guitars.
do you think this is a valid statement?
thanks |
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PierreL
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Joined: 18 Jul 2003
Posts: 862
Location: France
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| Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 7:55 am Post subject: Re: tone |
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| Millibobs wrote: | Interesting stuff about what guitars Robben uses. Oddly enough, as a long-time LP player and a humbucker obsessive, I find my best sounds (and therefore playing) come from either my US Standard Tele or my PRS SE Soapbar - both of these outshine any 'buckers I have ever heard.
Do you know what pickups Robben has on his Tele? I'm sure it'll have been covered previously, but it takes some tracking down!
Still working on that thick, single-coil tone.......and the technique of course, the technique....looks like a lifetime of work ahead.... |
If I remember well, the pickups were the stock ones. The bridge pup had just been rewired by Lindy Fralin. |
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lemon: This might be a tough search, unless you can somehow charm our fellow BBS'er Bill Morgan into parting with his (see 
