Robben Ford Discussion

[lemonjefferson]

Hi Everyone,

I wonder if anyone can shed some light on which Fender models Robben actually owned before the USA custom shop models.

1. Talk to Your Daughter album cover and first tuitional video is a Fender Esprit Ultra
--does anyone know where was this made and what happened to it (was it nitro or poly)?

2. Most of Blue Line was on a Tobacco Burst Fender RF (which looks very similar to the above) which had uncovered PUs then later covered PU's and gold tone knobs

-- where was this made and was it nitro or poly was it the same as his first guitar with just the tross rod cover changed to say Robben Ford instead of Ultra?

3. On some live footage you can see a MIJ Fender RF in the background with a red burst which he didnt use much - i think this was a poly model?

4. Are there any photos over Robben playing any of the others (for example a black or blonde model.

Many thanks and sorry if these are silly quesions!
LJ

[Red Suede]

My repair man was Robben's roadie/guitar guy for a while, and he told me that Robben used the MIJ models longer than the Custom shop models which aligns with an article someone posted either here or on the Gear Page. Robben talks about playing it so much the neck kinda wore out. I'll try and find the article.

[lemonjefferson]

many thanks!

[Aeolian]

Red, I heard him say the same "wore it out" comment at a GC clinic when he got the Red Lady. He was refering to the brown sunburst shown on the album covers. Somewhere in there he had the blonde one that Garth has, and the black one that Chris Cobb has. And there are videos of him with with a couple of more redish sunbursts like yours. Including that in the TV studio vid where you can see two of them sitting there.

One could assume that Fender sent him several over the years. He probably had a number one and used the others on european tours or at times when he wanted whatever was slightly different about them. Then, when number one had been refretted so many times that the fingerboard was changing shape (I'm assuming that this is what he means by wearing it out as redressing the fingerboard takes a little bit of material off and eventually, it becomes noticably different. And there really isn't anything else about a guitar that wears out) he had another one made which he liked except that the finish on the neck was "sticky". At the time he made this comment I figured that was a poly finish as there is a long post cure to that stuff and the neck will still feel sticky compared to an old one for 6-12 months. So he had the finish sanded off the back of the neck. Bill Morgan has that guitar now and has pictures of the sanded neck on his website.
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