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JackD
Senior Member
Joined: 21 Feb 2004
Posts: 243
Location: Rochester, MI
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 Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:23 pm Post subject: Re: RF model |
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Wow, that guy wen throuh a lot of work! I have a late 90s MIJ that I LOVE. It's a cherry sunburst and is in near mint condition. I did, however, change the bridge and tailpiece to the Tonepros and the pickups to the 59/JB combo. It's a fantastic guitar! |
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jconstant
Senior Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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Robben asked me how long I'd had mine and then said he missed his. He went on to say that he took one of originals and Dan Smith, from Fender, took the other. Robben said that he 'just sort of played it away'. I don't know if he actually still has it or it was disposed of but he basically said he played it until he couldn't any more. I have the conversation recorded because it was at the last clinic I attended. I'll go back a listen again to see if there are details I missed.
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lemonjefferson
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Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 83
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| Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 9:01 am Post subject: |
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thanks very much for that info
so basically Robben or his tech must have changed the trussrod cover from "Ultra" to "Robben Ford" at some point between the making of the 2 tuitional videos (the blues and blues and beyond).
Maybe he still owns that guitar in his collection somewhere - it would be great to get some photos of it to see the final condition etc.
thanks
LJ |
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Taoman
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Joined: 15 Jun 2006
Posts: 5
Location: Marin County
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| Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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This is a little off the subject, but still interesting...
Did you know that Gene Baker made 2 Ultra/Esprit style Guitars right after he left Fender? Robben was still flirting with the idea of using the old design until Gene came up with "His" R.F. model...
I think that Fender put a stop to it, hence only 2 were made!
Here's the one that I have 
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jconstant
Senior Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Taoman wrote: | This is a little off the subject, but still interesting...
Did you know that Gene Baker made 2 Ultra/Esprit style Guitars right after he left Fender? Robben was still flirting with the idea of using the old design until Gene came up with "His" R.F. model...
I think that Fender put a stop to it, hence only 2 were made!
Here's the one that I have
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Beautiful!
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Taoman
Member
Joined: 15 Jun 2006
Posts: 5
Location: Marin County
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| Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks...
Its more of an Ultra FM than an Esprit-
Mahogany body and neck with chambers...
Ebony board with RF inlays and a beautiful quarter-sawn flame top!
Serial # 062 
It's had quite a life... Been stolen... Abused... Recovered... Repaired...
Gene and I call it the "Red Violin"
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jconstant
Senior Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Taoman wrote: |
It's had quite a life... Been stolen... Abused... Recovered... Repaired...
Gene and I call it the "Red Violin" |
Wow, how did it get stolen and how'd you get it back?
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Taoman
Member
Joined: 15 Jun 2006
Posts: 5
Location: Marin County
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| Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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Well its a long story... 
It was stolen from the original owner after a gig- typical-
Found its way up to the Berkeley area, spotted at a show by friends of the original owner, again Gene only made 2 and the other was Black, so they knew it was Pete's (an L.A. Session Man) During the recovery "Process" the Head-Stock got snapped  it was professionally repaired, was used for a few years by Pete including a couple albums... Pete falls out of love with it, (like it had been raped or something) and after checking in with Gene to make sure I was buying it off the real owner  I wind up with "The Red Violin"
Gene and I wrote back and forth a lot about this guitar, He's the Best!!!
Quite a story huh? (Almost like the movie)
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jconstant
Senior Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 9:37 am Post subject: |
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| Taoman wrote: | Well its a long story...
It was stolen from the original owner after a gig- typical-
Found its way up to the Berkeley area, spotted at a show by friends of the original owner, again Gene only made 2 and the other was Black, so they knew it was Pete's (an L.A. Session Man) |
Wow, what a story. So how did Pete get it back from the guy who was spotted playing it? I can't imagine he wanted to just hand it over.
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Taoman
Member
Joined: 15 Jun 2006
Posts: 5
Location: Marin County
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 10:25 am Post subject: |
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He didn't go into great detail on that...
I've been playing for over 25 years and its the best instrument that I've ever owned, bar none... and I've owned some nice guitars
It speaks volumes about Gene's craftsmanship, and artistry-
He told me that when properly repaired a broken head-stock can make the instrument stronger and add more sustain! I sent him pics of the repair before I bought it... Coinsidentely I noticed that most if not all of his B3's use maple necks now.
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jconstant
Senior Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 1:39 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, I've heard nothing but great things about Gene.
A little off topic, but for many years I've had this reoccurring dream that the headstock of my 335 gets snapped off. Then I take it to a place to fix it and months go by and I never seem to be able to get it back.
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Ian Hurtt
Senior Member
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
Posts: 189
Location: Northern California
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| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Taoman wrote: | | ... Coinsidentely I noticed that most if not all of his B3's use maple necks now. |
Gene's archtops (basically the RF models) use a variety of neck woods, including maple, mahogany and limba. The strat and tele styles are using maple more for tone than strength, I would imagine. |
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