Robben Ford Discussion

marinblues · Last edited by marinblues on Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:57 am; edited 1 time in total

...can you please ask Robben what setup (guitar&amp) did he use on the tune "Big Fun" on the latest Bill Evans (sax) CD.

I've been listening to it over and over for the past year and the tone is simply superb (not to mention the funky chops, double stops and cromatic lines....). However, it could be any guitar, even if it does sound like it has humbuckers.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Very Happy

Marin

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Daved · Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:41 pm Post subject:

Robben says he used his Dumble amp and a red Baker with checkered trim that he had for a short period of time, while Gene was building an ax specifily for Robben, before passing it back to Gene.
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marinblues · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 11:35 am Post subject:

Thanks, thanks, thanks..... Smile

My compliments to Robben for that tune and that tone.

The red Baker really excels with this thick, balanced midrange. I remember Robben playing it 2 years ago at the Naima club in Forl?, Italy. The tone was suberb and his fingers were simply flying all over it. The double stops worked really well on it.

Here's a pic of the Man with the red Baker:
http://www.marinblues.it/naima/robben19.jpg

Thanks to you both!

Marin

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edpesco · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 11:46 am Post subject:

....I also loved that red Baker in 2002, why does this man always change guitars? Maybe because he has just one wife? Laughing

Aeolian · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:12 pm Post subject:

Reading over the reviews from Japan and Robben's mixed reaction to the Tonker speakers, it seems like what might be a killer tone to some of us, might be nice but not exactly what Robben was after. I belive the red Baker was alder while the black one is mahogany bodied. Both sound great but tone being such an individual thing, Robben kept the one that spoke to him.
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marinblues · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:16 pm Post subject:

The red Baker was:

24.625 scale
Fully Bound Mahogany Cambered
Body with a Spruce Top
Maple Laminate Neck and Ebony Fretboard
Robben Ford Custom Neck shape
Seymour Duncan '59 neck pickup, JB bridge pickup
Trans Red paint
Side Block Inlays
'59 control layout with a 6 way varitone switch

Wink

M.
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Aeolian · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:27 pm Post subject:

Hmm, so the difference is the varitone, and the PG/59 pup arrangement that ended up in the black one? And the red one was so much prettier. Who knows, every piece of wood is different, maybe the black one just had the mojo.

Wonder where the red one went? Are you hiding it somewhere Marin? Very Happy

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marinblues · Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:33 pm Post subject:

Maybe MeanGene knows where it ended up:

http://www.bakerguitars.com/guitarofthemonth/aug.html

Personally, I felt that the red baker sounded a lot thicker than the black RF signature. For me it's was like comparing a full blown chain saw to a dentists drill. Very Happy

I'd love to get hold of that baker but I think it got sold at the baker auction.

M.
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meangene · Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2004 8:33 am Post subject:

That guitar was recycled as Robben and I would refer to it, if he wanted something different he would trade in one of two guitars we always tried to keep in his hands. We could usually make him something new within a few months and let the evolution process take its course. Would love to create a web page showing the how the model progressed and evolved through the stages. I wonder if I have pic's of them all, I should.... It's been a great way for him to R&D and find what’s right for the project at hand, whether it be Jing Chi, Robben Ford or hanging out with his brothers. If I remember right Evan Conway bought that particular guitar when it came back through the shop, sold off before the company ever closed. Only thing sold at the sale was incomplete guitars and machinery as well as my name %*&#!!!! Oh well what do you do, stand up brush ones self off and get back to kicking butt again. Plus what good is the Baker name without Gene behind it, and the rest of the bunch like Gilberto and the team. I miss all those guys and Jennifer a lot.

When I first saw the thread I thought it was the Red Mini Humbucker Crucible prototype he played a bit on the new CD and the Jimmy Kimmel show that Overland Express just got a hold of. Nice ride wish I could have kept of few of his fiddles for myself. His latest revision of the RF model will ride again soon, subtle changes....
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Aeolian · Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2004 8:55 am Post subject:

How's that for whetting some apetites. Can't wait.

Gene, did you ever make any P90 guitars for Robben? One of the coolest Bakers I ever got my hands on was a spruce top P90. Just personally couldn't get into the varitone. I heard that he took his 54 out again for a brothers show. If anyone can make a guitar to keep that one at home, you da man.
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kirk95 · Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2004 12:02 pm Post subject: