A student of Jim McCarty ...

[uwe]

Nugent felt at home with his Byrdland and no one else playing heavy music played one at the time (or after), it was his preferred live instrument. Like any good musician, he probably played in the studio whatever was convenient and/or sounded best recorded.

Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash is forever identified with his Thunderbirds and his Custom Hamer Explorer bass (with 60ies TB pups) which he played live to almost the exclusion of anything else, but Argus was recorded with a Ric 4001 throughout and a lot of the Laurie Wisefield era albums (There's The Rub or Front Page News for instance) saw a Fender P in action which he thought recorded well.

The P in action:

[lowend1]

Nugent felt at home with his Byrdland and no one else playing heavy music played one

...except Jim McCarty hisself circa 1960-61, which is where Ted acquired his affinity for "The Mighty Gibson Byrdland".

[uwe]

In 1960/61 heavy rock didn't yet exist! But you're right, Nugent himself says that he fell in love with the Byrdland then.

Did Gibson ever release a Nugent signature model of it? Or was he regarded too much of a liability to name a guitar after him?  Certainly, without him I wouldn't even know what a Byrdland is. It featured so prominently on many of his album sleeves though not always in a fit to play state as the strangely bridge-less Byrdland on the Free For All sleeve documents!



Thinking about it, the short scale of the Byrdland (23-1/2", compared to Gibson's usual 24-3/4" and Fender's usual 25-1/2") probably appealed to him and his rhythmic approach as well as all the bending he does. Or perhaps he has small hands. You hardly ever saw him with a larger scale Fender, but pics do exist.

[lowend1]

In 1960/61 heavy rock didn't yet exist! But you're right, Nugent himself says that he fell in love with the Byrdland then.

Did Gibson ever release a Nugent signature model of it? Or was he regarded too much of a liability to name a guitar after him?  Certainly, without him I wouldn't even know what a Byrdland is. It featured so prominently on many of his album sleeves.

Boy, talk about a niche market guitar! Ted's had signature ammo, I believe, but no Gibson model. He was the first big name to play PRS guitars, though, and there was a very limited production 90s model called the "CE24 WhackMaster" that Ted actually had listed on his website. It looked like the zebra version he has played for ages. There was also a prototype single cutaway semi-hollow called the "Blackbyrd" that was apparently sent to Ted for his evaluation.
Fun fact: Former Danzig guitarist John Christ put together a Nugent tribute band of sorts some years back to play with during breaks in the Danzig schedule. I believe he did own and use a sunburst Byrdland for this project.

[uwe]

Boy, talk about a niche market guitar!

  Yes, given Ted's implacable talent and marksmanship in offending pretty much everyone and his brother/sister, a large majority of the world population would be ruled out right from the start. Even in jazz circles holding the Byrdland in traditional esteem, Nugent is probably not filed just before Joe Pass and Lee Ritenour.



He actually discussed a Custom Shop edition in the mid-nineties with Gibson, but they were busy with other stuff (they said) and that a proper Byrdland would be just too work-intensive to make it worthwhile with the arch-top and all. Make of that what you will (darn vegan, lesbian, radical-left, gun-grabbin' pussies they all were!), but given his ability as a guitarist and how devoted he is to that unlikely choice of a guitar, he sure deserved a - perhaps very limited - signature model (if you are prepared to forgive him all the crap he has said and still says).

[ilan]

I thought the most recorded Beatles guitar was the Gibson J160E?

Okay, most recorded electric guitar then.

BTW they were always seen with Vox amps but recorded mostly with a Fender Bassman.

[lowend1]

Yes, given Ted's implacable talent and marksmanship in offending pretty much everyone and his brother/sister, a large majority of the world population would be ruled out right from the start. Even in jazz circles holding the Byrdland in traditional esteem, Nugent is probably not filed just before Joe Pass and Lee Ritenour.



He actually discussed a Custom Shop edition in the mid-nineties with Gibson, but they were busy with other stuff (they said) and that a proper Byrdland would be just too work-intensive to make it worthwhile with the arch-top and all. Make of that what you will (darn vegan, lesbian, radical-left, gun-grabbin' pussies they all were!), but given his ability as a guitarist and how devoted he is to that unlikely choice of a guitar, he sure deserved a - perhaps very limited - signature model (if you are prepared to forgive him all the crap he has said and still says).

Yes, Gibson was probably very busy gearing up for robot tuning, the Firebird X and whatever other idiotic nonsense was hatched during Henry's reign of terror - not that they have entirely eschewed bird-brained marketing concepts in his absence, mind you.
Really? A Byrdland discussion and you post a GIF of Ted with a Howard Roberts Fusion?
Another note on Ted'd playing... I read a thread somewhere that included a few posts by a guy who had done some engineering on a series of Nugent sessions. He was NOT a fan of Ted's music, but said that he was impressed by his focus and professionalism - his parts were pretty much all done in one take. This gentleman went as far as to opine that Ted was probably the most accurate player he has worked with in the studio. This is not surprising - if you ask Ted, he will undoubtedly tell you the same thing.

[ilan]

A fully carved Nugent sig Gibson Byrdland will sell only to a very small number of his fans who will be able to afford this undoubtedly very expensive guitar.

A Nuge'd version of the Epi Elitist Byrdland with Burstbuckers, Florentine cutaway, no pickguard and a Gretsch strap button for a switch tip could appeal to more buyers.

[lowend1]

Okay, most recorded electric guitar then.

Yielding to my pedantic tendencies, technically, the J160E IS an electric, but they didn't always record it plugged in. However, "I Feel Fine" (allegedly captured here) among others...

[uwe]

"A Byrdland discussion and you post a GIF of Ted with a Howard Roberts Fusion?"

Yup, but only because

 (i) I didn't know such a guitar existed,

(ii) I can't tell the difference between the two except that maybe the Byrdland is thicker? I was wondering about that.

[lowend1]

"A Byrdland discussion and you post a GIF of Ted with a Howard Roberts Fusion?"

Yup, but only because

 (i) I didn't know such a guitar existed,

(ii) I can't tell the difference between the two except that maybe the Byrdland is thicker? I was wondering about that.

When you see them side by side, the differences are pretty obvious. The Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion has a smaller body than the Byrdland, larger cutaway, dot inlays in the fingerboard instead of blocks, conventional bridge and (TP6) tailpiece instead of the archtop bridge and trapeze tailpiece (there was a different tailpiece used later on).

[uwe]

Oh, I see it now, I always thought those were slightly modernized Byrdlands. How embarrassing. Danke für die Aufklärung.

So he fooled us all these years, he wasn't just a Byrdland player, he was also a Howard Roberts Fusioneer! Probably voted Democrat in secret too and carries bear cubs safely across the road.

I remember him explaining his hollow body guitars penchant with the type of natural feedback he gets from them. He likes his guitar to be just on the verge of feedback on stage - with him having to always control it. He certainly never sounded brittle, but always had a creamy sustain.

[gearHed289]

(i) I didn't know such a guitar existed,

Alex Lifeson started playing one occasionally around 1981.

[uwe]

I see. I've never followed Lifeson much because his playing leaves me cold - much like Steve Howe's does in fact. Before all Rush fans now pounce on me: I'm not saying he's not a skillful guitarist, he is. But neither studio nor live I've never heard a solo by him that has given me goose bumps of the good kind, he never elicits anything above "oh, that was interesting" with me. I don't have that with Peart's or Lee's playing, they can/could both grip me emotionally or at least draw a smile on my face.

I don't really have an explanation why that is except that there is probably too little Blues influence in Lifeson's playing for me - I find that lacking with Howe (another skillful guitarist, no doubt) too. Trevor Rabin rocks, Steve Howe doesn't.

Ok, enough alienating of the PROG audience for one day!

[ilan]

I always identified the Howard Roberts Fusion with the finger tailpiece with fine tuners. Never realized there were some with TP6.

It's very different from the Byrdland. Plywood, center block, smaller body. It can't hold a candle to the mighty Byrdland.