WezV Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 i may be crazy for bidding on this but i know i can fix the issues it has yes, the body is split. yes, its rather messed up.... but nothing that isnt a rather easy repair best case: fix structural issues and its playable worst case: fix structural issues ans refinish and make it playable.. and maybe need some original pickups too ( or modern jaydee remakes of JB pickups) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Maybe it's a UK vs USA thing, but what's so special about John Birch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 Maybe it's a UK vs USA thing, but what's so special about John Birch? the first custom guitar maker in the UK. (+1). lived in the midlands of the uk (+1). made Tony Iommi's early guitars with John Diggins ( from Jaydee guitars). Made guitars for every british guitar hero in the70's & 80's (+1) basically when i was learning to make guitars the stories of john birch and john diggins making super famous guitars on their kitchen table gave me a bit of hope. I have actually fixed a few JB's along the way... and built an SG that stole a lot of influence from JB. you could just say john birch was THE guitar builder in the 70's... adn one of two massively influencly guitar builders i focus on... zemaitis being the other (why have i been playing with ageing metal if not for a complete metal top) it doesnt mean i dont want o push guitar design forward - but i love the past Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 so john, whats your feellings on black sabbath? They're good. After Dio they weren't worth a crap though. Paranoid is a classic album that should be in everyone's collection. They're a band that I like, but not enough to get all of the albums. I'd rather cherry-pick their catalog. Iommi isn't very much of a technical player, but he's very under-rated for what he's good at. He came up with hook after hook. A complete riff-master. Why do you ask? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IbanezDudeCK Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 That's one huge plastic backplate and a ton of controls for a 2 pickup guitar. That neck joint is pretty sick looking though. I love Sycamore guitars. Would've bought a flame sycamore acoustic but the acoustics were extremely outdated. Sounded great unplugged though. How much did this thing cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Why do you ask? just because john birch and john diggins are responsible for a lot of Iommi's tone. john birch SG's are impossible to get... so i had to settle for a messed up LP style in the short term i may add RAD's diablo set to this but longer term i really need to find some of those original pickups Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Score and I like Tim's plan, are you going to completely split it along those cracks to get the best bond? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 not sure yet - i will decide when it gets here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 That's one huge plastic backplate and a ton of controls for a 2 pickup guitar. That neck joint is pretty sick looking though. I love Sycamore guitars. Would've bought a flame sycamore acoustic but the acoustics were extremely outdated. Sounded great unplugged though. How much did this thing cost? £385. which i think is reasonable compared to the price gibsons in a similar condition go for john birches always have a lot of controls. its basic les paul wiring with a master volume added near the bridge. the other pot is a rotary for selecting mono/stereo operation and phase... not sure what the extra switch will be - not all of them had it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 So, was this one formerly owned by Pete Townshend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 nah, but there is a suggestion it was owned by Dave Hill from Slade he certainly had a thing for john birch guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 nah, but there is a suggestion it was owned by Dave Hill from Slade should have waited for the Superyob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Maybe it's a UK vs USA thing, but what's so special about John Birch? the first custom guitar maker in the UK. (+1). lived in the midlands of the uk (+1). made Tony Iommi's early guitars with John Diggins ( from Jaydee guitars). Made guitars for every british guitar hero in the70's & 80's (+1) basically when i was learning to make guitars the stories of john birch and john diggins making super famous guitars on their kitchen table gave me a bit of hope. I have actually fixed a few JB's along the way... and built an SG that stole a lot of influence from JB. you could just say john birch was THE guitar builder in the 70's... adn one of two massively influencly guitar builders i focus on... zemaitis being the other (why have i been playing with ageing metal if not for a complete metal top) it doesnt mean i dont want o push guitar design forward - but i love the past John also made a Red Special copy for Brian May, which didn't actually look very much like the RS. Brian "smashed it in an uncharacteristic fit of pique" as he didn't like the sound of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 at leat mine isnt as buggered as this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Wez that is one huge resto job. Did you get it? I would love to see this one fixed up and sport a set of Diablos. Birch is a hero of mine... it would be so cool to own one of his guitars. You are probably going to have to score a real set of Birch pickups for it. If you score a broken set I can try to fix them but if I am not mistaken most of his pickups are epoxy potted making them very difficult to repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 yeah, should be with me in a week or so I am going to look for some original pickups (have a few sources)... but it will come down to price John diggins still makes pickups like the originals for his oldboy replicas so i may be able to get a set from him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Re: the Dave Hill pics; Wow, it just does not get much more glam than that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted October 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Re: the Dave Hill pics; Wow, it just does not get much more glam than that! oh really! lets have another unusual john birch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 LOL but I was referring to the guitarist as much as the guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireFly Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Do it! If this thing came into my shop it would be a dream come true! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 but I was referring to the guitarist as much as the guitar. I must admit when you first said it doesn't get much more glam I took that as a challenge so I went searching.I knew tyou meant the guy...but I must admit defeat.. Back then even Satriani was fairly glam Just take a look at Kerry King then VS now But I must admit..I have found nothing more glam than that dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyt Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 but I was referring to the guitarist as much as the guitar. I must admit when you first said it doesn't get much more glam I took that as a challenge so I went searching.I knew tyou meant the guy...but I must admit defeat.. But I must admit..I have found nothing more glam than that dude ok thats a challenge Mick was pretty glam Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce were there Brian said 'I've just discovered a new constellation, but I'm still pretty f**king glam ok no idea who these guys are woah we might have a winner nah, remember seeing an interview with Dave, said he had to do something to compete with noddy's voice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 yeah, should be with me in a week or so I am going to look for some original pickups (have a few sources)... but it will come down to price John diggins still makes pickups like the originals for his oldboy replicas so i may be able to get a set from him Diggins would be the best source. The problem I have doing exact copies of the Birch pickups are the magnets and the covers. It would take a lot of work to find a source for the covers. It is not like my suppliers have them. As for the Samarium Cobalt magnets... that is a serious investment as I would have to order them custom in a quantity I couldn't use in 20 years. On a last note Birch uses really thin wire (AFAIK it was 46 awg) that is very difficult to work with. That being said I have had some success with substitute parts. Gibson's Iommi pickup is not a physical copy of a Birch/Diggins but a tonal clone and that I can manage for less investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 Different genre, musically, but no less fabulous. And certainly some Birch influence going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted October 24, 2010 Report Share Posted October 24, 2010 I really like Slade and Sweet. I got turned on to them both a couple of years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.