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| | RETRO ACTIVE | | TK Smiths' Custom Smith Special Evokes the Tone, Style, and Mojo of Vintage Guitars | Although it's just a two- to three-hour drive from Los Angeles, the sleepy, high-desert California town of Yucca Valley might as well be a world away.
In fact, you could say 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World' away, since the town provided some of the striking, open-desert scenery in Stanley Kramer's classic 1963 comedy. Sadly, a lot of the wide-open spaces in the film have been replaced by Walmarts, Starbucks, and Taco Bells, but Yucca Valley, which borders Joshua Tree National Park, is still slow paced and friendly enough to remind visitors of a simpler time.
In many ways, it's the perfect setting for TK Smith Electronic Guitar Service. That's where lifelong Californian TK Smith produces—entirely by hand—his beautiful midcentury-modern Paul Bigsby–inspired Smith Special. It's a guitar that would have looked right at home in the hands of Grady Martin or Merle Travis.
"I'm such a Paul Bigsby nut," Smith says, referring to the pedal-steel and solidbody pioneer of the Forties and Fifties who's best remembered for the vibratos that bear his name. "In the Eighties, I played in a Western swing band called the Radio Ranch Straight Shooters. Our steel-guitar player, Chas Smith, owned a Bigsby pedal steel, so he turned me on to Bigsby's guitars. Before that, I only knew about the vibratos…" | | Read More» | |
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Rich Robinson – After the Black Crowes officially broke up last year, Rich Robinson found new wings as a solo performer and painter.
Matt Bruck's Vintage British Amp Collection – To develop a signature sound, Matt Bruck assembled an amazing and exhaustive collection of lesser-known British amps from the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies.
Dave Hill – Iggy Pop's apartment, John Oliver, Mexican prisons, and lots and lots of guitars may seem like disparate things, but they're all part of the wonderful life of comedian/Author Dave Hill. | | Buy This Issue» | | Subscribe Now» | |
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