Nearly there....

[Pipmeister]

Well, I'm not sure how and why I have found myself in what I would consider to be a privileged position, but..... Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath telephoned me again last week .

He did say back in June that he would call me some time to check in on me, but I just assumed that wouldn’t happen. We chatted for about 25 minutes, and I told him that I have bought one of the Gibson Tony Iommi Signature guitars. He asked me to send him a picture of it, as there are a couple of different models that Gibson did – not least the worn (distressed) version that they made with a run of 50. Those are all sold out now, even though they were £20,000 – yes really!

Anyway, he then gave me his mobile number and his e-mail address! I sent him a couple of pictures, and he replied saying that my guitar is essentially a set-up of the version that he recorded the 1st album with. He also answered a question that I put to him regarding the recording of the next album Paranoid, and finished off saying to call him anytime - he even called me buddy! I am still astonished that this has happened, but he clearly finds it refreshing to chat with me. It is fortunate that I have the most incredible memory recall for interesting anecdotes, and at 73 years old, he seems genuinely enthused to talk about his past.

Pip.

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

Leg.End.



Never meet your heroes, Eh, Pip?

 

[mk one]

That is really nice of him, and it must be great to share your passion with someone who was actually part of it.

Would like to see the guitar too, a re-creation shot of your now famous real guitar at a gig photo maybe!?

 

[Pipmeister]

That is really nice of him, and it must be great to share your passion with someone who was actually part of it.

Would like to see the guitar too, a re-creation shot of your now famous real guitar at a gig photo maybe!?

Here is my Tony Iommi Signature SG that I had to buy from a guitar shop in Germany. There is 4 -6 month lead time on it over here in Blightly, which I obviously needed to avoid!




..... And a couple of fairly poor quality pictures of him playing his when it was still set-up the same as my replica:







Pip

 

[mk one]

NIce, hopefully you have played it already!

Trying to work out what the truss-rod cover says in the first photo of Tony playing, looks like a Les Paul one. never noticed he played left handed either.

 

[Pipmeister]

Some of the early SG models were call Les Paul. However Les Paul himself wasn't consulted or happy with the design.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_SG
Iommi worked with John Birch (Birmingham based guitar maker) to initially customise his 1964 Gibson SG Special, including rewinding the P90 Pickups. The Les Paul Truss Rod cover is just one that happened to be bunged on at the time. John Birch went on to make the legendary black 24 fret SG with the Mother of Pearl Crucifix inlays and Superflux Pickups that he made himself. This guitar has very little paint left on it now!



..... I can't find a good photograph of it close up, but here it is when it had a bit more paint on it in 1978 - and the picture make me chuckle too:




Pip

 

[mk one]

Interesting, did not know that about the SG, not really a Gibson fan despite owning a couple.

And that black guitar with the crucifix fret markers is the one i remember seeing

 

[Pipmeister]

Rightyho, back to the main event.

I spoke to my Palliative Care Macmillan Consultant last week by Zoom, and she has decided to increase my Opiate medication. My general well being has been mixed, and some days I don't have a lot of strength and stamina to get stuff done around here like pottering in the garden. I planted out some Winter bedding last week and it really took it out of me. In contrast, I stayed at sister's in Malvern the previous week, and got loads done. I did a make-over on my brother in law's bike that I built for him some years back, including fitting it up with Hydraulic Discs and a new Drive Train. I took most of my workshop tools including a Workstand, which made everything easier, but I surprised myself at what I achieved.

We went into Birmingham, and visited the Black Sabbath Bridge on Broad Street. It is an amazing thing to see when I consider how that band were so heavily criticised by the music press when I was a growing up and supporting them at every opportunity.





Finally, the big wrench for me has been coming to terms with the decision to sell the Kawasaki.

I do not feel safe riding it now. The last few trips on it were hard work for me trying to concentrate on the road conditions rather than enjoying the ride. I knew that this day was coming, and I have to accept that we are where we are with the progression of the disease. My Consultant can now concentrate on effective discomfort management, without needing to consider that I could at anytime be blasting down the road on that missile. It was a great idea getting a motorbike back in February 2020, and I have had a great time travelling to places that I would not otherwise have seen.

Astonishingly, as the price of these used bikes has risen so much, I sold it back to Kawasaki Greenham where I bought it from, and for not much less than I paid for it!

I'm already looking at another guitar - well you can't take it with you!!

Pip

 

[The History Man]

Yes you can. The guitar that is

 

[Pipmeister]

Okay, after a development in my condition, which involves further attention, I decided that a bit of retail therapy was required .

My Gibson Tony Iommi Signature SG has a particular pair of pickups fitted; the single coil P90 that give a particular sound, so I wanted a guitar with a pair of Humbuckers. I have always liked the radical shape of the Gibson Flying V and the Explorer - note these were introduced in 1958 (the year I was born), with a view to trumping the traditional Hour Glass figure shape that guitars traditionally were back then. It's interesting when companies and manufactures push the design of anything to a different level, and it would have been a real shock to the musicians at the time to see these new shapes.

Anyway, my best mate Karl and I went to two shops last week in Guildford and Epsom with a view to buying a new or nearly new Explorer. A new Explorer is on a 3 month back order . We did it on the train, and the travelling went well. Sadly we had a bad experience in the Guildford shop, who sold a guitar that I had asked to be brought in from their warehouse. We only popped out to use the time up while it was being collected. When we got back, it had been sold. I thought that Karl was gonna punch the idiot dealing with us, and had to get him out of the shop PDQ. Anyway, I ended up buying a similar newer Explorer from a Guitar shop on e-Bay, which arrived Thursday. It’s 2017 Gibson Explorer in black with chrome hardware.







Check out the finish of this beauty, with my garden reflected in the paint!



Pip