Clarity and Sparkle Show – episode 2
As you will know, I entered Fergus, my custom built ‘Strat’ style guitar into the Clarity and Sparkle Show a few months back. The results were disastrous.
Fergus and I retreated to a health farm and slowly rebuilt our confidence and our wiring. But the good news was that The Clarity and Sparkle Show asked us back.
We surmised that this might have been due to the recent controversy over TV games shows and fixed results and that Clarity and Sparkle were just trying to keep their noses clean, but whatever the reason, we grabbed the chance for a comeback with both hands.
The show was recorded late last year, but finally they’ve sent me a recording of the event and I can now announce that Fergus just barnstormed the whole thing!
It was brilliant! Fergus sounded great and we just couldn’t stop playing. But the amazing thing was that the house band got the buzz as well and we all started jamming right there and then in the middle of the show!
Anyway, they’ve given me permission to post the recording on the blog, so here you go. Pour yourself a stiff drink and enjoy the drama. I know I did.
Clarity and Sparkle Show: Episode 2
Tags: Clarity and Sparkle, Dan Armstrong, Fergus, guitar pickups, Hank, Strat
Very enjoyable ! I especially like the fuzz/wah which sounds to my ears as though it has a germanium transistor(s). Is it a vintage unit, or something you have made ?
Fergus does sound good. I have a Japanese 50s reissue which I bought in 1999. The sunburst body and aged parts appealed to me. I refretted it, but I have yet to cut the nut slots. I’m looking forward to playing it again, but in the meantime, I’m using an old (60s I believe) Teisco which has a great single coil tone. To think, I used to dismiss these guitars when I was dreaming of Gibsons and Fenders etc. in my youth !
Steve.
Wow – good ears!
The wah is a Budda BudWah and the fuzz is a Fuzz Mania kit from Guitar magazine here in the UK. It features an AC128 Germanium transistor, and I got it with the deliberate intention of trying to re-create the sound my Colorsound Tonebender gave me in the seventies.
You can read about the near tragedy in its construction in the retreat diary.