I saw this on the Les Paul forum and it gave me pause...
[www.maverick-music.com]
Mathijs, or anyone else, care to weigh in on this? It seems highly unlikely to me that this guitar is all that they claim it to be!

They never played MSG in 1978.
I've looked at lots of guitars where the salesman said
"so-and-so used to own this."
Sounds fishy to me.

tomk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They never played MSG in 1978.
> I've looked at lots of guitars where the salesman
> said
> "so-and-so used to own this."
> Sounds fishy to me.


Exactly right, in '78 they played the Palladium on 14th Street

A Keith Richards Burst?

[www.maverick-music.com]

First, Brian Jones' Goldtop is hanging in Bill Wyman's Sticky Fingers Cafe. Second, this is a center-seemed 1968 Goldtop with a 1958 serial number? Were center-seemed Goldtops ever made? Third, this certainly is not one of the four Mick Taylor's Bursts, nor have I ever seen this guitar in the hands of Keith Richards on stage nor in the studio. Fourth, the two guitars on the front sleeve of Ya-ya's were Taylor's Bigsby burst and Richards' faded darkburst, both stolen at Nellcote in July 1971, and certainly not this guitar. Last, the pictures of the Stones they show, all feature different guitars: Taylor's picture is from Manchester 1973, and he played a burst that had a mark between the pickups that looks much like "the claw" burst, I believe owned by TW. The Keith picture is taken at Sunset Sound Studio Room 1 in LA in May 1972, and Keith plays a pristine dark cherry sunburst bought at Gruhn's by Ted Newman Jones, his tech. And, the Stones didn't play MSG on the 1978 tour, they ended at Oakland Colloseum.

So, is this guitar really owned by Keith?

Mathijs

Mathijs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A Keith Richards Burst?
>
>
>
> Third, this certainly is not one of the four Mick
> Taylor's Bursts,

> Fourth, the two guitars on the front
> sleeve of Ya-ya's were Taylor's Bigsby burst

> Last, the pictures of the Stones they show, all feature
> different guitars: Taylor's picture is from
> Manchester 1973, and he played a burst that had a
> mark between the pickups that looks much like "the
> claw" burst, I believe owned by TW.


Mathijs,

Thanks for all this interesting information. Do you have more details on Taylor's "four bursts"? Is your website up again?

Thanks

I sent an e-mail to Maverick listing all the reasons why this guitar is not what they claim it to be. These guys have a lot of nerve to try and pass it off as a Keith Burst and all of it's associated history. Still, if people fall for the Nigerian letter scam, they'll fall for anything!

Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time poster. When I saw the previous posts about this, I got me knickers in a bunch as it were and wrote an e-mail with a bit o' attytood to these folks. As it turns out, Phil, the guy at Maverick is a very nice guy (especially in light of my note, which may have implied that he was a bullshitter) and a huge Keith fan, just not a fan as familiar with the dates and facts that everyone here takes as run of the mill and obvious. His story is accurate as far as I can tell, its just that the guy the axe came from (Cosmos from the Heavy Metal Kidz) got 75 confused with 78. The description has been changed. The Brian pic is only there for an example of Brian at the time (bad idea either way!) of the guitar's use.

Some of the other guitars on his site seem awfully accurate such as the axe Jimi used in the Hey Joe video and Martin Quitenton's metal front; partner to Ronnie's.

What's pretty amazing is that he says that on the Urban Jungle tour, he hung out with Keith heavily and that Keith borrowed one of his guitars for the whole tour because he had lost a particular type of axe in the Redlands fire (can't remember the year). He stayed on the same floor as the band in hotels and has a million stories to tell, which he said he would let us in on after things with this guitar die down. We'll see.
See ya

Still fishy, I think. They mention of MSG as "the last gig"
and whether it's '75 or '78, it wasn't the last gig. Facts are wrong.
Also, we're talkig about a transaction that was supposed to have taken place
almost 30 years ago. Without a certificate of authenticity from KR himself,
I wouldn't go near it with a a barge pole. Seems like a nice guitar, though,
from looking at in in the pictures. But I've bought many a guitar,
and owners always try to pull this. Besides, most of Keith's pre-Exile guitars
were stolen at Nellcote. IN the book The Beatles Gear, they can trace Harrison's Cherry Red Gibson Les Paul from Harrison to Clapton to Rick Derringer who owned it first when it was a gold top (I believe) to the serial number.
I've also met a few poplewho have said, "i hung out with Keith..."
"i hung out with Mick..." take it with a pound of salt.
I knew some girl who said she was their stewardess on the plane for
most of the '81 tour. Again, with a pound of salt...
Anyroad, did anyone see Keith's Nudie suit from '69 that was on EBAY a few months ago?
That was authentic, as Nudie Cohen put tags in the jackets of who they
were custom made for, and this one has "keith Richards" on the inside of the jacket.
Can't remember what it went for. I think $5,000.
I'll see if I can find a picture of it and post it here.

I repleid to an email from the store:

>There is no Bigsby on the album cover

I know that very well, thank you. There’s an entire set of outtake pictures of the session with Charlie and the donkey, and Charlie originally was carrying two bursts: the bigsby one that got stolen in 1971 and now currently for sale though Sotheby’s (didn’t sell), and the faded dark burst. I include a picture taken at the 1969 tour of some of the Stones’ guitars, and including the dark burst. Notice the bigsby screw hole. This burst was a 1959 with the bigsby and pickup covers removed, with hardly any flame visible. Taylor played this guitar for some shows of the 1970 and 1971 tours, and all shows of the 1972 tour. He replaced it with another burst for the 1973 tour, and it was either stolen in 1971 or sold it in the early 80’s to sustain his drug habit.

>We are not saying that this is BJ's gold top, where did you get that from
There’s a picture of Brian on your page

>We don't understand your ref to center seam gold tops, this is a retopped gold top so the >center seam originates from the flame Maple being installed on the goldtop body

I know that very well, but it is a rather unbelievable story. Keith had about 6 bursts in 1967, and he even decided to sell some. He sold the bigsby one to Taylor, and most likely also one to Clapton. When the Stones toured in 1969, they had at least 4 bursts available. After the burglary in 1971, he sent Ted Newman Jones to Gruhn’s shop, and Newman Jones bought 5 LP’s (bursts and a 1955 Gold Top, all in pristine quality) and an entire collection of other guitars. I really can’t see Keith Richards wanting a re-top when he was and is in the position to buy any burst out there, especially when burst where quite readily available (to the stars that is) in 1969 and 1970. Also, I have spoken with Ted Newman Jones (his tech from 1971 to 1976) on several occasions, and we spoke about Keith’s guitars. I never heard of a re-top.

Further, over the years I have collected pictures of ALL guitars ever used by the Stones on stage or in the studio. While this collection isn’t complete most probably (some rare guitars pop up once in a while, like a white Travis Bean TB500 in Ron Woods hands), I don’t have any picture nor did I ever see this guitar in the Stones camp. By the way, I don’t want to sound negative or what so ever! I hope all these beautiful guitars see the day of light one day, as Richards keeps most of his guitars hidden in the warehouse in London, forgotten by him self. I have always wondered what happened with all these guitars, and the more turn up the better it is.

Best,
Mathijs