Gibson Robotic Les Paul

Gibson Demo video of the new Les Paul Robot self-tuning guitar.

Bert Kaempfert - Happy Wonderland

Volume 1 of a two disc best-of collection. (Alas I don' have vol 2). Serious collectors of Bert's music will probably have most of these tracks, but it makes a nice, sunny introduction to the Kaempfert style.

01 - That Happy Feeling
02 - Swingin' Safari
03 - Market Day
04 - Take Me
05 - Similau
06 - Zambesi
07 - Happy Trumpeter
08 - Tootie Flutie
09 - Afrikaan Beat
10 - Sunday In Madrid
11 - Black Beauty
12 - Skokiaan

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Bert Kaempfert - Happy Wonderland

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Bert Kaempfert - Happy Wonderland

Mr Snookles

Gibson Les Paul Classic with Antique Mahogany Top and Scroll Logo

The Les Paul Classic Electric Guitar With Antique Mahogany Top Draws on the specifications that have made the Les Paul the most legendary electric guitar of all time, the Les Paul Classic Antique continues Gibson's popular Classic line with the vintage touches guitarists love. With a beautiful, antique mahogany top and acclaimed '57 Classic "Patent Applied For" humbuckers, this Les Paul Classic allows players to experience the power and performance of an original Les Paul at an affordable price.

Gibson Les Paul Classic with Antique Mahogany Top and Scroll Logo Specs:

• Top: carved mahogany
• Back: mahogany
• Binding: Antique
• Neck: set mahogany
• Neck profile: 1960s slim taper
• Peghead pitch: 17 degrees
• Neck joint location: 16th fret
• Fingerboard: rosewood
• Scale length: 24-3/4"
• No. of frets: 22
• Nut Width: 1.69"
• Radius: 12"
• Inlays: trapezoid on neck, Americana Gibson" Script on headstock
• Hardware: chrome
• Fingerboard inlay: antique
• Tailpiece: Stopbar
• Bridge: Tune-O-Matic
• Knobs: amber top hat
• Tuners: Green Key
• Pickguard: creme
• Pickups: 57 Classic "Patent Applied For" humbucker, uncovered with nickel polepieces
• Controls: two volume, two tone
• Switch: 3-way toggle
• Finish: Lacquer
• Case: Hardshell

Gibson Custom Shop Chambered 1958 Les Paul Reissue VOS

The Chambered 1958 Les Paul Reissue VOS (Vintage Original Spec) Electric Guitar from the Gibson Custom Shop has the great features, tone, and looks that made the original '58 Les Paul a classic, but with an ultra-light body! The Chambered '58 reissue guitar features a carved maple top, mahogany back, and one-piece mahogany neck with rounded '50's neck profile, single ply cream binding on the top and fingerboard, reissue trapezoid inlays, nickel plated hardware, and an original ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge.

The Gibson Burstbucker Pickups used in the Chambered '58 are historically accurate "Patent Applied For" replicas with an airy tone and unbalanced coils. A medium output Burstbucker 1 is used in the neck position, while the Burstbucker 2 in the bridge position has a slightly hotter output. Both have unpolished magnets and non-potted coils like the original "Patent Applied For" pickups.

Gibson Custom Shop Chambered 1958 Les Paul Reissue VOS Specs:

• Body: Chambered mahogany with carved maple top
• Neck Material: 1-piece mahogany
• Neck Joint: Long neck tenon
• Neck Profile: Early '50s rounded
• Nut Width: 1-11/16"
• Scale: 24-3/4"
• Fingerboard: Rosewood
• Frets: 22
• Fingerboard Inlays: Vintage trapezoid
• Binding: Single-ply cream on top and neck
• Machine Heads: Vintage tulip
• Pickups: Burstbucker 1 (rhythm) and 2 (treble)
• Controls: 2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way switch
• Bridge: ABR-1 bridge with lightweight aluminum stopbar tailpiece
• Weight: 7.58 lbs
• Case Included: Custom Shop case

Gibson Custom Shop 1968 Les Paul Custom Chambered

The dual benefits of a lighter body and more resonance are achieved by the craftsmen at the Gibson Custom Shop by strategic placement of the chambers that are routed from the mahogany back. The result is a Les Paul that is not only easier on the shoulders so you can play all night long, but is actually louder, with more sustain.

The guitar's '57 Classic humbuckers output the smoothest, richest tone of any of the Gibson pickups.

the 1968 Les Paul Custom has long been a favorite of players and collectors with its distinctive style and long list of appointments. At top of the list is the soothing Antique Pelham Blue finish that actually looks green because it has been yellowed by the Gibson Custom Shop's antiquing treatment. Add to that the trademark split diamond headstock inlay and lavishly bound body.

Gibson's Custom Shop produces some of the finest electric guitars on earth. Using the best materials money can buy, a staff of skilled luthiers reproduce some of the greatest Gibsons of the past and create stunning new instruments for players and collectors who demand the best.

Gibson Custom Shop 1968 Les Paul Custom Chambered Specs:

• Carved maple top
• Chambered mahogany body
• Multi-ply white/black binding on top & back
• Nickel hardware
• ABR-1 bridge, stopbar tailpiece
• 1-piece mahogany neck w/long neck tenon
• 22-fret bound ebony fingerboard
• Pearl block inlays
• Rounded neck profile
• 24-3/4" scale length, 1 11/16" nut width
• Kidney bean tuners
• 57 Classic humbucking pickups
• 2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way selector switch
• Includes Custom Shop case, certificate of authenticity, and custom care kit

Gibson Les Paul Standard AAA Flame Maple Top

This stunning guitar features a AAA flame maple top in a natural finish that lets you see the beauty of the wood, and an exotic 3-piece flame maple neck. It has all the great sound and features of the Les Paul Standard, like BurstBucker Pro pickups, a tune-o-matic bridge, trapezoid inlaid rosewood fretboard and single-ply neck and body binding, but with upgraded gold hardware.

Gibson Les Paul Standard AAA Maple Top Specs:

• AAA flame maple top
• Mahogany body
• 3-piece flame maple neck
• 2 BurstBucker Pro humbucker pickups
• Tune-o-matic bridge
• Rosewood Fretboard
• Trapezoid inlays
• Single-ply neck & body binding
• Gold hardware

Peggy Lee - Bewitching-Lee

Peggy Lee's alluring tone, distinctive delivery, breath of material and ability to write many of her own songs made her one of the most captivating artists of the vocal era, from her breakthrough on the Benny Goodman hit "Why Don't You Do Right" to her many solo successes, singles including "Manana" and "Fever." This 1962 release is the first of Lee's greatest hits albums.

01 - Why Don't You Do Right
02 - Don't Smoke In Bed
03 - It's A Good Day
04 - Alright, Okay, You Win
05 - Golden Earings
06 - Hallelujah, I Just Love Him So
07 - Fever
08 - I Don't Know Enough About You
09 - Them There Eyes
10 - While We're Young
11 - Manana
12 - My Man

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Gibson Custom Shop 1959 Les Paul Standard Full Gloss

This very limited edition of the Gibson Custom Shop, the 1959 Les Paul Standard Full Gloss Electric Guitar features several special touches created by our guitar buyer. First, he hand-picked the individual pieces of figured maple that would form the tops of each of these guitars. Each piece has a unique and especially vibrant character that really makes each of these guitars pop. Then he specified the special rare and unique finish that appears on the cover of "The Beauty of the Burst" book by Yasuhiko Iwanade (and again on page 75) and asked for it to be completed in a full-gloss to re-create the guitar as it would have appeared fresh from the factory in 1959. The sum of this collaboration is a stunning Les Paul with serious historic mojo.

The only major change to the Les Paul Standard in 1959 was the addition of wider, fatter jumbo frets which facilitated more dramatic bends. The real force of this change was not felt until the late 1960s when rock and blues players like Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, and Peter Green began to discover the fat, warm voice of the '59 Standard. This moment in history marked the beginning of the idealization of the 1959 Les Paul Standard as the quintessential guitar in the minds of guitarists and collectors everywhere.

Using a combination of traditional hand craftsmanship and modern technology, the luthiers of the Gibson Custom Shop painstakingly reproduce the key elements that define cool, vintage instrument-stunning looks, flawless playability, and unsurpassed tone. Solid mahogany back, historically accurate long neck tenon for superior strength and sustain, period correct neck profiles, hardware and electronics, and 100% nitro-cellulose lacquer are all part of this special Gibson Custom Shop guitar.

Gibson Custom Shop 1959 Les Paul Standard Full Gloss Specs:

• Body and Hardware
• Carved figured maple top
• Solid, non-weight relieved mahogany back
• Single-ply cream binding on top
• Thin toggle switch washer and jackplate
• Aged nickel hardware
• ABR-1 bridge, lightweight aluminum stopbar tailpiece
  
  Neck and Headstock
• One-piece mahogany neck with long neck tenon
• 22-fret rosewood fingerboard Acrylic trapezoid inlays (accurate shape and color)
• Single-ply cream binding
• 1959 rounded neck profile
• 24-3/4 inch scale length
• 1-11/16" nut width
• Holly headstock veneer
• Vintage tulip tuners
  
  Electronics and Strings
• BurstBucker 1 (rhythm) and
• BurstBucker 2 (treble) pickups
• CTS pots and bumble bee capacitors
• 2 volume and 2 tone controls
• 3-way selector switch
• Vintage Reissue .010 strings
• Includes Custom Shop case, certificate of authenticity, and custom care kit.

Gibson Custom Shop 1959 Les Paul Standard Full Gloss Electric Guitar Features:

• Exact duplication of the 1959 carved top
• Elimination of the subtle gap on the pickguard and rhythm pickup
• Angle of neck pitch re-set to 1959 specs
• Exact same filler and stain as used in 1959
• Thinner lacquer to present exactly as a 1959 Les Paul did in finish and color
• The binding has been adjusted 50/1000 to duplicate the 1959 model

Gibson Custom Shop 1957 Les Paul Reissue with Wraparound Tailpiece

Limited edition Goldtop with Burstbuckers.

The beauty of the Gibson Custom Shop 1957 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue Electric Guitar will make your jaw drop. All the glowing vintage beauty of the deep metal-flake gold top with the thick, gorgeous tone of "Patent Applied For" humbuckers the first year they came out. Now called BurstBuckers (a 1 at the neck and a 2 at the bridge), they're joined to the original CTS pots and bumble bee caps for totally authentic Les Paul tone. Early '50s rounded neck profile provides vintage Gibson feel, too.

As if that weren't enough, Gibson has done something special with this model for players who like to palm mute strings - a wraparound bridge. If you like to chunk away with lots of power and plenty of tone, it just doesn't get any better than this guitar. But it's a limited edition, so you'd better hurry!

Gibson's Custom Shop produces some of the finest electric guitars on earth. Using the best materials money can buy, a staff of skilled luthiers reproduce some of the greatest Gibsons of the past and create stunning new instruments for players and collectors who demand the best.

Gibson Custom Shop 1957 Les Paul Reissue with Wraparound Tailpiece Specs:

• Mahogany body with carved maple top
• Early '50's rounded mahogany neck w/original-style truss rod route
• Rosewood fretboard with vintage trapezoid inlays
• 2 BurstBucker pickups
• Nickel hardware
• Wraparound tailpiece

Gibson Custom Shop Chambered Les Paul Class 5 Figured Top

The Chambered Les Paul Class 5 from the Gibson Custom Shop has the great features, tone, and looks that made the original Les Paul a classic, but with an ultra-light body and gorgeous carved figured maple top! It features a mahogany back, and one-piece mahogany neck with rounded '50's neck profile, single ply cream binding on the top and fingerboard, reissue trapezoid inlays, nickel plated hardware, and an original ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge.

The Gibson Burstbucker Pickups are historically accurate "Patent Applied For" replicas with an airy tone and unbalanced coils. A medium output Burstbucker 2 is used in the neck position, while the Burstbucker 3 in the bridge position has a slightly hotter output. Both have unpolished magnets and non-potted coils like the original "Patent Applied For" pickups.

Gibson Custom Shop Chambered Les Paul Class 5 Figured Top Specs:

• Body Wood: Mahogany
• Top wood: Figured Maple
• Scale Length: 34-3/4"
• Neck Joint: Set-in
• Neck Wood: Mahogany
• Fretboard: Rosewood
• Neck Shape: 50's
• Frets: 22
• Nut Width: 1-11/16"
• Fretboard Radius: 12
• Bridge: Fixed
• Pickup Bridge: Burstbucker 3
• Pickup Neck: Burstbucker 2
• Controls: Volume / Volume / Tone / Tone
• Tuners: Kluson
• Hardware color: Nickel
• Pickup selector: 3-way
• Finish: Lacquer

Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Super Custom

The Gibson Les Paul Super Custom Electric Guitar has the features you've come to expect: a one-piece mahogany neck, carved maple top, and an ebony fingerboard, plus one that might surprise you. Instead of a mahogany body, the Super Custom is solid maple. Adding a bit more brightness to the overall tone, this Gibson Les Paul is perfect as a lead guitar or for adding a slight jangle to your rhythm. A pair of '57 Classic humbuckers dish out trademark tone via dual tone and volume controls and 3-way switching. Gibson also includes a tune-o-matic bridge, stopbar tailpiece and gold hardware.

Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Super Custom Specs:

• Body Wood: Maple
• Top wood: Maple
• Scale Length: 33-3/4"
• Neck Joint: Set-in
• Neck Wood: Maple
• Fretboard: Ebony
• Neck Shape: C-Shape
• Frets: 22
• Nut Width: 1-11/16"
• Fretboard Radius: 12
• Bridge: Fixed
• Pickup Bridge: '57 Classic Humbucker
• Pickup Neck: '57 Classic Humbucker
• Controls: Volume / Volume / Tone / Tone
• Tuners: Grover
• Hardware color: Gold
• Pickup selector: 3-way
• Finish: Lacquer

Gibson Custom Shop 1958 Les Paul Reissue Plain Top VOS

The 1958 Les Paul Reissue VOS (Vintage Original Spec) Electric Guitar from the Gibson Custom Shop has the great features, tone, and looks that made the original '58 Les Paul a classic, but with a plain top for "workhorse" comfort and feel. Features a maple top, mahogany back, and one-piece set-in mahogany neck with rounded '50s neck profile, nickel plated hardware, and an original ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge.

The Gibson Burstbucker Pickups used are historically accurate "Patent Applied For" replicas with an airy tone and unbalanced coils. A medium output Burstbucker 1 is used in the neck position, while the Burstbucker 2 in the bridge position has a slightly hotter output. Both have unpolished magnets and non-potted coils like the original "Patent Applied For" pickups.

Like all VOS (Vintage Original Spec) Series instruments, the 1958 Les Paul Reissue Plain Top VOS is handcrafted for comfort and playability in the Gibson Custom Shop. The construction, neck profile, hardware, and electronics are period accurate, and a special nitrocellulose finish treatment gives it the patina of a gently aged vintage guitar. Includes Gibson Custom Shop case, a certificate of authenticity, and custom care kit.

Specs:

• Body Wood: Mahogany
• Top wood: Maple
• Scale Length: 28-3/4"
• Neck Joint: Set-in
• Neck Wood: Mahogany
• Fretboard: Rosewood
• Neck Shape: 50's
• Frets: 22
• Nut Width: 1-11/16"
• Fretboard Radius: 12
• Bridge: Fixed
• Pickup Bridge: Burstbucker 2
• Pickup Neck: Burstbucker 1
• Controls: Volume / Volume / Tone / Tone
• Tuners: Kluson
• Hardware color: Nickel
• Pickup selector: 3-way
• Finish: Lacquer

Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Spotlight Flame

1983 was a year of change for Gibson, when it first began to concentrate on reissuing vintage spec instruments. While we're all vintage-crazy now, this was a fairly new idea then. They knew that to get the necessary attention, they would have to do something special. The Spotlight was the answer. Using contrasting, figured woods, Gibson's Les Paul Spotlight guitars did indeed cause a lot of players to give them a second look.

Gibson now brings back the Spotlight in beautiful flame maple, with all the vintage features you love: C-shaped mahogany set neck and mahogany body, '57 Classic Humbucker pickups, Grover tuners, gold hardware and a sweet lacquer finish.

Specs:

• Body Wood: Mahogany
• Top wood: Maple
• Scale Length: 32-3/4"
• Neck Joint: Set-in
• Neck Wood: Mahogany
• Fretboard: Rosewood
• Neck Shape: C-Shape
• Frets: 22
• Nut Width: 1-11/16"
• Fretboard Radius: 12
• Bridge: Fixed
• Pickup Bridge: '57 Classic Humbucker
• Pickup Neck: '57 Classic Humbucker
• Controls: Volume / Volume / Tone / Tone
• Tuners: Grover
• Hardware color: Gold
• Pickup selector: 3-way
• Finish: Lacquer

Maurice Larcange - Weekend Musette

Don't be put off by the rather battered cover of this album. Maurice Larcange and his orchestra serve up a delightful slice of easy-listening a-la Francais. As I pointed out in a previous post, I am rather partial to the films of Jaques Tati. If the whimsical soundtracks of his movies are to your taste, then you will love this album. Plus, it has another version of 'Mon Oncle' to add to your collection...

01 - Pablito
02 - Irish Ballad
03 - Qui Qui Casque
04 - Forward The Music
05 - Paris Told Me
06 - As Long As You Will Always love Me Like This
07 - That's Love
08 - Your Accordian
09 - My Uncle
10 - Cow Of Java
11 - The Ballet Of Hearts
12 - Patricia

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Maurice Larcange - Weekend Musette

Mr Snookles

Bert Kaempfert - Orange Coloured Sky

ORANGE COLORED SKY, surely one of Bert Kaempfert’s loveliest albums, was recorded in November 1970. The album was the first of his productions to use multi-track recording technique (eight sound tracks) and has everything that the name of Bert Kaempfert conjures up: his typical rhythm with its pithy bass, smooth-as-silk arrangements for strings and chorus, stereo-like entries of the winds from the right and left, and plenty of trumpet solos.

The six new compositions by the Bert Kaempfert and Herbert Rehbein team range from pleasantly easy-going numbers such as Tea And Trumpets and Friends and the more gentle While The Children Sleep to the shuffle of Wake Up And Live.

Also heard on this disc are new and old hits by other composers covering a time-span of 50 years. Bye Bye Blackbird and In Apple Blossom Time are typical “Tin Pan Alley” songs from the ‘20s: the latter was one of the most popular hits of its day and later a great success for the Andrew Sisters.

The title-number Orange Colored Sky, composed by the accordion-playing band-leader Milton DeLugg, became famous in the 1950s in vocal versions by Nat “King” Cole and Betty Hutton; Cracklin’ Rosie was Neil Diamond’s very first Number 1 hit in the 1970s; and the rock group Blood, Sweat & Tears landed in the Top 20 with Hi-De-Ho.

From The Bert Kaempfert Website

01 - Cracklin' Rosie
02 - My love
03 - Don't Go
04 - Tea And Trumpets
05 - Friends
06 - While The Children Sleep
07 - In Apple Blossom Time
08 - Snowbird
09 - Hi-De-Ho
10 - Bye Bye Blackbird
11 - Orange Coloured Sky
12 - Wake Up And Live

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Bert Kaempfert - Orange Coloured Sky

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Jake Concepcion - Sexy Saxes

I think it's time for a couple of "Instruments Behaving Badly" themed album covers...

The smouldering sax of Monsieur Jake belts out an array of standards accompanied, as the title points out, by his orchestra.

About Jake I can tell you little, except that he appeared as a sideman in a couple of Cantopop albums by Leslie Cheung. Perhaps one of our oh-so-knowledgeable readers has some more info...

01 - Harlem Nocturne
02 - Autumn Leaves
03 - Tara's Theme From 'Gone With The Wind'
04 - Harbour Lights
05 - Annie Laurie
06 - My Funny Valentine
07 - Red Sails In The Sunset
08 - Danny Boy
09 - Summertime
10 - Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
11 - September Song
12 - Misty

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Jake Concepcion - Sexy Saxes

Mr Snookles

p.s. any of you who have been following the dialog between Musical Interval and self will know that there has been a glitch with a couple of posts that prevented them from playing properly in Windows Media 9. I have re-posted the Swingle Singers post, and the links on that post now point to the updated versions.

Music In The Latin Manner

Here's another one from our friends at Reader's Digest, also in glorious mono. Nonetheless there's some seriously good listening here as Mario Ruiz Armengol and Chucho Ferrer unchain their orchestras and crank up the bongos. I have no idea when this record was made - any listeners out there with a copy in their archives?


01 - Chucho Ferrer And His Orchestra - Celito Lindo
02 - Mario Ruiz And His Orchestra - Cachita
03 - Mario Ruiz And His Orchestra - Jurame
04 - Mario Ruiz And His Orchestra - Ay, Ay, Ay
05 - Chucho Ferrer And His Orchestra - Ansiedad
06 - Mario Ruiz And His Orchestra - Lamento Borincano
07 - Chucho Ferrer And His Orchestra - Adios Pampa Mia
08 - Mario Ruiz And His Orchestra - Maria La O
09 - Mario Ruiz And His Orchestra - Mis Flores Negras
10 - Chucho Ferrer And His Orchestra - Alma Llanera


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Music In The Latin Manner

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King Records - Dynamic Sound Showcase

One of the advantages of living Down Under is that you come across records that haven't had a lot of exposure in other parts of the globe. Japanese label King records put together a couple of samplers for it 'Super Dynamic Stereo' recording process in the early 1970's. Curiously enough, the two records I came across each have the same side A, but different side B's.

I have combined the three sides into a single post to give you a taste of the Japanese lounge scene. And, let me tell you, some of these guys are hot. Nobuo Hara And His Sharps And Flats could give Enoch Light a run for his money IMHO, and the tracks where the SDS All Stars and Nobuo Hara team up are some of the fattest big band sounds I have heard. I am also a bit of a Jaques Tati nut, so the inclusion of the theme from 'Mon Oncle' is a definite bonus. All in all, well worth a listen.


01 - SDS All Stars - Bridge On The River Kwai (Interpolating Colonel Bogey)
02 - Tokyo Cuban Boys - Oye Negra
03 - Sharps and Flats and All Stars - Chatanooga Choo-Choo
04 - Nobuo Hara And His Sharps And Flats - La Cumparista
05 - The Band Society Of Tokyo - The Marines Hymn
06 - Leon Pops Orchestra - Blue Hawaii
07 - SDS All Stars - Mon Oncle
08 - SHiro Michi And His Group - Dance Of The Sugar-Plum Fairy
09 - Sharps and Flats and All Stars - Moonlight Serenade
10 - Poss Miyasaki And His Coney Islanders - My Little Grass Shack In Kealakekua
11 - Tokyo Cuban Boys - Cumana
12 - Nobuo Hara And His Sharps And Flats - Blue Tango
13 - Nobuo Hara And His Sharps And Flats - Mack The Knife
14 - Nobuo Hara And His Sharps And Flats - Ol' Man River
15 - Leon Pops Orchestra - Lovely Hula Hands
16 - Leon Pops Orchestra - Isle Of Capri
17 - Leon Pops Orchestra - Londonderry Air
18 - The Band Society Of Tokyo - Washington Post March

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King Records - Dynamic Sound Showcase pt1
King Records - Dynamic Sound Showcase pt2

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King Records - Dynamic Sound Showcase

Mr Snookles