2021 - A strange year!
The Falken
Wow, at the beginning of the year a whole new Duesenberg design. "Reverse", with two Split Kings and the two Split switches adjustable in height!
ANDERTONS, UK
In addition and to all new Duesenberg models a fantastic feature of the Andertons. Brexit or no Brexit, these guys have got it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIgAGT8uWIg
Here in honor of Mr. Wandré "The Scarabeo" - an elaborate one-off!
Here an original:
More in the great Bender Land
The final prototype! Soon coming into production.
More Super Fly
Pole-Peace
ClipHaus is back!
German vintage! This design goes back to a mechanism made by ROKO (Robert Kolb) in the 60s. What looks like a roof at the top is a clip made of spring steel, which presses the worm shaft against the gear wheel, resulting in a completely backlash-free movement. However, the old ROKO machine heads, which were used by many guitar manufacturers such as Gretsch, Guild, Höfner, Framus, etc., were much clunkier and also did not have this lining on the clip. Also, our tuners use my old "push-through" patent, which means the strings are put through the shaft from the top and can then be clipped off the back. Very convenient and it saves and bloody fingertips and string ends wobbling around on the headstock!
Yup, now the new tools are ready. These fantastic tuners are now going back into production soon!
Johnny Depp
Jesus, how cool sings our Johnny! An incredible video of the Hollywood Vampires. It gets under your skin!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8VnYZLWr_s
Fancy knobs that will soon go into production!
Trem'o'Lite
A new tremolo that is super easy to mount to the frame without drilling new holes. It's made possible by a leaf spring that reliably ensures that the tremolo returns to its original position.
Kill-Switch
The first and only kill switch that actually activates the sound when tapped! This is made possible by a special switch pot, which - when first turned to zero - goes to full output when you tap it with your finger. Finally a real "machine gun feeling"! The idea came from Rammstein guitarist Paul Landers, we implemented it with the help of our Mr. Rudi Hintermeier.
Best of all, this special pot comes with a circuit board that simply plugs over the contacts and then soldered. No little wires to drive you crazy!
Wandrella Tailpiece
A beautiful, delicate tailpiece for jazz guitars etc., inspired by Mr. Antonio Pioli "Wandré".
2021 Trans-Tune Tremolo
After decades of trial and error and making countless elaborate prototypes that didn't work perfectly enough, I finally made it! A tremolo that preserves the pitch intervals of the 6 strings, like running a slidebar over the strings of a lapsteel. And Corona-free! Will go into production sometime this year.
Meiomei, what did my old DTV Orange have to endure for prototype material?!
The life insurance for every guitar - the new Duesenberg Drop Stop System!
Meiomei, completely forgotten iFrom the year 2017! Drop Stop: Via a mechanism, the Drop Stops screwed to the strap hook onto the strap pins of the instrument and are fixed there. This permanently protects the strap from slipping and the instrument from fatal falls, and even during the wildest stage show the baby remains safe. Unlike other systems, the Drop Stops can be used comfortably even with straps with narrow holes thanks to a smaller diameter.
The Drop Stop system is compatible with Duesenberg strap pins without modification. For all other instruments, two matching strap pins including wood screws are included.
So a set consists of two Duesenberg Drop Stop, two compatible strap pins, two wood screws.
Gold- & Silverfoil Pickups und eine neue Brücke
Humbucker dimensions and the ingenious inner workings of the Davoli/ Wandré Originator pickups. Incredibly brilliant and open sound!
And a new guitar bridge with sliding and fixed locking saddles. As if made of one piece!
Carlos Raya
playing a Duesenberg Prototype with Split King pickups
The Electric Alley
Meiomei, in my old age and in Cádiz, the city of flamenco and carnival, I had to discover this awesome band by chance. 5 young guys who make really official and absolutely authentic hard rock, reminiscent of Black Crowes, AC/DC, Free, Bad Company etc.. Yes, rock is finally on the rise again! And listen to this singer Jaime (James) Moreno! It doesn't get much better than that! This is international high class!
Sergio Jaime Rafa Nando Fran
These guys have a practice space in the old industrial zone, rumbly driveway alleys where you indulge in music past garages and small businesses at the very end. There's even a huge Rolling Stones poster emblazoned on the wall at the top of the alley. And across the alley lives Yowy, an older gentleman and fan who constantly supports the guys and occasionally serves them a great seafood dinner.
This is a band that deserves the greatest success! To try one more ...
The two "heads" of the band: Jaime Moreno and Nando Perfumo
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSulvnYtiX4
And here: 25 minutes Interview in my workshop in Cádiz (of course in spanish)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4BTFkdQIqw
Sollte meinPopularitäts-Index in Cádiz nun steigen?!
My hardware "museum" ...
Dieters Fight time
And another one ...
Movies:
Every now and then you come to the topic of movies during conversations and people ask me which are my favorite movies. So here is a small selectionL
Dead Man - Jim Jarmousch with Johnny Depp 1996 (one of the best movies ever!)
From Dusk till Dawn - Robert Rodriguez also 1996 (with Quentin Tarantino & George Clooney)
Mars Attacks - Tim Burton also 1996 (with Jack Nicholson etc. Brilliant humor!)
District 9 - Neil Blomkamp 2009 (fine mirror of our society)
Witching & Bitching - Àlex de la Iglesia 2013 (Spanish: Las brujas de Zugarramurdi) (with Carolina Bang, Hugo Silva) Incredible Witching.
El dia de la bestia - Àlex de la Iglesia 1995. (with Santiago Segura, Àlex Angulo etc.) Àlex de la Iglesia my favorite director anyway!
Hellboy II - Guillermo del Toro 2008 (with Ron Pearlman). Best humor!
Der Knochenmann - Wolfgang Mumberger 2009 (based on the novel by Wolf Haas, with Josef Hader.
Kottan ermittelt - Mabuse returns - 1982 (the last episode). Peter Patzak & Helmut Zenker, with Lukas Resitarits etc.) Totally surreal!
Wow, just added one more: "Seconds" - 1966! Black and white. Directed by John Frankenheimer. Fascinating and highly topical!
News from Spain!
Yes, the Spanish have managed to turn asphalt into an imitation cobblestone. They asphalt the road, then heat the asphalt again using infrared, lay this grid over it and press the pattern into the soft asphalt with this heavy rumbling machine. On the sides, where the mopeds are, you can see the original pavement. It's ingenious!
Duesenberg - a good investment!
Modern current events
In July for the second time from Madrid to Hannover for vaccination, Biontech. 4 hours later in the company turned over, bumms, light off for 2 seconds. But that was it. Incidence in Spain on 30.7. = 700. On 31.7. = 699! Respect!
The Electric Alley
Then on August 3rd with the train to Cádiz, 4 hours and 4 minutes for nearly 700km, punctually on the minute, also all respect! Why in August to Cádiz? Everything is full of people there! Sure: The guys have their concert on August 6th, The Electric Alley in the Castillo de Santa Maria, which looks rather Mexican.
At the entrance immediately completely abstruse regulations for a musical event in the open air with 280 chairs sold out for 10 days: Mask, no smoking, distance, and the sea with its fresh wind is not 50 meters away. Then disinfect hands. The sun had set, and you were constantly monitored by gray uniformed city guards. "Pull your mask back up! Don't smoke anything out of the vaporizer!" Something like that can spoil part of the musical enjoyment, although the guys were fantastic again, a super concert, also with plenty of Duesenberg at the start.
Messi goes!
What a jerk! This guy has so much money that he could spend only a fraction of it in his whole life. Yet he could have easily offered to play for FC Barcelona for a year or more for free. And they would have canonized him for it, at least godlike! But nowadays only the money counts and nothing else, no decency, no morals, only laboriously squeezed out crocodile tears. What a ridiculous farce!
Oh, and Dusty Hill is also no longer with us ...
Oh dear, that was in August 2003 - ZZ Top in Hannover!Wandré Rock'n'Roll Bass
A basement find in Cologne, pretty sure one of the rarest Wandré basses in this world, especially since in multi-color paint!
And here meanwhile the current state of my collection ...
Wandré Bridge
If you can't resist taking a Wandré guitar apart, you'll always discover new details. It's quite ingenious how the Italian allows the octave adjustment by means of knurled wheels!
But if you have lost these bridge saddles (left), you are really screwed. Because you can't buy them later! What to do? Make them yourself and possibly even better (right).
The strings come from the tailpiece and run through the octave adjustment thread (M6) forward to their support point. To do this, the good Pioli - or whoever did it - slit open these M6 threads. My much simpler solution: Drill a central hole of 2.5mm diameter in the M6 thread, which comes out at the front of the saddle.
Ah, Los Rollings!
What they call the Rolling Stones in Spain! And aren't they sweet with us?! Announcing the continuation of their US tour and putting our pink-pink Paloma into the picture, which we once produced as part of the "Fight Breast Cancer" project. And at the bottom right still one of our magnet-fixed ashtrays, which I once made for them years ago to suck the cigarette smoke away from Charlie Watts, who unfortunately doesn't need it anymore. What wonderful and brilliant gratitude! I think this guitar is still to be auctioned off at some point and will certainly bring in proceeds of over € 100,000 again.
And another from Ronnie ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE6x3ZnlnRw
The holy three kings
Wow, a creation of Martin Huch, namely a Starplayer with the stars Ron Wood, Keith Richards and Bob Dylan as a present for Wolfgang Niedecken on his 70th birthday. Wolfgang was very pleased!
And the story is quite simple: Wolfgang had seen the Live Aid gig of the three birds back then and was as amused as we all were. Thereupon he christened them "The holy three kings".
(As is well known, the -alleged- grave of the real three kings is in Cologne Cathedral). Since that time there is the BAP altar, where before each concert with a delicious grappa the 3 kings are paid homage to...
Pay to play!
Damn! Just saw a documentary film about the black American singer Billie Holiday. A superstar of the 1930s, a woman who was harassed and boycotted by the white American upper class because in one of her songs, "Strange Fruit," she made a statement against the lynching of black citizens that was common at the time. Conclusion: At that time, artists were tried to be taken out of circulation at least because of their skin color and for ideological reasons!
Today similar things happen, but for a much simpler reason: money, money, money! Let me explain this recent story! I had arranged everything so that my favorite band "The Electric Alley" could play as an opening act at some of their festival and hall concerts during the European tour of a very famous English dinosaur group next year, whose name I will not mention here. I consider this band from Cadiz to be one of the very best rock groups of today and they deserved to increase their popularity in this way. It was already clear in advance that they would get at best catering for all concerts, but no fee, hotel and travel expenses etc.. Even for that I would have stepped in with a correct amount.
An old German musician friend, who has been organizing the tours of this group for years, had arranged the thing for the "Alleys", because he was also enthusiastic about their music. Recently he called me with a depressed voice to tell me that unfortunately nothing would come of it. Another band of whatever kind would have made itself strong for the dinosaur tour and would have agreed to pay a lump sum of € 1,000 for each concert into the veteran's fund. 16 gigs = € 16,000! Their management couldn't have refused that, so "OFF" for my darlings.
In which world do we live today? Of course, music and art have been commercialized for ages. But that now with simple, paltry bribes high-quality artists can be booted out, that makes me extremely sad and scares me, fear for the music, which should be close to all our hearts!
And when can we go to Italy again? ...
or to Andalusia? ...
