Bert Weedon. OBE. 1920 - 2012
A quick tour of a few of Bert's guitars over the years
For the real thing, go to The Official Bert Weedon Website at www.bertweedon.com
A bit of a change from old amplifiers in this one. It was raining and I had nothing to do, so I dug out my vinyl copy of “Bert Weedon Remembers Jim Reeves” with a great, full colour picture of Bert and his 'Guild Bert Weedon' Starfire on the sleeve. Watching Bert on Five O’clock Club every week started a lifelong quest to spend every spare minute and every spare (and not so spare) penny on guitars and amplifiers. It would have been more productive to actually learn to play, but that wasn’t to be.
The man himself
A good starting point for anyone interested in the various instruments he played would be the album sleeve photographs, which usually showed Bert holding his latest guitar.
If you'd like to look through Bert's discography, click HERE
In a 2002 interview with musicradar.com he says that most of his guitars were given to him, presumably by the manufacturers or distributors, and that he’d still got them.
https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/bert-weedon-1920-2012-in-his-own-words-540429
"I'm very fortunate because all my guitars are presented to me. It's a long while since I paid 15 shillings for a guitar."
In later years he moved away from archtops and on to other types which we won't go into here.
From the same musicradar interview (bear in mind that he was 81 at the time and still playing)..........
"So I still play the Fender, but now I use the Parker guitar as well because it's so light and I can stand up and do the show without bending over, which for an old man is a marvellous asset. I'm very impressed with the Parker guitar and I'm impressed with the Fender guitar."
Here are some examples of Bert’s instruments, together with details of the source material, just to prove that I didn’t make it up. (Somebody's already pinched the list, believe it or not).
The albums are all worth a listen, and a lot of them are now available on CD and internet streaming services. They include '22 Golden Guitar Greats' (Warwick WW5019) that got to number 1 in the UK album charts in 1976.
The Hofners
Go to vintagehofner.co.uk for a discussion about who 'The Committee' might have been.
I'm afraid I don't know that much about old Hofners (couldn't afford one) so the notes are a best guess
Left:
Front cover
'Bert Weedon's Guitar Guide to Modern Guitar Playing'
Chappell & Co.
Published 1957.
Standard Committee.
Below:
The same guitar fitted with a clamped-on DeArmond Rhythm Chief (?) pickup.
Left:
BBC radio broadcast 1961.
I think this is a two pickup "Golden Hofner" model with gold plated fittings and rectangular control panel.
Those 'cowboy rope' or 'dressing gown' cords were absolute murder to stand up with for long.
Right:
Bert looking very dapper with a Golden Hofner Thinline on an Apple Music online compilation.
Below:
Part of the original photograph.
Right:
Cover photo
'Honky Tonk Guitar'
Top Rank 35101.
Released 1961.
Left:
Cover photo
'Weedon Winners' EP.
Top Rank JKP 3008. Released 1961.
The guitar now has a Bigsby vibrato unit (or it's a new one)
Right:
Not an album cover this time, but a press photo showing Bert with an early Hofner Verithin with the old style, rectangular control plate. Note the two extra fretboard dot markers that also turn up on the Guild Starfire in the next section.
The photo publicised an appearance on ABC's 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' on the 25th of November 1961.
On the 'to buy' list is Kevin Mulrennan's epic book 'Thank Your Lucky Stars' available from Amazon as a paperback or Kindle version.
Photo courtesy of ABC Television
Left:
Bert (with Hofner Verithin), session musician and luthier Ron Prentice and Shadows drummer Tony Meehan at Associated Rediffusion studios to record a series of “Tuesday Rendezvous” shows in 1961.
Many thanks to Ron's wife Brenda for sharing the photograph.
Lots of interesting details about Ron's life and work in the music industry at:
https://www.the-mill.co.uk/ron/
Did you ever wonder who was playing the bowed bass part on 'For your Love' by the Yardbirds? Now you know.
The Guild Starfires
Left:
Photograph
Battersea Funfair.
May 1962.
Bert with an early Guild Starfire III with no back binding, DeArmond 2000 pickups and some DIY dot markers on the 17th and 19th frets.
They're easily confused with the visually similar T100D used, for example, by Mickey Jupp. Mickey's had a standard Bigsby and Franz pickups, but Bert's guitar has 2000s, a Guildsby and a Bigsby rocker bridge, putting it into SF3 territory.
I have a blonde 97 Westerly model. Beautiful instruments.
Make a point of visiting Gary Donahue's site at https://www.gad.net/Blog/gads-guilds/ to find out more and see his great collection of vintage Guild catalogues at https://www.gad.net/Blog/guild-guitar-catalogs/. It's well worth the effort.
Something odd happening on the cover of "Play Every Day" below. It's been retouched to blot out the 'Guild' logos on the SF3 vibrato unit and headstock. Same with some of the other photographs. Bert's still happily displaying his latest, unmolested 'Bert Weedon' model SF5 on the inside cover though, so it looks like an over enthusiatic 'Out with the old, in with the new' advertising exercise by someone. Strange goings-on.
Left:
Front cover
'Play Every Day The Bert Weedon Way'
Chappell & Co. Ltd
Published 1963
Unlike some of Bert's other guitars, the Starfires 3 and 5 came with a Bigsby (or Guildsby if you like) as standard.
With their thin bodies, the Starfires are easy to play standing up: In the pic below, Bert has the strap across the front of his Hofner to tilt the fretboard back.
Left:
Photographed in 1963 with the new Starfire V that would be the basis of the future Guild Bert Weedon model.
(Don't try this at home boys and girls; the fire's not actually turned on.)
Left:
Signed promotional photo-card with discography to early 1965
The Guild 'Bert Weedon' model; basically a Starfire V with "Bert Weedon" engraved on the pickguard and truss rod cover.
There aren't many in circulation and these days they fetch a considerable premium over the standard SFV.
Apparently not all BWs are identical, but you'll have to follow that up with somebody who knows more about it. Hans Moust at https://www.guitarchives.nl/ would be the man to ask.
It's an interesting promo card, presumably made out to another musician that Bert has been working with.
The last record listed on the reverse is '12 String Shuffle' backed with 'Colour Him Folky'. HMV POP 1387. Released 1965.
Above:
Bert's own Yamaha YTA-95 (hiding in my front room) that he used for a while in the Seventies with a Guild Bert Weedon. I hope he had a roadie because it weighs about half a ton.
Left:
Cover photo
'Bert Weedon Remembers Jim Reeves'
Musical Rendezvous.
Contour 2870 341.
Released 1973.
The album cover that started all the trouble.
This is coming towards the end of Bert's Guild period (in photographs at least) and the appearance of Yamaha.
The Yamahas
Chappell & Co, who were Bert's publishers, were Yamaha dealers in the UK. No surprise then that, when the SA series is introduced in the 1973 catalogue, we find Bert with an SA-60. Assuming that the manufacturers would want to showcase their top-of-the-range instrument, it's possible that the more expensive SA-90 wasn't available at the time. The 90 starts to turn up on album covers in 1975.
Only the SA-50 came as standard with a vibrato unit and Bert's 60 and 90 were both modified with non Yamaha parts.
Left:
Black and white publicity photograph with Yamaha SA-60.
Date unknown. Possibly 1973/74.
Note the non-Yamaha, Bigsby B11 vibrato unit.
Right:
Cover photo
'Bert Weedon Remembers Nat King Cole'
Contour 2870 495.
Released 1975.
A new SA-90 with a standard, non vibrato tailpiece and missing pickguard.
Left:
Cover photo
'Bert Weedon Remembers Jim Reeves'
Pickwick, Contour CN 2008.
This is a 1976 reissue of the 1973 album with a different photograph showing the SA-90.
Still no vibrato or pickguard. This photograph is also used in the 1977 release '20 Golden Guitar Greats'. One Up OU 2167.
Below: An artist's impression of the SA-90 used on a couple of compilation albums.
Below Left: '22 Golden Guitar Greats'. Warwick WW 5019 from 1976.
Below Right: The same image flipped over for 'Guitar Greats'. Chevron CHVL 075 from 1979.
Left:
Cover photo
'Bert Weedon Blue Echoes'
Polydor 2384 095.
Released 1977.
The SA-90 now sports a Gibson Maestro Vibrola unit.
Right:
Cover photo
'Bert Weedon 16 Country Greats'
Polydor 2384 102.
Released 1978.
SA-90 in the background with the Vibrola and what looks like electrical tape around the handle.
Left:
Cover photo
'Bert Weedon Heart Strings'
Celebrity ACLP 002.
Released 1980.
This SA-90 photograph was used again for the 1981 album 'Love Letters'.
Everest Records. CBR1015
We're coming to the end of the SA-90 period now with the introduction of the SA2000 in the UK in 1981 (1977 in Japan)
Left:
Cover photo
'Bert Weedon and his Dancing Guitars'
Dansan Records DS 053.
Released 1982.
The newly introduced Yamaha SA2000 also gets a Gibson Maestro Vibrola. The blanked-off holes are visible where the original stop tailpiece used to be.
Bert's hand is covering the company name that Yamaha have now started to put on the headstock. The SA-60 and 90 just had the tuning fork logo.
Right:
Sleeve photo
'Bert Weedon's Guitar Course'
VHS tape.
Pickwick Video Ltd.
Released 1988.
SA2000 in the background.
Left:
Bert plays his SA2000 live on "This Is Your Life" 1992.
Just out of the picture are Marty Wilde, Joe Brown, Lonnie Donegan and Chas McDevitt.
Don't judge anyone by the noise they make together. The bar was probably open.
From here on, Bert starts to appear with a Fender Strat, but there aren't any new album releases that I can find that show him with one on the cover.
So there we go. Obviously just a small selection from a much bigger collection. You can see more near the bottom of the page at
www.bertweedon.com/features.htm
and it's also well worth reading through the interview at
www.bertweedon.com/interview.htm
RIP Bert.