Hello again! I'm pleased to report that, after a lot of whining and begging on my part, Ms. Gornik gave me the thumbs up to share just a tad bit more of our Gibson/THIEL story. I didn't have to give up my first born (who's 22 and really hardly any problem much at all anymore, really, if you know of any takers), but I did have to promise to "STOP the WHINING, Already, and just DO IT!" I can be very persuasive (annoying) when I want to be, or so I'm told =c) If you can't remember Chapter 1, or you're just now catching up on old emails, you can click here to read/review it. I think it must have been pretty good by the lovely responses I received in my inbox. Thanks again to those of you who emailed. I was able to skip my twice monthly session with Tori, my spiritual guidance counselor/nail tech/gum popper extraordinaire just because of your thoughtful emails. Now let's see ... where did I leave off? Gibson tour, Henry J., doll ... Wait! Did I mention Les Paul? I don't think I did. Crafty of me to leave that out and save it for this chapter's hook now wasn't it? You see, not only did we take the THIEL CS3.7 sides to Gibson to get that gorgeous burst finishing, we also arranged to fly someone to New York to meet Les Paul, and have him actually autograph the back panels for the finished speakers. How many? I'm not telling (yet), but enough to make several pair of speakers for sure.
Note that I said "fly someone to New York" and not "fly me to New York". Not "fly me" — the same "me" that confessed her lifelong admiration for Gibson guitars, the same "me" who actually plays guitar. No, folks. We sent Gary Dayton, who wasn't even born when Les Paul was in his heyday! All kidding aside, Gary is the biggest Les Paul fan I know, knowledgeable about this industry way beyond his years, and is an excellent representative for THIEL. Plus he has friends who live in New York and were willing to let him sleep on their couch. A win-win, I'd say. Les Paul, as you probably know, is one of the pioneers in the development of the hard body electric guitar, and lent his name and endorsement to Gibson in the 1950s after Gibson produced a hardbody model based on Paul's suggestions. He also is known as the "father of multi-track recording, and a myriad of other recording innovations. At almost 94 years of age, Les Paul still performs weekly at the Iridium Jazz Club on Broadway in New York City, and it was there that Gary met Les Paul and the 3.7 back panels were autographed by one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the century (my opinion, anyway). So Gary flew to the New York, his first visit, with giddy anticipation of meeting the legendary guitarist he had so long admired. A couple nights
Gary then had the opportunity to experience Les Paul as he performed the 10 pm show and Gary sipped a beverage in the audience ... at The Iridium ... in the Big Apple ... with Les Paul playing LIVE. (Big Sigh from Denise.) Oh well, maybe next time. Gary didn't even bring us a t-shirt. Dirty rat! But lest you think that those of us left behind in Kentucky were just sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves, never fear! We allowed ourselves ... okay I allowed myself one half day to get over it, because we had work to do! We got busy getting another few pairs of speaker sides ready to ship to Gibson for more of that burstin' goodness. Check out these pics of Joey and Stretch packing up the sides in their specially designed shipping crates. So we've got Gibson finished sides, a Les Paul autographed back panel, and Jim Thiel innards for a very special pair of CS3.7s. What did we do with them? Something really, really cool, but that's my hook for the next chapter, so ... Stay tuned. 'Til next time, Denise "picking and grinning" Fuson |
