GUITARS
1974 FENDER STRATOCASTER (LARRYOCASTER) maple neck
Bought in April 1975 for £215 from a shop in London called ‘Mr Rip-off’s’!(that’s no longer there). Most things have been replaced on the guitar. Large frets, 5-way switch and Kinman pickups. “This strat has been with me the longest. I saved up £5 notes in a piggy bank to get it ...” says Larry, “In the 80’s I used the first Squire Strat. I had a Gibson Les Paul and later a Peavey Vortex - a white angular thing that people played in the 80’s. But, I had kept hold of Larryocaster and used it for slide work. Later on I had Fender lace Sensor pickups fitted and used it as my main guitar again from 1987 onwards. I once showed it to Rory back in the 70’s. He ran his fingers over it - “It’s really funky looking”, he said. It’s still my number 1 guitar.
1975 FENDER STRATOCASTER maple neck
I bought it from a chap in Suffolk in 1997 and it was the exact spec’ of my 1974. It was like seeing my original guitar for the first time all over again. It had been used in America and had hardly any wear or tear. Only trouble was, he told me it was a 1974 ....... it wasn’t - it’s a 1975... doh!
1979 FENDER STRATOCASTER rosewood neck
This guitar weighs a ton. With Stock pickups it’s the hardest of my Strats to play but has the best sound. I use it in the studio and quite recently live
2000 FENDER CUSTOM SHOP ‘RORY GALLAGHER SIGNATURE STRAT’
Only 40 made and this was one of the first batch of four in the country. When I saw Rory in 1974, The Dome in Brighton, I got to the front of the stage to see him ‘do his thang’. After he left the stage, I turned around to hear the roar of the audience and thought, ‘he’s going to do this again in another town tomorrow night! - This is really living... this is what I must do’. He lived and breathed his music. He was a wild, long-haired Master Rock-Star Guitarist on stage, and a humble, softly-spoken, kind, gentle man off stage. The world is a sadder place without him.
FENDER TELECASTER 1952 reissue
I’m a great fan of Roy Buchannan so I had to have one of these (‘though his was a ‘53). One day I intend to cover his ‘The Messiah will come again’ instrumental. I’m using 11’s at the moment (where Roy used 9’s) to get the real bendy crying thing.
GRETCH BO DIDDLEY
Just a cool red box with a neck - always gets a reaction! A great fun guitar with Dimarzio pickups.
MARTIN D35
I had promised myself one of these for years. I was getting married and had written a song for my wife, which I was going to sing at the reception. I was in a bit of a rush so just ordered it over the ‘phone without seeing it. I figured Martin’s quality control would be good enough - I was right. A wonderful Dreadnought sound. When I do my Gospel gigs in prisons, the guitar’s extra bassy volume really does the business.
VOX STAR RANGER
The review in Guitarist magazine spoke about this American guitar made in New Jersey as, “head like a cashew nut and a body that Salvidor Dali would find preposterous”. I thought ...`that’ll do me’. I swapped the pickups for a set of Gibson Burstbuckers, and what a sound! Incidently, the guitar was used in Austin Powers latest film (hardly surprising).
2002 GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD
At last Gibson have gone back to making the Les Paul like they use to. I’ve changed the pickups to Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickups and with the way I play and sweat, the guitar already sounds and looks like an original ’59 Standard. Every now and then I play this guitar exclusively - such a great, fat beefburger sound! But our fans in Cornwall tell me, “You’re a Strat man Larry “......... or is that because down there, when I go surfing the crowd, the extra weight of the Gibson is too much for them?!
REGAL RESONATOR GUITAR
I bought this on the day Diana, Princess of Wales died. Everywhere was deserted and I part exchanged an ‘80’s Fender Strat to get it. I used this guitar on the last track on Man on a Mission album, I aint gonna bite no dust, using the G tuning. I’m still looking for an old National, though Boz Brozman reckons the new ones after a few months to settle in are just as good (without the rust).
AMPS
1 MARSHALL DSL50
1 ‘70’S MARSHALL JMP II 50 WATT
1 CORNFORD DH50
SPEAKERS
2 MARSHALL 4X12’s with CELESTIANS
2 MARSHALL 4X12’s with VINTAGE
1 MARSHALL 2X12 with CELESTIANS
1 CORNFORD 2X12 with VINTAGE
EFFECTS
1 MARSHALL GUVNOR PEDAL
1 VOODOO LAB SPARKLE DRIVE
1 BUDDA WAH PEDAL
1 BOSS CHORUS PEDAL |
