Beach Boys Gear

[c-man]

Another very short term Carl guitar selection was the black Les Paul he's seen playing at the Wembley 1980 show:

I think that Les Paul got played more by Al and Eddie than Carl, even though it was technically owned by Carl.

Carl and Al both playing different guitars there then normal . Rare for 1980. Al owned a black Les Paul as well . He played it frequently and a few years ago it was missing /stolen . He was very upset about it and I don’t know if he ever got it back .

Is it possible Al and Carl simply switched guitars with one another for whatever song they are doing in this shot? To purposely f**k with us all these years later? 

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I think the black Les Paul was just the one, and it got passed around.  I guess I do wonder who actually "owned" it if such a thing could even be traced.  Perhaps Al did consider it to be "his".

[WillJC]

New gear question: Is it documented through photos or otherwise when the group first adopted the Minimoog as their synth of choice? Reason I ask is there's footage of Daryl Dragon at the Crystal Palace Bowl in June '72 using an ARP 2600, and I'm wondering if that's the one they may have taken to Holland to use in the studio. (Tracksheets do always refer to 'Moog', but so do they consistently use 'Mellotron' in place of Chamberlin, so that's not necessarily reliable)

Who's around that would remember this, I wonder

They were definitely using the MiniMoog by the mid-'70s Brother Studio era - beyond that, as far as nailing down a more specific date...there's a closeup of Dennis playing what I think is a MM on the inside spread of the In Concert double album...if so, then we can say at least by mid-late '73.

I vaguely remember Al once saying something about getting a Minimoog after Holland, or maybe before Holland, but I don't know where and don't know when. It would be great to dig that up! He might've said it was after... I remember my reaction to it being something like, "Hmm, maybe he was supposed to say they got it before Holland, because they probably didn't lug a modular Moog to the Netherlands," but perhaps that ARP 2600 is what they used for the time being in the studio and then traded for the fall tour. I hope I did actually read that somewhere.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

New gear question: Is it documented through photos or otherwise when the group first adopted the Minimoog as their synth of choice? Reason I ask is there's footage of Daryl Dragon at the Crystal Palace Bowl in June '72 using an ARP 2600, and I'm wondering if that's the one they may have taken to Holland to use in the studio. (Tracksheets do always refer to 'Moog', but so do they consistently use 'Mellotron' in place of Chamberlin, so that's not necessarily reliable)

Who's around that would remember this, I wonder

They were definitely using the MiniMoog by the mid-'70s Brother Studio era - beyond that, as far as nailing down a more specific date...there's a closeup of Dennis playing what I think is a MM on the inside spread of the In Concert double album...if so, then we can say at least by mid-late '73.

I vaguely remember Al once saying something about getting a Minimoog after Holland, or maybe before Holland, but I don't know where and don't know when. It would be great to dig that up! He might've said it was after... I remember my reaction to it being something like, "Hmm, maybe he was supposed to say they got it before Holland, because they probably didn't lug a modular Moog to the Netherlands," but perhaps that ARP 2600 is what they used for the time being in the studio and then traded for the fall tour. I hope I did actually read that somewhere.

This scenario seems highly plausible. 

[Rocker]

Re: Black Les Paul


In the interview on page 2 of this thread Carl mentions that he owns a black Les Paul.


BH: What guitars do you currently have in your collection?

CW: A sunburst Gibson Epiphone 12-string, a yellow Fender Stratocaster [named “Old Yeller”], a natural Gibson 335 with a Bigsby tailpiece, a red Epiphone 12-string, a white Fender Stratocaster, a black Les Paul, a sunburst Les Paul, a red Gibson 335, a tobacco sunburst Epiphone 12-string, an acoustic Martin Bicentennial D-76 [stolen from the Beach Boys' warehouse], a yellow Fender Telecaster, a blonde Fender Stratocaster, a red Baldwin 12-string, an acoustic Martin D-41, a jumbo Gibson J-200 and a Les Paul Jr.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Re: Black Les Paul


In the interview on page 2 of this thread Carl mentions that he owns a black Les Paul.


BH: What guitars do you currently have in your collection?

CW: A sunburst Gibson Epiphone 12-string, a yellow Fender Stratocaster [named “Old Yeller”], a natural Gibson 335 with a Bigsby tailpiece, a red Epiphone 12-string, a white Fender Stratocaster, a black Les Paul, a sunburst Les Paul, a red Gibson 335, a tobacco sunburst Epiphone 12-string, an acoustic Martin Bicentennial D-76 [stolen from the Beach Boys' warehouse], a yellow Fender Telecaster, a blonde Fender Stratocaster, a red Baldwin 12-string, an acoustic Martin D-41, a jumbo Gibson J-200 and a Les Paul Jr.

Yeah, that was the source for me sort of thinking it technically was Carl's.  But Al seemed so attached to it too.  Maybe they got a matching pair or something?  Maybe another one for the Hinsche-meister.

[Rocker]

I wonder if Al was thinking of this guitar. Maybe it was painted black later or he just mis-remembered.

[Rocker]

The question of Brian's dedication to playing bass is something that I always wondered about. Did he actually learn about the instrument or did he more or less just had Carl show him what to play? Especially the 70s are interesting because on stage he played bass on songs he didn't play in the 60s. How much time did he spend with the instrument and rehearse?

Anyway, probably more on topic, is this the same bass Brian uses?

[juggler]

IIRC, Murry gave Brian the Fender Precision Bass as a Christmas (?) gift in December '61.  That's what he's holding in the '60s photo.  If you look closely below Brian's right wrist, it's pretty obvious that the bass is painted in the 3-color "sunburst" style.   
Is the Fender bass Brian is holding in the '70s photo that exact same unit (i.e., Murry's gift)?  I kinda doubt it.  Someone with a sharper eye than I do can probably tell you why it's not the same.  But if it is the same because, who knows, Brian was still playing Murry's gift for sentimental reasons (?), it's definitely been repainted/refinished and pickguard appears to be a different color.

[Rocker]

IIRC, Murry gave Brian the Fender Precision Bass as a Christmas (?) gift in December '61.  That's what he's holding in the '60s photo.  If you look closely below Brian's right wrist, it's pretty obvious that the bass is painted in the 3-color "sunburst" style.   
Is the Fender bass Brian is holding in the '70s photo that exact same unit (i.e., Murry's gift)?  I kinda doubt it.  Someone with a sharper eye than I do can probably tell you why it's not the same.  But if it is the same because, who knows, Brian was still playing Murry's gift for sentimental reasons (?), it's definitely been repainted/refinished and pickguard appears to be a different color.

Ah, you could be right. I thought it was just a thing of the light. But your idea seems more likely.
Generellay speaking, though, I wouldn't be surprised if Brian had kept the bass he got from Murry. Not necessarily for sentimental reasons but those instruments were quality product. If it wasn't damaged in any way it would've still sounded great in the 70s. It would even still sound great today, I guess.

[guitarfool2002]

That looks like the same P-Bass. The pickguard could or would be the same, the early 60's sunbursts came with that red tortoise shell 3-ply guard and it would lighten over time. It has the ashtray bridge cover which many players would remove, but 70's Fenders still came with those too. You can't see the knobs in the 70's photo but those in the 70's were pretty close to the 60's style too.

The key for me is the Fender name and logo on the headstock, that is clearly a 60's headstock logo and it changed in later years to a larger and more black blockier style print.

If the lack of a sunburst color is a red flag for some, consider in the 70's there was a trend among players to strip the original finish off their guitars and basses, especially Fenders for whatever reason, and either clear-coat on top of the light natural finish or do a more woody, natural finish as seems to be the case on that photo of Brian's bass where it's a darker wood. The trend was so popular that Fender began offering that option on new factory models, and you see a lot of 70's J and P basses with the natural finish.

I'll go out on a limb and say the P Bass shown in both photos is the same bass. Look at the headstock and the Fender logo in both shots. That's early 60's.

[Sam_BFC]

Late to the party on this one, and sad to read posts from last hear about asking Billy Hinsche about the mystery Carl guitar.
Looking at the headstock, does it not remind anyone of PRS guitars?

[Rocker]

If this is the same bass you can see the headstock and the Fender logo much better on this picture. It indeed looks like the 60s logo.






So, I assume this is the very same bass that Brian got in the 60s? Did Brian ever gave any insights into his preferred type of bass or his playing generally?



EDIT:


Here's a closer look at a '61 Fender P-Bass. I would guess that that's what Brian was playing in the pictures above.



Guitar of the Day: 1961 Fender Slab Board Precision Bass | Norman's Rare Guitars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT3zS1ZM6SU

[Rocker]

I just stumbled upon these two sites. Sorry if they were already linked to, I lost oversight.
First up a couple of pictures and info about that lucite Fender guitar that Carl was pictured in ca. '72. This comes from what seems to have been an auction:


Carl Wilson's Fender Prototype Guitar

https://reverb.com/item/2512-carl-wilson-s-fender-prototype-guitar




And a site of a german based guitar shop that focuses on Rickenbacher guitars. Here is a 12-string Carl Wilson model with lots of pictures:


Rickenbacker 360-12 CW Carl Wilson 2001

https://www.rockwall-guitars.de/en/rickenbacker-360-12-cw-carl-wilson-2001/