Alvin Lee - Equipment
 Guitars
Gibson 335 with Kahler tremolo
arm and nut
lock
Amplifier
MARSHALL Jubilee 2550, 50/100
watts
Microphone:
(SHURE UNIDYNE III, model SM56).
Alvin uses Gibson strings:
Gauges with Wang bar are....9,11,15,28,42,52.
Gauges without Wang are....10,12,16,28,42,52.
Gauges for tuning to D are 11,13,17,32,44,54.
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LOCALLY SUPPLIED EQUIPMENT:
4 X MARSHALL 4X12" speaker
cabinets,
each cabinet must be [16 ohms]
i.e. 16 speakers in total
1 X MARSHALL 100 watt guitar
amplifier, and
all mains and speaker cables.
Provided for stand-by only
It's sadly true that Alvin Lee no longer
travels with his beloved BIG RED, although
Gibson has made him a duplicate of it. BIG
RED has simply become too valuable to take
on the road - Alvin has been offered $500,000
to part with it (not bad, as his purchase
price was in the neighborhood of $90) , making
it worth more than the average home and even
more to insure
Notes from Alvin about his guitar
modifications:
Humbucker & Strat. Sounds
like a really
cool law office.
I always liked the Strat sound
but when I
play a Strat I find my little
finger on the
right hand keeps turning the
volume down
unintentionally. I figured that
by adding
a Strat back PU to my 335 I would
have the
best of both worlds.
I've always liked messing about
with electronics.
I built my own amp and speaker
cabs when
I was 16 and as soon as I got
my first 335
I took off the humbucker covers
to get a
bit more edge and turned the
bridge PU round
the other way for extra bite.
I remember when I first met Les
Paul and
told him about this he said "
I do all
this work to make pick ups that
dont hum
by putting screens on them and
the first
thing you do is take them off
again"
He did have to admit though when
I challenged
him that he used to do the very
same kind
of thing to all his equipment
in the early
days. It's the result of an experimental
mind and an inborn instinct to
fiddle. Without
that I doubt if Les would ever
have made
an 8 track tape recorder out
of a Cadillac
flywheel... Respect!!!
The Strat PU is wired between
the jack socket
and the 3 way toggle switch.
If you solder
to the centre position on the
switch you
can bring the Fender PU in to
either or both
Humbuckers with the added Volume
pot. You
have to try different Strat PU's
to find
a good match to the Humbuckers
as they all
vary a bit depending on model
types and age.
Working on the 335 electronics
is a bit like
keyhole surgery I used to fasten
guitar strings
to the pots, toggle switch and
jack socket
before dropping them into the
body and pulling
them out the F holes. That way
there is a
good chance of getting them back
in place
again later. Loads of fun when
one falls
off!!!!!!!!!!!!
-- Alvin
More on wiring, Big Red, Tokai & Heritage:
Big Red and Tokai are one side
of Fender
middle pick-up to the extra Volume
pot then
on to the mid position of the
3 way toggle
switch the other wire goes direct
to the
jack socket. The strength of
the Fender pick
up and the value of the extra
volume pot
make a lot of difference to how
effective
the Fender Blender sound works.
Changing
the pick-ups can improve the
Heritage but
it is a matter of trial and error
to get
the best results. Good luck.
- - Alvin
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THE ALVIN LEE SIGNATURE GUITAR BY GIBSON:
Main Features
- plain maple top, back and rims
-
single ply cream binding
on top and back
-
custom authentic faded
cherry finish with
stickers
-
aged gold and chrome
hardware
-
ABR-1 bridge, TP-6 tailpiece
-
22 fret rosewood fingerboard
- '57 classic humbucking pickups plus Seymour
Duncan single coil
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