While I enjoy a rad old flattop as much as the next guy, I'm not any kind of authority on vintage gear; I don't even know that much about the stuff I actually own. But when Roy Book Binder was in town last fall, he insisted I take his 1931 S.S. Stewart out for a spin and boy, was that an eye-opening experience.
I hadn't even really heard of S.S. Stewarts, but Roy gave me the rundown, and it was super
interesting. This was all while we were hanging out on a couple of folding chairs outside "the bus," Roy's motor home / tourmobile, in the late afternoon before soundcheck.
So later, when we'd gotten the sound squared away – microphones only! – and before we went to grab some dinner, I asked him if he could give me the rundown again, this time while I filmed him. Roy was totally amenable, and I've finally gotten around to cleaning up the audio a little so I could post it
on the Youtube channel.
I discovered, of course, that while I was paying rapt attention to Roy's explanation, other people were bustling around behind me, doing who knows what to get ready for the show. So the sound is not pristine, but I've done what I could to get the talking parts clean.
The guitar playing was more of a challenge, but I ultimately decided it was more important to have the guitar sounding good than to get it totally isolated. Anyway,
this video might be the next best thing to trying out Roy's guitar yourself.
You can find it at the link below:
The Most Amazing Guitar I Knew Nothing About
Roy is still out on the road at 81, and it is thoroughly worth going to see him if you can. He's got tour dates and everything else posted
at:
www.roybookbinder.com
More soon,
David