Details about the Buick

Now that I have one of these guitars in my hands, let us explore some of the finer points that are relevant to guitar players.

First and foremost, the guitar is a solidbody, obviously. It's the standard 1.75" thick, and the body wood is Mahogany (quite possibly Honduran or some other tropical variety). Its neck is maple and rosewood. The body is a lot smaller than the photos make it look. It's actually quite compact.

I'm not usually a fan of gloss finish on necks (they tend to slow me down), but this one doesn't seem to have that effect. The headstock runs straight with the neck, unlike the slight tilt-back of later specimens. String trees hold the first four strings in place. Note the matte black washer on the 2nd string tuning machine. This points to either some sort of mod in its life or a jumbled assembly with spare parts.

Vintage Schaller tuning machines, labeled "Made in W. Germany". A Cold War relic! This was probably one of the most exciting things to find on this guitar.

From what I've been able to gather, the Motherbuckers were wound to a DC resistance of at least 4.3K-ohms per coil, which puts the three together at somewhere around 13K. This is fairly hot, especially for its time, though the sound it produces is still very clear and rich in harmonics--very little mud, if any. The output drops like a marble in the sink when coils are switched out of phase due to their proximity, though the sounds produced could still be usable in some context.

The neck screws are unplated brass, I can tell from the tarnishing. But is this neckplate brass or gold? Who knows? Just another finger pointing towards "thrown together"--it is a prototype after all. That control cavity plate is chrome. The wiring inside is kinda rat's nest looking, but, again, prototype.

These frets still have plenty of life in them. The action is extremely low, which makes this guitar unbelievably easy to play.  The 5th-string-offset inlays were JBP's signature touch at the time.

All in all it's a fantastic instrument, built like a tank and unprecedentedly elegant. The perfect new wave guitar, which is what it was made for after all. The only complaint I really have is the fact that the single pickup doesn't give you the same timbral range you can get with a guitar with 2 or 3 pickups spaced from body to neck. But it's a detail I'm more than willing to overlook to focus on the fact that I have this thing at all. 11/10, would bust down the doors of some current guitar company and demand they put it back in production.

The Buick Prototype is Mine.

 The readership of this blog is near zero, I know, and that's okay. I still need some sort of place to consolidate all my thoughts through this hyperfixation of mine. That means I'm going to share some exciting news with all... three of you.

So, I've talked about Bob Mothersbaugh's Buick models being in the possession of author Jade Dellinger. But there was one detail I intentionally left out. Those two were not the only two he had. No... there was one more.

Yes, my friends, there was a white one in his collection as well. It was the prototype version, displayed at NAMM in 1982 and lying low for decades hence. I conveniently left out any mention of it because I wanted to keep a particular detail a secret. Mr. Dellinger was considering selling it and simply keeping Bob's.

Now, an opportunity like this presents itself at the very most once in a lifetime. I had a replica Mercury I was going to work on, but the chance to own a genuine USA-made J.B. Player was something I could not possibly pass up. Jade gave me a price. I accepted and got the money together. I was ready by the early October.

And on the 28th, it arrived.

I've gotta say, it's better than I could ever have dreamed. Dana Zacuto was a master. It sounds like new wave--the Motherbucker is powerful but still bright and harmonically rich, like a beefy, MSG-seasoned Strat. The neck, as Eric Lamb said, is supremely comfortable and fast-feeling. The action is incredibly low, on par with some Michael Kelly guitars I've played. This is truly a player's guitar. It's effortless. Easily my greatest treasure.

I'll get to specifics in the next post, but in the meantime I'd like to thank Jade Dellinger one more time. You've made my year.

I've been so enthused about owning this thing I made this:

Photos from Associate & Player Eric Lamb

 Eric Lamb was mentioned in one of my first blog posts. Since then I've managed to get in contact with him and receive some very rare photos. 

The first two are of Eric performing with his band Chops. The third is a promo shot for S-Crew, an underground LA punk group that Eric was also part of. In all of these, he's brandishing a Buick. His words: 

"The best thing these guitars had besides their design was the neck on them. Dana tried to copy an original '60s Strat neck when he had those being made.... Mighty Mite did a lot but Dana later started having the guitars assembled overseas and then set up and fine tuned at his factory in Westlake."

I've been told as well that there may be video of S-Crew performing live, with the Buick in action. If that can be found, I'll be first to tell you. Big thanks to Eric Lamb for sharing all these things!

Some New Views of Jan Kuehnemund's Mercury

 I recently found the film Hardbodies on a movie streaming site. I have nothing to really say about the film, because the whole time I was skipping through looking for shots of Vixen performing. This paid off. I have two new pictures of Jan Kuehnemund's Mercury!

Please forgive the video window elements; I had to pause to grab the frame and the bar doesn't fade like on YouTube.

So, this reveals some new information about the instrument that couldn't be so clearly seen in The 1985 ad posted before. It's possible that these are two completely different guitars (Steve Bartek of Oingo Boingo, after all, said he received two as well), but let's go over what we can infer:

Firstly, I believed the pickups installed to be early Lace humbuckers. I can see now I was wrong--for both guitars, these  are most likely Mighty Mite 1800 "Super Stud" humbuckers. The bobbins on Jan's guitar are transparent, so you can see the wire coiled around, which from a distance (or in low resolution) can look like gold foils or the aforementioned Laces.

Second, the color. In the 1985 ad, her guitar is pretty clearly Pelham blue. Here, there's a bit of a blue bias in the lighting and the guitar still appears to be a sort of amethyst color, or maybe royal or electric purple. Steve Bartek has said that JBP had a phase where all their guitars were painted in what he called "nail polish colors".

Third, while the guitar in the ad has a Kahler tremolo, this specimen appears to have a standard S-type tremolo system. Based on the visible geometry in the second photo I am guessing this was a Mighty Mite ST111-B

Fourth, the controls. On the guitar in the ad there are two knobs, most likely master volume and tone, plus a toggle selector switch. The one in the film has three knobs. I'm inclined to guess that this guitar had a blend control. Dana Zacuto was known for being an experimenter, after all.

This guitar can obviously be seen in other scenes of the movie, but this was where it was most clear. Sadly Jan Kuehnemund is no longer with us to answer questions and I don't even know where I would begin to find people who might know something. If you have a tip, please tell me.

Steve Bartek of Oingo Boingo's Mercury

 What guitarist would be more fitting to represent an all-Californian guitar company than that of California's musical crown jewel? Steve Bartek, primary guitarist and right-hand man of Danny Elfman in Oingo Boingo, utilized his background in jazz and psychedelic rock to weave intricate, multifaceted guitar work into a sonic tapestry that drew from West African highlife, prewar jazz, punk, rockabilly, Balinese gamelan, ska, and synthpop.

Don't worry, you'll get a concrete example in a moment.

Now, a guitarist with eggs in that many baskets ought to have a guitar that can handle something like that, right? Well, throughout his career with the band, Steve was mostly content with a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, a Carvin DC200, and a Strat with Lace Sensor pickups. But sometime during the Good for Your Soul sessions in late 1982-early 83, J.B. Player approached Steve with a guitar. As recalled by the man himself:

"They made that one for me special (or so they said). I remember it being a little skinny for my fat fingers, but it played well and was way way lighter than my Les Paul, thus easier to play for a long set."

Steve was bandmates with Randy Zacuto in his high school days, so from the get-go a connection was there. He had been in J.B. Player advertisements to begin with as discussed earlier, but a guitar built specifically for him (even if it was just a semi-custom job) was new. This, of course, was his marine blue Mercury, fitted with three singlecoil pickups (most likely Mighty Mite 1100s) and a Kahler 2300 vibrato bridge. 

Much like how Devo's ugly-duckling Gibsons fit with their particular visual presentation, the familiar-yet-unfamiliar, almost goofy styling of the Mercury was appropriate for a group that had the trappings of a rock band but still leaned heavily on a background of whimsical musical theatre and Cab Calloway antics. Steve had two J.B. Players, the second one I'm unsure of what it was.

The guitar was delivered by March or April 1983 and had its live debut at a secret show in Reseda, CA. Later, during Labor Day Weekend of that year, tens of thousands of concertgoers witnessed Steve pull out the Mercury for the midsection of Oingo Boingo's set at that year's US Festival. He switched out his guitars just before "Grey Matter" and just after "Violent Love".

(Mobile users click here for video)

Mr. Bartek took his Mercury on the road with him during the 1983 tour, and possibly for a few dates the following year. Afterwards, Dead Man's Party was released, and Carvin approached Steve with an endorsement deal. With J.B. Player undergoing a paradigm shift as ownership changed hands and production moved to South Korea, and Oingo Boingo stepping in a more "pop" direction in both sound and stage presence, the Mercury was stowed away.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Southern United States. Hundreds, if not thousands, of charity auctions cropped up to support relief efforts in the aftermath. Steve Bartek nobly contributed both his J.B. Player guitars to the cause in a private auction. While there may be receipts or some sort of record, maybe a name of the winning bidder, I don't have it. I just hope whoever went home with those guitars knows just how unique they are--pieces of an untold history, points of light in an otherwise darkened room.

 

Bob1 of DEVO's Buick

One of the most prevalent guitarists in J.B. Player's early years was Bob "#1" Mothersbaugh of the art punk/new wave group Devo. The spudboys from Akron always had a penchant for playing oddball instruments onstage--from the beginning they brandished department store Hagstroms, Norlin-era Gibsons, and even the exceptionally rare La Baye 2x4.

Devo circa 1979. L to R: Bob Casale with Gibson L6-S, Bob Mothersbaugh with La Baye 2x4, Gerald Casale with "lobotomized" Gibson Ripper bass.

While initially used out of economic necessity (they were broke Midwesterners and the Bill Lawrence-designed Gibsons could be had for peanuts), Devo's guitars became a vital part of their artsy, uncanny valley, anti-rock aesthetic. As the band found itself on the outer currents of the mainstream, guitar builders started jockeying for endorsements. Ibanez and G&L were among the first, with J.B. Player following shortly after.

Click here for an article that goes further in depth about Devo's axes of choice. Here, the focus is one guitar that the article left out: Bob Mothersbaugh's J.B. Player Buick.

Bob had two Buicks, actually: one that he used onstage, and one he used as a prop of sorts for music videos and TV appearances.

The "prop" guitar is a stock Buick in Dakota Red with nickel hardware. It has a Strat-style hardtail bridge and a Mighty Mite Motherbucker, with volume, tone, and individual on/off/phase reverse switches for each coil. Bob used this guitar in the music video for "Peek-A-Boo".

(Mobile users click here for video)

The "stage" guitar was mostly the same, except that it was re-routed to accommodate a Bigsby vibrato assembly. During "Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA", Bob has a noise-guitar solo that involves heavy use of a whammy bar. His usual weapon of choice, the La Baye 2x4, has a Wurlitzer vibrato which is not dissimilar to a Bigsby in function. The "stage" Buick was modified accordingly.

This guitar's debut was during the 3-DEVO concert on 30 October 1982. The usage of untested experimental audio-video sync, among other technical difficulties, meant that by the latter half of the set the band was beyond livid. When Bob 1 took his solo in Mr. DNA, the guitar was his stress reliever. I believe this is the first instance where he pulled the whammy bar all the way back to snap the strings off and then throw the guitar away during this song, and it's something he would repeat at every show thereafter to this day.

(Mobile users click here for video)

As the 1982 tour continued, Bob's guitar abuse didn't let up, and the Buick was effectively hanging on for dear life.

Despite this, Devo remained a staple of J.B. Player's early advertising.

Touring for Devo wound down sharply after 1982, and they didn't play another show for five years after. By that point, both Bobs were using G&L guitars almost exclusively. So what happened to Bob1's Buicks?

Well, we know exactly where both are. They're in a private collection, owned by Jade Dellinger, a Devo superfan and author of the band's first biography book, We are DEVO!. The following images are courtesy of him.

Here is the battered, traumatized carcass of the Buick used onstage. Nearly forty concerts' worth of damage are on display in this wreck. The guitar was bashed around so much that the entire control assembly gave out. Tape residue is visible that matches with the above photo.

This may be the best look at a J.B. Player USA headstock anyone's gonna get. This shape was available in Mighty Mite catalogs by 1980, and can also be seen on some guitars built by Wayne Charvel around the same era.

And here are the two old ladies side by side. The "prop" guitar sits in excellent condition, almost defying its age. Mr. Dellinger has said that the "Stage" guitar can't be restored much further than reinstalling the bridge without Jeopardizing its authenticity and originality.

These guitars have been used as the reference models for an Eastwood Guitars reissue, called the "Devo Peek-A-Boo Guitar". It's currently available for preorder here. What differences the Eastwood version will have remains to be seen. This is the first time any of the original J.B. Player USA models has seen a reissue of any capacity.

Vixen ad circa 1985

 Here's a JB Player USA ad from around 1985. This is unfortunately the highest resolution I can find.

All of the guitars pictured here are American-made. This was just before they made it big. JBP would continue to be represented by the band afterwards, though these custom builds would be eschewed in favor of mass-production models coming from South Korea.

Janet Gardner poses with a black Explorer in the top left, and a metallic magenta Strat copy in all other photos.

Pia Maiocco (who didn't stick around long) Has two Jazz-style basses--one in red and black, and one "murdered out".

Jan Kuehnemund has another Explorer--this one in pelham blue with a custom print. Also seen is her custom-built Mercury, with what appear to be Lace Dually Visionary humbuckers. If this is the case then those are incredibly early examples thereof. However, they could simply be some other blade humbucker type, as this guitar was around by at least 1984, if not sooner.

As always I am accepting submissions of any more stuff from this era. If anyone has a higher-res copy of this poster please send it in.