Last Monday, September 18th, 2023, I received a message from a guy I attended high school with. Well really grade school all the way through high school. Anyway, John Vaughn messaged me asking if I would like to donate a guitar to raffle off for Glasgow, KY’s T.J. Sampson Community Hospital Physical Therapy unit’s Lip Sync competition coming up in October. I said sure! Then…, 🥁🥁🥁🥁
Then he says I’m going to have Black Stone Cherry sign it then we’ll raffle it off to raise money. Uhhh…, uhmmmm, OMFG! 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳😳
THEN John messaged saying, “ok, it’s set. Can you be here in Glasgow this Saturday at 3:00?” 😳😱 “We’ll meet with the band, they’ll sign your guitar, then they’re off to the UK for 3 weeks.” (this lead to 6 days of 😳😱😳😱😳😱😳😱😳😱 so I wasn’t very productive. Just too damned freaked out. I couldn’t figure out which to take! 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ I spent most of the week in a daze. Holy shit was about the extent of my thoughts the majority of the time.)
So I took 4 guitars. Like I said, I wasn’t sure which to donate so thought I’d let them make that decision. Well it ended up with me being the final decision maker and I selected the guitar we named Watermelon. I also got them to sign Cherry Bomb. All 4 played Cherry Bomb acoustically. All 4 were impressed with the feel of the neck as well as the action and low string height. The bass player, Steve Jewel, had this to say about the feel of the neck and string action, “feels like butter.” 😳 (thank you Steve🙏🏻❤️) Others not in the band but play too we’re also impressed by those same things on both Watermelon and Cherry Bomb. Oh yeah, they liked the finishes as well. 😁 It was certainly a WOW kinda day.Just wow. (Btw, in case you didn’t know there’s a variety of watermelon called Blackstone. 😁) Both guitars were created using water-based stain base, water-based tinted filler & sealer, with EM6000 water-based clear lacquer from Target Coatings, Inc.
But these guys were awesome. I’d been told they were really down to earth and they are. And respectful, mannerly. It was yessir, thank you, great to meet you, and more. I’ll credit that to 2 things. Growing up in small communities in southern Kentucky and how they were raised. Although we were excited as a newborn calf to find mommas teet, those guys? Hey just another happy day in the neighborhood. Did I feel like I was in the presence of guys that tour the world playing music for millions of people? No I did not. Honestly the “feel” of the atmosphere was more like the TV show Cheers. Yeah, but we’re actually standing in the parking lot of the Southgate Plaza shopping center in Glasgow, KY. Freaking surreal. Oh, and no bar. 😂
They are playing smaller, more intimate venues on this trip to the UK. I can see why that would be very appealing to these guys. They really feel connected to their fans. I for one am forever grateful for the day and the experience. Thanks for contacting me and setting this up John. Much love and gratitude to you and all that were there on BSC’s “send-off”. ❤️🙏🏼
If any of you get to one of their record signings or show and get a chance to speak to them mention the guitar they signed before heading to the UK and let them know you know who built the guitars. 😁
Again, thank you Mark Bailey.
It must have been a great feeling to have experienced that.
I just had a look, Black Stone Cherry are playing in Glasgow here in Scotland next Friday, sold out.
I'd be interested to hear how much funds get raised in the guitar raffle.
Oh yeah something else. I asked if they might take some of my guitars with them on tour some time they said yeah!
Another thing I want to thank Mark for is the lesson towards the end of the electric guitar build course called , “Going the extra mile.” Ever since I watched that the first time I have been setting the string height the way you showed us. Ever since then EVERYONE that tries out my guitars ALL have the same thing to say.
“Wow that action is great!” Some have said awesome, others have used other positive adjectives, but yeah everyone is impressed by that.
The pretty makes them stop and stare. The action is what they remember most. Most balk at the asking price though. That’s because I haven’t found the right guitarists yet. Well until the day I met these guys. Ben even said he’d be talking to me soon about commissioning a build. 😁
🎶 Oh Happy Day!
oh happy day
Oh Happy Day!
🎶
@robin yeah Glasgow is their last stop this tour. They wanted to come back over to y’all and do a smaller venue tour just for a short 3 week jaunt around the British isles. Dublin last night I think.
I for one thought it was kinda funny that their last stop is in Glasgow and BSC is from the Glasgow, Kentucky area. So they play in Glasgow and return home to Glasgow the next day. 🤣🤣🤣
It must have been a great feeling to have experienced that.
I'd be interested to hear how much funds get raised in the guitar raffle.
Me too. I’ll let y’all know when the raffle goes live. Waiting for the hospital in Glasgow, KY to launch the marketing for it. I hope it raises a ton of money for them. I know it would be because of BSC but you never know WHERE that parts guitar will end up. Mine that they signed? Well it is going on the wall but I do hope the pictures of it will bring enough attention to make serial #3. Serial #2 will be mine to replace #1. I do love playing it so I’ll be needing another. 😁
@rathius Good for you man, sounds like you had a great day. Can you tell us if you enjoyed the whole episode or not, it didn’t quite come across in your post! 😆
I felt the same way when I met Paul Gilbert a few years back, pre covid. A mate of mine knows him really well and we picked him up from the airport in Birmingham, UK. We took him to his hotel, then down to the gig venue, then backstage before the gig, then after the gig, then back to the hotel and finally back to the airport the following morning. It was a surreal 24 hours, felt like days.
It’s great when stuff like this happens, something you never forget.
🔥🤘😝🤘🔥
Make guitars, not war 🌍✌️🎸
Another thing I want to thank Mark for is the lesson towards the end of the electric guitar build course called , “Going the extra mile.” Ever since I watched that the first time I have been setting the string height the way you showed us. Ever since then EVERYONE that tries out my guitars ALL have the same thing to say.
“Wow that action is great!” Some have said awesome, others have used other positive adjectives, but yeah everyone is impressed by that.
That is so true - I used to "finish" a build, plug it in to make sure all was working, and then think job-done.
Recently I've been going to back to some of my earlier builds (the ones that I hadn't already recycled) to spend a bit of time on the set-up.
They feel and play so much better!
Online guitar making courses – guitarmaking.co.uk
I'm soooo jealous @rathius. I saw them a few years ago in the Barrowlands, Glasgow. Gutted that I didn't realise that they are playing next week at St Luke's...... maybe I could turn up on the night and blag my way in with your guitar story. 🤣.
🎸🙂🎶🙏
🗝️ "Life's what you make it"🗝️
@brie thanks dude. And yeah, I’m still trying to walk upright. Took me a few days to pick myself up off the floor too. And I’ve ended up with someone ordering a finished Tele body, Don Rich style. Told them it would be $400 and it’ll be mahogany. They said sure and I’ll be starting on that tomorrow morning. 😁
HA! Imagine finding a guy from the US on a UK forum, who's 30 minutes east of you. I'm over in Bowling Green, @rathius .
That guitar looks awesome and the signatures don't detract from it-I see a lot of signed guitars where the signatures just feel like they're in the way.
@wolframmalukker hey hey!!!!
I’m actually a bit farther east and about 80 minutes from BG. I live very close to the geographical center of Kentucky. Eight-five miles from Louisville, Lexington, & Bowling Green. 😂 That puts me in Campbellsville, KY. I do have relatives in BG but rarely visit.
If you’re on FB look up Glasscock Guitars or Gary’s Guitar Shop. Or just search for me Gary Glasscock and send me a friend request. Maybe we can get together soon. I do have to deliver a Tele body I’m making for a guy in Glasgow probably the first week of December. Almost ready to start working on the finish. But yeah, it’d would be very cool to meet up and compare notes.
@wolframmalukker 😳 😳 😳
wow, uh no I’m not kin to either of those that I know of. In the BG area, I’m kin to Runners & Richards (😂 R&R 🤣). My 1st cousin that lives there retired from WKU. She worked in the travel office on campus. One of her daughters works at WKU currently.
So, we need to meet up soon. What’s your schedule look like between now and New Year’s Eve? BTW, do look me up on FB and let’s connect.