Antique Musical Instruments - Vintage Guitars

Les Paul Vintage Gibson Guitars

Les Paul vintage Gibson guitars were first produced in 1952. These guitars were the first solid body electric that Gibson had made. The 1952 version of the Les Paul vintage guitar has a gold top nitro-cellulose lacquer finish, and no serial number. This Gibson was designed by Les and included Kluson tuners, a pair of P90 pickups, and retailed for $210.

These Gibson vintage guitars were simply called 'Les Paul' models, and later became known as Gold Tops because of the finish. Most Les Paul Gibson vintage Gold Tops have a gold colored maple top with natural back, a few guitars were made that had the gold finished all over.

In 1954 Gibson launched the Les Paul Custom vintage guitar. The Les Paul Custom has an ebony fretboard, with elaborate bindings on the guitar body and headstock. Among some guitarists this Gibson vintage acquired the name 'black beauty' because of its gold plated hardware and black finish. The Custom was the first fitted with a tune-o-matic bridge and tailpiece.

The Les Paul Junior has a flat, uncarved mahogany body with no binding. The Junior guitar is equipped with a single P90 pickup, along with an old wraparound combined bridge/tailpiece. Some Les Paul Juniors were referred to as Les Paul TV models because of their blond/yellow finish instead of a sunburst.

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A Very Ancient Musical Instrument - the Bagpipe

You may have heard that bagpipes are a Scottish invention; you may have heard that they are an Irish invention. The truth (of course) is neither one. The bagpipe was invented in ancient Samaria, in Israel. The Bible mentions the instrument in the book of Daniel chapter 3, where it is listed as one of the instruments use to call the people to worship a statue. This event takes place in ancient Iraq, which was then part of the Babylonian empire.

Many other times in history the instrument has been mentioned and concluding from this evidence we can say that the instrument must have been invented in ancient Samaria. From there migrating tribes of peoples took it to different parts of Europe, India and northern Africa. Some 200 years ago the instrument was very popular throughout Europe. So, what happened?, you may say.

Well, the answer is really in the way the instrument is tuned, as well as the attitude of the ruling class in Europe, 150 years ago. It was decided that this instrument, with its droning sound, was a poor man's instrument and should have no part in modern music. As a result, the instrument was forbidden in almost all of Europe, except for a few outposts such as Scotland and Bulgaria. The bagpipe in its many forms, as of today still has retained its natural tuning.

The melody pipe or chanter has to tune in with the drone. Therefore, it is hard to play together with other tempered tuned instruments. The key cannot be changed, also on account of this droning.

However, modern music, even though sophisticated, has lost a very important ingredient of music, namely the rich overtones.

Those rich tones that you can hear in a well-tuned bagpipe can only be heard when the notes are exactly tuned. This is only the case in bagpipes, hurdy-gurdies (a similar instrument that operates with strings instead of pipes) and in choral works.

However, the bagpipe has recently been revived in modern music and there are now world wide many people who play the instrument.

There also are now many makers of the "forgotten bagpipes", such as the Flemish and the Swedish bagpipes.

This modern revival of the instrument has been inspired by painters such as Pieter Brueghel, who painted the instrument as it was played in the 1600's. This revival is still going on today and pipers and pipe makers are organizing festivals and concerts and meet regularly to share ideas and discoveries.

Author: Duco Sminia, Bagpipe maker.
Articles Source: EzineArticles.com