Neil Young playing Old Black on the CSNY "Freedom Of Speech Tour '06"

Old Black is the name given to the main electric guitar used by rock musician Neil Young. Most of Neil's electric guitar parts were recorded on "Old Black," though some were played on Gretsch White Falcons. Old Black was obtained by Young in 1969 through a trade with one-time Buffalo Springfield collaborator, Jim Messina, who received one of Young's orange Gretsch guitars in exchange.^{[citation needed]} Other sources say he traded with another of his Buffalo Springfield bandmates, Stephen Stills, for a Gretsch White Falcon that Young had used exclusively up to that point.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1904x3176, 4751 KB) Summary Picture Taken at Crosby Stills Nash and Young Concert Near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada July 8th 2006 by me Adrian M. Buss http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1904x3176, 4751 KB) Summary Picture Taken at Crosby Stills Nash and Young Concert Near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada July 8th 2006 by me Adrian M. Buss http://www. ... Left: Rosa Hurricane, a heavy metal-style solid body guitar. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music Musicians can be classified by their role in creating or performing music: A singer (or vocalist) uses his or her voice as an instrument. ... Neil Percival Young[1] OM (born November 12, 1945, Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and film director. ... Gretsch is a U.S. musical instrument manufacturer currently being distributed by guitar company Fender and drum craft company Kaman. ... The Gretsch White Falcon (often referred to as simply the White Falcon) was an innovative and revolutionary guitar which was introduced in the early 50s, and is considered by many as One of the defining instruments of Rock[1]. It obtained profitable success with many famous guitarists acclimatizing it... Buffalo Springfield was a short-lived but influential, folk rock group that served as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina and is most famous for the song For What Its Worth. ... Jim Messina (born December 5, 1947) was a member of Buffalo Springfield, then an original member of the country rock band Poco, before he joined with Kenny Loggins to form Loggins and Messina. ... Stephen Stills Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with the Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. ...

Appearance and customization

Old Black is allegedly a 1953 Gibson R6 Les Paul Goldtop. It has been customized quite considerably: after being left at a guitar repair store, the original bridge pickup was replaced by a DiMarzio single-coil pickup and a mini-humbucker pickup from a Gibson Firebird guitar, and a P-90 pickup at the neck. It was roughly resprayed to jet black, and received a new Tune-o-matic bridge (not available when the guitar was produced) and a B-7 model Bigsby vibrato tailpiece. It would presumably also have had a white plastic pickguard at some point, as was standard on 1953 Goldtops. Old Black is notable for its metal hardware, including an aluminum pickguard, which produces additional feedback—a tone characteristic of many of Neil Young's guitar sounds. The rest of the hardware is mostly nickel. The headstock displays a partially painted-over mother-of-pearl inlay, sometimes referred to as a "wheat stack", rather than the typical "Les Paul Model" silk screened logo, which makes this model unique and may suggest that either the neck was replaced with a neck from another Gibson-model (most likely a Gibson SG) guitar at one time or that the guitar is not a 1953 vintage but, rather, a re-issue Gold Top "Deluxe" from 1968. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For the jazz guitarist, see Les Paul. ... A Violin Bridge blank and finished bridge A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air balls. ... Three magnetic pickups on an electric guitar. ... DiMarzio (full name: DiMarzio Musical Instrument Pickups, Inc. ... Traditional humbucker pickup, uncovered A conventional humbucker (or Humbucking pickup) is a type of electric guitar pickup that uses two coils, both generating string signal. ... The Gibson Firebird is a solid-body guitar marketed by Gibson in the late 60s. ... This article is about the electric guitar pickup. ... Typical Tune-o-matic bridge with stopbar Tune-o-matic (also abbreviated to TOM) is a fixed bridge for electric guitars, designed by Gibson and introduced in 1954 in Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar. ... The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece (or Bigsby for short) is a type of vibrato device for electric guitar designed by its namesake Paul A. Bigsby. ... Vibrato is a musical effect where the pitch or frequency of a note or sound is quickly and repeatedly raised and lowered over a small distance for the duration of that note or sound. ... The tailpiece is an element found in all musical instruments of the violin family. ... A pickguard (also known as scratchplate) is a piece of plastic or other laminated material that is placed under the strings on the body of a guitar. ... General Name, Symbol, Number aluminium, Al, 13 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 13, 3, p Appearance silvery Standard atomic weight 26. ... Audio feedback (also known as the Larsen effect) is a special kind of feedback which occurs when a loop exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for example, a loudspeaker). ... General Name, Symbol, Number nickel, Ni, 28 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 4, d Appearance lustrous, metallic and silvery with a gold tinge Standard atomic weight 58. ... Typical headstock of an electric guitar This article is about part of a stringed instrument. ... Nacre, also known as mother of pearl, is a naturally-occurring organic-inorganic composite. ... Inlays on guitar or similar fretted instrument are visual elements set into the exterior wood. ... Screen-printing, also known as silkscreening or serigraphy, is a printmaking technique that creates a sharp-edged single-color image using a stencil and a porous fabric. ... The Gibson SG is a popular model of solid-bodied electric guitar that was introduced in the early 1960s. ...

Condition

Old Black has seen considerable wear and tear, with most of the black paint removed from the mahogany neck. A white tape pinstripe extends down the back of the guitar neck but has been pulled off from the body, resulting in the removal of a jagged strip of body wood down the back. An additional round aluminum access plate is present on the back of Old Black, approximately underneath the bridge, the purpose of which is unknown. An example of Mahogany The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored wood, originally the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, sometimes referred to as Spanish or Cuban Mahogany. ... Pin striping on a motorcycle fuel tank. ... The neck is the part of certain string instruments that projects from the main body and is the base of the fingerboard, where the fingers are placed to stop the strings at different pitches. ...

Other modifications

Old Black has also been customized with a small toggle switch in the front of the guitar, between original pickup volume and tone adjustment knobs. This switch is not a coil tap, as would commonly be assumed, but rather is a switch that allows Young to bypass the potentiometers and capacitors and send his sound directly to his amplifier (a late-1950s Fender Deluxe). A coil tap is a wiring feature found on some electrical transformers, inductors and coil pickups, all of which are sets of wire coils. ... It has been suggested that Linear taper be merged into this article or section. ... Capacitors: SMD ceramic at top left; SMD tantalum at bottom left; through-hole tantalum at top right; through-hole electrolytic at bottom right. ... An instrument amplifier is an electronic amplifier designed for use with an electric or electronic musical instrument, such as an electric guitar. ... It has been suggested that Fender Amplifier History be merged into this article or section. ...

Additional modifications from the original factory condition include the addition of a Firebird pickup installed in the bridge position (not just a covered P-90 as once thought), a metal truss rod plate, and a screw-fender washer combination replacing the standard strap knobs. Old Black has rarely been seen without Neil Young's famous peace symbol and dove guitar strap, which has also seen modifications over the years—most notably, its attachment to a Levi's wide guitar strap. Schematic section of electric guitar neck Truss rod is a device to stabilize and adjust profile of guitar neck. ... Peace sign redirects here. ... The word Dove may refer to several things: One of many species of birds in the family Columbidae. ... Levis is a brand of riveted denim jeans manufactured by Levi Strauss & Co. ...

Usage

Most of Young's electric guitar parts have been recorded on Old Black, (with the notable exception of The Ditch Trilogy) though some were played on Gretsch White Falcons and Nashvilles, as well as Fender Telecasters, a Gibson Flying V and other, newer Goldtops. Neil Percival Young[1] OM (born November 12, 1945, Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and film director. ... Gretsch 6120 is a hollowbody electric guitar with f-holes, first appearing in the mid-1950s with the endorsement of Chet Atkins. ... The Fender Telecaster, also known as a Tele, is a typically dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender. ... The Gibson Flying V is a popular electric guitar first released in 1958 by Gibson. ...

References

• thrasherswheat.org
• Shakey: Neil Young's Biography, Jimmy McDonough
• Neil on himself: Neil Young: In His Own Words, by Michael Heatley; published by Omnibus Press, 1997, ISBN 0-7119-6161-1

External links

• An interview with Young's guitar tech, Larry Cragg from thrasherswheat.org
• Neil Young's Sound from thrasherswheat.org, with a picture of Old Black