The Velvet Forum

I lived there for just under a year with my ex-partner but when we split up I moved back to the UK back in September, in between lockdowns...small world!

I believe that Gretsch in that photo belonged to Sterling; it’s a 6120 model with single cutaway, slightly different to the Lou’s Country Gentleman.
In either case it’s entirely possible that Lou sometimes used the Kent for VIF for live gigs so it was tuned & ready to play. He can be seen playing it (and that particular song) in the footage from the psychiatrists convention at the Delmonico hotel.

Ah here … how come we never met up!? I feel robbed.

Sorry to hear about your reasons for leaving though; that's rough.

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OK, you have me. I hadn't copped that Sterling is playing a different model Gretsch.

Weird that there isn't a photo of them both playing Gretsch(s) no?

I was able to find one image of the band where both guitars are in sight.
Think it's a still taken from the footage below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgcuU_JWuQU

What else have you figured out re gear?

I know right? If only I’d got round to making that video sooner lol... been meaning to do it for years!
It’s all good mate, was a great experience and I don’t regret a thing...loved to the city too. I was working for Screwfix (still am as I transferred back over here) in Sandyford doing customer deliveries all over the city during The first lockdown, so I got to know the place really well.

To be fair the two guitars do appear very similar (especially in black-and-white photos, as they both appear to be black & silver, whereas in reality Lou’s Gent’ is brown & gold - everybody made the same assumption about George Harrison’s Gent’ after seeing him with it on the Ed Sullivan show, which later led to Gretsch actually producing a black and gold limited edition). And indeed it is strange that there don’t seem to be any photos of them both in the same room...perhaps Sterling traded his in for the Gibson SG that emerged during ‘66?
I do remember reading a quote somewhere of Lou saying “yeah in the beginning we played Gretsch guitars through Vox amplifiers because we didn’t know any better”.

Most of my gear knowledge is related to the earlier VU years, as after white light white heat when they were primarily playing through their Vox endorsement equipment (including guitars, with the exception of Lee who mainly stuck to his Gent’ which by then had been modified and repainted), but at some point in ‘68 all of that equipment was stolen and the band outfitted themselves with mainly Gibson guitars and Sunn amplifiers - which contributed to the radically different sounding third album.

Glad you had a good experience with Dublin.
It's not a bad town once you get the hang of it.

I don't live there anymore myself, I moved to Kildare.
But I'm never far away.

That other Gretsch looks like a Tennessean.
(i.e. single cut, closed top with painted f holes)

The Gibson SG can be seen in that early photo in Ludlow St. —
(I think!?)

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6d/22/dc ... 351b2b.jpg

But perhaps he traded it for the Strat.
(although it doesn't sound like there's much strat on the Banana album)

I found this comment on a thread a while back.
It may fill in some blanks re which Strat.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index ... t-19075741

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You mention the move to Gibson, and of course Sunn amps.

Sterling played a Gibson ES 335
His model was stereo.
If you look carefully at the photos from the Loaded sessions, you'll see there two telephone cables (one black; one white)

I've seen this guitar, many years ago.

• It was a very small gig, possible 150 people.

• He was playing with Moe Tucker's band

• It took place on Lower Baggot Street Lower in a venue that was called The Baggot Inn

(Currently a KBC branch)

• The year was 1991.

• I was 17 (and it was quite a good year, all said).

Never actually visited Kildare in the end; the farthest my delivery driving took me was Blessington, although I did take a drive through the Sally Gap mountain roads to visit Glendalough for the day one time in my 2cv...breathtaking views!

You got me there re the SG...totally forgot about that early photo with MacLise...who knows what became of that Gretsch!

Yeah Sterling always did prefer Fenders I think, but he experimented a whole lot during the VU years...the whole band did in fact, they used to swap equipment all the time. It’s hard to tell who owned what! I think the Silvertone amp belonged to Sterling though, as Lou prided his Fender Deluxe and kept it for years after the VU. Apparently he blew try the speaker finally sometime in the early 2000’s though and it was kaput as they no longer made the same speakers anymore.

How amazing that you got to see Sterling & Moe! Must have been brilliant...I’m so sad I’m too young to have been able to. I had the chance to see Lou in 2013 when he was playing in London at the Southbank Centre, but I was skint at the time and decided against it thinking “next time...” then of course he passed away shortly after. I cried!
I did get to see John Cale back in 2017 at the Liverpool VU anniversary gig, it was interesting, and great to see the man in the flesh, but I feel the musical collaborators he recruited didn’t really take the whole thing very seriously.

That’s why I’m so passionate about the idea of putting a group together to re-create the sound faithfully - even the word ‘tribute’ to me immediately dampens the whole thing...I want to make it so authentic that anyone who was there would have a deja-VU moment (), but it’s really hard trying to find other people interested in making it happen...at least so far! :/ Maybe when things improve and Ryanair flights return to £14.99 each way we could cyber-rehearse together and then fly over to do the real thing?!

This article shares really interesting insights regarding Sterling Morrison and guitars.

https://www.austinchronicle.com/feature ... -17/76290/

He appears to have held SGs in very high regard, not what I would have expected.

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I've read that interview with Reed regarding his Fender Deluxe.
He did well to keep it that long.

I only saw Lou Reed play once around 1996. It wasn't particularly memorable.
Although I wish I'd seen him play on his Berlin tour. He played in Cork.

John Cale played in Dublin around 3 years ago and it was amazing.
A real return to his avant-garde routes, which was fantastic to see.

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I've seen footage of the Liverpool VU gig, not exactly inspiring I agree.

Well … as soon as I get vaccinated and I can travel, you never know!