FAMOUS FRETS Local guitar enthusiast takes a close look at some of the worlds mosts inflfluential guitars in a new book Steve Clarke - Local author of Famous Frets Steve Clarke has been a guitar technician for over thirty years and during this time he has re-fretted, repaired, altered, customized and created relic lookalike guitars. He is totally passionate about what he does and this is reflflected in every job he undertakes. Famous Frets takes a look at some of the recognisable guitars Steve has worked on. Guitars used by some of the biggest names in rock music from Pete Townsend and George Harrison to Prince and Keith Richards. Steve has worked as an advisor to Bonhams on vintage and collectible guitars and has written articles for The Guitar magazine. In Famous Frets he attempts to fifind out why the iconic guitars favoured by famous historic musicians sound the way they do and to establish whether custom parts were fifitted. Over the decades, the guitars issued by Fender and Gibson changed, sometimes due to shortages of materials, other times the change was down to new manufacturing technologies.The outcome was not always for the best! Steve’s unique situation has allowed him to pull the guitars apart and examine them in detail. Backed up with high quality photos of each instrument, Famous Frets gives both guitar fans and fans of the musicians an incredible insight into the instruments that helped shape and defifine their music. COMPETITION TIME For your chance to WIN a copy of FAMOUS FRETS by Steve Clarke, then simply answer the following question.... WHICH ICONIC BAND WAS PETE TOWNSEND PART OF? If you think you know, then please send your answer and contact details to paul@aroundsaddleworth.co.uk by MONDAY 21st OCTOBER 2019. Best of Luck & Happy Strumming! Backstage Cafe At the rear of the shop is a unique vibrant cafe, Family run business Established in 2010. serving tea, coffffee, homemade cakes & flflavoursome foods. Steve Gibson the owner has played guitar for over 40 years and has a vast experience in retail and fifield sales. The shop stocks a wide range of electric, acoustic and bass guitars as well as banjos, mandolins and ukuleles designed to cater for every genre and budget. We also stock strings, amps, pedals and tuners from all the top brands to compliment any guitar setup. For the drummer we stock Vic Firth & Promark sticks. Remo & Code drum heads. Gibson Music also offffers guitar repairs and maintenance including setups, neckbreaks, fret dressing and refrets, pickup and hard- ware upgrades and general maintenance. In addition to instrument repairs, we also have many years of experience with equipment repairs and maintenance for amplififiers and speakers, as well as experience in PAT testing. Tel. 0161 343 2782 Email. gibsonmusicstore@gmail.com Website. www.gibsonsmusic.co.uk Opening times: Monday to Friday Gibson Music Store Ltd., 148 Stamford Street 9.00am - 5.00pm Ashton-Under-Lyne, OL6 6AD. Gibson Music Store Ltd Gibson Music Store Ltd www.AroundSADDLEWORTH.co.uk 89