In 1998 was asked to write some copy for the relaunch of a classic Australian electric guitar. This is what I came up with. I don't know whether it was ever used too much. I thought it was cool.I waited for the advertising companies to call me asking for help but the phone remained silent. Still , the mastersound is a cool guitar. Josh Homme plays 'em too! ....
The return of the Mastersound.
In 1969 the last rocket was sent off from the Woomera rocket range in remote South Australia.This was the first and only government and private enterprise space mission and the payload was most intriguing.Maton Guitar technician,Garth Stringer, after six days exhaustive training at Puckapunyal,was on board with a top secret brief which was to revolutionise the electric guitar as the then world knew it.
Working from a hunch that the zero gravity environment of deep space and the strong possibility of encountering strange astral energies he was on a mission to produce an electric guitar pickup of unearthly power and breadth of tone.Having developed the MAGNAMETAL core of the pickup at the Maton Hangar 61 Bayswater he wanted to energise the ANISOTROPIC FERRITE MAGNETS( or flankers) by passing them between two enormous metal pillars he had spotted on the surface of the moon just around the bend from the SEA OF TRANQUILLITY which he had heard from a bloke at NASA were definitely positive and negative.The weightless atmosphere on the moon would enable him to pass the magnets between the pillars in a smooth under and overarm movement at an extremely slow speed that would be impossible here on EARTH.The power transferred to each pickup would be comparable to that of the atomic bombs then being tested by the Poms at Maralinga in remote South Australia.It was Garths hope that an AUSTRALIAN guitarist with this REVOLUTIONARY PICK UP SYSTEM would be able to RULE THE WORLD yet not have to get TOO UP HIMSELF in the process.This pick up was to be used on a STRIKINGLY MODERN guitar design the maton brains trust had cooked up which was to be called THE MASTERSOUND.
By all accounts from the survivors,Stringer achieved his goal on his first pass through the LUNAR PILLARS,achieving an unheard of GAUSS READING on the 2nd QUADRANT of the HYSTERESIS CURVE.Mission was accomplished however at an incredible cost as Stringer was never seen again.The command module,apparently believing Garth had scrambled aboard,left him on the surface and flew back to Woomera.A subsequent inquiry found that the pilot ,KEN CHEESEY’ CRAFTER had followed all the correct procedures in asking for a head count before take off but unfortunately,in the dim lunar light,had mistaken a spare space suit slumped in the corner for the living figure of Stringer.
Fast forward to 1998.
That would be the rather tragic end to the story of one more AUSSIE VISIONARY in the line of LOGIE BAIRD and LUDWIG LEICHARDT were it not for the strange turn of events that led to an American unmanned lunar exploration module coming across Stringers haversack full of pickups lying on the rocky bed of the moon between two pillars somewhere in the SEA OF TRANQUILLITY in late 1997.Having laid in the enormous magnetic field for two decades has given the FERRITE MAGNETS such an unearthly powerful charge that they are now used to polarise and power the mass produced pickups at MATONS BAYSWATER FACTORY.These are the MOST POWERFUL PICKUPS KNOWN TO MANKIND.They provide hero Aussie guitarists with THE FATTEST TONE POSSIBLE THIS SIDE OF THE SEA OF TRANQUILLITY.
With respect to Garth Stringers late sixties sensibility,all maton guitars are made only from regrowth trees.For the MASTERSOUND,there is however only one kind of wood that is acceptable.Whilst on his fateful trip to the moon,Stringer radioed back that he could identify a hitherto “LOST VALLEY OF TREES” in a certain part of highland NSW.This ARAUCARIA wood (regrowth only) is used exclusively for THE MASTERSOUND and provides that famed WARM,FUZZY TONE so beloved of guitar players the world over.
Boogie on,Space Cowboys
The Savage Sportsman- aka australian songwriter,performer and musician dave graney writes an irregular blog.
About Me
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- dave graney
- 2023 book THERE HE GOES WITH HIS EYE OUT (lyrics 1980-2023) 2023 reissue Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes Night Of The Wolverine. Double vinyl release. 2023 ROCK album with Clare Moore IN A MISTLY . WORKSHY - 2017 memoir out on Affirm Press. Available at shows or via website. Moodists - Coral Snakes - mistLY. I don’t know what I am and don’t want to know any more than I already know. I aspire, in my music , to 40s B Movie (voice and presence) and wish I could play guitar like Dickey Betts, John Cippolina or Grant Green - but not in this lifetime, I know.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
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Dave Graney and Clare Moore with Georgio "the dove" Valentino and Malcolm Ross
Dave Graney and Clare Moore with Robin Casinader - In Concert
ONE MILLION YEARS DC
Starts with a Kinksy groover sketching a 21st century populist tyrant who coasts in power on waves of public resentment at those on the lowest rungs of the ladder (He Was A Sore Winner). Sweeps across a sci fi terrain with nods to songs in the sand at the end of the world (Pop Ruins) and nods to the ties that bind in the underground communities (Comrade Of Pop and Where Did All The Freaks Go?).
Songs about intense, long relationships, defunct technology that didn’t answer back, severe social status definition (I’m Not Just Any Nobody), people wandering through your mind as if it was a garage sale, the anxiety of the long running showman (wide open to the elements again) and ends with a song that’s “a little bit Merle Haggard and a little bit Samuel Beckett”.
" Edith Grove! Powis Square! 56 Hope Road! Petrie Terrace!..
The Roxy! The Odeon! Apollo! Palais! Olympia! The Whisky! Detroit Grande!”
Pop Ruins!"
ZIPPA DEEDOO WHAT IS/WAS THAT/THIS?
ZIPPA DEEDOO WHAT IS/WAS THAT/THIS? (The title comes from the chorus of “Song Of Life” ) is a classic rock’n’roll album. Classic if you lived through what has become known as ”the classic rock era” as it rolled out new and even broke onto the beachhead and morphed into punk. That’s the direction Dave Graney and Clare Moore have always been coming from. They have spent their lives schooled by and immersed in rock ‘n’ roll culture. Neither attended higher education and they dived in deep and kept swimming. From the Moodists through the Coral Snakes /White Buffaloes to the mistLY
This is an album with their band, Dave Graney and the mistLY. Stuart Perera has played guitar with them since 1998 and Stu Thomas on bass since 2004. MARCH 2019
ZIPPA DEEDOO WHAT IS/WAS THAT/THIS? 2019 album out on Compact Disc - available here via mail order...
If you are from outside of Australia and wish to purchase a Compact Disc copy of ZIPPA DEEDOO WHAT IS/WAS THAT/THIS? please use this button (different postage)
LETS GET TIGHT
FEARFUL WIGGINGS
2014 solo album from Dave Graney.
*****"If I've learnt anything in my years of writing about music it's that if you are going to do anything of worth in this tough game, you better have your own thing. Today's generic is easily replaced by tomorrow's. And yet you need to be flexible, to follow wherever the songs demand. In the case of this, only the second credited as a solo album among 30 or so Graney releases, it's a curious yet welcoming lane he walks you down, with acoustic guitars, not much percussion, vibes, smooth sounds. At the end of it you feel like you've awoken from a strange yet pleasant summer's dream. As shot by Luis Bunuel. It ranges from off-kilter reveries (A Woman Skinnies Up a Man, The Old Docklands Wheel) through to the softly seductive (How Can You Get Out of London) and the downright arch (Look Into My Shades, Everything Is Great In The Beginning.) This is music that is neither folk, nor blues, nor country, but it's all Graney, somewhere out to the left field beyond Lee Hazlewood's raised eyebrow. It's astringent on the tongue but sweetens in the telling." Noel Mengel Brisbane Courier Mail
you've been in my mind
June 2012 super high energy pop rock album - blazing electric 12 strings - total 70s rock drive. Greatest yet! available via paypal - $20 pp
rock'n'roll is where I hide/- 2011 "vintage classics/ re recordings" on LIBERATION
SUPERMODIFIED - August 2010 remixed/re-sung/re-strung//remastered/replayed comp via PAYPAL
also available as a digital album
Knock yourself (2009)-first ever dg solo set-filthy electro r&b-available via Paypal- $20
available as a digital album too
We Wuz Curious (2008)-blazing R&B jazz pop album available via paypal-$20
UNAVAILABLE-COMPLETELY SOLD OUT!!!
AVAILABLE AS A DIGITAL album
Keepin' It Unreal-(2006)-minimalist/lyrical vibes, bass, 12 string set - CDs sold out - digital only
Hashish and Liquor (2005 double disc by Dave Graney and Clare Moore) available via Paypal $25
UNAVAILABLE-COMPLETELY SOLD OUT!!!
Single album HASHISH available as a digital release
Heroic Blues- "folk soul" set from 2002-Availableas a digital album via BandCamp
UNAVAILABLE ! Completely sold out!
1 comment:
The first thing I'd save if my house were on fire would be my dog, but I'd have my MS-500 strapped around me.
Les Pauls are like the five dollar shake from Pulp Fiction (inflation has really dated that movie): great guitars, but I don't know if they're worth five (thousand) dollars. Or in my case, I just don't have the money.
The only Fender I like is the Jazzmaster, and I hadn't played one when I got my Maton five years ago. If I could play like Richard Thompson I'd get a Strat, but I can't. Richard Starkey maybe.
The second I started playing the Maton, I heard the tone I'd been looking for and had in my head, but couldn't describe. It has the bottom end I'd only otherwise found in guitars twice as expensive and more versatility than I'd ever heard in any guitar. If Josh Homme's endorsement isn't enough to warm the US to Matons, I don't know what is.
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