Doug Raney's gear with Chet

[DB's Jazz Guitar Blog]

Anybody knows what amp and guitars Doug was playing in1979 with Chet on the trio recordings? There is one picture I found on the web and it's a thinline guitar ... I had expected to see his 350 (or what was it?).

[DMgolf66]

I love Doug's choice of shoes, haha.

[Little Jay]

I think I see a 5-piece neck, venetian cutaway, volute.... 70ies Byrdland or Es-350T perhaps?

[Bbmaj7#5#9]

Unfortunately, I don’t know what type of guitar he used. Is it a combo amp or just a speaker cab in the right corner? I would say it’s a 1970’s Polytone amp. The design reminds me of old Polytones.

[mr. beaumont]

It's a great question...I've seen this photo before and wondered the same thing. I guess Doug wasn't married to a guitar...a 350t seems right maybe...it sounds like a long scale instrument to me, on those recordings...there's a "snap" to the notes that I've never heard from a Byrdland...but I could be wrong.

Whatever it is, it's a damn near perfect tone, in my book.

[wintermoon]

No clue other than the aforementioned 350T, doubt it was a Birdie.
Other than Chet hard to believe they're gone, Raneys lifestyle notwithstanding.

[John A.]

Anybody knows what amp and guitars Doug was playing in1979 with Chet on the trio recordings? There is one picture I found on the web and it's a thinline guitar ... I had expected to see his 350 (or what was it?).

I have no info about the gear, but that picture is something else. Incidentally, I went to high school with Jon Raney (who was just beginning to play jazz at that point, but quickly became a killer pianist), and still see him occasionally, so that picture pushes all sorts of nostalgia and amazement buttons. Though I never met either Doug or Jimmy, they were a big topic of conversation. Never would we have imagined how life turned out for Doug, or any of us for that matter. And we definitely would not have imagined Converse high-tops being a fashion statement. ("Cons", not "Chucks" ... friggin' hipsters ...).

John

[neatomic]

posted that pic ^ here when he passed...a moving thread

Doug Raney RIP

love dougs music stand!! haha...sheets strewn all of the floor!

pic from back cover of the touch of your lips



white hi top cons were always cool!

cheers

[guga7]

"the touch of your lips" is a magnificent album! The guitar is spot on.

[mr. beaumont]

Cons vs. Chucks

When I was a kid, they were definitely "Cons." Sometime in high school, it changed to "Chucks." Never knew why.

Anyway, I've almost always had a pair since I was about 12, but I have switched to low tops. When I was younger, I thought they were the most comfortable shoes ever...they don't really offer the support I once thought they did.

Turned 40 this year, I'm fearing the day my all white New Balance dad sneakers arrive in the mail with the sample boxes of Tide.

[wintermoon]

posted that pic ^ here when he passed...a moving thread

Doug Raney RIP

love dougs music stand!! haha...sheets strewn all of the floor!

pic from back cover of the touch of your lips



white hi top cons were always cool!e

cheers

I forgot about that pic, looks like his 350 there, I guess he didn't use the same guitar on all the trio sessions.

[Stringswinger]

Likely a 350T and a Polytone.....

[Stringswinger]

And growing up in Philly and NYC, we always called them "Cons". But I just turned 62, what do I know?

[wintermoon]

Yeah I lost the CT's before high school, you couldn't get chicks looking like a nerd back then.

[John A.]

Cons vs. Chucks

When I was a kid, they were definitely "Cons." Sometime in high school, it changed to "Chucks." Never knew why.

Anyway, I've almost always had a pair since I was about 12, but I have switched to low tops. When I was younger, I thought they were the most comfortable shoes ever...they don't really offer the support I once thought they did.

Turned 40 this year, I'm fearing the day my all white New Balance dad sneakers arrive in the mail with the sample boxes of Tide.

In NY, they were "Cons", and I'm old enough to have actually played basketball in them (way past 21, as a certain Chicagoan might say). I stopped wearing them when I switched to other sports in high school, then somewhere along the way I picked up a pair of green high tops as gig-wear, but gave up on them because I found then really uncomfortable. Hard to believe we actually played ball in them. Current gig-wear is a pair of red Puma Clydes (which are not called Clydes any more, but I'm old and from NY, so they're Clydes). I've also got black NB's. You can wear 'em to work, even with a suit.

John

[Dennis D]

.....and NHOP on bass......no more needs saying !

[Bbmaj7#5#9]

.....and NHOP on bass......no more needs saying !

Best post of the day so far? I agree with you.

[Stringswinger]

In NY, they were "Cons", and I'm old enough to have actually played basketball in them (way past 21, as a certain Chicagoan might say). I stopped wearing them when I switched to other sports in high school, then somewhere along the way I picked up a pair of green high tops as gig-wear, but gave up on them because I found then really uncomfortable. Hard to believe we actually played ball in them. Current gig-wear is a pair of red Puma Clydes (which are not called Clydes any more, but I'm old and from NY, so they're Clydes). I've also got black NB's. You can wear 'em to work, even with a suit.

John

[Jehu]

I've also got black NB's. You can wear 'em to work, even with a suit.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

[sgosnell]

I played ball in worse than Cons. A few guys had Cons, but I couldn't afford them, so I had some black ones that I can't remember the name of. They were state of the art at the time (late '50s, early '60s). I don't recall that they had any particular name, though, at least in my part of the country, and it was way out in the country.

[Sam Sherry]

Gorgeous.

Drugs suck!

[mr. beaumont]

I played ball in worse than Cons. A few guys had Cons, but I couldn't afford them, so I had some black ones that I can't remember the name of. They were state of the art at the time (late '50s, early '60s). I don't recall that they had any particular name, though, at least in my part of the country, and it was way out in the country.

PF Flyers?

[Woody Sound]

I forgot about that pic, looks like his 350 there, I guess he didn't use the same guitar on all the trio sessions.

Or could be a 350T. Does the neck look a tad small?

[mr. beaumont]

Were all the 350t's short scale?

I wonder if there could be a bit of an optical illusion going on? Doug was definitely pictured with this guitar a few times.

[neatomic]

doug used a lot of different guitars in his career...unfortunately, addiction and keeping gear usually don't go hand in hand...lost, stolen. traded, pawned, broken or sold...even his dad jimmy "lost" his classic gibson es-150 that he used throughout the 50's...supposedly left it in the back of a cab!..

if i remember doug also inherited a guitar or two when jimmy passed...

& how many of the guitars he's pictured with might have been loaners as well?..his last days pics see him with an ibanez...

he was a master, with any guitar in his hands... no doubt

may he rip..both of them...doug & jimmy raney..two of the best ever



cheers