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SRV's Jimbo Tele

Prized Blackguard on Display

Van Nuys, CA (October 4, 2007) Before Number One and Lenny there was Jimbo, Stevie Ray Vaughan''s ''52 Tele which recently surfaced. Jimbo was Stevie''s first pro-level guitar, predating his Strats. The guitar will be on display Saturday, Ocotber 6 at the LA Amp Show in Van Nuys, CA.

Loni Specter, who runs the Los Angeles Amp Show and has spent years repairing and rebuilding Teles, says he first saw Jimbo in an LA studio some years ago. It first appeared to be a swamp Ash ''51 nocaster or ''52 Tele, with the confusion being whether it was a ''51 with no label or a ''52 with the label missing. It had the original pickups. The guitar''s fingerboard had been flattened and refretted with jumbo frets. Also, someone had carved "Jimbo" into the back of the body. According to Specter, it sounds amazing.

Years later when Specter was reading You Can''t Stop a Comet: My Friends and Buds, We''ve All Been Somewhere Twice, he was shocked at what he saw. The book, written by Stevie''s friend and roadie, Cutter Brandenburg, mentioned a ''52 Tele Stevie once played that had "Jimbo" carved into the back, the guitar''s whereabouts were then unknown.

Specter called the friend who was playing that sweet-sounding blackguard in the studio that day. It turns out the guitar was actually owned by someone else. Specter told his friend that he should track it down immediately and buy it, and his friend took his advice. Jimmie Vaughan has since authenticated it -- this is the guitar he gave his younger brother as a teenager.

Specter''s friend is now looking for a buyer. The guitar will be displayed at a few shows in the next coming months, including the LA Amp Show this weekend.

For more information:

LA Amp Show