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Topic: Babirad of Lyndhurst, NJ |
Jon Light (deceased)
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 30 Jun 2022 9:35 am |
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Very few mentions of this guitar in my SGF search. John Swain is part of its history, per several of his contributions to those few mentions.
Client's photos had me fearing that I'd have to tell him it would be a big and costly job. But now here in my shop I'm happy to find it mechanically pretty ok. Big clean up, big setup.
Client believes (was told) that Duane Marrs had some connection to this. Anybody know? I have worked on one Marrs and I consider Duane's guitars to be an ongoing evolution so the fact that I don't recognize anything Marrs-ish doesn't necessarily mean anything.
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2022 11:00 am
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I was born and raised in Lyndhurst. started my steel playing career there in the 70's.. The ONLY person I ever recall mentioning Babirad was John Swain multiple decades ago.. I would PM him,, He would probably know more about those guitars and their builder than anyone else these days... bob
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I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2022 10:50 am
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btw, thats the first one I have ever seen... Looks typically 70's... Really looks very well done and stoutly built...
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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Jon Light (deceased)
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 1 Jul 2022 11:02 am
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John & I have been in communication. He co-designed the guitar. Similar to some MSA ideas but with specific deviations to address specific different thinking. It is indeed stout and well built. I am always fascinated how, given a set of requirements (this changer, this pedal needs to do this and that but that lever also needs to be able to do xxxxx) different ingenious engineers come up with different ingenious solutions. Some stick, some get left out on an evolutionary branch to die.
And both Jeff Surratt and John Swain say no, there is no Duane Marrs happening here. |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2022 11:47 am
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Maybe John Swain can respond to this post, and give us a bit more info.. How many were built/sold, what happened to the builder, where did the parts come from?... I am interested because I do recall John talking about the guitar geez, back in the 70's, I was just a stupid kid really. It was built in my own home town, and believe me Lyndhurst was NOT much of a mecca for steel guitar.....It was a town full of 2nd gen Italians and Polish 8 miles outside NYC. bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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Frank Freniere
From:
The First Coast
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Posted 1 Jul 2022 4:41 pm
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| Interesting name, too. |
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Jon Light (deceased)
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 1 Jul 2022 7:43 pm
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I'd looked at that name every which way, assuming it to be a combination of names like Marlen or Rus-ler. Turns out it's the guy's name. John Babirad.
--edited to respect the man by getting his name right.
Last edited by Jon Light (deceased) on 2 Jul 2022 6:15 am; edited 1 time in total |
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John Swain
From:
Winchester, Va
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Posted 2 Jul 2022 6:10 am
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| John Babirad(Ukrainian) and Frankie K(?)partnered in copying the early MSA(1974 models). They built a few together, then split over Frank wanting to continue copying while John had new ideas. Because John played A6 two foot style he got by the limitations of MSA's changers by using a through rod to achieve triple raises for his copedant. I was switching to a E9/B6 Universal setup, so I was interested in a triple raise abilty. |
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