# David Wilcox's guitar



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

YouTube - David Wilcox - Riverboat Fantasy

Nice Tele in this video. Lots of switching options. 

Anyone know more about it?

Peace, Mooh.


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## Jimmypaz (Sep 15, 2009)

Hey there, check out TDPRI and do a search for David Wilcox, there is a thread about his Tele there.
Peace 
Jim.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Swell. Thanks Jim!

Peace, Mooh.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p454/NB_Terry/wilcox.jpg

Great photo, but not much detail, though one can guess or presume a lot. That's a lot of switching capability.

Peace, Mooh.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Wow! What a great performance, amazing showmanship....I expected the cool guitarwork but not the _performance_. Here's why. I saw David play a bar in Winnipeg in the very early 80's. I remember the guitarwork being amazing and the personality being almost zero. I don't remember much patter or interaction. When he solo'd, he'd roll his eyes back in his head and tilt his head back, every time, like a nervous tic. I dunno if it was the night, life on the road getting him down, the venue, or if he has changed as a person since then (almost 30 years, I recognize that can happen).

Anyways, I was happy to see him smiling and enjoying the adulation from a great crowd in that vid.


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## Lafite (May 16, 2009)

keto said:


> Wow! What a great performance, amazing showmanship....I expected the cool guitarwork but not the _performance_. Here's why. I saw David play a bar in Winnipeg in the very early 80's. I remember the guitarwork being amazing and the personality being almost zero. I don't remember much patter or interaction. When he solo'd, he'd roll his eyes back in his head and tilt his head back, every time, like a nervous tic. I dunno if it was the night, life on the road getting him down, the venue, or if he has changed as a person since then (almost 30 years, I recognize that can happen).
> 
> 
> Anyways, I was happy to see him smiling and enjoying the adulation from a great crowd in that vid.


You must have got him on a bad night. He usually clowns around alot, during and between songs. 

He makes these real goofy faces, and the story goes that when he played with Ian Tyson and GSB, when on TV and taking a solo, they would never show his face, only his guitar bacause he made these funny faces. He couldn't stop doing it, so he exagerrated them and made them part of his act.
Probably the best bar music I've ever heard. 
He seems to have all the bases covered with that Tele. Looks like a Gretsch pickup in there beside the HB in Moo's picture.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Mooh said:


> http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p454/NB_Terry/wilcox.jpg
> 
> Great photo, but not much detail, though one can guess or presume a lot. That's a lot of switching capability.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Yeah, I saw that pic a while back and thought, MAN!!! that's a cool Tele!

The mini-switches are a bit much, though. I'd get confused and just play on teh bridge after a while 

I've always wanted a Tele with a regular bridge pickup and two mini-humbuckers in the middle and neck positions.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Who the hell does he think he is, Steve Morse or something:smilie_flagge17:?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

That axe reminds me of a Tele that Gary McGill has that I think maybe Dave Wren built/engineered. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

While I like his playing, I find a lot of his stuff a little hokey. I LOVE Hot Hot Papa though. I wish he had a whole album of stuff that heavy:

*Just the audio:*
[YOUTUBE]hWAVp990pKQ[/YOUTUBE] 


*Live but with horrible sound:*
[YOUTUBE]H6ip3O3xehg[/YOUTUBE]


"I can sip hot lead, spit out rivets" is one of my fav lyrics of all time too lol.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

4 pickups, 4 mini switches - and no pickup selector. That would havw to mean one switch for each pickup to turn any one on or off independantly. Not much else.. 

AJC


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

keto said:


> Wow! What a great performance, amazing showmanship....I expected the cool guitarwork but not the _performance_. Here's why. I saw David play a bar in Winnipeg in the very early 80's. I remember the guitarwork being amazing and the personality being almost zero. I don't remember much patter or interaction. When he solo'd, he'd roll his eyes back in his head and tilt his head back, every time, like a nervous tic. I dunno if it was the night, life on the road getting him down, the venue, or if he has changed as a person since then (almost 30 years, I recognize that can happen).
> 
> Anyways, I was happy to see him smiling and enjoying the adulation from a great crowd in that vid.





Lafite said:


> You must have got him on a bad night. He usually clowns around alot, during and between songs.
> 
> He makes these real goofy faces, and the story goes that when he played with Ian Tyson and GSB, when on TV and taking a solo, they would never show his face, only his guitar bacause he made these funny faces. He couldn't stop doing it, so he exagerrated them and made them part of his act.
> Probably the best bar music I've ever heard.
> He seems to have all the bases covered with that Tele. Looks like a Gretsch pickup in there beside the HB in Moo's picture.


When I saw him in the 90's he put on a great show--very energetic, friendly, good audience interaction, and buckets of sweat.



ajcoholic said:


> 4 pickups, 4 mini switches - and no pickup selector. That would havw to mean one switch for each pickup to turn any one on or off independantly. Not much else..
> 
> AJC


The switches could be three position ones, and offer additional options.
But they could be just on/off.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Yeah, I figured that about the switches, though I suppose there could be an extra cap there somewhere. 
Anyone know what the pickups are?

http://www.davidwilcoxrocks.com/tour.htm ...I suppose I could go ask him.

Peace, Mooh.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Wilcox's calling card has been that his "personality" is one of multiple personalities. When I used to see him in the late 70's around the Toronto/Hamilton area, during his Strat-playing days with a 4-piece band (Bucky Berger on drums, and Dave somebody (Baxter?) on rhythm), it was not uncommon for him to change genres *within* songs let alone between them. So, a tune might start out bluesy then turn George Benson, then Flatt & Scruggs. The ability of the Strat to provide highly contrasting tones let him do that nicely.

I did not like his Supro period, which seemed to be all about guitar grunts. It suited "Laying Pipe" but not much else. The current Tele period seems more appropriate.

The thing about Wilcox is that he was not always a strong songwriter, with much of his material being mediocre and the occasional house-rocker interspersed. Sometimes, some of his best material was covers. I can recall him doing a terrific cover of the Paul Butterfield's Better Days tune "Small Town Talk" at the El Mocambo that would have made Amos Garrett weep. 

I like him, but his problem is that he is not able to simply be part of someone else's band, or part of an equal-billing band, yet not able to produce enough strong material of his own to justify an individual career.


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## Lafite (May 16, 2009)

mhammer said:


> Wilcox's calling card has been that his "personality" is one of multiple personalities. When I used to see him in the late 70's around the Toronto/Hamilton area, during his Strat-playing days with a 4-piece band (Bucky Berger on drums, and Dave somebody (Baxter?) on rhythm), it was not uncommon for him to change genres *within* songs let alone between them. So, a tune might start out bluesy then turn George Benson, then Flatt & Scruggs. The ability of the Strat to provide highly contrasting tones let him do that nicely.
> 
> I did not like his Supro period, which seemed to be all about guitar grunts. It suited "Laying Pipe" but not much else. The current Tele period seems more appropriate.
> 
> ...


I live in Ottawa, and have also seen Wilcox since the 70's, going back to the old Black Swan on Rideau St., long gone now. Your comments about his inability to be part of someone else's band are interesting. Sometimes when he came to Ottawa it would be with a couple of kids on bass and drums. Not bad, but you certainly were going to see Wilcox, not his band. I always thought that this was probably an economic necessity. There are people who join a band and hope it turns into the Beatles, and there are those who make a living out of making music. When you are playing bars and constantly dealing with the expense of being on the road, you hire some guys, and watch your expenses. Personally, I like a lot of his original stuff. But seeing him live so often, there are many covers I've heard him do that were amazing. I remember him doing a funky almost Reggae version of "You Made Me Cry" the C&W hit from the 50's by Webb Pierce. Since you have seen listening to him for so long too, maybe you remember this. He used to do this song which I really liked but can't track down. The chorus went something like "Sweet Thing, Sweet Thing, am I coming through This is Dragline from Tennessee, Calling out to you". The lyrics suggest it's a cover, but I can't track it down for the life of me. I thought you could track down anything these days on the internet, but no dice with this one.


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## Murman (Jun 5, 2014)

Lafite said:


> I live in Ottawa, and have also seen Wilcox since the 70's, going back to the old Black Swan on Rideau St., long gone now. Your comments about his inability to be part of someone else's band are interesting. Sometimes when he came to Ottawa it would be with a couple of kids on bass and drums. Not bad, but you certainly were going to see Wilcox, not his band. I always thought that this was probably an economic necessity. There are people who join a band and hope it turns into the Beatles, and there are those who make a living out of making music. When you are playing bars and constantly dealing with the expense of being on the road, you hire some guys, and watch your expenses. Personally, I like a lot of his original stuff. But seeing him live so often, there are many covers I've heard him do that were amazing. I remember him doing a funky almost Reggae version of "You Made Me Cry" the C&W hit from the 50's by Webb Pierce. Since you have seen listening to him for so long too, maybe you remember this. He used to do this song which I really liked but can't track down. The chorus went something like "Sweet Thing, Sweet Thing, am I coming through This is Dragline from Tennessee, Calling out to you". The lyrics suggest it's a cover, but I can't track it down for the life of me. I thought you could track down anything these days on the internet, but no dice with this one.


Well, here it is. 
http://youtu.be/r37jSJrAlsw


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## Gearhead88 (Nov 7, 2013)

He's a great showman ! , I've seen him many times , I wish he'd come out west more.

Oh he's got a bag of tricks , open tunings , alternate tunings , capo's with notches cut out of the fretting bar and a few more I'm sure .


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## whywhyzed (Jan 28, 2008)

there was just a profile of David's Tele on that awful guitar show on the HiFi channel that Kim Mitchell narrates. free preview on Bell satellite this month. They said what the switches do, but the show is o poorly done I don't recall what they said. lol


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

I have always liked him. He has made his mark on Canada for sure. He at _least_ wrote some songs great hooks and will live on for quite a long time. A big feather in ones cap of life. 

A great act in Canada but there is/was a lot of equally talented blues players to compete against in the states .. where the money is.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

This is brilliant.....no switches either ....
[video=youtube;eWSsMHISSeY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWSsMHISSeY[/video]


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## DrHook (Oct 28, 2013)

I'm pretty sure the time that Keto saw him in Winnipeg, I was working the house sound at the Black Knight where he played. People remark about his goofy faces but what really struck me was the way he stared at the overhead par lights and at the end of his sets he had to be lead off stage because he was literally blinded. Not sure if it was the drugs at that point or just how he got into his playing "happy place".


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

About 25 years ago we were visting an artist friend of my x-wife. He was well know in art community. We were there for about a half an hour and there was a knock of the door. In walks David Wilcox. Just a friendly everyday guy.


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## Lafite (May 16, 2009)

Murman said:


> Well, here it is.
> http://youtu.be/r37jSJrAlsw


Wow, thanks for this. It's been many years since I heard this.


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