# ***Domenic Troiano's Tele @ the 12th Fret !!!!***



## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Hi All
Just thought I'd let those of you that might be interested that Domenic's original Tele is on display at The 12th Fret in Toronto.
This guitar is Canadian music history personified. Dom used this all through his tenure with the Mandala, Bush and The James Gang before switching to his B.C. Rich Seagull. This is the guitar we used to talk about back in public school. Wondering what switches did what and how did he get all those sounds out of a Tele.
This was a real special treat for me as Dom was one of my all-time greatest influences and a very sweet and gracious man. I even did a very similar thing to a 59/60 Tele of mine just a couple of years ago.
If you get a chance, drop in and see this fantastic Frankenstein of a Tele. And if you can corner Grant McNeil (owner/operator of the Fret), he has some wonderful stories of Domenic and the guitar. Grant did a lot of work on that guitar through the decades.
Here are a couple of pix of this legendary axe.
P.S. the guy with the Sh*t-eating grin is me. Happier than I could be to just hold and play that baby for a moment. (of course I played "I Can Here You Calling") 



































Cheers
Pete


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

some people have all the luck, that's a piece of history in your hands there, I remember seeing him with that in Mandala. Drool


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## big frank (Mar 5, 2006)

Happy I had the "Opportunity" to see that.
Thanks for posting


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Sorry, I have to be the clueless one and say "Who is Domenic Troiano?". Sounds like hes played with some heavy hitters above, but I've never heard his name before. In my defence, I didnt move to Canada until 1988 so its not entirely my fault. :smilie_flagge17:


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

My goodness, that guitar has seen a lot of action during it's life.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Saw him use this guitar many times. Remember when it was in its original stock form. He played it through a brown Fender Concert Amp. Their roadie, Carmello, let me play it (sans amp) a couple times while packing up. I couldn't believe that strings could bend like that.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

bagpipe said:


> Sorry, I have to be the clueless one and say "Who is Domenic Troiano?". Sounds like hes played with some heavy hitters above, but I've never heard his name before. In my defence, *I didnt move to Canada until 1988* so its not entirely my fault. :smilie_flagge17:



You are excused then. Otherwise we'd have to pummel you witha a real bagpipe. :wink: His passing was mentioned in Guitar Player magazine last year.


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## bluehugh2 (Mar 10, 2006)

Just shows what we can all do... create a fantastic and iconic guitar with only a chissel and a hammer and a few spare parts!


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

That's a great Tele!

Does anyone know the switch configuration on this one?


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

ronmac said:


> That's a great Tele!
> 
> Does anyone know the switch configuration on this one?



I don't know exactly. But when I played it, it seemed that each one of the three switches on the plate were for each pickup. On/off for sure and out phase perhaps. I don't know what the black switch between the strings and the control plate was, as it was not working. But I think it was a onboard boost.
The knob mounted in the body, just back of the bridge is a varitone. the three knobs on the control plate I'm not sure about either. When I played it I only adjusted the first one to control the volume. Grant said there is not a pickup combination that you can't get with the electronics onboard. 
Here is a close-up of the electronics......












I may not have mentioned this before but I'd like to thank Brian Dickie and Grant at the Fret for letting me photograph this very important guitar. I never expected (or asked) to be allowed to actually hold it. LOL I still haven't washed my hands:tongue: 

Check out the MANDALA sticker on the body


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

Thanks for the information!


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## XIII (Oct 18, 2006)

Man, seeing those pics really brought back the memories of Domenic before he modded that Tele. I don't know how many times I saw him with Mandala at highschool and arena dances. He was too cool, standing up there on stage, shredding away with one hand, then he'd step on that switch and point in the air with his right hand, and zoooom, his incredible playing would be blasting down at you from the heavens, where earlier on ,the roadies had hung a giant horn in the rafters......'Course back then, you could see Lighthouse, Parliaments/Funkadelic, and David Clayton -Thomas playing highschool dances too.Really a special time.


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## kirby323 (Feb 15, 2006)

Thanks Pete for posting the pictures and the detailed information on Dom's guitar (and a special thanks to Grant and crew at the 12th Fret). And thanks for dreaming up this great idea of sharing this special instrument that belonged a very unique Canadian musician.

I too remember Dom playing during his Mandala days at the "high school dance" and of seeing all those bands of the late 60's and early 70's. I agree with XIII, they were indeed special times.

Cheers,
Mark


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## blues (Feb 9, 2006)

Great to see those pics and relive some of those moments you guys mention of the mandala and all those high school dances we were lucky enough to attend in the sixties and early seventies. I still go to see George perform once in a while at chicago's here in oshawa. Every once in awhile I go browsing on the internet to try and find the bush album but I never seem to be able to find it. Again thanks, Dom was truly a great musician.


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## LPBlue (Feb 2, 2006)

faracaster, congrats on the photo op and a fine tribute to Dom from all of you. I, until a year ago lived five minutes from that "Den of Bankruptcy" for 14 years (and 2 locations) and some of the pieces that came through that place never ceased to amaze me. I've purchased at least six guitars and two amps from them over that period and have never felt more at home in a guitar shop than I did there. 

I do still have a nice example of his Tele's successor from the same era...










Anyone else still holding on to one of these Drool ?


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

I have heard Dom's name mentioned a million times but have never heard his music.

what pisses me off the MOST ( borders on disrespectful, IMO ) is that I heard it on the radio ( Q107 ) when they announced he had passed away....."great icon of Canadian music" he said.....do you think they would have played one of his tunes, out of respect????

no.

WTF????


I should have called them up & reamed the idiot DJ ( that old dude who's been around forever...Derringer or something ) for being such an ignoramus



anyway, does anyone have any suggested listening/albums to hunt down?


thx!


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## howardayee (Jun 24, 2007)

*Donnie's Tele...*

ronmac,

Donnie's Tele was the original prototype for the BC Rich Seagull line (_...at least, that's what he told me... He had become very good friends with Bernard Rico during his LA. days with BUSH. Bernard wanted to build a new guitar based on the 'modded' Tele. The green Seagull (...the 1st one ever made) that many of you saw Domenic playing, was the result of that aquaintance._). 
So, I would gather the switches should function the same as on the Rich.

Howard.
*PS*. I always preferred it when he played the Tele though... fit his playing and sounded more transparent to me......


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

bagpipe said:


> Sorry, I have to be the clueless one and say "Who is Domenic Troiano?". Sounds like hes played with some heavy hitters above, but I've never heard his name before. In my defence, I didnt move to Canada until 1988 so its not entirely my fault. :smilie_flagge17:


I've lived here all my life, and played guitar since I was a kid and I think I've only heard his name mentioned a time or two on this forum. I've never heard of the band Mandala either, allthough growing up on the east coast there were differences in popular Canadian music as to what I gather from people who grew up in Ontario. Max Webster is a good example, while we were aware of them on the east coast Ontario seemed to have been fanatical about them.

Maybe he (Domenic Troiano) was before my time?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I hear Dom Troiano's music on Q107 periodically. They often play selections from the album "Bush" which was one of my favourites.

He was a perfect replacement for Joe Walsh in the James Gang. His Fender tones were beautiful.

Great player for sure.:smilie_flagge17:


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## Hamm Guitars (Jan 12, 2007)

Kind of wierd, I just looked this guy up. I was supposed to do a gig last week in Kawartha for Robbie Lane & The Desciples, where Ronnie Hawkins showed up. I didn't do the gig as I was the second stringer for my buddy and his original gig was blown out.

I had never heard of Robbie Lane before, and while I have of course heard of Ronnie Hawkins, I can't say that I can name a tune or say for sure that I've ever heard one.

If I had known, I would have given you all a heads up: http://www.kawarthadowns.com/entertainment/webpages/event.php?evid=1&type=3


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

For those that are not familiar with Domenic........
Here are some youtube links to Dom and his music. There are quite a few more than I've listed here.

Dom tribute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mde751Q-IFQ

with the James Gang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL3EklGdu-0

Domenic Troiano Band at the El Mocombo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVDhJge7w68

cheers
Pete


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

For those that would be interested the Bush album is available at Amazon.com and the word is there is to be a reissue of the Mandala material. His Millenium CD has a couple from that period....


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## billwallace (Jun 25, 2007)

*All those little toggle switches!*

Dom used this guitar for most bed tracks on the two Guess who albums that he
played on. The custom tone control configuration became the model for tone
controls on early B.C. Rich models. Although he used his tele on most rhythm
tracks, Troiano played most solos on "Flavours" and "Power In The Music" on
a silver Strat, and did some tracks on an early '60s Gibson SG style Les
Paul Custom (with a sideways action tailpiece) that also had tone controls
configured in a similar fashion to his tele.
billwallace


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## Gunny (Feb 21, 2006)

HAMM Guitars: I used to work with the fellow who originally played lead guitar with R Lane & Disciples. When the band played a gig in his current home town, he commented on how Robbie exhibited some age-defying changes, a polite way of saying a face lift, etc.
My friend played with the band on a weekly 60's CTV show featuring the band. When that gig ended the station, known as CFTO at the time, offered him the job of musical director of Pig & Whistle. He simply passed on that and went on to a different, non-musical career. He got to keep the guitars and amps the TV station gave them.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I mentioned it earlier, but I'll say it again. I actually got to noodle on that tele back in 1966 for a couple of minutes, when it was still a tele. I no longer wanted to touch my POS after that. Was finally able to find a Fender Mustang a few months later for a $100. Acceptable compromise. Of course about six months later a '56 LP GT turned up for $110, but I couldn't sell the Mustang that in time and couldn't come up with the $$$. Odd how things turn out.


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## Guest (Jun 26, 2007)

Robert1950 said:


> I mentioned it earlier, but I'll say it again. I actually got to noodle on that tele back in 1966 for a couple of minutes, when it was still a tele. I no longer wanted to touch my POS after that. Was finally able to find a Fender Mustang a few months later for a $100. Acceptable compromise. Of course about six months later a '56 LP GT turned up for $110, but I couldn't sell the Mustang that in time and couldn't come up with the $$$. Odd how things turn out.


Those prices you're quoting are _killing me_. Will today's Schecter or Godin be tomorrow's '56 gold top? Probably not...


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