In 1982, FAT FREDDY’S TIME GENERATOR and three other local bands of Canton Ticino (Southern Switzerland) produced an album titled TICINO MUSICA Vol. 2 as part of a trilogy to showcase young aspiring bands of that region. I’m extremely pleased to see that after 42 years, ALESSANDRO ZANOLI of RSI (Radiotelevisione Svizzera Italiana) has revisited that period and produced a podcast series to bring to life a time when local musicians and bands had few opportunities to show off their talents let alone immortalise them on records. As guitarist of Fat Freddy’s Time Generator I’m proud to have been part of that. To listen to the podcasts go to https://rsi.ch/s/2083641 (in Italian)
Zucchetta
I am proud to finally present the “restored” version of an electric guitar that has accompanied me in its various editions for a good part of my life.
I got my first electric guitar around 1970 as a birthday gift from my parents. It was a Fender copy by Ibanez with a white body and a maple neck. Many years later I swapped that guitar with a friend who had an identical model but the body had natural wood finish which I liked better. I eventually ordered an original Fender neck for a lot of money as I wanted the guitar to look cooler and more professional. My friend, an apprentice carpenter, promised to fit the neck with special screws so that it could easily be removed. In doing so he successfully managed to ruin the neck and our friendship. Nonetheless I continued to play that guitar on many occasions and even recorded a vinyl with it. (See post: “40 years Fat Fredy’s Time generator“). Eventually further down the timeline I lent that guitar to another friend who, by storing it in an extremely dry room, sealed the end of the precious Fender neck and its playability.
During my time in Japan (1984 – 1993) I bought various replacement parts (a new neck, a bridge, several pick guards and even Di Marzio pickups which are still boxed somewhere in the house) but during those years I never found either the time or inspiration to restore the guitar, most likely because I had bought other guitars in the meantime.
About three years ago I felt it was time to have another go at some restoration work. To begin with I applied orange paint to the body and somehow rebuilt the electronics but the guitar remained in pieces for yet another two years. This year I decided to take a short cut and buy a pre-soldered Fender pickguard so to finally finish this job of ages. Say hello to: “Zucchetta” (Italian for pumpkin, a fitting name I believe)
You might ask yourself how Zuchetta sounds after all those years … well, drop in sometime soon and find out 🙂
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