Early Morse Prototype

[fbecir]

Hello

Special thread for the Morse addicts ...

I just found this video on YouTube :

It is the recording of a clinic in August 1986. No video but a few pictures ...
Steve is playing a MusicMan with the classic 4+2 headstock.
4 pickups (but the humbuckers are white).
The pickguard has a different shape (and it seems that there are more knobs than on a regular Morse).

1986, I think, is the beginning of the collaboration between Steve and MusicMan. Any information on this prototype ?

(by the way, on this Youtube channel you can find full score transcriptions of The Introduction, On the Pipe and Little Kids).

 

[beej]

Nice!

I've seen photos of this one before, though for the life of me I can't find them.

 

[GWDavis28]

Pretty weird looking to me, but thanx for sharing.

Glenn |B)

 

[Harable]

I believe that guitar has Roland GR-707 electronics built in. You can tell by the orientation of the additional knobs (three black knobs in a diagonal line), but the big give-away is the big honking 24-pin connector right below the 1/4" jack. So he must have been using one of the early 24-pin Roland guitar synths (probably the GR-700) for the kind of synth string sounds he's inclined to use to shadow his guitar sounds.

 

[banjoplayer]

Have seen it before too and have pictures too, but no access to my NAS-Station at the moment...
From the shape and the forearm contour (I believe there is one) this looks to me like based on the Silo and not yet the Morse body as the later signature model

 

[DrKev]

Have seen it before too and have pictures too, but no access to my NAS-Station at the moment...
From the shape and the forearm contour (I believe there is one) this looks to me like based on the Silo and not yet the Morse body as the later signature model

Yes! This is a really interesting look at the evolution of the guitar bodies. Guitarchaeology, if you will.

I have always thought of the Morse body as most similar to the Silhouette Special but without the SG-style chamfering (and the and Luke I and II are rounded rather than chamfered) This guitar here has a 22 fret neck like the special but both horns/cutaways seem to be the standard Silhouette length and position. Note the bottom of the lower cutaway extends past the end of the 22nd fret, where on a 24 fret Silhouette it would be level with the 23rd fret.

 

[Sweat]

Nice do remember something about the Roland. A SM model is something have not thought about in ages! Cool

 

[beej]

So I spent the day with Tommy today and asked him about this guitar- he recalled it being photographed for a magazine, so that's probably what we've seen, assuming that it's the same guitar (which is hard to tell from those pics).

Found this- taken from an old Guitar Player article (June 1986):

"When I got the Roland 700 system, it didn’t seem feasible to me until I had a controller that was either my own guitar or a custom-made guitar, because the location of switches and the type of pickup selection is really important to me. In other words, I would hate to play a completely, totally weird guitar just to have the synthesizer pop in and out at a few spots. To save me from carving a big, big piece of wood away from my sentimental favorite guitar, Ernie Ball was kind enough to custom - make one for me that’s good enough to play as a straight guitar without synthesizer. I don’t have to make compromises with my strings or the way it’s set up. It has the same four - pickup sequence and switches as my regular guitar, as well as a similar neck shape. Plus, it has the electronics of a Roland G-707."


And this is cool! From Premier Guitar:

"David Seal — Reader of the Month
A: I worked for Steve Morse in many roles in the late ’80s/early ’90s as guitar tech, road manager, FOH audio engineer, and general roadie. When I was on tour with Blue Öyster Cult, my guitar was stolen. When I told Steve, his primary concern was that I had a guitar to practice with on the road. He had Ernie Ball send me the cherry sunburst Morse model. A week or so later when Blue Öyster Cult played Sacramento, Steve came to the gig. At soundcheck, he tapped me on the shoulder and said, “let’s swap.” He handed me the prototype in the photo and I turned over the new cherry sunburst model. He sat in with BOC that night, played through a backup Laney head, and killed!"

 

[GWDavis28]

Beej so cool, how is Tommy, such a great guy!!! It's been years since I've seen or heard his name?

Glenn |B)

 

[fbecir]

Great investigation from beej ! Thanks a lot

I imagine that under the pickguard, it is a beautiful electronic mess ...

 

[beej]

Beej so cool, how is Tommy, such a great guy!!! It's been years since I've seen or heard his name?

Glenn |B)

Yeah he really is. Wish I got to see him more, for sure.

He's doing great. Still with Deep Purple, working his magic behind the scenes, taking care of everyone.

 

[GoKart Mozart]

I KNEW I had seen pics of that guitar elsewhere. Steve did a small clinic here in the Muscle Shoals/Florence area back around '86 and brought that guitar with him. Our local store (and current Music Man dealer) Counts Brothers Music helped set the event up; I've heard one of the owners mention that they had to pick up Steve from our local tiny airport since he flew himself in.

*Pics courtesy of James Counts.

 

[Balderdashy]

I KNEW I had seen pics of that guitar elsewhere. Steve did a small clinic here in the Muscle Shoals/Florence area back around '86 and brought that guitar with him. Our local store (and current Music Man dealer) Counts Brothers Music helped set the event up; I've heard one of the owners mention that they had to pick up Steve from our local tiny airport since he flew himself in.

*Pics courtesy of James Counts.

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Great pics - I saw the same clinic ( i think he had just joined Kansas?) but up in NJ at Russo's music. He had same MO, flew in to local airport and got a lift to clinic from some lucky store employees. It was the first time I saw/heard someone doing the rolling harmonics technique - He just used a couple of the store's mesa boogie combos for stereo rig i think.