Hi,
This is my first post here at the TDPRI and it also involves my first hands on experience with a Tele and Domenic Troiano.
Back in Jr. High School in 1969-70 or so I started hanging out with a guy in my class named David Winter who was the first "real" guitar player I ever knew. We ended up becoming buddies and he was the one who first showed me a bit about playing guitar and a lot about music in general - he was the first to turn me on to both the Isley Bros. and The Bonzo Dog Band so that give you an idea of how wide ranging his taste in music was! As it happened, he was a Tele player and, the reason that I've put this post here, the Tele he played was one formerly owned by Domenic Troiano. David's father Norman Winter was / is a famous big time
PR / Promoter type guy in the music biz (Elton John and many others) and I think it may have been some connection of his that was how David ended up with Troiano's old axe. At any rate, it was not the average 15 year old's guitar! I'm sorry to say I don't remember all the details but I do remember it being a heavily modded Blonde, Maple neck model. I think that it was set up with 3 Humbuckers and a Tune-a-matic Bridge but, to be honest, I didn't know enough to pay that much attention at the time. One real distinctive feature it had was a Pickguard that, I think, had been adapted from a Gibson SJ200 Acoustic - the Flower motif thing. I was a hell of a guitar and he had a nice Twin Reverb to play it through too. Definitely a nice axe for me to try my first chords on!
David and I eventually tried forming a band in the mid to late 70s but, sad to say, we had a falling out over his drug problems and he passed away in 1978 or so. We did actually record a song using the Troiano Tele as a College recording class project. I'm not sure if his family still has the guitar or not.
Despite the influence, I've never actually owned a Tele till very recently - maybe it was the Icepick in the ear thing of a Tele / Twin combo on 10 in a closed up suburban bedroom.... Actually, I still don't own a real Tele but I do have a nice cheapy J3 Atlantis copy and have almost finished putting together my own Scrap-o-caster parts box version so I'm getting there!
Well, there's my little story. A toast to all the great Tele players who have passed before their time!
Kevin King