NGD- Rick Turner Model 1

[Bob W.]

So, there I was on Friday, sitting at my desk at work minding my own business, and in walks an audio equipment dealer that we often buy and sell gear with. In his hand was this small, beautiful, cream-colored guitar case.

I sez, "Whatcha got there, Larry?"

He sez, "It's a Rick Turner guitar, ya know, like the one Lindsey Buckingham plays."

Long story short, I bought it, here it is:

[garymaddox]

I have a friend with one of those. It has the rotating pickup and some sort of built in EQ. He had some finish problems with his. He sold it, bought it back and the last I heard sold it to a guy from Japan. This time it's probably gone for good.

So what do you think of it?

[Bob W.]

This is one beautiful guitar. Its small body is very comfortable, in part, due to the unique cylindrical shape of the top and back. The neck is as playable as any guitar I have ever tried. You can fly on this thing. The craftsmanship, fit, and finish are absolutely top notch. This one is 11 years old and is in mint condition.

While it does not have the piezo pickup option, it is truly amazing; the wide range of tones available from this single-pickup guitar. I'm just getting familiar with its combination of passive tone, active EQ, and coil split controls. This is truly a wonderful instrument. I can see why Mr. Buckingham has used these almost exclusively on stage for the past 3 decades.

[Tim Armstrong]

I'm deeply envious!

Tim

[MillerMe]

Beautiful guitar. I have an older one (1980) with updated Turner electronics. I have never heard a more interesting tone come from my fingers.

Happy NGD and enjoy.

[Bob W.]

I messaged (verbed noun) a pic of the guitar to my wife, expecting her to disapprove. She simply asked how much? I told her. About an hour later she wrote back, "that's a good price. All the ones I looked up on ebay and other guitar sites are several hundred more. Why don't you get it?" After I got over the shock, I hemmed and hawed for about 24 hours, then went for it.

Glad I did, but it is the most expensive guitar I've ever bought. Now I have about 25 guitars. My wife asks how many more could you possibly ever need? My answer is always the same: "One more..."

[Jakedog]

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

I'm deeply envious!

Tim

+ a bajillion.

When my brother had his repair shop in Dallas, he did a headstock repair on one of Lindsay's actual stage guitars. he sent me a ton of pics and sound clips. Sadly, I lost them in a hard drive accident several years ago.

I hope to own one of these someday. Don't know if I can ever afford it.

[dog fart]

What lies beyond deeply envious? Whatever it is, I'm there. This is prob one of those "I'll never own" guitars. Not because I wouldn't want it, but because I doubt I'll ever see one for sale. Congrats and strum a chord for me

[syrynx]

I'm not only deeply envious, but broadly envious and highly envious as well. Congratulations, Bob!

The only Rick Turner instrument I've ever had in my hands was a bass (fretless, IIRC) with just a piezo pickup. It was very, very thin and light, and required almost no effort to play. I'm not a bass player, but if I'd had US$1600 I'd have become one!

(Note to Tim Armstrong: The Turner bass was at South Austin Music. This was probably six or eight years ago, so it's almost certainly long gone, but it wouldn't hurt to check...)

[csapo]

Originally Posted by Bob W.

I messaged (verbed noun) a pic of the guitar to my wife, expecting her to disapprove. She simply asked how much? I told her. About an hour later she wrote back, "that's a good price. All the ones I looked up on ebay and other guitar sites are several hundred more. Why don't you get it?" After I got over the shock, I hemmed and hawed for about 24 hours, then went for it.

Glad I did, but it is the most expensive guitar I've ever bought. Now I have about 25 guitars. My wife asks how many more could you possibly ever need? My answer is always the same: "One more..."

Congrats Bob and great answer!!!

I've had my Turner for about a year and love it. It is like 10 guitars in one...

[Bob W.]

I see yours has the piezo blend option. I would have liked to have this feature, but so far I'm very impressed at the range of tones from this guitar. How do you like having the piezo? Does it add a whole new range of sounds? Should I consider having Rick Turner add this to mine? Could I even afford it at this point?

I'll probably leave it well enough alone, I can't see any good reason to modify this instrument. This is a rare case where I don't think I can outsmart the original designer...

[MillerMe]

I don't have the piezo on mine either. I can still dual in a super-convincing acoustic tone. That's all about EQ, and this baby has plenty of that.

[Paul in Colorado]

I got to know Rick Turner over the years starting from his days at Alembic. I used to write him dumb questions about PA gear and he was nice enough to answer them. In 1990 at the Telluride Bluegrass fest we met for the first time. He was doing a workshop on live sound for acoustic musicians. He passed a few questions off to me. I guess I learned something after all.

I hope to pay him a visit sometime in California. I've got ideas for a mandolin that we've discussed a little bit. He's a smart guy and does good work.

To the OP, Congrats on your new guiatr!

[studio1087]

Like I said on the Acoustic Guitar Magazine Forum....

Congratulations! That's a special guitar.

(That's a beauty man)

(-:

[Blazer]

From what I understand Turner made Lindsey Buckingham's first guitar when he was still with Alembic. and Lindsey had previously gotten a few Alembic guitars as John McVie had gotten basses.

But Buckingham didn't like that super clean sterile sound that the Alembic guitars gave him and so he went to Turner and told him what he really wanted out of a guitar and the number one thing was that it could fit his fingerstyle playing but also that it could give him that Les Paul roar that is key to Fleetwood mac's music. (Peter Green anybody?)

And when Turner came up with the model one Buckingham tried it out and told his roadcrew to ditch the Telecaster, the Les Paul, the Ovation and the Alembics, his Turner provided him with the perfect replacement for all his road guitars and he stuck with them ever since.

[Tele66]

Congrats on the new guitar.

I've been a happy Model 1 owner for about 3 years. Mine is a 2004 vintage c/w piezo.

They are beautiful guitars. It took me a while to get used to it but it is a very unique instrument. According to a thread on TGP, Mr. Turner states that there are only about 600 of them!

You are now a member of a very exclusive club!!

Enjoy!