The Who tele desctruction

GuitarJonz · April 25th, 2008, 11:05 AM

Ran across this website about The Who, and Pete's trashing of teles, as a finish to their shows. Sounds like he had a few teles that he'd trash into the marshall cabs at the end of the show, then he'd rebuild the tele, if possible, for the next show. Seems like he started using teles for their durability and rebuild-ability, but later on, really started liking them for the great guitars they are.

Pete & teles

Timeline of all Pete's gear

Maybe got too expensive to trash a tele neck every night, so he switched to a Dano neck?

Not a Marshall fan, but this still makes me sick...

Joe Chaney · April 25th, 2008, 11:23 AM

what a showoff! i like petes playing, but as a person he's an arsehole

GuitarJonz · April 25th, 2008, 11:33 AM

I wonder how many 60s teles he destroyed in all those shows?

Looks like Entwhistle trashed alot of cool Fender basses too, was that also part of the show? (not a fan, have no idea). but I did see this on that site re basses:

1966 Fender Precision Bass (slab) in Olympic White, with maple neck (three of this model)
John owned (and trashed) three of 20 made by Fender, which were made specifically for the UK market.
Slab (squared off) body, split pickup, maple neck, black scratch plate.
John: “There is something different about the sound of these Precisions…I’ve tracked it down to the pickups and tone circuit — the sound is much raunchier and gutsy and has a hint of distortion when the volume is flat out.”
At least one featured an additional tone or pickup control and toggle switch.

FirstBassman · April 25th, 2008, 03:06 PM

Yeah, Pete's past destructive tendencies is a common thread topic on forums.
Most people are against it and aghast that great guitars like Fenders and Rickenbackers were destroyed.

A few seem to accept it as a "performance art" kind of thing and that it occurred at a different time and place.

I believe Pete himself is rather remorseful about it now.

It was a long time ago. I'm pretty sure we've all done things in our "adolescence" that we might regret now.

jaydawg · April 25th, 2008, 03:24 PM

Looks like he took the whole neck pocket off the blonde in this picture.

Rooney · April 25th, 2008, 04:19 PM

I've been lurking around for a bit and after seeing this thread I felt the need to join in being a huge Who fan myself.

First, Jim Marshall has said in interviews he never needed to replace a speaker for Townshend and that only the cloth was ever damaged so I don't think we need to worry about that.
Second Townshend starting smashing guitars after he accidently broke the neck on one at a show (low ceiling) and the crowd encouraged him and he was already mad that he broke it so he went on like he planned to do it. Then I guess he picked up on the fact that it was a draw to the shows and continued to do it, definately in my opinion an adolencent(sp?) thing as mentioned earlier here. I believe he mainly smashed Tele's because it was cheap enough that he could buy on, smash it a few times and get another where as Rick's were too much.
As for Entwistle being part of the destruction, no. He was the only one who wasn't jumping around or smashing anything on stage, he just had a lot of basses.
I think that's everything, except the Dano neck, I haven't seen that before but the assumption's probably right.

woodman · April 25th, 2008, 05:16 PM

i didn't "get it" then, and i still don't. trashing guitars and amps isn't a type of performance art i can get behind ... of course, YMMV.

jefrs · April 25th, 2008, 05:33 PM

No, no. Peter always used teles, especially in the studio. The ones that were smashed were cunningly swapped rubbish not limited to teles (SG come apart eaier) and the stacks only ever had the grille cloth damaged. The pieces were glued together for the next show, emphasize show. The Ox never broke nothing, he got out of the way fast. He did reassemble a lot of bass bits. Do read Mo Foster's "17 Watts?" ;-)
The thing I remember about The Who ain't the smashing finales, it were the _ing VOLUME!!!

voided3 · April 25th, 2008, 05:54 PM

Having smashed two guitars on two separate occasions for performances, I can honestly say that it feels awesome! Is it always appropriate? Of course not, very rarely in fact, but if you're in the right scenario it really makes things exciting for the audience. It's best if you're playing on concrete since it won't damage anything, but the second time around for me it was on a wood stage so I threw down a large rug and stuck a sheet of plywood underneath it (I'm sneaky like that).

BTW, the guitars I finished off both had been previously smashed by a friend of mine so I wasn't really wasting good instruments (plus they were free!). One was a bolt-on Lotus LP copy that had the body split up the middle, neck off, and headstock cracked. I put it back together (lots of gorilla glue...) and got it to be playable halfway up the neck, then gave it a trippy paint job and wired it with a single cheap humbucker in the bridge position straight to the jack. The band I was in at the time played a lot of Pearl Jam and Who stuff and it got finished off on My Generation.

The second was an Epiphone SG with the neck off of a Kent or Teisco (something of that nature) LP copy. It, too, had been smashed before by my friend and it had a partially severed headstock and a small chunk out of the control cavity. This one, because it was more salvagable, actually was quite playable for a while until the neck started to twist because of its prior trauma; the fretboard was partially separated and weakened the neck. Since it was playable for a while, I experimented w/ the electronics a bit and had it wired with three humbuckers, the middle one permanently coil tapped plus on/off for each and a volume/tone circuit from a Squier Tele w/ treble bleed. It definitely sounded respectable, but the thing was quickly falling apart and the damaged plywood body wasn't worth getting a new neck for. It got finished off at a fairly large concert (600+ people) to an instrumental version of Hendrix's "Machine Gun" that my friend and I were trading off doing fills on. It was a bit of an eclectic set since we, also at the same show, played some Soulive, Les Claypool, and Umphrey's McGee stuff. Super fun time, indeed, and I'd do it again given the right circumstances.

FirstBassman · April 25th, 2008, 05:56 PM

Confession time. I will admit that, way back in the day, I thought the smashing was interesting (entertaining) and was a recognizable viable part of the defiant musical/lyrical style of The Who. (Hope I die before I get old!)

I will also admit, that when I saw Hendrix in concert (MSG May ’70) I was disappointed that he didn’t do any of the “flash” stuff (play behind his back, burn his guitar, etc.).

But, I didn’t play in those days and that was then.
If I saw someone do that now (such as in the infamous Edge or Flea videos) I would cringe immensely.

Guitar_Ninja · April 25th, 2008, 06:02 PM

He wasn't really doing it for other musicians though, he was doing it for the fans. And the fans don't care what year guitar it is or how much it costs. It's a mass produced, assembly-line production instrument. Just go buy another one. We might feel differently but to the layperson it's just a guitar and there are lots of them out there.

And personally I think if you're not pissing off at least some musicians in the audience with what you're doing either on stage or in the studio then you aren't doing anything right. As my dad always says, "you can't please all the people all the time, and some of the people you can't please any of the time."

BLACKCAT69 · April 25th, 2008, 06:21 PM

Can't get the damn thing to embed!!! Piss!! It's here anyway...nice old Tele: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfL4MlEIB4Q

Another vid from the same poster has a version of English Boy that preceeded this vid where Pete praises Leo Fender and the Telecaster. View that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ0G5...eature=related

Fatmanstratman · April 25th, 2008, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Chaney

what a showoff! i like petes playing, but as a person he's an arsehole

What a strange thing to say....

Is Mr. Townshend a friend or acquaintance of yours, Joe Chaney?

I enjoy his music too, but since I've never met him, I wouldn't feel in any way qualified to comment on his personal side.....

shades · April 25th, 2008, 07:00 PM

I thought that smashing guitars was BS back then and I still believe the same.

Southern ILL · April 25th, 2008, 07:04 PM

I love that...I like that type of preformance...Solo/Electric..thanks..

remember it was a different time then and if I had been born back then I probally would be dead now. Thaink about it......

April 25th, 2008, 11:05 AM	#1 (permalink)
GuitarJonz Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Central Mass. Posts: 2,776 7 Photos	The Who tele desctruction Ran across this website about The Who, and Pete's trashing of teles, as a finish to their shows. Sounds like he had a few teles that he'd trash into the marshall cabs at the end of the show, then he'd rebuild the tele, if possible, for the next show. Seems like he started using teles for their durability and rebuild-ability, but later on, really started liking them for the great guitars they are. Pete & teles Timeline of all Pete's gear Maybe got too expensive to trash a tele neck every night, so he switched to a Dano neck? Not a Marshall fan, but this still makes me sick...

April 25th, 2008, 11:23 AM	#2 (permalink)
Joe Chaney Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: aude, France Age: 16 Posts: 455 2 Photos	what a showoff! i like petes playing, but as a person he's an arsehole __________________ If you're not careful, It'll stick to your cheeks, and You'll smell like a native, For a couple of weeks In France

April 25th, 2008, 03:24 PM	#5 (permalink)
jaydawg Tele-Holic Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: York, ME Age: 32 Posts: 528	Looks like he took the whole neck pocket off the blonde in this picture. __________________ WWLD (What would Leo Do?)

April 25th, 2008, 05:16 PM	#7 (permalink)
woodman Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Mint Hill, NC Age: 62 Posts: 5,965	i didn't "get it" then, and i still don't. trashing guitars and amps isn't a type of performance art i can get behind ... of course, YMMV. __________________ Truth is stranger than fact ... www.myspace.com/woodymitchellmusic BAND PAGES: www.myspace.com/stragglerswing (Stragglers - Western Swing) www.myspace.com/loafersgloryband (Loafers Glory - '70s country-rock)

April 25th, 2008, 06:02 PM	#11 (permalink)
Guitar_Ninja Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Kingston, Ontario Posts: 1,513 6 Photos	He wasn't really doing it for other musicians though, he was doing it for the fans. And the fans don't care what year guitar it is or how much it costs. It's a mass produced, assembly-line production instrument. Just go buy another one. We might feel differently but to the layperson it's just a guitar and there are lots of them out there. And personally I think if you're not pissing off at least some musicians in the audience with what you're doing either on stage or in the studio then you aren't doing anything right. As my dad always says, "you can't please all the people all the time, and some of the people you can't please any of the time." __________________

April 25th, 2008, 11:33 AM	#3 (permalink)
GuitarJonz Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Central Mass. Posts: 2,776 7 Photos	I wonder how many 60s teles he destroyed in all those shows? Looks like Entwhistle trashed alot of cool Fender basses too, was that also part of the show? (not a fan, have no idea). but I did see this on that site re basses: 1966 Fender Precision Bass (slab) in Olympic White, with maple neck (three of this model) John owned (and trashed) three of 20 made by Fender, which were made specifically for the UK market. Slab (squared off) body, split pickup, maple neck, black scratch plate. John: “There is something different about the sound of these Precisions…I’ve tracked it down to the pickups and tone circuit — the sound is much raunchier and gutsy and has a hint of distortion when the volume is flat out.” At least one featured an additional tone or pickup control and toggle switch.

April 25th, 2008, 03:06 PM	#4 (permalink)
FirstBassman Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,383	Yeah, Pete's past destructive tendencies is a common thread topic on forums. Most people are against it and aghast that great guitars like Fenders and Rickenbackers were destroyed. A few seem to accept it as a "performance art" kind of thing and that it occurred at a different time and place. I believe Pete himself is rather remorseful about it now. It was a long time ago. I'm pretty sure we've all done things in our "adolescence" that we might regret now.

April 25th, 2008, 04:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
Rooney Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 116	I've been lurking around for a bit and after seeing this thread I felt the need to join in being a huge Who fan myself. First, Jim Marshall has said in interviews he never needed to replace a speaker for Townshend and that only the cloth was ever damaged so I don't think we need to worry about that. Second Townshend starting smashing guitars after he accidently broke the neck on one at a show (low ceiling) and the crowd encouraged him and he was already mad that he broke it so he went on like he planned to do it. Then I guess he picked up on the fact that it was a draw to the shows and continued to do it, definately in my opinion an adolencent(sp?) thing as mentioned earlier here. I believe he mainly smashed Tele's because it was cheap enough that he could buy on, smash it a few times and get another where as Rick's were too much. As for Entwistle being part of the destruction, no. He was the only one who wasn't jumping around or smashing anything on stage, he just had a lot of basses. I think that's everything, except the Dano neck, I haven't seen that before but the assumption's probably right.

April 25th, 2008, 05:33 PM	#8 (permalink)
jefrs Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Newbury, England Age: 53 Posts: 651	No, no. Peter always used teles, especially in the studio. The ones that were smashed were cunningly swapped rubbish not limited to teles (SG come apart eaier) and the stacks only ever had the grille cloth damaged. The pieces were glued together for the next show, emphasize show. The Ox never broke nothing, he got out of the way fast. He did reassemble a lot of bass bits. Do read Mo Foster's "17 Watts?" ;-) The thing I remember about The Who ain't the smashing finales, it were the _ing VOLUME!!!

April 25th, 2008, 05:54 PM	#9 (permalink)
voided3 Tele-Holic Join Date: May 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 691	Having smashed two guitars on two separate occasions for performances, I can honestly say that it feels awesome! Is it always appropriate? Of course not, very rarely in fact, but if you're in the right scenario it really makes things exciting for the audience. It's best if you're playing on concrete since it won't damage anything, but the second time around for me it was on a wood stage so I threw down a large rug and stuck a sheet of plywood underneath it (I'm sneaky like that). BTW, the guitars I finished off both had been previously smashed by a friend of mine so I wasn't really wasting good instruments (plus they were free!). One was a bolt-on Lotus LP copy that had the body split up the middle, neck off, and headstock cracked. I put it back together (lots of gorilla glue...) and got it to be playable halfway up the neck, then gave it a trippy paint job and wired it with a single cheap humbucker in the bridge position straight to the jack. The band I was in at the time played a lot of Pearl Jam and Who stuff and it got finished off on My Generation. The second was an Epiphone SG with the neck off of a Kent or Teisco (something of that nature) LP copy. It, too, had been smashed before by my friend and it had a partially severed headstock and a small chunk out of the control cavity. This one, because it was more salvagable, actually was quite playable for a while until the neck started to twist because of its prior trauma; the fretboard was partially separated and weakened the neck. Since it was playable for a while, I experimented w/ the electronics a bit and had it wired with three humbuckers, the middle one permanently coil tapped plus on/off for each and a volume/tone circuit from a Squier Tele w/ treble bleed. It definitely sounded respectable, but the thing was quickly falling apart and the damaged plywood body wasn't worth getting a new neck for. It got finished off at a fairly large concert (600+ people) to an instrumental version of Hendrix's "Machine Gun" that my friend and I were trading off doing fills on. It was a bit of an eclectic set since we, also at the same show, played some Soulive, Les Claypool, and Umphrey's McGee stuff. Super fun time, indeed, and I'd do it again given the right circumstances.

April 25th, 2008, 05:56 PM	#10 (permalink)
FirstBassman Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,383	Confession time. I will admit that, way back in the day, I thought the smashing was interesting (entertaining) and was a recognizable viable part of the defiant musical/lyrical style of The Who. (Hope I die before I get old!) I will also admit, that when I saw Hendrix in concert (MSG May ’70) I was disappointed that he didn’t do any of the “flash” stuff (play behind his back, burn his guitar, etc.). But, I didn’t play in those days and that was then. If I saw someone do that now (such as in the infamous Edge or Flea videos) I would cringe immensely.

April 25th, 2008, 06:21 PM	#12 (permalink)
BLACKCAT69 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Canada-Windsor-Ont. Age: 37 Posts: 2,633 5 Photos	Can't get the damn thing to embed!!! Piss!! It's here anyway...nice old Tele: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfL4MlEIB4Q Another vid from the same poster has a version of English Boy that preceeded this vid where Pete praises Leo Fender and the Telecaster. View that here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ0G5...eature=related __________________ http://www.lukefisher.com/blame.wav

April 25th, 2008, 07:00 PM	#14 (permalink)
shades Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Pittsburgh,Pa. Age: 51 Posts: 1,244 8 Photos	I thought that smashing guitars was BS back then and I still believe the same. __________________ A.S.N.F.

April 25th, 2008, 07:04 PM	#15 (permalink)
Southern ILL Banned Tele-Holic Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Illinois Age: 38 Posts: 982	I love that...I like that type of preformance...Solo/Electric..thanks.. remember it was a different time then and if I had been born back then I probally would be dead now. Thaink about it......