Re: Pete guitars and gear

Hello,

catching up on the Pete guitars and gear trend here:

Being almost 43 and a Who fan since 1967, I have seen a lot of shows and
photos of the gear etc. the Who have used in their career from the early days
to the later days.  Here's how it breaks down somewhat:

1966 to 1968:  amps - Marshall 100 watt stacks.  Jim Marshall said he made
the first 100 watt stacks for the Who and then Hendrix, Cream and others
copied them.  They sounded like shit at Monterrey because they used Vox
Super-Beatles amps and left their Marshalls at home.  Guitars include
Rickenbackers (at least two different models),Fender stratocaster,
telecaster, Gibson double neck SG, Firebird, SG Special (without the
humbucking pickups but the black Gibson pickups that just SCREAMED) and ES
335 semi-hollow body.

1968 - Sunn amps and Sound City amps.  They were trying different equipment
at different times to see what would do what they wanted.  I have a poster
with Pete on it for Sunn amps.  They did use the Sunn Coliseum II PA systems
(two of them) for the "Who's Next" tour in 1971.  Guitars as above but now
leaning heavily more towards the SG since it was so light, could distort
really well and Pete could bend the neck easily to bend notes.

1969 to 1976 - the rule of the Hiwatts!!!!!  These amps were loud and very
powerful which is why the Who loved 'em.  I also have a poster with Pete for
Hiwatts.  John did start to mix some Sunn amps in as well for tone
differences later on - Sunn heads and Hiwatt cabinets.  Pete broke too many
SG's of the good ones he liked (the 1964 to 1969 model years).  Gibson tried
a 1971 model for him that he didn't like so he switched to the heaviest
guitar weight-wise on God's green earth - the Gibson Les Paul.  But, like
Nigel Tufnel said in "Spinal Tap" - "just listen to the sustain.....".  They
are a big piece of lumber indeed!  These lacked the humbuckings unfortunately
and used crappy pickups - can't recall the type - but they could not touch
the humbucking sound of Jeff Beck, Mick Ronson, Jimmy Page  or the other Les
Paul axe warriors were getting.  I NEVER understood why Pete did not go for
those.
Onstage monitors started out in 1969 with WEM and then in 1971 switched to
Sunn.  I think Sunn did the 1973 Quad tour as well.

Other bands of the era that I saw using Hiwatts include Badfinger and the
Kinks.