Guitar Info

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Via the Guitarz Facebook page, reader Grégory Gutierez asks if we can identify the guitar being played by Mike Oldfield in this 1980 performance.

It looks rather like a Gibson L6-S that has been customised with new metal pickguard, pickups, and a metal plate on the headstock. Oldfield was known to play this model Gibson, and there are photos of him playing such a guitar, albeit without the modifications.

Shaped like a rather wide-bodied Les Paul, the L6-S was the first Gibson to have a 24-fret neck. It was designed by Bill Lawrence and was in production from 1973 through to 1979.

The L6-S Custom model (which is, I believe, what Oldfield played) features a chicken head 6-position rotary switch for pickup selection allowing for various series, parallel and out-of-phase tonal options.

Pictured here we see a Gibson L6-S "Midnight Special" which is currently listed on eBay with a very low starting price. It might be one to watch if you want a "budget priced" Gibson, assuming that the bidding does not go too crazy.

The Midnight Special mainly differed from the other models in the series by having a bolt-on neck.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

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Gef has emailed to tell about his Fender Strat, a guitar with a history having had a famous owner:

This guitar is a Fender Stratocaster from 1963 and was one of Mike Oldfield’s favourite guitars. He bought it in 1984 and sold it in December 2007. He used it on 15 albums during this era, the most famous one being "Tubular Bells II" and he used this guitar during the great World Premiere of this album in Edinburgh in 1992.

He used it for the very last time in Antwerp during the rehearsals of The Night of the Proms in 2006. Unfortunately, he didn’t play it during the concerts in Germany. It was the last time we saw Mike Oldfield with this wonderful guitar.

Mike has often said that this guitar “was his favourite one” alongside another, his current PRS 24.

Thanks for that! It's good to know that this guitar is still being cherished.

If any other readers have a guitar with a story to tell, please do get in touch!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've seen one of Mike Oldfield's guitars up for auction previously on Guitarz. On that occasion it was his ex-Marc Bolan Telecaster which was the main lead guitar used on his now legendary Tubular Bells album.

This time, it's a one-off travel guitar with integral amp and speaker which was presented to Oldfield by the German arm of his record company, Virgin. The guitar appears to be modelled along the lines of a Hofner Shorty (possibly it is a customized Hofner Shorty) and bears Oldfield's name on the pickguard and has a Tubular Bells logo on the trussrod cover.

I remember seeing Mike Oldfield demonstrate this very guitar on a Breakfast TV show back in 1983 (or thereabouts) during an item in which he was showing off part of his guitar collection. I've tried and cannot find this clip on YouTube. I believe he mentioned taking it with him on aircraft flights. I couldn't say if it was ever used on any of his records; I suspect that it was purely a practice guitar.

G L Wilson

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Oh dear... Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" guitar failed to sell again. (See yesterday's blog entry, below).

Tubular Bells guitar due to be sold

It's up for sale again!

This guitar is the original 1967 Fender Telecaster used by Mike Oldfield and was the only electric guitar sound source on his breakthrough "Tubular Bells" debut LP. The guitar was formerly owned by Marc Bolan, it was originally white, has had refins and was then stripped to natural. The middle pickup is a Bill Lawrence, routed and fitted by Mike Oldfield and his father in their garden shed.

The guitar is estimated to fetch between £25,000 and £35,000 when it goes under the hammer at Bonhams in London, although the last time this was put up for sale in May 2006 (on eBay) the auction ended at £7,501.00 - reserve not met (i.e. unsold). Mike Oldfield is donating all proceeds from the sale to the mental health charity Sane. I hope he manages to sell it this time.

Ex Mike Oldfield and Marc Bolan Telecaster on eBay!

"This guitar is the original 1967 Fender Telecaster used by Mike Oldfield and was the only electric guitar sound source on his breakthrough Tubular Bells debut LP. The guitar was formerly owned by Marc Bolan, it was originally white, has had refins and was then stripped to natural. The middle pickup is a Bill Lawrence, routed and fitted by Mike Oldfield and his father in their garden shed."

UPDATE: The auction ended at £7,501.00 - Reserve not met (i.e. unsold). I wonder what the reserve was? I'm guessing it was in the region of £10,000.