The Fretboard Presents the 'Gimme Shelter' Guitar Tour.

Alnico · February 2016

http://gimmesheltertour.blogspot.co.uk/

Helping to raise awareness for Shelter, the Housing and Homeless Charity.

www.shelter.org.uk

With Huge and Heartfelt thanks to The Jooky Guitar Emporium, we are officially kicking off this weekend at the Guitar Show in Birmingham.

The guitar arrived here at the magnetic centre of Bedford and is being brought up to Brum by me on Saturday 27th Feb. There it will reside with nobody in particular for the weekend while it does the rounds like the Hobo it is, hopefully getting as much exposure as it can until the end of the show on Sunday.

As a starting point, our own 'Soul Man' @Monquixote will be it's first 'Foster Home' and it will begin with him in deepest darkest Suffolkshire / Cambridgeshire and hopefully gain some kind of stage time and / or raise some awareness with him before we organise where it's going next.

The awareness it's trying to raise is for the excellent work that 'Shelter' does for the homeless people of the UK and as such, we are looking for as much Press Exposure as we can get with this. It's our hope that everyone who has this guitar stay with them for a short while can add something of substance to this but it needs to be said that any kind of awareness raised is a good thing, little or large it all helps. There are quite a few of us in working bands and i will be organising the logistics of this 'Tour'. I will also be the main point of contact for any questions regarding this and requests for having the little beauty come your way, so please direct this at my PM's or better still here in this thread.

@JookyChap will be in charge of PR and i will be handling the physical logistics of moving the guitar around the UK to whoever needs it the most / whoever can get 'Shelter' the most exposure and awareness raised for the plight of our Homeless brothers and sisters.

As we move forward, there will be additions to the transit package which will be discussed this weekend at the show. This may include some special flyers which help the cause and help advertise the actual 'Tour' but this is way more in the territory of 'Sir Jook' and all the complicated PR stuff should be directed at him, within this thread.

I will need those who wish to be included to hail themselves here and make themselves known whereby i can construct a 'Tour Schedule' however i will ask you all right now to remain a little flexible with this, to allow those who can give the guitar and the cause a chance to gain maximum exposure, so for example you may only have the guitar for a few days when, maybe all of a sudden a golden opportunity comes up unexpectedly and it needs to get there asap. In this case, just let me know and i will make sure that one way or another, the little Tyke wings it's way back past your place again, once the Hype has passed and things go a little quieter.

All that is to say i will try at all times to serve the cause first but i don't want anyone who wants to take part, to feel like they've missed out so communication is the key here !

The guitar itself is an absolute stunner and should will grab a huge load of attention wherever it goes. It also plays extremely well and is by every means, 'Stage Ready' so please feel confident if you intend to take this thing on stage with you. Play it for 5 minutes and you will see, 'Sir Jook' has done an incredible job with this.

The Hiscox case is brand new and is a great safe place for it to reside. Again, this will serve the guitar and everyone who has it well. Inside is a variety of 'Case Candy' including a little book to document it's travels. It has been signed by its' creator and by the first man who tested and video'd the guitar, then by me before starting it's journey proper. It would be great if this can continue and if there is an opportunity for this to be signed by the rich and famous, that would be even better - we want exposure for 'Shelter' and the plight of the Homeless so if you can get someone who commands ANY media attention then make yourself known and get involved.

I will leave all that side of things to Jooky to organise with you all but if something looks likely enough to be "A Go-er" then i need to know ASAP so we can organise this.

On that note, we also need willing volunteers to help with moving this thing around the UK, avoiding actual couriers as much as possible. We're not asking for people to go TOO FAR out of their way but whether you are involved in the actual Media side of the Tour or not, please let me know if you have a car and can offer any kind of transport help.

THIS IS BEST DONE BY PRIVATE MESSAGE TO ME.

The reason for that is simple. I would expect quite a few of us here would do that and sending those offers by PM will keep this thread a little tidier for info of the Tour. As and when one of your kind offers of Transport is needed and arranged through PM's, i will make sure you get a mention here in the thread and a Master List of all those who offered will also be kept here for the end of the tour.

I will be discussing with Jooky over the coming weeks how best to collate all the images / footage / trinkets and whatever else this WHOLE thing generates so that when it's over and the Tour comes to an end, we can maybe try to put together some kind of Audio Visual Presentation to permanently document this potentially wonderful event. That also has some potential to then be discussed Apres-Tour with 'Shelter' themselves and could possibly end up being used by us or them in some kind of Media-ish way. For the time being, it will remain 'Work in progress' but i think it would be a shame to let that opportunity pass without trying to squeeze every last drop of potential from it.

So there you go Ladles and Jellyspoons,............

See you all at the show and a VERY personal Thank You from me and my Family to 'The Fretboard', to Jooky Chap, to all those very kind souls who donated something to this project and of course to Shelter themselves for what is now clearly obvious reasons.

Alnico · February 2016

"Oh, a storm is threat'ning
My very life today
If I don't get some shelter
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away

Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'
Our very street today
Burns like a red coal carpet
Mad bull lost it's way

War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away
War, children, it's just a shot away
It's just a shot away"

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/roogie14/IMG_20160226_172719_Fotor_zpstyqeojdh.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/roogie14/IMG_20160226_173041_Fotor_zpspdmczoay.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/roogie14/IMG_20160226_173224_Fotor_zpsy4qwcnou.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/roogie14/IMG_20160226_173153_Fotor_zpsstsyhuo9.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/roogie14/IMG_20160226_173251_Fotor_zpsmxi3sezj.jpg

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/roogie14/IMG_20160226_174217_Fotor_zpsule2vncx.jpg

TTony · February 2016

We should probably also "thank the sponsors" - the people who've donated to the cause.

Mr @JookyChap has the full list, but I'm aware of donations from

- Hiscox; this is going to be one very well travelled case.

It'd be good to have a review somewhere along the way of how it's standing up to the challenge

- Mojo; for once again coming up with the difference between a silent guitar and something that makes a noise.

- Allparts; for helping Jooky out with various bits & pieces for the build.

- the ScratchPlate; which I'm told is a work of art in itself ...

... Mark - add any more into a post, tag me, and I'll update this list.

Also ...

When we originally started discussing/planning this tour, it was partly a continuation of the preceding fund raising exercise. We've refocused it now, so it's just about raising awareness of the work that Shelter do in helping the homeless, and is *not* about raising funds for the previous cause.

I'll be refunding those who chipped in their £20 in the next few days ... or as soon as I can untangle those payments from the various other receipts in our account.

Alnico · February 2016

Yes.

I tried to get all the relevant candy in the shots above but as i don't have that list i was leaving that for @JookyChap to post up here.

Please excuse the shots that my only available camera made so difficult for me to take, they are literally best i could do.

We also have our first offer of Transport. Thank you @RSVMARK.

JookyChap · February 2016

Excellent start @Alnico and the only thing I'd add is that there is a nascent web site/blog that will hopefully build up over time. It is here:

http://gimmesheltertour.blogspot.co.uk/

And should also have a Media section appear in the next day or so, which will support any local/national press we can generate. If you or your band take part, I'll try my best to get some interesting coverage for anything you are doing - even if it is just the local press covering your gig etc. or maybe make something interesting up if you haven't.

But more on that as we go along.

One thing that will really help is if everybody can get as many photos as possible, be it of handover's in ill-lit car parks or vape-filled gigs. I did think of having them emailed to me, but better still, just put them into this thread as we go along and I'll nick them as needed

And here is @Vibetronic, somewhere in Gloucestershire, just the other night...

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SLjqPaDMflU/Vs41htjosYI/AAAAAAAAK64/VSBVjmOjfKk/s1600/IMG_0566.JPG

@TTony, we have a few other sponsors, but are still awaiting their donations to the cause, so I'll let you know as things arrive. When/if they do show up, we should have pedals, pedal board, more strings than a spaghetti tree and some other stuff that we'll just file under 'interesting' that can join the eventual raffle if not going along on the roadtrip..

JookyChap · February 2016

Just have to say..

If Paul Reed Smith had taken magic mushrooms...

http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w416/JookyChap/The Gimme Shelter Tour/DSC00385_zps73ikv5cx.jpg

rsvmark · February 2016

That is an outstanding piece of work. I have gigs on sat 26th March and 11th June. can this be woven into the schedule?

The first is a wedding. It would go lovely with the brides dress!

JookyChap · February 2016

@rsvmark said:

That is an outstanding piece of work. I have gigs on sat 26th March and 11th June. can this be woven into the schedule?

The first is a wedding. It would go lovely with the brides dress!

It'll look great on the top of the cake - can't wait to see the fotos

Alnico · February 2016

rsvmark said:

That is an outstanding piece of work. I have gigs on sat 26th March and 11th June. can this be woven into the schedule?

The first is a wedding. It would go lovely with the brides dress!

Of Course Mark.

Dates noted.

A proper schedule will emerge next week when i have the I.T. Dept (Our Son) or "Q" as we like to call him, put together the digital version of a bit of paper with some dates on it.

(Don't for gods sake tell me what it's called, that's what i have a clever Son For ! )

For now it's in my notebook.

My REAL notebook.

Not an "I" book or anything, just bits of paper and glue.

I need more wine.

Alnico · February 2016

Having this "Fella" here with us tonight has really brought a lot of things home for me. Chief among which is the fact that i literally owe my entire existence to my late Father. That may sound blatantly obvious but read on, it's more appropriate to this whole thing than you may think.

In 1958 my Grandfather decided he'd had enough and left my Grandmother with my late Father aged 10, my Uncles both aged 5 and my Auntie aged 2.

He left them on a park bench with only the clothes they were wearing and walked away from them, knowing they had nowhere to go that night except the Shelters. With four young children my Grandmother had to knock on that door and ask for help that night.

They lived in one room with no carpet or furniture and they slept on blankets. Each day there was no food and my Grandmother had to leave my two Uncles in the care of their 10 year old big brother (My Dad) while she went out to 'Find' food. They drank water from old jam jars and ate whatever their mum would come home with. They had the same one set of clothes they were left in for a whole year while they lived in that one room with, in those days an outhouse for a toilet and no proper facilities.

My Grandmother was an amazing Woman and eventually she met a lovely man who took her and the four children in and gave them all a nice, comfortable home and the Father Figure the children so desperately needed.

My Dad became an adult in that year, becoming the 'Man of the House' and so from that moment on, the other three children looked up to him in a way that only people who have been through hell together can do. The remained in awe of him for the rest of his life. Everyone did.

In 1963 after he had been playing at the Cavern Club in Matthew street, he made a decision on his way home, carrying his Futurama guitar that only had two strings left on it (Because he couldn't afford strings) that he would change things.

The very next day he went to the Army Recruitment Office and joined up.

He could give my Grandmother one less mouth to feed AND he could send money home every month to help her.

He joined the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers and served 12 years until just after i was born in 1972 and he Demobilised in late 1975. By this time he had met my Mum, saved up, got married and bought our first house, the one in Liverpool that we moved into when we left the Barracks at Waterbeach, Ely.

In those years in the Army he had rebuilt his Mothers life, his own life and that of his Brothers and Sister, along with help from my Grandmother and her new partner but he had also made a life for Himself, My Mum, my Brother and ME.

We lost this Hero in 2001 to Pneumonia, brought on my an immune system deficiency which was in itself due to over use of steroids to combat Multiple Sclerosis. He took too many steroids to give him a quality of life while he was still the age i am now, rather than live a longer life as a cripple.

He gave his entire life to all those around him and all because he was left in that position at the age of 10. Overnight he became the Man we all spent his entire life Loving and being in awe of.

He gave everything he ever had and Died with almost no savings and very few possessions but he left me a few of them and one of them has become very special over the 14 years i have been without him.

Among a few other personal items, he left me his R.E.M.E cap badge from his duty in the Army.

It has been on my Guitar strap for years, as some of my closer friends will know.

The 'Gimme Shelter' Guitar arrived here today to be taken in by me and my Family for the night and has sat staring at me on a stand all night, but it arrived without a strap.

It simply can't go on tour like that............

My Father gave everything he ever had to those around him and he gave me far more than the literal life i have, he gave me a future which he literally built up from a park bench at the age of 10 years old !

The very least i can do is give this "Fella" something he needs and he can wear my Dad's Cap Badge as proudly as i have all these years.

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/roogie14/WP_20160226_23_56_50_Pro_Fotor_zps5qyfu343.jpg

For Lance Corporal Mike Johnston, R.E.M.E.

RobDavies · February 2016

If you would like a KaBL to accompany the guitar, I'm more than happy to contribute.

JookyChap · February 2016

@RobDavies said:

If you would like a KaBL to accompany the guitar, I'm more than happy to contribute.

That would be great Rob - I think one of your plectrae has already made the case

Alnico · February 2016

That was a day i will not forget for a long time !

I met all my friends that i haven't seen in WAY too long.

I met some new friends.

I met two industry people i have admired for over twenty years and one new one i already admire.

I also met and spent around half an hour talking with one of my all time guitar Hero's, Scott Gorham who has very kindly invited me and the 'Gimme Shelter' Guitar backstage at the 'Rambling Man Festival' later this year.

Massive thanks to @Jason, without whom none of this would have been possible !

Here are some of the highlights of my day and the first of many Photo's for @JookyChap

Matt From Fender

@MattFGBI

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/roogie14/WP_20160227_11_14_28_Pro_Fotor_zpspgi9foxg.jpg

Doug from Coda Music

@DougCoda

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/roogie14/WP_20160227_11_18_15_Pro_Fotor_zpses8lauev.jpg

Harry From Harry's Guitars

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t42/roogie14/WP_20160227_11_21_39_Pro_Fotor_zps55umvslx.jpg

Roland from 'The Fretboard'

@Roland