Fingerboard Stories



The great thing about home recording these days is that it’s more accessible than ever. You really don’t need a great deal to get started, and for a couple of hundred bucks, you can make some pretty decent sounds. Over the next couple of articles, I thought I’d run through the gear you need for a basic home recording setup, as well as some recommendations for equipment.

You’ve got the young and hungry Stones out to prove their rock n’ roll mettle to the U.S. crowd, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Supremes giving it their all just as Motown was setting the charts ablaze for the first time. And then there’s James Brown. Those dance moves, that explosive, incendiary energy, the Famous Flames absolutely on it, never missing a beat…

So, theory numero uno suggests that the “TV” in TV Yellow actually stood for “Telecaster Version.” According to this one, Gibson execs went for a color that was similar to the Butterscotch finish used on Fender’s Telecaster models. Apparently, the hope was that the color - in combination with the Les Paul TV model’s black pickguard - would confuse unschooled guitarists who would buy it over a Tele.