Chit-Chat Check-In #130 • Transcript
We’ve been a bit busy lately, traveling. Fortunately we have a post that will knock your socks off, written by our good pal Mark Greenberg. It’s been a long time since the last Gear Talkin’ post. I highly recommend going back and checking them all out. Because they’re fun.
Captains Club members, by the way, are about to get shipments.* It’s too late to sign up for this shipment, but the all-knowing Starship Engineers tell me you can join for future goodies.
Oh, and, we have an album coming out this month. Twilight Override. But you probably already know that. It’s a triple record.
Carry on. OxO—Jeffy
* Current members, scan the QR code on the back of your membership card for an additional surprise.
GEAR TALKIN'™ #21: Kawai Moonsault
By Mark Greenberg
Thanks, Jeff! Welcome back to Gear Talkin’, where we do deep dives (or sometimes not-so-deep) into some of Jeff’s gear here at The Loft and on tour.
You like funny shaped guitars? Sure you do. The more uncomfortable they are to hold or cradle on your lap, the better! This isn’t a new idea. It goes all the way back to the earliest days of solid-body guitars. In fact, Les Paul’s experiment and proof of concept for the first solid-body electric guitar, which featured a body made from the length of a 4” x 4” wooden plank and was later dubbed “The Log,” could be seen as the grandaddy of hard-to-hold guitars. Cool looking? Very. Comfortable to hold? Not so much.
Other notable additions along the path of hard-to-hold electric guitars include Gibson’s way-ahead-of-their-time Flying Vs and Explorers, both originally manufactured in the late 50s. Many guitar companies have added to this often hilarious list of unwieldy axes, choosing ass-kicking appearance over comfort and ease of playing. For great examples, look to the early 60s Vox Phantom and Teardrop models, Kay’s short lived big ’n boxy Solo King, La Baye’s de-evolved 2x4 series (certainly a callback to Les Paul’s Log), and Yamaha’s space age SB-1C model, to mention a few of our favorites. The 80’s brought forth a whole new crop of cool-looking but a-drag-to-hold instruments. The lack of lap-centric abilities became the rule rather than the exception. Enter the Steinberger bass, the ubiquitous 80’s poster-boy for the new rule. The Westone Rail took its cues from Steinberger with an added over engineered rail contraption so one could slide the pickup exactly where they wanted. Oh thank goodness. Should we include the Valdez axe shaped bass that Kiss’ Gene Simmons made famous? OK, sure. Whatever. Then we might as well add the hysterical and much later released Gibson Reverse V to the list that was introduced to little acclaim in the early 2000s to the list.
And if you liked all those, check this one out! It’s one of the oddest-shaped guitars in Jeff’s collection. In fact, five of his guitars (at present count) are of this type. These moon-shaped wonders are the Japanese-made Kawai Moonsault MS-80 models, made throughout the 80s and 90s. Some of these were shipped in somewhat regular-looking rectangular guitar cases, but with really nice foam cut to fit the moonscape body perfectly. Others arrived in Kawai moon-shaped gig bags. You’ll see some of these in the artwork for Jeff’s new three-record album, Twilight Override. Hopefully he’ll take them on tour this fall and you’ll get to see them played live.
Kawai is a Japanese company whose history starts way back at the start of the 20th century. It has been more known as a piano manufacturer and was related to Nippon Gakki/Yamaha and Teisco brands early on.
The moon has played an important role in many of Jeff’s songs over the span of his career. It takes center stage in Sukierae’s “New Moon,” as well as on “I’m Only the Moon,” a demo Jeff has shared in a past post here on the Starship. Oh, there’s also “More Like the Moon” from Wilco’s Alpha Mike Foxtrot collection. There is also that great Wilco song “Black Moon” from The Whole Love. The moon also shows up at the end of “Empty Head” on Jeff’s Warmer LP.
This Week in Wilco, Etc.
1995 / September 1: Wilco begins recording the band's second album, Being There. The double album will be released on October 29, 1996.
2003 / September 4: Wilco plays a 25-song set at the McDonald Theatre in Eugene, OR. Janet Weiss from Sleater-Kinney and Quasi guests on “California Stars” and “Handshake Drugs.”
2024 / September 5: Jeff shares two covers, “Heaven” by Talking Heads and “Waltz #2” by Elliott Smith, on Starship Casual.
Wish I could ask this anonymously, but what the heck, I was just interviewed for another popular Substack, and we were talking about self-promotion as a requirement. So Jeff, our jefe, have you selected couplets to include in the 17-hour version of "Feel Free"?
It's a cool-looking guitar. I wonder if there's anything interesting about its sound.