History of seven-string solidbodies

[BigBaldIan]

Just now?

I have very sensitive bullshit detectors, when I come across manure-spreading on that sort of level, they need to be recalibrated.

Just read the exec producer's comments. There's some epic cognitive dissonance going on and no matter how you slice it, his claims are without merit.

Gregory invented the 7-string electric guitar - false, Gretsch and Epiphone got there first.
Gregory invented the 7-string solid body electric guitar - false, Alembic got there first.
Gregory invented the 7-string solid-body guitar with a high A - false, Kirk Sand got there first. Remember by Gregory/Stillion's own admission that all Gregory is laying claim to is this specific variant, which is somehow intrinsically a different instrument from the low B type.

Remember by this stage we are getting very, very far removed from the original grandiose statement.

Ask any musician to define what an X string guitar is, and I predict with almost absolute certainty they will respond, "A guitar with X strings." Whether tuned E to A or B to E is a complete irrelevency.

Just to hammer things home:

This is a guitar:

So is this:

The argument that tuning makes it a completely different instrument is as watertight as the Titanic.

 

[voxhumana]

Following Alex Gregory's logic, I have a masters in economics. I don't. I have a masters in history, but I totally took a half-module course on the economic history of Korea, so I'm a fully qualified economist.

I suspect Mr Gregory's logic is more analogous to: "I once had lunch in a cafe near a medical school, therefore I am a thoracic surgeon."

 

[BigBaldIan]

Ok, I'm going to switch to decaf for a bit, I'm getting a bit pitbullish!

Found a reference to Martin Stillion on the emando site, it looks like they are two seperate individuals after all.

http://www.emando.com/PDFs/Alex_Gregory_press_release.pdf

 

[Varcolac]

I suspect Mr Gregory's logic is more analogous to: "I once had lunch in a cafe near a medical school, therefore I am a thoracic surgeon."

Sweet. In that case, based on the extent of my qualifications, I invented modern economics and wrote The Wealth of Nations.

I suspect Wikipedia won't have quite as hard a time disproving that claim, but I'm not claiming to have invented the whole field! I'm talking about my 2,000 word essay; "Modern Economics and the Tonghak Rebellion." You're just taking things out of context if you think I claimed to have written Adam Smith's book: I just wrote the book's title. In a footnote. Where I cited it. I still totally invented (okay, okay, contributed to) that tiny corner of economics, and totally wrote a few thousand words on it. Even if the only people to read it were my tutor and a couple of friends. But it still counts! Put me on wikipedia!

Thinking like that broke my brain. I hope you're happy.

 

[Scriff1985]

I just came here to say this is possibly the greatest thread ever to grace the internet. Thank you

 

[Loomer]

"I need 15 cc's of whatchamacallit! Stat! What do you mean?! NO I AM FULLY QUALIFIED FOR THIS NOW SHUT YOUR FILTHY MOUTH"

EDIT: This was for the "Thoracic Surgeon" comment

 

[voxhumana]

"I need 15 cc's of whatchamacallit! Stat! What do you mean?! NO I AM FULLY QUALIFIED FOR THIS NOW SHUT YOUR FILTHY MOUTH"

EDIT: This was for the "Thoracic Surgeon" comment

Yes folks, it's the "Let's all pretend to be Alex Gregory" thread. Here's my attempt.

- I'm good friends with Eddie Van Halen. Seriously. We've spent time together. It was just me and Eddie in a room. The other members of Van Halen were there too.

(...There might have also been 3000 other ticket holders there, I can't remember...)

 

[Explorer]

Is Martin Stillion of emando the same guy who wrote voxhumana? The emando Stillion also posts on the Mandolin Cafe as mrmando.

Since emando.com is devoted to electric mandolin, and I doubt that the Douchebag Maestro Alex Gregory would be able to make any claims of originaility for developing a five-course electric instrument in fifths without being challenged there. Tiny Moore of the Texas Playboys developed the five-string electric years before Gregory started his nonsense.

I can't imagine that particular Martin Stilion rushing to defend the Douchebag Maestro Alex Gregory or his claims of originality (including the Pentasystem).

Is it possible that someone is looking at the emando website and grabbing Stillion's name in order to create some sort of legitimacy? If I were in your position, I'd probably drop the Wikipedia "Stillion" an email asking if he is the same person, as well as contacting the Martin Stillion at info@emando. I can see how emando would re-release "Jokes" as an interesting and relevant CD relating to electric mandolin, but I doubt they'd be committed to preserving Gregory's claims.

 

[Explorer]

Incidentally, I was just doing some quick lookups, and found that searching on "wikipedia pentasystem" found this particular thread, as well as a bunch of others, decrying the Douchebag Maestro Alexander Gregory and his claims. A lot of people are linking to this particular thread.

Apparently the Douchbag Maestro Alexander Gregory has gained a lot of notice over the years for his claims regarding the seven-string gutiar and the Pentasystem, but the work of voxhumana and his/her collegues over at Wikipedia in sorting those claims, and exposing the lies behind quite a few of them, is possibly the first time all of this was brought to light at one time and in one location.

 

[BigBaldIan]

I think the crux of the matter rests on semantics, if we use the legal reasonable person test. Then a reasonable person reading the statement below would naturally infer, that Gregory single-handedly invented the entire family of solid-body 7-string electric guitars:

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] "The absolute truth remains that Maestro Alex Gregory is the true sole inventor of the 7 String Electric Guitar, or Rock N Roll 7 String Guitar"

[/FONT]The statement above makes no caveat of tuning differences, it is a blanket all encompassing statement. By discovery of prior builders (listed in this thread in detail) who have a variety of features listed, the above statement has been proven to be at best inaccurate and at worst fraudulent.

A more accurate statement would be:

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]"The absolute truth remains that Maestro Alex Gregory is the true sole inventor of a 2 octave 7 String Electric Guitar, tuned E to A with fulcrum tremolo system and 3 single-coil pickups; a natural evolution of the classic Fender Stratocaster design."
[/FONT]
However that does not sound as punchy or attention grabbing now does it? By the way, if having a Patent automatically means you can lay claim to inventing something, then I'd expect some almighty punch-ups between DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, EMG et al.

 

[voxhumana]

By the way, if having a Patent automatically means you can lay claim to inventing something, then I'd expect some almighty punch-ups between DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, EMG et al.

For the record, I am the TRUE SOLE INVENTOR of the Gibson L6S with Seymour Duncan hot rails bridge pickup, recycled telecaster neck pickup, a Kahler tremelo, and duct tape holding the back cover plate on. Thank you - please form an orderly line for autographs.

To me an "invention" has to have something unique or unexpected about it. Even Ned Steinberger regarded himself as a "designer" or an "innovator", not an "inventor". (Although IMO the 'trans-trem' rightly qualifies as an invention, as to my knowledge nothing like it had ever existed before)

The Chapman Stick also fits that bill for me.

 

[Spondus]

Fender "Prototype" Alex Gregory 7 String Stratocaster on eBay (end time 24-Mar-11 11:02:29 GMT)

If anyone cares one of his guitars is on ebay. After reading his site, his douche-nozzeldom becomes obvious.

 

[voxhumana]

Fender "Prototype" Alex Gregory 7 String Stratocaster on eBay (end time 24-Mar-11 11:02:29 GMT)

If anyone cares on of his guitars is on ebay. After reading his site, his douche-nozzeldom becomes obvious.

The Ebay description says "The above instrument ... has been featured in several publications inc the "Andre Duchossoir" Fender Stratocaster book."

Yeah, it got "featured" in one sentence on page 34 of Duchossoir's book.

​

 

[Hemi-Powered Drone]

Clearly it is very distinct from anything before it.It has "7" strings, not 7 strings. :LOL:

 

[Loomer]

. Even Ned Steinberger regarded himself as a "designer" or an "innovator", not an "inventor". (Although IMO the 'trans-trem' rightly qualifies as an invention, as to my knowledge nothing like it had ever existed before)

Well, Ned Steinberger doesn't have to prove he's a genius, as that fact is as readily apparent as anything

 

[BucketheadRules]

Fender "Prototype" Alex Gregory 7 String Stratocaster on eBay (end time 24-Mar-11 11:02:29 GMT)

If anyone cares one of his guitars is on ebay. After reading his site, his douche-nozzeldom becomes obvious.

But it's not the first 7-string, and barely anyone has ever heard of the guy, so why is it £9,499?

 

[BigBaldIan]

Fender "Prototype" Alex Gregory 7 String Stratocaster on eBay (end time 24-Mar-11 11:02:29 GMT)

If anyone cares one of his guitars is on ebay. After reading his site, his douche-nozzeldom becomes obvious.

What's even more amazing is that the seller has two available!

 

[BucketheadRules]

What's even more amazing is that the seller has two available!

Well, it's Music Ground isn't it?

They probably stole them off Gregory himself.

EDIT: Although it is quite possible that they had them knocked up in China.

 

[Explorer]

Being that the Douchebag Maestro Alex Gregory tried to sell the masters and all rights associated with "Jokes" about 5 years ago for $15k total, it would seem possible that DMAG was the source of the instruments.

I like that the auction/sale, according to the auction description, is for 2 of the 3 total ever built. If they're really great, I wonder why the owner is getting (or got) rid of them. I tend to keep the instruments which are working for me. If the Fenders were truly ahead of their time, and surpassed the construction of the Ibanez line which preceded the patenting of this line... why sell the Fenders?

In my imaginings, I can see some fairly large chickens coming home to roost, embodying the falsehoods which have been advanced in place of the true history of the seven-string gutiar. If the truth becomes more and more known, and the smokescreen dissipates, then these instruments will have very little value other than as a novelty. I guess the decision was made to sell while the selling was still good.

The history video relied upon in the auction is, of course, the one the DMAG himself posted on Youtube. That means that it is filled with the same falsehoods as Gregory's site.

One more thing: Why worry about Chinese guitars when this thread contains a different source? Yes, I've been holding this link back, but now it's time to unveil the result of two douchebags passing in the night...

Alex Gregory Guitars

That's right. One can't use the word "douchebag" without an eventual appearance by... Ed Roman himself.

It's not worth the investment of my time, but I wonder what would happen if someone contacted the seller (Musicgoround, which is an entity outside of Gregory) through eBay, presented what has developed so far regarding all the claims in that video being given as the history of seven-string guitar, and let the seller know that the claims being given in the link in their item description were untrue....

 

[BucketheadRules]

He's responsible for this.

I want him shot. Now.