i thought nick lucas was some contemporary guy, like jeff tweedy

[eljay]

but today i found out i've been wrong!

nick lucas cedar on walnut coming from tinker . . .

[62burst]

That's funny. And you, with a Gibson little guitar in your sig!

For reference, here's Nick on Johnny Carson in '69:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jT1bpIun_I

btw: check out the man's sense of timing... very smooth, before/after the beat (esp on TTTTT (Tiptoe...)).

and for a little perspective, in the above video, NL is the same age as Mick Jagger, 72 years old.

fyi; Nick is playing his, and I believe it's the first, Gibson signature model, the deep-bodied Nick Lucas Special. I'd love to know the story behind the now-legendary Nick-style inlays.

[OhioBelle]

Johnny Carson and Nick Lucas - two class acts.

Thanks for the link!

[pjroberts]

This is a great shape, smaller body handling with fuller sound thanks to that depth. I almost ordered a NL from Ed, but went with an OM (awesome, and has just grown better with the mileage). I'm thinking still of one of his Halycon NLs.

Lots of good info on the web about Nick Lucas Special:

• Fretboard Jounral:http://www.fretboardjournal.com/blog...-lucas-special
• Gibson's page on Bob Dylan's famous NL Special, which was modded a lot. Much info on Dylan's NL since it was his main instrument during one of his most prolific periods. http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle...s-bob-407.aspx
• History of SC take on the NL Special (based on Ed's suggestion of this shape, I later bought a used one, which is very Gibsonesque). Lots of good historical tidbits on the actual Gibson and more on Dylan's because the author actually knew the previous owner of Dylan's http://www.lutherie.net/model_h.html

[pjroberts]

Originally Posted by 62burst

For reference, here's Nick on Johnny Carson in '69:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jT1bpIun_I

btw: check out the man's sense of timing... very smooth, before/after the beat (esp on TTTTT (Tiptoe...)).

and for a little perspective, in the above video, NL is the same age as Mick Jagger, 72 years old.

Awesome clip, I had never seen video of Lucas playing -- he blows Tiny Tim away, kind of funny because this obviously aired during the hey day of the Tiny cover. Sounds like Tim had recently been on Johnny. And I agree they are both class acts. Think I will pick up a Nick Lucas album on iTunes tonight!

[Fast Frank]

That clip is from the night when Tiny Tim's wedding took place on the tonight show. Nick Lucas was TT's idol and played for the wedding at his request.

[eljay]

Originally Posted by pjroberts

Lots of good info on the web about Nick Lucas Special

thanks for this, pj! looking forward to getting the NL, to say the least.

i was going to get a parlor from ed but i have a pono parlor coming and did not see the point of near duplication.

the lucas will fit in well with my small herd . . .

[eastcoast Chris]

Take a look at Nick Lucas playing Picking the guitar & Teasing the frets on Youtube.Very nice "0ld style" plectrum guitar playing.

[rogthefrog]

Never mind.

[mercy]

As I recall, the inlays were modeled from his previous Galliano guitar. But they look like banjo inlays to me so perhaps it was a practical decision to use an inlay they were doing which was similar to the inlays he was used to.

[teleamp]

Originally Posted by 62burst

That's funny. And you, with a Gibson little guitar in your sig!

For reference, here's Nick on Johnny Carson in '69:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jT1bpIun_I

btw: check out the man's sense of timing... very smooth, before/after the beat (esp on TTTTT (Tiptoe...)).

and for a little perspective, in the above video, NL is the same age as Mick Jagger, 72 years old.

fyi; Nick is playing his, and I believe it's the first, Gibson signature model, the deep-bodied Nick Lucas Special. I'd love to know the story behind the now-legendary Nick-style inlays.

Funny how the house band try's to join in on Tiptoe through the Tulips, with little success...

[Wade Hampton]

What's interesting to me is that Nick Lucas himself used a pick, but the biggest fans of the Nick Lucas model and other guitars inspired by its design tend to be fingerpickers. The same thing happened with the OM - it was designed as a rhythm guitar for big band music, yet later found its greatest champions among fingerstyle players.

Nick Lucas has had one other lesser-known but lasting influence, and that's in the shape of the most commonly used guitar picks:

˚˚˚

It's no longer common usage, but when I first started playing I would occasionally run across references to "Nick Lucas-style picks," and what that meant was picks in the shape shown above.

So Nick Lucas was a pioneer in that regard, as well. I have no idea whether he invented that pick shape (though I kind of doubt it,) but he was one of the most prominent guitarplayers for a long time, and that shape was his preference. So that had an impact.


Wade Hampton Miller