Interview by Andrew Daly
Where and when did you buy this guitar?
I got it at Norman’s Rare Guitars in Los Angeles in the early Eighties. The guitar would have had to be from the Sixties; as I recall, it was a ’68. I’d never buy one from the Seventies because I’ve always felt that there’s no such thing as a good guitar from that decade.
Why did you choose it?
I had been looking for a Gibson L-7 from the Fifties or Sixties, but I didn’t find one I liked. Then I came upon the Barney Kessel and was immediately drawn to it because it was a double-cut, which I liked, and it was a good jazz guitar. I always loved Wes Montgomery and felt that Sunburst would be the perfect tool for that style.
Did you use it on any notable recordings?
I might have, but honestly, I didn’t buy that guitar to record with. I liked messing around with it in my free time, and around that time, I was playing a lot of jazz guitar at home, so the [Gibson] SG wasn’t what I’d be using for that.
What did the Barney Kessel allow you to do that the SG didn’t?
It was easier to get that Wes Montgomery sound. I liked how the octaves sounded, which I guess is one of many differences between a hollow-body guitar and an SG.
Why did you
