Hi all,
I am the proud new owner of a 1973 Les Paul Custom that used to belong to my hero, Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown! Short story long, during a trip to St. Petersburg FL (where I now reside) from Houston to visit my then girlfriend (who is now my wife) who had moved back to the Tampa Bay area, we were casually strolling through Downtown St. Pete on a Saturday in May of 2016. We passed by a guitar store/hair salon that is now defunct (the store just moved elsewhere) called Stevie B's (the salon was called Star Booty). I wasn't really looking to buy a guitar but knowing me, the wife suggested we go in. I looked around and nothing really stood out to me, except an old LPC hanging high on the wall. The autograph on the pickguard caught my eye, but I am not a collector so autographed things hold little meaning to me. The wife also noticed the guitar and said "hey isn't that Kim Simmonds from Savoy Brown?“ I said, “yeah it appears to be but who cares?” That is when Stevie, the shop owner approached me. I made casual conversation about the guitar on the wall, and come to find out, it is not just an autographed guitar... It WAS one of Kim's guitars, and his main guitar between 1988 when he acquired it up to the late 90s. I actually had seen Kim play this guitar live! I was immediately curious, but skeptical. However my skepticism was put to rest when the COA written by Kim was provided. I was just beside myself. However, time was running short, we had to leave the store and I did not have a chance to play it. Well, needless to say, I was obsessed for the next 24 hours and could not stop thinking about it. The next morning, a Sunday, the wife asked me first thing "you are thinking about the guitar aren't you?" I said “yeah, but I cannot just buy a guitar without playing it, because I am not a collector.“ I decided to call the store to see if they were open and much to my chagrin they were not. I was leaving town back to Houston on Monday. I had resided to the fact that it just wasn't meant to be. Oh well. I left a message in the store's voice mail and went about my day. About 15 mins later, my phone rings and it is Stevie. He got my message and is willing to open the store just for me. About 30 mins later, there we are... I have the guitar in hand and plugged in. It is a dream. It is a solid dream, a sonic dream, and what a beefy tone! Needless to say, we agreed on a price, I answer the call from Amex to let them know it was really me charging 3K on a Sunday morning and off we went. I was so nervous to hold one of Kim's guitars that I could barely play. But she is home with me in Houston now and wow, what a player!
Fast forward to July of 2016 and Savoy Brown is playing in Seattle. My best friend (and forum member sangandongo) lives in Seattle. He and another friend get us tickets, front row tickets to see Savoy Brown. I sent a message to Kim's management to let them know that I was coming and bringing the guitar with me. After the gig, we had a chance to go back stage and hang for quite a long time (maybe it would have been even longer if I just had been less polite). Kim, Pat, and Garnett were so cool. I had a chance to talk to my hero, reunite him with the guitar (I had planned to see if he wanted to play the guitar during the show, but he politely admitted that at 68, he preferred lighter weight guitars, though this LPC clocks under 10 lbs). He told me that I should go home and check the pickups as they may be 60's humbuckers (he could not remember) because he always changed pickups. These are T tops so I knew a bit better than to hope for a PAF or early Pat number. Anyhow, I had purchased a new pickguard to save the original autographed one. Kim was kind enough to autograph this new one for me and I gifted the original pickguard to my best friend, because he facilitated and instigated not only the purchase but the meeting with Kim. I went home and checked the pickups and turns out they are date stampled Tim Shaw era pickups. They sound stellar. The neck is clean and bell like, the bridge is mid pushed and honky, the way I like it!
I was inspired to write about this because of Fried Okra's Koss Burst story and meeting Paul Rodgers. Although Kim and Savoy Brown never got the recognition like some of their peers, they are still number one in my book and Kim is grossly underrated as a guitarist. Unlike some of his contemporaries, he still plays the heck out of the guitar and is as creative as ever.
Yes I play this guitar, I play it live, I record with it, and it will never leave me.
Another interesting bit about this guitar is that Kim sold it to Johnny Winter's long time guitar tech. Turns out Johnny is the other huge hero of mine and I will write a story about a guitar related to him some other time. The tech sold the guitar to Stevie when he fell ill and needed money for medical bills.
I am the proud new owner of a 1973 Les Paul Custom that used to belong to my hero, Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown! Short story long, during a trip to St. Petersburg FL (where I now reside) from Houston to visit my then girlfriend (who is now my wife) who had moved back to the Tampa Bay area, we were casually strolling through Downtown St. Pete on a Saturday in May of 2016. We passed by a guitar store/hair salon that is now defunct (the store just moved elsewhere) called Stevie B's (the salon was called Star Booty). I wasn't really looking to buy a guitar but knowing me, the wife suggested we go in. I looked around and nothing really stood out to me, except an old LPC hanging high on the wall. The autograph on the pickguard caught my eye, but I am not a collector so autographed things hold little meaning to me. The wife also noticed the guitar and said "hey isn't that Kim Simmonds from Savoy Brown?“ I said, “yeah it appears to be but who cares?” That is when Stevie, the shop owner approached me. I made casual conversation about the guitar on the wall, and come to find out, it is not just an autographed guitar... It WAS one of Kim's guitars, and his main guitar between 1988 when he acquired it up to the late 90s. I actually had seen Kim play this guitar live! I was immediately curious, but skeptical. However my skepticism was put to rest when the COA written by Kim was provided. I was just beside myself. However, time was running short, we had to leave the store and I did not have a chance to play it. Well, needless to say, I was obsessed for the next 24 hours and could not stop thinking about it. The next morning, a Sunday, the wife asked me first thing "you are thinking about the guitar aren't you?" I said “yeah, but I cannot just buy a guitar without playing it, because I am not a collector.“ I decided to call the store to see if they were open and much to my chagrin they were not. I was leaving town back to Houston on Monday. I had resided to the fact that it just wasn't meant to be. Oh well. I left a message in the store's voice mail and went about my day. About 15 mins later, my phone rings and it is Stevie. He got my message and is willing to open the store just for me. About 30 mins later, there we are... I have the guitar in hand and plugged in. It is a dream. It is a solid dream, a sonic dream, and what a beefy tone! Needless to say, we agreed on a price, I answer the call from Amex to let them know it was really me charging 3K on a Sunday morning and off we went. I was so nervous to hold one of Kim's guitars that I could barely play. But she is home with me in Houston now and wow, what a player!
Fast forward to July of 2016 and Savoy Brown is playing in Seattle. My best friend (and forum member sangandongo) lives in Seattle. He and another friend get us tickets, front row tickets to see Savoy Brown. I sent a message to Kim's management to let them know that I was coming and bringing the guitar with me. After the gig, we had a chance to go back stage and hang for quite a long time (maybe it would have been even longer if I just had been less polite). Kim, Pat, and Garnett were so cool. I had a chance to talk to my hero, reunite him with the guitar (I had planned to see if he wanted to play the guitar during the show, but he politely admitted that at 68, he preferred lighter weight guitars, though this LPC clocks under 10 lbs). He told me that I should go home and check the pickups as they may be 60's humbuckers (he could not remember) because he always changed pickups. These are T tops so I knew a bit better than to hope for a PAF or early Pat number. Anyhow, I had purchased a new pickguard to save the original autographed one. Kim was kind enough to autograph this new one for me and I gifted the original pickguard to my best friend, because he facilitated and instigated not only the purchase but the meeting with Kim. I went home and checked the pickups and turns out they are date stampled Tim Shaw era pickups. They sound stellar. The neck is clean and bell like, the bridge is mid pushed and honky, the way I like it!
I was inspired to write about this because of Fried Okra's Koss Burst story and meeting Paul Rodgers. Although Kim and Savoy Brown never got the recognition like some of their peers, they are still number one in my book and Kim is grossly underrated as a guitarist. Unlike some of his contemporaries, he still plays the heck out of the guitar and is as creative as ever.
Yes I play this guitar, I play it live, I record with it, and it will never leave me.
Another interesting bit about this guitar is that Kim sold it to Johnny Winter's long time guitar tech. Turns out Johnny is the other huge hero of mine and I will write a story about a guitar related to him some other time. The tech sold the guitar to Stevie when he fell ill and needed money for medical bills.
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