Making Guitars For The Rolling Stones

[@otisgibbs]

Video of the first time Ronnie played the gold Swope guitar live. Chris misspoke and said Toronto, but it was actually Quebec. I believe Ronnie's playing the guitar Keith ended up with. kzbin.info/www/bejne/inq6omeembWletk Fan video of Ronnie playing the guitar he ended up buying from Chris. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pqWpqmuvqrShiJY

[@rockerbob949]

We have something in common. When I worked at Gibson Bozeman, Montana I got to cut and brace a top for Ron Wood. Don’t tell but my initials are on the inside top.

[@toddmoney8921]

Chris is a buddy of mine and a brilliant guy! We were both in different places at Gibson and when I was tasked with a special project I was loaned Chris and his crew to assist. Chris was a huge help and became one of my favorite humans from that time forward! Please do more with him!

[@ArcaneInc]

Great story. I have some insight on those rehearsals, they would have been at Third Encore in Los Angeles. The Stones rehearsed in room H, the big room, it’s approx 60x80. The Stones are the only band I have ever seen rehearse here where people started lining up out on the street waiting for the band, all day every day. My shop is in Third Encore and I make pickups for James Trussart and others. James came every day for days and placed a guitar with Mick in the end, it was a process. I got to check out the pickup from Mcauber, the whole thing was a unique experience.

[@chrisswope6170]

Hey Arcane! Thanks for the insight.

[@otisgibbs]

Check out Chris' guitars. instagram.com/swopeguitars

[@leftwrite]

I admire Chris' patience and focus on his instruments into the Stones' hands. I takes a lot of tenacity to go the distance and not lose your mind while the perpetual waiting goes on.

[@jernigansaintthomasphiland1240]

That. Was. Awesome. Perserverance pays off big....congrats! And a great, great story.

[@Caperhere]

That was interesting, thanks Chris and Otis.

[@johnnymup]

Kenny is a great guy and helped me out a lot when i needed it.

[@-Atmos1]

Worked at Crazy Pig Designs in 2000 , Armand Serra designed the Skull ring for Keith . Interesting to hear about Chris Swope making guitars for the Stones . Very cool .

[@ksockit2me]

I found myself smiling back at Chris as I watched every second of this. Seems like such a great guy...with some great stories. Hope is happy as hell. Much love!

[@artemisXsidecross]

An informative and very good interview thank you both 👍

[@FreestyleCustom]

Great story! I am also a guitar builder, and have felt the joy of a star playing one of my creations. What a great feeling it is. Thankfully I didn't have to go thru the same trials and waiting that Chris went thru, because I was able to talk to this person before I built the guitar. And thanks to the intergoogle, I have plenty of videos of him playing it all around the globe. Love Chris's attitude about the whole thing. I bet his guitars are incredible.

[@msalty2823]

What a heartbreakingly difficult business, to live by the whims of musicians and suffer what sounds like terrible waits. I'm glad it worked out for your friend in the end.

[@larryholland7192]

Great interview!!

[@regandunn4850]

Ronnie is a master really dig him more and more as I get older

[@squadgeman3247]

I played Leonard Cohen's acoustic guitar for awhile, but that's all I got. No comparison to your story, but a thrill none the less! Great video. Huge fan of the Stones. I once chatted with Ronnie Wood briefly about his art work and harmonica playing. Another thrill!

[@alfatone2654]

Congrats, tenacious perseverance will eventually pan out. These guitars you make look and sound wonderful. I'd take a crisp new boutique model like yours over a vintage relic from the past any day.

[@adameggers8146]

Amazing, And thanks for linking the performance video. Sounds great

[@otisgibbs]

Become a member. kzbin.info/door/YX2... www.patreon.com/otisgibbs Tip jar for anyone who wants to help support this channel. paypal.me/otisgibbs?locale.x=... www.venmo.com/OtisGibbs Paypal: @otisgibbs Venmo: @OtisGibbs

[@johnglenn30csardas]

What a heart attack scenario. Like most businesses. Great video and If only I could play a guitar, I would buy one from Chris.

[@ericsarchive7718]

I had no idea of that world behind the scenes. Fascinating

[@denniscoverband4369]

Hey Otis another great episode my friend. A bit of a nail biter :) As a guitar player myself there’s a lot of stuff Chris touched on that was extremely relatable and gave me a chuckle. Keep up the great content! All the best.

[@wittry2]

For me this would be a stomach churning situation to have to go through. Almost not worth it, but good for Chris. I wish him luck in the future. I see Ronnie playing a Gibson Explorer a lot and Keith has several guitars that he seems to favor. Gibson Jr., E335, Fender Telecaster and they all seem to remain the same colors. I wonder how many guitars make through more than one show? Hey, I voted today! I hope you did too!!!

[@mumbles215]

It’s not the vote that counts, it’s who counts the vote-Stalin

[@ScottyPLane]

When I get a chance, I'm going to head to Muddy River Guitars in Lenexa Kansas to test drive a Swope Guitar.

[@g2guns562]

Otis Gibbs, very neat informative upload about guitars and new York thank you godbless

[@CauseWiredVideo]

Awesome story - patience pays off!

[@thomashubbell1960]

Great story, Mr. Swope! I had heard Chris was based out of the KC area, where I live. I'd love to try one of his guitars one of these days if they are in any of the local shops.

[@DaveGreeneramblingcarpenter]

Very cool

[@jammininthepast]

Love the insight..."I'll have that", must be nice compared to eating mac and cheese, peanuts and generic bread for a month to kick back enough cash from gigs at bar rooms that smell of vomit and urine to be able to buy that Tele you have on lay away....that's the reality for most of us. Thanks Otis.

[@Barry101er]

Excellent video!

[@ClintonCaraway]

I have a good friend who is a AMAZING bluegrass musician and who is also a insanely talented wood worker. He has started building electric guitars and I really hope someday he has his guitars played by people who appreciate the time he puts into it.

[@AnthonyBurrito1313]

Cool stuff Oat

[@julesotis13]

good one broher Otis anthe took me many rewins to watch cuz im too distractable but i dig this no frills good tale thanks to you and Chris Swope - SJOCR

[@dodgedandle8311]

He really done all that(AND I ADMIRE THIS FELLA FOR IT) But for a couple of Herberts from Dartford and an Herbert from Yiewsley West London.. That’s Nuts I Love the Stones music , but I don’t love em this much..😆 give them 🎸 3 off the shelf Les Paul’s- 3 Strats -3 Telecasters and a couple of 335s .. 3 Martin Acoustics and 3 Gibson Acoustics …. And Get The F on with it Rolling Stones … WHAT WOULD The Late Great IAN STEWART THINK OF ALL THIS NONSENSE . Come on my Three Chord Wonders..😆 God Only Knows …Know what I mean and not forgetting The Late Great Tony Zemaitis🙏🌞❤️.

[@thebangkokconnection4080]

A side story is when Hendrix went to London and was playing one of his first shows he had a stock guitar. Keiths gf brought one of Keiths guitars to the gig for him to play on stage. After that Jimi started getting his guitars custom made.

[@buddybeetle]

Nonsense

[@danielstoddart]

@@buddybeetle You're right, that's nonsense. There's all kinds of stories of Hendrix going to Denmark St well after that and buying guitars off the rack.

[@tomp.6239]

Hey Otis, always fine stuff! Thanks! Had a couple hi$ Tom Anderson Strat clones here when I did some eBay trading. Prefer my Fenders, but after we moved the Andersons, saw Stones (at least Mick & Ron) playing same models on the "Bridges to Babylon" tour. Wow!

[@nancyp3949]

I was at that show in KC. Charlie came out from behind his kit during the band introductions and Mick put a Royals cap on his head and you could tell he hated it 😂 Royals won the World Series the next season. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.

[@rooster4906]

Thank you for sharing this story with us, all the best to you and the Rolling Stones!!!

[@joelfildes5544]

I went to Woody’s Xmas party about ten years ago…proper !

[@300rivers7]

Talk about pins and needles. Holy smokes, I was stressing just watching this video.

[@Tim1963-u6n]

Just wondering what was paid for the one Chris built and hard to believe Chris can make it just building and waiting to see if they will even take a look at his hard work

[@chrisswope6170]

This isn't the way I would usually go about business, ha ha! But it was worth it for me. Yes, I am a Stones fan but I'm a bigger Faces fan and I love Ronnie's playing so much with that band.

[@frankwebster9110]

Does anybody have a link to the photo of the guitar that Keith ended up with? I guess I can search for a street fighting man clip.

[@dat219]

✔️ In my opinion color and the right color is important not as important as sound, weight but it's a deal maker or breaker. I bought a hybrid Strat/Tele from a hock shop ( we didn't call them a loan store) on 48 The Street a door or down from Manny's (Music ) in 1970. It's an Olympic White Stratocaster body . The pots are stamped 67 with a 69 Maple Telecaster neck it was hanging in the front window of the shop. There's a photo of Jimi Hendrix playing a similar setup at the jazz festival. I have a feeling that someone saw that concert and put this guitar together because I bought the guitar somewhere in the 1970s so with the maple neck of 69 you know somebody put it together. I never had enough money to own two guitars at the same time so I always sold one and then shopping. I paid $125 for it and then I bought a hard shell Fender case. For $25 I sold it to my friend who happened to be with me when I bought the guitar that day we had an agreement that if he sold it he would sell it back to me we were good friends growing up anyway I bought that guitar back in 1993 and I've had it ever since. We took the guitar apart and found out what exactly it was took me 3 years to find a 68 Stratocaster neck rosewood. I have it on the guitar there are some KZbin videos of me playing the guitar with also a 68 drip edge Fender Deluxe Reverb reverb. I still have the 69 tele Nick and the case this is from my childhood days of playing over 50 years ago

[@zenmaestro04]

That was a great story I could really feel the anticipation and disappointment he was going though trying to get that guitar into the right hands

[@jppagetoo]

Went and watched the video of Ronnie playing the guitar. Cool guitar and it sounded just as good as the Gibson. I love how Keith kept playing a solo for 4 more bars right over the top of Mick vocals. Hehehehehe, funny stuff.

[@ericalvarez2209]

Lucky man!

[@pmccarty]

Thank you Otis! And thank you Chris - what a great peak into a world most of us know nothing about. And quite frankly, Ron Wood is not a very good guitarist. Your guitars belong in the hands of real musicians.

[@thomasfisher5742]

and to think GEORGE HARRISON in the 60s was so happy when given a RICK at an interview.....how eazy was that for them lol

[@LTTunage]

Love Kenny and his love for music, Question: Does Kenny live in that same hotel room or do they rent it each time they do another interview? Hes wearing a wedding ring, so I assume they must rent or own some home, or do they both live in a hotel room?

[@megagatvol]

Yes….I’ve seen this.

[@andrewkaiser7203]

He he has guitars out to Jimmy Page AND The Stones. That is super impressive!

[@cactus-mcjacktus]

what a really weird paradigm for a guitar builder. i guess when you’ve been playing for so long these things just kinda happen, but i really enjoy having something of a connection to the people who make my stuff.

[@idolhanz9842]

What does Pierre D'Beauport say about all of this?

[@konaken1035]

Wowzer! luthier anxiety.

[@mlt3820]

The Rolling Stones have a new album with a new sound coming out. Ronnie says its their biggest package in 15 years. Did these guitars play a part in the new sound? Seen them 3 times.

[@mlt3820]

Ok Otis, I'm going to see Todd even if you're not on the tour. I hear you and respect your direction. The wisdom and ways you got too. Many thanks.

[@idolhanz9842]

"I got to play Mackawber"....that's like I got to fly the SR71 or something...

[@carlstephenson3729]

Ronnie.i was thinking have you still got the toilet seat guitar I loved that thing

[@ardenevox]

I'm in Toronto! Lol!

[@habeascorpus1]

Great story.Sad that a great luthier has to go through those BS scenarios to get a guitar acknowledged.

[@petertaysum8947]

Of Ron Wood's guitars - the mother of pearl mosaic (Gibson?) - guitar porn.

[@vibemasterguitars2306]

Don't be a dope buy a swope

[@aliengrey6052]

It’s a hard life being a guitar builder.

[@hollyridgesmoke7057]

Yes it is "pretty cool."

[@aliengrey6052]

God it’s like selling guitars to spoiled children. 😂

[@tylerthompson1842]

I love the stones but it’s annoying to think a guy like me who works paycheck to paycheck gig to gig would happily pay this guy for his work maybe even go a few days without eating for one of his guitars and the stones expect them for free Just for the publicity

[@mattrogers1946]

I know, right. It must suck to want for nothing and have everything handed to you. Some of us musicians actually work for a living.

[@buzzbabyjesus]

I have 40 guitars and none of them are blue. Just sayin'.

[@mattrogers1946]

I'd love to own a custom made guitar. Spoiled rock star type leave me cold.

[@slimturnpike]

Do they ever play them live?