Stories of Legendary Guitarists: Ritchie Blackmore. Ritchie Blackmore - King of the Guitar

Few people, even a little versed in rock music, have not heard the name Ritchie Blackmore. Yes, and no wonder, for a half-century career, he managed to participate in three super projects - deep purple, Rainbow and Blackmore's Night and many lesser known bands.

Ritchie was born in Weston-super-Mare in England in the distant and turbulent 1945. From school, he developed an aversion to the rules and patterns that were stuffed into his education. At that time he was fond of sports, and it seemed that he would connect his future with him, but one day at school he saw a guitar, and this changed his life interests in a different direction. His father taught him the first guitar lessons, then Ritchie studied with Jimmy Sullivan, a well-known guitarist at that time.

His first team was 21's Coffee Bar Junior Skiffle Group. At that time, he was converting his acoustic guitar into an electric one. In the early 60s, Richie changed many groups, but the first recognition came to him in team The Savages, where Blackmore received a lot of lessons on stage behavior. Soon, leaving the group, he moves into the first truly famous team- The Outlaws. The group was characterized by reckless behavior and more than once fell into the pencil of the police. For some time the group were accompanists of Gene Vincent and went on foreign tours with him. After that, our hero tries himself in many groups, at the same time wanting to create his own group.

Finally, in 1968, a group was formed that included Chris Curtis, Blackmore, Pace and Jon Lord. The name of the group was invented by Richie himself. This team was doomed to success and became one of the pioneers of hard rock. The group was called Deep Purple. At first, the group tried to copy someone else's style and the first albums consisted mainly of hits from other groups. Finally, in 1969, after recording with the orchestra, the group's business went better. At that time, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover were already performing in the team, forming the golden composition of the group. Since 1970, the group has been releasing one after another a number of successful albums, which allowed them to become one of the leading groups of that time. At that time, the group created their most famous hits in which Richie invested a lot. Especially in the legendary riff in the song Smoke on the Water - business card deep purple. But Richie always tried to do what he liked and gradually relations in the team worsened, soon Gillan and Glover left the group, and after disagreements in the further direction of the group's movements in 1975, Blackmore himself leaves the group.

At that time, he met the American band Elf. He was struck by their playing and especially by the vocalist with his powerful voice. His name was Ronnie James Dio. Soon Blackmore invited them to join his new group named Rainbow. Soon the first album of the group was recorded, which became a continuation of the Machine Head line and contained powerful hard rock, which was so characteristic of the group in the late 70s. The group was also characterized by lyrical ballads, which were contained on each album. As a whole, the group became one of the most influential in the hard rock scene, but was characterized by a constant rotation of the line-up, which changed on each album. As a result, already in 1979, only Blackmore himself remained from the first composition.

After a long time trying to get financial success From their music, the group decides to change their style to a more commercial one and for this they invite a vocalist who could give it a new charm. At first, Graham Bonnet became them, and then Joe Lynn Turner came to replace him. At the time, the band had a stellar line-up - Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover on bass, Cozy Powell on drums and Don Airey on keyboards. The group, having become commercially successful, nevertheless did not abandon their unbridled image both on and off stage. The ringleader was, of course, Blackmore himself.

Finally, in 1984, the group broke up, as its leader returned to the re-created in the golden composition of Deep Purple. At first, Richie was tolerant of Gillan, with whom he had a difficult relationship, but then the band was forced to part ways with the vocalist. Finally, in 1993, the long-term relationship between Richie and Deep Purple came to an end. On November 17 he played his last concert in their line-up and shortly thereafter revived Rainbow and recorded another album.

In 1997, the Rainbow page in Richie's life was closed forever, and he, along with his common-law wife Candice Knight, organized something completely new for himself. Blackmore's Night played folk rock that was completely atypical for Richie. He still plays in this group, releasing 8 albums over the years. Blackmore's personal life seems to have finally reached an idyll. He married Candace in 2008, and soon they had a daughter. Prior to that, Richie had been married three times and had a son, Jurgen, in his first marriage.

In general, Ritchie Blackmore's contribution to the development of music is simply enormous. He is not only one of the most famous guitar virtuosos, and in fact, besides the guitar, he plays other instruments, but also gave way to life for many bands, for example, Wishborne Ash. Also, his manner of playing the guitar formed the basis of the game of many guitarists.

Acoustic guitars by Ritchie Blackmore

(In this article, I want to introduce you to the acoustic guitars that Ritchie Blackmore plays at Blackmore's Night concerts and also uses to record albums.)

Alvarez Yairi

Alvarez Yairi guitars are made in an old workshop located in the mountain village of Gifu in Japan, away from computerized factories.
rick of large-scale manufacturing companies
guitar makers. For over 60 years, the Yairi family business has adhered strictly to the classic
tions in the manufacture of guitars. For the production of its instruments, the company uses only selected wood, carefully aged in natural conditions. These guitars cost $2,500.

The body of Richie's acoustic-electric guitar is made from Hawaiian koa, which adds richness and fullness to the midrange and delivers clear high notes while maintaining tight lows. The fretboard is made of ebony, the top is made of cedar. The guitar is equipped with Alvarez System electronics. Richie uses this guitar as the main one when recording all Blackmore's Night albums.

Lakewood A-32

German acoustic guitars from Lakewood, along with Taylor, Ritchie prefers to other companies. And not in vain. This mega-famous company is one of the three the best firms peace. This guitar was used on the first album "Shadow Of The Moon". "Newtone" are Ritchie's favorite acoustic strings. The body of this guitar is made of Indian rosewood, the headstock is made of mahogany, the neck pegs are made of bone.

Lakewood Moon-Guitar

This unique, unparalleled, handmade guitar is a Blackmore's Night gift from Lakewood. Richie already had an A-32 guitar, but he wanted something unique for live performances. The guitar has a relatively flat rosewood body and a small soundboard with a unique crescent-shaped decoration.The mahogany neck has a crescent-shaped tip.The fingerboard fretmarks are also moon-shaped.The fretboard is made of ebony.The sound of this guitar is unusually clear and warm.The guitar is equipped with a new pickup.
EMF B-Band, making the guitar the best for stage use.

Lakewood 12-string Lute-Guitar

Another masterpiece for Blackmore's Night from Lakewood is a handmade twelve-string guitar, made in the shape of an old European musical instrument- lutes.

This is the guitar you can see in the "The Times They Are A Changin" video. Richie was delighted with the incredibly realistic renaissance sound of this guitar, which is why he often uses it at many Blackmore's Night concerts. That's all I can say about this beautiful guitar for now.

Taylor 6 & 12-string

This is Richie's favorite acoustic. You can hear the beautiful sound of this magnificent guitar in Richie's favorite composition - "Renaissance Faire" from the first Blackmore's Night album. I would like to note that the acoustic guitars of the American company Tailor still occupy an honorable first place in the ranking of the best guitar manufacturers.

This company has its own unique history: about 30 years ago, a young man named Bob Taylor wanted to buy himself a guitar. Naturally, he wanted a Martin, but he couldn't afford that luxury. Then he decided to make himself a guitar, and, taking the famous dreadnought as a basis, he made himself a similar instrument.

Taylor is not as conservative as Martin - they widely use not only standard wood species (spruce, mahogany, rosewood, ebony), but also work with alternative species - maple, koa (Hawaiian tree), walnut, cedar. Unlike Martin, Taylor does not use lamination at all, even in their cheapest models - they are all solid wood.

Taylor is also known for its oversized box models. They work great with twelve strings. The result is a powerful instrument that can sound even without amplification in a small hall. Richie's collection includes both Taylor with 6 strings and concert guitar with 12 strings. This guitar has a very beautiful neck, decorated with floral ornaments. You can learn more about this guitar by watching the "Shadow Of The Moon" videotape.

A unique double-necked guitar (similar in appearance to a double-necked mandolin with an extended neck) known English company Fylde. The second neck is bass and is designed for a quick transition between the keys of complex compositions. This is very convenient, because no need for a second guitar. But, definitely, playing such an instrument requires great skills, which Richie has in abundance!
Official website of the company "Fylde":

Other Ritchie guitars

Of course, the guitars described above are far from all used by Ritchie. I wrote only about the main ones. Although the guitar on this last photo Richie is used at almost all Blackmore's Night concerts. And 100% is present at them. By the way, Richie has at least three guitars of this type. Two of them differ in color (one is darker, the other is light red) and one electro-acoustic with the brand letter "B" at the end of the neck - apparently, made to order.

The legendary leader of Deep Purple and the creator of Rainbow Ritchie Blackmore is considered to be a man of "difficult behavior": a brawler and in general an extremely gloomy personality. Richie himself assures that jokers like him are still to be found. And then he lays out proof of this: "Say, in Russia, fans are waiting for me? A whole army? My knees are already shaking!"

New project Blackmore, the Blackmore's Night group, is what was least expected from a quasi-rocker. The music reeks of knightly tournaments, and maybe even crusades, it is played in the scenery of medieval castles and Bavarian houses from the time of Emperor Maximilian I.

Noises and riffs

- At concerts, Deep Purple plays mostly old hits, Smoke On The Water in the first place ...

One of the reasons I left the band - and there were plenty of them - was because they went all over the world playing old songs. I wanted something new and fresh. I can't go around the world again, playing ancient hits and believing that I'm making "history of music", I can't.

- Really, having composed Smoke On The Water, you did not understand that it was exactly that that you created?

Yes you! I just played riffs, Ian Paice played drums, there were only two of us. Just a rhythm idea, another song, nothing special.

- When do you compose better?

I am an owl: I get up late, but I play all night long, I go to bed already in the morning. This is a night type of music. I love the night because I love silence. And now it's so hard to find! During the day people make so much unnecessary noise, I call it "noise pollution".

"They Hate Me"

- I can't imagine the music of Blackmore's Night in big stadiums.

Why not? We also perform in stadiums, but more in ancient castles, in chamber theaters and even in churches. It is impossible to compare the cozy atmosphere of small halls with large - cold ones. Now I do not know how to return to the style of play for stadiums.

- Different energy?

Absolutely. When you perform in front of 10,000 people, you are more focused on acting, acting, theatrical effects. When 100 people listen to you, you are more focused on the music itself, on your feelings.

- Do new musicians like working with you?

They hate it.

- Why???

I don't pay them money. I also beat with a microphone stand, do not feed and lock me in the basement of the castle for the night, ha-ha-ha!

- Do you have students?

Yes, I teach the neighborhood kids. We live in the forest, near the sea. In the evening they gather at our place, we burn a fire, bake potatoes. Together we play music written five centuries before they were born.

- Do you know how many guitars are in your house?

Twenty. Something like that. Mostly acoustic - there are 12 of them. And, probably, 8 electric ones. But I rarely play these.

- Do you realize what kind of energy your game brings to the hall? In general, music can be considered as a tool for influencing the human mind?

If with a guitar, but on the head - it can very well!

Britney and the clones

- How do you like trendy music?

The one on the radio? It's all record label manipulation that pays radio stations a lot of money, especially in America. Over the past 3 years, you will hear nothing but Britney Spears. Well, maybe Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson. But they are essentially Britney Spears twins. All the same, the rhythmic pattern is the same. Nothing can make me listen to such a radio. I think labels are just afraid of losing money if they start promoting new talent. Or old ones.

- There were only Americans at the last Grammy. Isn't this discrimination against musicians from other countries?

Good question. Why, when I'm in Europe, there are many other bands playing, but as soon as I get to the USA, I hear only American bands? Michael Oldfield has so many hits in the Old World, but in America they don't know him. They don't even know ABBA! This is the grandiose selfishness of the American market, 97% of which is at the mercy of "their own". Perhaps the only English group they know is U2. And that's just because they're Irish...

This conversation took place at a time when the "Rainbow" world tour in support of "Stranger In Us All" ("Fuel Records" was half played. From the first minute of our conversation, Ritchie Blackmore destroyed the opinion that had been formed about him since "Deep Purple" broke into the rock scene with a heavy cover of Billy Joe Royal's "Hush" In reality, he turned out to be a polite man and a pleasant conversationalist.

Vintage Guitar: Hearing themes like "Renaissance" or "Baroque", guitar enthusiasts accused you of betraying the style. It seemed to me personally that you had been hatching the idea of ​​this musical project for a long time ...

Ritchie Blackmore: Good question. You know, it all depends on the mood. I love renaissance music. I like the classics, but I don't abuse them. I love playing the blues, but sometimes the blues feels like endless repetitions and squares. Sometimes I improvise with someone. Then you put on the records of the great blues singers and hear that all this was played long before you. What can not be said about the music of the Renaissance ...

Vintage Guitar: Someone said that she is very correct ...

Ritchie Blackmore: Oh yeah. In my opinion the majority blues artists They don't think about what they're playing at all. With classical music, the situation is just the opposite. She is very disciplined, requires strictness. And at the same time it is "planned". Marvelous!

Vintage Guitar: Did you think that after the reunion of "Deep Purple" the band's music would be different?

Ritchie Blackmore: No, by and large. We didn't plan anything. They just wanted to play. In my opinion, "Perfect Strangers" came about precisely because we haven't played together for a long time. What can not be said about the rest of our work.

Vintage Guitar: You took part in the recording of the album "Smoke On The Water", all the proceeds from which went to the fund for the victims of the earthquake in Armenia. Chris Squire from "Yes" was also involved in the project, but when we talked to him, Chris said that he did not know many of the details. Could you enlighten us?

Ritchie Blackmore:(laughs) Most likely, he knows more about the project than I do. It was like this: I was asked if I wanted to take part. I thought that would be great. I remember very well that the vocal parts were performed by Paul Rodgers, whose fan I have been for a long time.

Vintage Guitar: This begs the question: have you heard the last two "Bad Company" albums, where Robert Hart already sings?

Ritchie Blackmore: Yes I liked it very much. In my opinion, it is very similar to the style of Paul Rogers.

Vintage Guitar: Hence another question: Doogie White, who sang the vocals on "Stranger In Us All", sings in a very similar manner to Ronnie Dio, who was the vocalist of the first line-up of "Rainbow"...

Ritchie Blackmore: Yes, I understand the essence of the question. He can sing different kinds of music. Yes, and what's the point of having a second Ronnie Dio? Dougie told me that Ronnie Dio was a big influence on him.

Vintage Guitar: The next project where you were invited to record is "In A Metal Mood" with Pat Boon, who has always been considered a scandalous character.

Ritchie Blackmore: I have always admired Pat Boone; I listened to it in the 50s when I went to school and came home. Therefore, I took the invitation to record his new record as an honor. It's great after so many years to meet and work with a childhood idol.

And some people, you know, are always straightforward in their assessments. If someone is wearing a leather jacket and has long hair, then it is automatically classified as "bad". So it was and so it will always be. Alas...

Vintage Guitar: And so new composition Rainbow. And all the same Stratocasters and Marshalls?

Ritchie Blackmore: No. Amplifiers have been changed. Now I have German "Engl" amps. They are great. They have a wide range of "overdrives" and work great at high volumes. My experience with "Marshall" shows that these amplifiers sound great when the volume control is set to "ten". "Two" - "three" - and the sound becomes thin. And "Engl" plays well at any volume.

Vintage Guitar: The Stratocaster is your constant companion. What can you say about "Fender" models with a three-bolt neck configuration?

Ritchie Blackmore: The scarcest thing about a guitar is a good neck. Electronics, in principle, standard. My buddy goes to Fender's factory all the time, where he picks out the best necks. I assemble my guitars myself: I change necks, electronics...

Believe it or not, I don't own a single "old" Stratocaster. There are accessories, but sometimes you don’t even remember what guitar they were taken from. The necks on all guitars are glued as they tend to move out.

Vintage Guitar: Have you seen Stratocasters from the period when Fenders went back to the 4-bolt neck system?

Ritchie Blackmore: But how! I even have a named model. The tool is very interesting. First, the neck is through. For guitars "Fender" is very unusual decision. In addition, the frets are made of wide wire. Another innovation is two pickups (instead of the standard three). I never use the middle one. As mentioned at the very beginning of our conversation, I like to use different sensors. But the sound of the average infuriates me.

Vintage Guitar: So, "strats" with 5-position players don't interest you at all?

Ritchie Blackmore: How should I put it... They're harder to handle. And if perishing essentially, then on concert you only need variant "louder and quieter."

Vintage Guitar: That is neck and treble?

Ritchie Blackmore: Exactly.

Vintage Guitar: What is the main feature of the pickups on your signature instrument?

Ritchie Blackmore: They are very powerful!

Vintage Guitar: You said that you build your own Stratocasters. But it doesn't sound like you're a collector.

Ritchie Blackmore: Yes. It's strange to me that people praise the "58 Strat" ​​so much. In my opinion, there is nothing special about these guitars. It all depends primarily on the musician, and not on the instrument.

I've come across a few "Gretsch" guitars. Appearance is fantastic! And the appearance in the guitar is the first thing that catches your eye. But you will hardly find a person who would pay thousands of dollars for a brilliantly executed "strat". Unless, of course, it was released before the 65th year. It seems to me that Fender has always made good instruments.

Vintage Guitar: Another project of yours is called something like "Blackmore's Night". It's acoustic.

Ritchie Blackmore: Quite right. I have always wanted to play renaissance music. Finally, I realized my old dream. Candice Night - my wife - sang background vocals on "Stranger In Us All" and also co-wrote the songs. She likes the Renaissance just like I do. We play this music all the time at home. Somehow we were advised to release an album in this spirit. On the record, I play acoustic guitar and mandolin. Candice sings. There are a couple of guest musicians. We were satisfied with the result of the work. The album is out in Japan this week. I can even say that this is perhaps one of my favorite albums.

Vintage Guitar: What countries have you toured in support of "Stranger In Us All"? Where are you going next?

Ritchie Blackmore: We traveled all over America South America and Japan. Next month - concerts in Denmark and Poland.

In addition, tours are planned with the Blackmore's Night project program. There will be five musicians in the group, and we are going to visit all kinds unusual places, castles in Germany to achieve a specific atmosphere. But this is in the future - in two or three months. I think it will be very interesting.

It is obvious that Ritchie Blackmore is very zealous about his own music, but our conversation with the veteran of the rock scene was extremely friendly and open. And although Blackmore earned fame as a performer of "loud" music, he found the courage to expand his own musical horizons, go against public opinion and play for his own pleasure.

Article source site - guitar.ru

All white Stratocasters were subjected to alterations and modifications without fail:

• fretboard scalloped;
• the neck was glued into the soundboard;
• tremolo levers changed;
• tuning pegs were installed, first Schaller, later - Sperzel Trim-Lok locks;
• the electronics and pickups were changed, MTC - Master Tone Control was installed.

Of the standard parts, Blackmore left only a wooden deck with a neck and a tremolo. Let me remind you that since 1971, Stratocasters have been equipped with solid bridges with cast saddles instead of stamped ones (according to Richie, they give more sustain). Richie broke the standard tremolo levers with a bang, so they were replaced with reinforced ones.

Fretboard scalloping

Scalloping is the process of removing wood between the frets so that depressions (hollows) remain in between:

The procedure itself is quite simple (in the presence of straight hands or a guitar master), but scaling makes its own adjustments both to the playing technique and to the final sound:

• more accurate control strings - the pads of the fingers touch only the string, and not the fingerboard under it;
• more accurate vibrato- you can do not only classical vibrato, but deep, or what? - when the pressure of the finger on the string changes;
• when playing, a certain metallic overtone appears;
• a scalloped neck quickly becomes a little more difficult to play.

We remain unaware of the Maestro's reasons for preferring scalloped necks, but I can only assume it's force of habit; in the end - in his signature aggressive vibrato with the left hand there is a considerable influence of the scalloped neck.

On the other hand, the scalloping scheme of Blackmore's guitars differs from the common oval-symmetrical; This is the so-called progressive scaling:

A differentiated and asymmetric in depth scalloping profile is clearly visible

Historically, Richie made the first attempts to scallop the neck himself (with a meat knife), after which the knife was confiscated; his guitar technicians began to do this procedure.

What is the reason for such a progressive profile? Recalling my early attempts to analyze Blackmore's vibrato, here are some facts:

• setting the fingers of Richie's left hand - not in the middle between the frets, but closer to the fret of the note being played;
• since the amplitude of the vibrato is wide and the speed is high, then the corresponding area of ​​the fret space should be as spacious as possible, including in 3D (in depth) - this is a direct reference to point 2 of the advantages of neck scalloping above;
• in addition, in the riffs, Richie cleanly practices the so-called. "cello" vibrato with a brush just above the fret:

Pay attention to the position of the fingers relative to the fret space of the fretboard.

Summarizing the facts above - we come to the conclusion why the profile is so wedge-shaped - the beginning is removed less so as not to destroy the rigidity of the lining, towards the end more, so that a comfortable vibrato with the fingers.

Let me emphasize that the necks of not only electric guitars, but also acoustic ones (not all, but some) are scalloped - the Maestro is true to his habits.

Gluing the fretboard

The classic Stratocaster design, as invented by Leo Fender, involves attaching the neck to the deck with four bolts:

This design provides a sure grip of the neck in the socket, the sustain is quite good and the neck is securely fixed.

In 1971, Stratocasters changed to a three-bolt mount, with Micro-Tilt technology to adjust the inclination of the neck relative to the body:

Sorry for being vague, but this is a photo of Strat #1 with serial number 578265

Despite the innovative advantages of Micro-Tilt, a significant drawback of the three-bolt scheme is the unreliable fastening of the neck, due to which the neck often moves relative to the soundboard, and the sustain of this design was worse than in classical pattern on 4 bolts.

What did Richie do? Here it should be recalled that the first serious instrument of the Maestro was the semi-acoustic Gibson ES-335 - and in the "Gibsons" all the necks are glued into the soundboard, which tightly holds it and gives an endless sustain (infinite by the standards of the Strats).

…that's right, Richie glued the neck into the body. As Blackmore's guitar tech John "Dawk" Stillwell personally told me, a five-minute epoxy glue was used for this, after which the neck merged with the soundboard like a native:

By the way, this gluing in the future will come back to haunt Blackmore

Master Tone Control

In addition to soldering electronics, a small and invisible small box with four wires called MTC (Master Tone Control) was mounted in Blackmore's guitars.

I do not argue, in 1995 and more later years Richie's electric guitar sounds magical: it's the sound I'm personally aiming for - but I'm not sure if it's not influenced by the ENGL amps used during this period. It is believed that the sound of early Blackmore's guitar is quite possible to steer without any miracle boxes.

The composition of this magical ingredient in Richie's sound is a (yet) unsolved mystery, but persistent attempts to decipher the construction of the box should in any case be crowned with success. For example, competitors enlightened her in x-rays:

Collecting together all the mean mentions of MTC on the network, we have the following information about the stuffing of the box:

The MTC has 4 components and a few wires. 2 Resistors, 1 Capacitor, 1 coil, 1 capacitor.
Dawk says it has "2 circuits", though how a capacitor is a "circuit" I'm not sure. The Red/Black wires go to the capacitor ONLY and it's not connected to anything else inside. The White Wires go to the resistors and the coil and they are not connected to anything else inside either. The red/black wires replace the cap in your guitar with the same value cap in the MTC! The white wires go to the volume control and this bit only operates on reduced volume. The capacitor only comes in around mark 3 on the tone pot. That's it. It's packaged in a keyfob box filled wih resin for obvious reasons.

Free translation:

The MTC contains four components: 2 resistors, 1 capacitor, 1 inductor, 1 capacitor (?).
Dawk says there are 2 circuits in the box, but I'm not sure how a capacitor can be a circuit on its own. The red and black wires are ONLY connected to the capacitor and nothing else. The white wires go to the resistors and the coil, and are also not connected to anything else. The red and black wires are soldered instead of the stock capacitor on the guitar, and the capacitor inside the MTC has the same capacitance! Whites are connected to the volume control and this part of the MTC only starts to work in the intermediate position of the volume knob. The capacitor fires at position 3 of the tone knob. That's all. Everything is hermetically sealed in a compound for obvious reasons.

An analysis of similar solutions on the Internet allows us to say with confidence that Dawk uses the so-called Q factor in MTC, based on an LCR circuit with carefully selected component values.

These tone control technologies are quite common and are sold in do-it-yourself kits, such as Rothstein Guitars, Torres Engineering, Bill Lawrence' Q-filter (remember the last manufacturer). Dawk is also not completely devoid of a commercial vein and sells boxes to everyone who wants to touch the Cherished sound for $ 350 with delivery:

There is also an alternative solution - RBTC. If you hang out on Dawk's forum for a certain amount of time, you will notice that especially valuable sections of the forum are closed and in his posts he constantly vilifies some (sorry) “ASSHOLES”. They and their destructive activities are even devoted to a separate topic of the forum. If I'm not mistaken, the smart guys gathered information about the miracle box from the sections of the site when they were available, analyzed and created their commercial product (presumably RBTC). Of course, Dawk, who successfully traded in his boxes, did not like this at all, and he closed / deleted invaluable sections, along the way vilifying the insidious and treacherous (sorry) “ASSHOLES” in every message.

In general, their disassembly does not concern us at all, this is everyone's business - to decide which box sounds better, which technology works more authentically; you can dig yourself, as I started to do. I will throw a useful link to the online resonant frequency calculator, it may come in handy.

Now specifically about the White Stratocasters.

White Stratocaster No. 1, serial number 578265

Ritchie Blackmore's most faithful instrument, played for over 15 years. Nearly all of Rainbow's studio albums and live performances have been recorded and played on it, it has survived the Deep Purple renaissance in 1984 and the arrival of Turner in 1989 - a true Maestro's fighting instrument, after all.

Despite the 1974 release, there are certain suspicions that the real release date of the neck and soundboard is earlier: the neck, for example, may even be 1972 ... 1973. It is noted that the neck has a minimum thickness, and this is inherent in guitars of these particular years of release. But on the other hand, the 1974 sunburst Strat that Ritchie played at the Munich video concert in 1977 has a wider neck, so we can only guess at the true release dates.

But be that as it may, in 1975 ... 1976, the instrument appeared at the disposal of Blackmore, and Ritchie gradually began to master it. The initial changes were minimal, with only a scalloped and glued-in neck. Electronics and pickups remained standard, covers and handles - white:

Guitar in pristine white

Over time, improvements began to appear on the Strat in terms of electronics. If the reader remembers, then in the early Rainbow, the stage design involved using the actual Rainbow over the stage:

This design consisted of many multi-colored light bulbs, was controlled by a computer, was unreliable and terribly capricious. But the biggest drawback of the Rainbow was that all this array of lamps caused terrible radio-electric interference on the equipment and Richie's guitars in particular - the fight against the guitar "background" was Richie's headache for 10 years.

As part of the fight against noise and the search for new horizons of sound in 1977, on a tip from Dawk (YES ... I WAS A ''SCHECTER'' DEALER ...), Schecter F-500T pickups were installed on the guitar:

Unlike stock Stratocaster pickups, the Schecter's magnets were the same height and flush with the pickup surface; in addition, their increased diameter contributed to a higher "exhaust" of the sensors. The copper foil around the winding is an additional electrical shield to minimize external interference.

Ritchie's "Jibsonian" past from time to time made itself felt and this time it manifested itself in the fact that the middle pickup was dismantled and instead of it there was a proud plug, in which a dummy coil was sometimes installed to reduce the noise of the electronics (humbacking effect). Richie admitted that he never used a middle pickup, driving it flush with the pickguard.

The larger magnets also affected the frequency response of the pickup, with more punchy lows, which was what Richie liked at the time. He wanted to get rid of the typical Strat's barely perceptible bass, but at the same time retain the transparency in sound inherent in single-coil pickups.

Dawk didn't solder the Schecter pickups to full power, instead, he used only part of the coil with a loss of "exhaust". Richie compensated for it with the degree of compression in his legendary AIWA reel-to-reel tape recorder, which was used not only to create a delay effect, but also to compress the sound. Dawk connected the inner half of the bridge pickup coil to the outer half of the neck pickup to boost the bass.

In addition, the pickups were impregnated in a special compound, but not in wax, as is the case with conventional pickups - this, according to Dawk, kills the top.

In addition to the custom wiring, Dawk shielded the pickguard and cavities of the guitar with copper foil and supplied the guitar with a tuned MTC system - Master Tone Control.

Due to the fact that the pickups were black, the knobs of the knobs and the pickup switch were matched to them, and in this configuration the guitar lasted until 1986:

Pay attention to the wide pickup magnets and the dummy in the middle

Always true to his gags, Blackmore screws a button onto the headstock to attach a guitar strap. Intended, according to Richie, “conversation piece to annoy and confuse people”, in other words, for catching lulz:

In 1986, a new stage began in the fight against sound quality and noise. After testing various pickups and their combinations on a dozen test Stratocasters, Blackmore decides to get rid of the noisy Schecter in favor of Bill Lawrence L-450 (neck) + XL-450 (bridge) pickups:

The Bill Lawrence L-450 is a single-coil double-rail humbucking pickup with two coils connected in series with a total impedance of 12 kOhm. The presence of two coils gave flexible options for switching them, opened up new sound options, plus the advantage of humbuckers - minimal noise. But it's not that Ritchie really loved this configuration - the pickup was silent, but Blackmore did not like the sound of the pickup (humbuckers and single-coils are very different in sound).

Around the same time (mid-80s) Ritchie started to get into guitar MIDI systems that would expand the sound of the guitar, so all white Stratcasters were equipped with Roland GK-1 MIDI pickups, and this Strat was no exception:

Continuing the theme of minor nuances, I will draw attention to three distinctive visual facts of Stratocaster No. 1:

• transferring the attachment of the strap to the guitar from the end of the upper horn to the back side;
• greenish plastic pickguard in the early to mid 80s;
• slight scratch aka Kotska on the soundboard below the second tone knob.

These changes were the last in the life of the legendary Stratocaster, because in 1992 the irreparable happened: according to Richie, he gave the Stratocaster to a guitar luthier for another fret change. The master decided that the scalloped indentations between the frets were wear on the fretboard due to excessive playing and polished it to a smooth state, and kindly did not require an additional fee for this. Richie was, to put it mildly, furious! Deciding in hot pursuit to finish the fingerboard, which had already become much thinner after the careless trick of the master, Blackmore reached the maple base of the neck with a file:

After all these misadventures, the neck became absolutely unplayable. Due to the fact that the neck was glued into the soundboard and it was impossible to replace it, Richie, gritting his heart, was forced to write off his favorite instrument.

So sad was the fate of Blackmore's workhorse, who faithfully served the Maestro for almost 20 years.

White Stratocaster #2, serial number S778960

The second white 1977 Stratocaster was also Blackmore's second most popular instrument; after the death of the first one, Richie was forced to switch to this guitar, and since 1993 he has been constantly playing it.

Released in 1977, this guitar had all the trappings of Stratocasters of that period, these are:

• black plastic pickguard, pickup covers and potentiometer knobs, tremolo arm and pickup switch;
• serial number S778960, located on the headstock, under the word "Fender";
• cast tremolo and saddles.

Otherwise, it was a classic Stratocaster from the CBS era: in Olympic White, with an oversized knob, a “bullet” neck and a rosewood fretboard:

The guitar's electronics were, of course, subjected to changes: instead of regular pickups, Red Rhodes Velvet Hammers were installed - high-quality Fender-style wound pickups. According to the established tradition, two pickups were installed, and a demagnetized pickup was installed in the middle to create a humbucker effect - muffling unwanted "background". Of course, the guitar was also fitted with a magic MTC box (by the way, chronologically, this particular instrument was the first MTC received).

In 1981, the black plastic pickguard was replaced with white, and the guitar acquired the familiar features of Ritchie Blackmore's signature style:

Visually, the guitar differed from Strat No. 1 in narrower pickup magnets and the absence of a lulz strap button on the knob (well, the presence serial number on the fretboard):

My acquaintance with the work of Ritchie Blackmore began with the Come Hell Or High Water concert, within the framework of this tour, this guitar was the main one, and it was with Lace Sensor Gold sensors (in fact, I was striving for this configuration

It is known that two Bill Lawrence L-250 pickups were installed on this Stratocaster, which are humbuckers in the body of a standard single-coil:

Also, instead of the standard output jack, the guitar was equipped with an Alembic Stratoblaster active booster, powered by a 9-volt battery. In addition, the guitar featured an extra long tremolo arm.

By the early 1990s, pickups had been replaced on the guitar, presumably with Seymour-Duncan SSL-4T + SSL-7T (SSL-4, by the way, are installed in Blackmore's signature Strats). In this configuration, the instrument took part in the Come Hell Or High Water tour, when, on a guitar tuned in Drop D, Richie played the song The Battle Rages On.

The instrument was subsequently fitted with a Roland GK-1 MIDI pickup:

The further fate is little known, but presumably this Strat was filmed in the Ariel video: