That Was The Year... 1961
Conservation, reverberation and annihilation
MARTIN INTRODUCES THE 00-21NY
classical style guitar. Essentially a 00-21 with the scratchplate removed so it has a spruce top, rosewood back and sides and a mahogany neck with an unadorned rosewood fingerboard. The round soundhole has a three-stripe rosette, and the bridge is also rosewood with black-and-white dot string pins. The traditionally slotted headstock features chromed tuners with white buttons. Natural finish only.
THE WORLD WILDLIFE FUND (WWF) is founded
by the world’s top conservationists as a means to organise fundraising and to heighten public awareness to conservation issues. The Xingu National Park is created in Brazil; the Antarctic Treaty System comes into force to ensure that Antarctica will be used exclusively for peaceful purposes forever; and the world’s population reaches the four billion mark.
THE ORIENTEXPRESS completes its last run
from Paris to Bucharest; Amnesty International begins operation in the UK; black and white five pound notes cease to be legal tender; and the most popular films include The Guns Of Navarone, Breakfast At Tiffany’s and West Side Story.
A HAT-TRICK FOR THE SHADOWS
as they occupy the top position in the Melody Maker Singles, EP and Albums charts in the same week! Kon-Tiki is their second number one single; Shadows To The Fore is the number one EP and The Shadows is the number one LP. Better still their first EP, The Shadows is at number two. Their covers show iconic Fender guitars, the envy of every rock band in the UK!
EPIPHONE UPGRADES ITS EA-10 DELUXE
25-watt amplifier to include reverb. Re-designated as the EA-10RV it’s a sensible addition although at the demise of the middle tone control. The Deluxe name remains on the panel of this two-channel mini-brute along with four inputs, volume 1, volume 2, bass, treble, reverb and a curious four-way rotary on-off switch that includes standby and hum reduction. Loaded with a single 15-inch speaker it’s presented in grey livery with a tan grille cloth.
WORLDWIDE TENSION INCREASES
as the Soviet Union conducts the largest ever nuclear bomb test detonating the ‘Tsar Bomba’ over the Novaya Zemlya island in the Arctic. The blast is equivalent to 50 megatons of TNT. In response President John F Kennedy advises American families to build nuclear bomb shelters. The German Democratic Republic closes its border with West Germany and installs barbed wire fences to create the Berlin Wall.
GIBSON ANNOUNCES THE GA-19RVT FALCON
15-watt combo. This single-channel amp offers two inputs, volume, tone and reverb controls plus depth and frequency for the on-board tremolo effect. It’s a powerful sound from the 12-inch Jensen C12R or Special Design speaker and includes a footswitch. Finished in tweed with a warm brown grille.