kathyDi
Joined:
23 Jul 2012
Posts: 15
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 Posted: 05/12/2013 at 8:26 AM Post subject: Keith Levene's Stolen Wedge |
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I recently wrote an article on Keith, which was accompanied by a few shots of him with his TB Wedge.
http://louderthanwar.com/.....levene-and-maureen-baker/
What didn't appear in this article was a conversation we had on guitars. As you might imagine, Keith has owned or played quite a few great guitars over the years. But Keith absolutely adores TBs. Always has. He excitedly wrote about recently reaquiring a TB1000 on social media (I posted about it here as well).
Well, Keith told me he purchased a couple original TBs in the late '70s. He said he immediately recognized them to be special. He also said he had (and has) the upmost of respect for the late Mr. Bean and his approach to quality in guitar-making.. Keith started playing guitar at age 12, so by the time his eyes came across TBs, he knew the difference.
Keith used his TBs to create the incredible and unique noises which are still difficult to recreate to this day without a ton of effects (see the magnificent TB1000A featured on the Swan Lake video, and the incredible Wedge from the Poptones and Careering videos). Now that he has a TB1000 again, he plans on using it for some new music.
Well, I also love TBs and asked about that Wedge in particular as I understand they are super rare. And quite frankly, I had read and heard that Keith sold his Wedge back in the day. He explained that no, he would have never parted with his Wedge (you should have seen his face when he talked about the sheer beauty of its pearlized composition, how it used to change colors a bit as the light hit it, the sounds it was capable of producing like no other guitar, and so forth).
Keith told me his Wedge was stolen from him in New York City at about the time PiL broke up. He tried hard to get it back but couldn't. He adored that wedge and never saw it again.
Anyway, a few years back, someone emailed Keith (I believe it was a fan but don't quote me) and gave him the contact information of the person this fan believed had acquired Keith's Wedge. Not sure how many, if any, prior to this person had it before it traded hands. But the bottom line was that this person supposedly had it as of the time the fan wrote the email.
So Keith says he wrote the person and explained the situation regarding the wedge. The person writes Keith a long email back which begins with words to the effect of you're not all that, F** O**, etc. Keith stopped reading the email and erased it. And that was that.
Anyway, Keith recently has written about his Wedge (as well as TBs in general) on both Facebook and Twitter. He has given up all hope that his Wedge will ever be seen again. But I would like the world to know that if anyone hears of or learns of or knows of a person who claims to have Keith Levene's Wedge, one of only 47 or so in existence, now you now the rest of the story.
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