Pages

▼

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

"How I Came to Know Neil Young's Old Black Guitar" by Larry Cragg

Neil Young's Guitars: Old Black & Old Gold
 (Click photo to enlarge)

An interesting article on Neil Young Archives "How I Came to Know Old Black" by Larry Cragg, Neil's longtime guitar tech.

My name is Larry Cragg. I toured with Neil for 35 years, taking care of his guitars, amps and keyboards. Over the years I got to play banjo, baritone sax, keys, 12 string, pedal steel, broom and percussion, and was a photographer and actor.


It all started in 1972 when I got a phone call from Randy Smith, my partner at Prune Music in Mill Valley, California, where he worked on amps and I worked on guitars. Randy was out on the road with Neil, trying to eliminate ground loops from a wall of tweed amps (lots of them). He called because Neil couldn’t get Old Black in tune, and asked if I had any suggestions. I told him how to straighten the bent tune-o-matic bridge and adjust the intonation. Randy had been going down to Neil’s Ranch near Woodside, California to work on Neil’s amplifiers. He started taking me with him so I could work on the guitars.
Full article and lots of detailed photos on Neil Young Archives..

If you're into how Neil Young gets his sound, check these links:

  • Neil Young Interview on Guitar Equipment - Guitar Player Magazine, 3/1992


  • Interview with Neil Young - Guitar Magazine (France), 4/1992


  • Neil Young's Amps & Whizzer - Interview with Neil's Guitar Tech Larry Cragg in Guitar Player Magazine, 3/1992


  • Larry Cragg Interview - Jimmy McDonough's "Shakey" Biography excerpt


  • Larry Cragg: The Welder - Interview in ToneQuest Report Magazine


    • magnatone-amp.jpg
    Giant MagnaTone dwarfs Larry Cragg, Guitar Tech
    New York City - Dec. 16, 2008
    Photo by Paul D.
     
    at

    3 comments:

    1. Tomatron3/26/2025 07:48:00 PM

      Old Black goes to 11!

      ReplyDelete
    2. Alan3/28/2025 02:03:00 PM

      Larry Crag is a true wizard of guitars & amps, & more. To read him talking about Old Black is priceless. As soon as NY touches that guitar, it goes crazy. Thanks Larry! Your Brother Alan in Seattle

      ReplyDelete
    3. herbsworld4/04/2025 01:02:00 PM

      Sorry to interrupt.
      mobilize.us/handsoff
      Register online.
      Find your LOCAL point of protest. Show up!
      Saturday April 5, 2025

      ReplyDelete

    *CLICK ON ABOVE LINK & SCROLL DOWN TO COMMENT BOX*
    Please observe Comments Policy for Neil Young News. All commenting requires a registered ID using an OpenID or a Google Account to provide a validated signature.

    Inappropriate comments can be flagged for review by e-mailing date/time stamp and post title to: thrasher@thrasherswheat.org

    We will work to deal with such comments in a timely fashion. Failure to do so immediately, however, does not constitute endorsement.

    Comments that include personally identifiable information, harassment, threats, or other violations will be removed.

    We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of Thrasher or thrasherswheat.org . We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time.

    Thank you for your participation, cooperation, and keep on rockin'!