In these photos, Bruce is seen playing the Fender Telecaster XII that he acquired from me for The Rising tour. As I recall, I received a call sometime in early to mid-2002 from Kevin Buell, who has been working hard caring for Bruce's gear for a very long time and is his trusted Tech and right-hand man. I had worked with Bruce on a few occasions previously during my Hollywood store days at Guitars R Us, and as I recall, back when he was still living in LA, he popped in and purchased a vintage Gibson J200 acoustic from me too.
When Kevin started getting things ready for their next upcoming tour, there was a need for a Fender Telecaster 12-string. I recall Kevin telling me that they had 1 and Bruce wanted a 2nd one. Those Tele 12-string guitars were produced in small quantities and oddly, when he called, I just happened to have one that I had been holding in my own collection. My guitar (now Bruce's) is a Fender Custom Shop model, made in 1995 and finished in Sunburst with a Maple neck.
I originally bought and kept this particular guitar because I liked it and felt it had a very playable neck size, solid feel and good sound and when it comes to finding a good, usable electric 12-string, the choices are often very limited. Rickenbacker 12's sound very good, but they typically have small and narrow necks and Vintage examples can be somewhat unstable for touring work. A Telecaster guitar, due to it's bridge and pickup design, has a naturally bright and jangly tone and is also a solidly built and reliable guitar, so building them as 12-string models really makes sense with all things considered. Apparently, Bruce had already figured this out and was seeking to find one when Kevin contacted me.
Since I was more or less just "collecting" this guitar, I decided to make it available to them. After thinking about it, it made more sense to see the guitar getting used instead of living in my storage warehouse, and I felt good about being able to provide Kevin and Bruce with a quick solution as those guitars were then, and still are difficult to find.

above: Bruce playing the Tele Xii and E-Street Band bassist Garry Tallent on tour in 2002

Jorge and I met quite some time ago. It must have been 1986. I was running my Vintage Store in Hollywood and I believe he popped in one afternoon to have a look around and never stopped coming back until I closed the store in 2001. We had a LOT of musician and artist friends in common and we became and stayed close friends. Over the years, he acquired many instruments from me, including an early 1970's Blonde Jazz bass that he went on to use quite a lot. Back around the time we met, Jorge was one of the original and full time members of El Rayo-X with David Lindley, along with the talented guitarist/producer and another long-time friend, Bernie Larsen, whom we both still know and love today.
Jorge has worked and traveled the world with MANY serious and talented artists that have included Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, David Lindley, Jennifer Warnes, Ry Cooder, JD Souther, Leonard Cohen and more.
Jorge is not only a highly skilled musician, he is also a very talented producer, songwriter and singer. You can hear Jorge on a favorite tune of mine that he co-wrote and performed with Jackson called "Lawless Avenues" from Jackson's fabulous 1986 "Lives In The Balance" album. He has also performed on many other well-known recordings with all of the aforementioned artists as well as many others.
In 2002, Jorge co-produced, co-wrote as well as performed on many of the tunes on the "The Wind," which was Warren Zevon's 12th and final, Grammy-Award winning (and deservedly so) album. Jorge helped bring everyone together for Warren at a dark time and he helped to keep it all together so the album could be finished. The album is a must-have. It is filled with MANY stellar and heart-felt performances by a lot of hugely-talented artists and musicians, all of whom knew and loved Warren.

below:
Jorge has recently completed a new album's worth of songs that are filled with his own meaningful words and well-performed music. The album is called "Blue Rhythm Highway" and has just been released on Jackson Browne's private "Inside Recordings" music label.

above photo credit:  GENA RAY (click to enlarge)
I love this photo. Circa 2002, Warren and Jorge working in the studio during the making of the 2-time Grammy-Award winning album, "The Wind," which received a total of 5 Grammy nominations!

above: circa 1987 performing with Ry Cooder

above: circa 2003, a reunion gig with David Lindley and El Rayo-X

   To the best of my recollection, it was 2000 or 2001. I was working in my shop and I remember receiving a call from Larry, whom I had not previously met, and he inquiring about Vintage Strats. He had apparently decided to buy a vintage Fender and was shopping around town, this is when he still lived in Los Angeles. He had heard from mutual friends that I always kept a good selection, so I invited him down to have a look and a listen. I believe it was the next day that he popped in and had also brung his trusted friend and colleague, amplifier guru Alexander (Howard) Dumble along to get his opinions.
   I recall pulling out 5 or 6 different Vintage Strats and just letting them peruse them all. After an hour or so, I remember Larry coming over to me and saying that he had narrowed it down to 3 or 4 guitars and asked if he could possibly take them home, the next step was to sample them through his own amplification systems (Larry was a known Dumble Amp user). Even though we didn't know each other, I agreed to give him the guitars that he was interested in. I had been a fan of Larry's playing and his music and I felt quite comfortable giving him the guitars, especially after meeting both he and Alexander.
   I believe it was the very next day that Larry called again to tell me they had narrowed it down and there was 1 guitar in particular, that I believe was a 1963 model, that really spoke to both of them, and later that day, Larry returned with the guitars and proceeded to purchase the one that he wanted.

Larry performing with the 1963 Strat, seen here playing with Lee Ritenour, 2 amazingly talented musicians!

Larry's body of work is very impressive, if you care to have a look,
check out his Discography Here

Here is a link to Larry's Website. Be sure to check it out, and there are lessons from the Master!

Larry performing with the 1963 Sunburst Strat that he acquired from me