Rob Wienbrock

John Tilley

Ralph Barenthien

Born:

1959

in Passaic , New Jersey

USA

1948

in Cottingham, Kingston upon Hull

United Kingdom

1966

in Bordesholm, Schleswig-Holstein

Germany

Family:

Yes

Married, 2 children, 4 grandchildren

Married, 3 children

First guitar/bass:

in 1974: Harmony acoustic

in 1955: Spanish acoustic

in 1978: Gretsch TK-300

First amp:

in 1976: 57' Fender Princeton

in 1961: self built valve amp

in 1978: 1950's Nordmende valve radio

First decent gear:

in 1978:

Gibson RD Standard, 1957 Fender Esquire, Ampeg V4 + Sound City cabs

in 1969:

1962 Burns Bison bass, Sound City 120 + Dandelion 4x12

in 1982:

1981 Ibanez AS-200, Fender Showman 1x15 combo

Plays today:

Several Strats & Telecasters,

Wienbrock ME-5 Combo 212

Fender Jazz Bass 5-string

Ashdown RPM1, Quad 520 Stereo Power Amp, TAS converted Neo 4x10 plus 1x15

Several 1940's/50's Gibson archtops, Fender Telecaster & Stratocaster

Wienbrock ME-5 212, Barenthien Bebopper BB7 and BB60, several Matamps

Musical influences & favourite musicians:

My influences - in the order they happened to me - were doo-wop music - especially the real street corner stuff, the Ronettes and all the girl groups of that era, the Beatles led British invasion and the millions of bands they inspired - especially all the real deal garage band's that played in garage's, basements and backyard's all over America in the 60's, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Slade, Mott the Hoople, Alice Cooper with Glenn Buxton 1971-2, Cream/ Eric Clapton, Allman Brothers, Johnny Winter, Rory Gallagher, Deep Purple/Richie Blackmore, Ted Nugent, Pink Floyd/David Gilmore, Neil Young, Eddie Van Halen, Ramones, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen... all that interdespersed with the constant barrage of country music my folks listened to throughout my life... Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Glenn Campbell, Buck Owens, Roy Clark and all the bands that played at my Uncle Jim's Town Grille Tavern followed by back-catalogue ZZ Top/Billy Gibbons, Chris Rea, Larry Carlton, Joe Bonamassa, Foo Fighters, Kings Of Leon, Coheed and Cambria, everyone I ever played with or recorded for... hard to list them all!

The Who, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorius, ...anybody who can play properly

T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush, Duke Robillard, Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, Jim Hall, John Scofield, Bill Evans, Soulive, Steely Dan, Little Feat, James Brown, Billy Gibbons, Jimmy Bryant, Axel Hagen, Lennie Tristano, Nat King Cole, Jamiroquai, Oscar Moore, O'Donel Levy, Johnny Guitar Watson, Django Reinhardt, Rene Thomas, Adrian Ingram, Shelly Manne, Headhunters, Defunkt, Sonny Rollins, Ry Cooder, Theloniuos Monk, Tower Of Power, Meshell Ndegeocello

Favourite movies:

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The Fisher King

Airplane

Das Boot (1981)

any Bond film

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

School for Scoundrels (1960)

Hates:

"Cheap stuff, anything badly made, musicians who try to be politicians - I think they should focus on one or the other."

"The systematic distruction of values by our current government, having to repeat myself to shop assistants who don't listen."

"Phone calls in general, pointless conversations, anti-social behaviour."

Jobs in life:

Prototype wiring for medical and aeronautical equipment, Radio Operator US Air Force, installer for high end Hi-Fi gear, designer for bespoke Audio Distribution products.

Started amp building in 1961, first bass amp with a pair of 807s. Founded Tilley Acoustics in 1975, making loudspeakers for PA, guitar and Hi-Fi. 1979 Broadcast Sound trainee, sound recordist 1981, Engineer 1984, Senior Engineer in 1986 building studios, sound recording facilities and edit suites. Building of control desks for the Broadcast Industrie. 2001-2006 Engineer alongside Dave Green at Matamp.

Self employed Business and Brand Consultant, in England since 2000. Worked with a number of bands, musicians, book authors, luthiers and amplifier manufacturers, doing design work, branding, strategic sales planning, photography, advertising, marketing, public relations and project management. Worked for Matamp 2004-2006. Collector and expert on vintage Gibson archtops and semis.

The musician:

Played in numerous Bar bands in the USA in the 70s and 80s, several further bands, projects and sessions in the UK 90s-00s

Although a Rock guitarist through and through, Rob played bass when he first started playing in bands.

1961-1969 The Intruders

1969-1970 The Fix (Liverpool)

1971-1972 The Real Thing Backing Band

1972-1974 Supercharge

1975-1980 A Band Called Welcome

1980-1990 The Blues Bandits

1990-today Buzzard

Played in numerous gigging bands and did several studio and session projects in Germany and England from 1980 onwards.

Does Blues, Jazz, Funk and Soul for fun.

Gear owned and played:

Guitar:

Gibson RD Standard, Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, BC Rich Mockingbird, Gordon Smith guitars, numerous Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters

Amp:

Rob has probably played every amp there ever was. Virtually any Fender amp ever made in the 50's and 60's, numerous Marshalls, Ampeg V4, Kitty Hawk, several Mesa Boogies (incl. S.O.B 100 head, Tremoverb), Ampeg Reverb Rocket, Gemini II, HH VS100, etc, etc, etc.............

Bass:

1961 Hofner Artist, 1962 Burns Bison (still got it), Fender Jazz 4-string, Fender Jazz 5-string, Aria electro-acoustic, Kay 1970's P-Bass

Amp:

Fender BXR200, Acoustic 370/371, Ashdown RPM1, Quad 520, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc........

Guitar:

Virtually hundreds of good old guitars, mainly 1920's to 2000's Gibson archtops and semis from ES-120T to Super 400CES but also Peavey T-60, 70's/80's Ibanez Semis and Jazzers + many many Fenders

Amp:

Lots of Fenders , a few70's/80's Peavey amps, Music Man, several Matamp built Barenthien Bebopper amps, a few Laneys, Mesa Boogie Mk.I, several hand built bespoke valve amps, prototypes, etc, etc, etc.....