Bonsai Trees and Guitars

 Ickle B's Blog is a great addition to Liverpool Beat. Ickle B or Ken Shalliker as he is known to his enemies is one of the original players from the Merseybeat boom of the 60s featuring in that great act Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes. Ken's personal band history will be featured in an upcoming feature.

Ken runs a very successful business growing and marketing award winning Bonsai trees.

If you are interested in Bonsai trees contact Ken on KenBonsai@aol.com

In his spare time Ken is an expert luthier and many of the top musicians in Liverpool call on Ken to sort their guitars out. In this blog Ken will reveal the secrets of how the Liverpool sound evolved and the technical background to the guitars and amps.

We covered the recent exhibition held at The Beatles Story called the Mersey Sound Wave featuring a display of guitars designed by Bill Hart musician and founder of Lanky Beat. Ken Shalliker designed a unique bass guitar for the exhibition and he now recounts the fascinating story behind this fabulous original design. Click here for the first part of the story.

1. Guitars Part 1
2. Guitars Part 2
3. Guitars Part 3
4. The Forgotten Guitars and Amps
5. Pickups
6. Humming - The Noise From A Pick Up
7. Setting Up The Guitar - Part 1
8. The Piano Guitar Paul McCartney
9. FuZZy Guitar