Boxing has many meanings to Billy Joel. Growing up he learned to box to help him defeat bullies and it has symbolism for fighting in the music industry to become one of the world’s greatest. The pickguard is made of black phenolic. Phenolic can take seasonal changes without cracking. My Father (Dr. Phil Petillo) used phenolic when he designed the first Kramer Aluminum guitar and bass line. The black phenolic was also used so it is thick enough to inlay into for support of the rare sea shell. The boxing glove inlay is found on t shirts and Billy’s picks. Tahitian grey pearl, mother of pearl and gold pearl were used in the gloves. The knobs are made of black phenolic and turned in the lathe to make a bezel to house the antiqued pewter 25 pound weight stampings that were also engraved and made to look worn from a long workout, which goes hand and hand with training for boxing. I upgraded the pots to Emerson brand during the rewiring of the electronics and used military grade wires to make sure there are no failures. The rod cover is also made of black phenolic and has a military style font K.O. made of Tahitian grey pearl with mother of pearl periods by the letters. The other rod cover is to complement the red color of the guitar and also pay tribute to the old Adam West Batman comic book knockout punch for villains. I also did a micropolishing on the frets. The procedure involves the frets being polished from 400 grit sand paper all the way up to 10,000 grit lens paper (which polishes telescope lenses). The entire idea is to make the surface area so glass-like the metal string can resonate a clear true note with intonation clarity. I always use the example of the wine glass filled with liquid and the player rubs the rim…and the friction of that motion makes a note. You can imagine if the rim was rough, it would not be as reflective to carry the note. That is the principle with polishing the frets to so fine and flawless a gloss…the notes seem to hang in midair. Before I did all this work on Billy’s Junior I worked on the other bandmates Michael DelGuidice and Tommy Byrnes’ instruments. Back in August I met Billy and made him a quilted/pop corn maple box with an ebony bezel that housed a hand carved/engraved mother of pearl compass star in the center, and grapevine around the perimeter that symbolized his family and children. Laura Appello and Al Mott accompanied me to meeting Billy in Philly last August. A little background on Al Mott. Al is the creator and founder of Ms. Senior America Beauty Pageant and had the first recording studio in Monmouth County New Jersey. Al opened a recording studio on Doris Avenue on Rt. 35 right around the corner from my Dad (Dr. Phil Petillo). Al Mott had just come from a recording contract with 20th Century-Fox records in New York and wanted to record music of all kinds on his new label Revelation VII Records. During this time Al Mott recorded The Viscounts and Harlem Nocturne that eventually ended up No. 1 on the music charts. Al recorded Ray Dahrouge & Sam Siciliano’s song Candid Camera and handled all the recordings for The Mods, who appeared on the National Candid Camera TV Show with Allen Funt. Al continues to enrich the Jersey Shore community with his life testimony in music and entertainment. I was so humbled and honored to work with Billy and his crew. I had Laura Appello, a graduate of Rutgers Mason-Gross (Laura plays violin, viola, cello, guitar and piano), stop by to give the guitar a strum and check out the feel. I usually have Andrew Light stop by also to check it out and make sure the guitar is good to go when he plays, but he had a prior studio commitment. Andrew is a virtuoso guitarist in many styles and studied jazz guitar with 7-string legend Bucky Pizzarelli. Andrew is also an in-demand guitar teacher in the shore area. It’s always good to have other players examine the final product and get feedback since I have been overwhelmed with completing the instrument and working nights to make sure everything is good to go for tour.
Billy Joel’s Gibson Les Paul Junior Pickguard & Knob Upgrade
