Linc and his record Rock bass

Linc doing what he really loved best -- fishing. From the mid-70s until his passing, Linc would teach 12 hours a day, seven days a week so he could enjoy summer days on the water. Here he is on September 18, 1982, holding the largest rock bass ever caught in New Hampshire -- a record that stands to this day. In typical Linc fashion, even though he thought it was quite large, Bob Berman, his companion that day, had to really bug him to let him measure and photograph the fish before it was released. Notice also that the monogram on the right side of his jacket spells his name Link. Guess I wasn't completely wrong in Shooting Straight when I spelled it that way... (Photo by Bob Berman)

SOME ADDITIONAL PUBLICITY PHOTOS

New York Street Band/Gotham
Linc's customized Telecaster
Linc's L5

ABOVE: Linc's 1953 Fender Telecaster, now owned by Bob Maclauglin, one of Linc's last two students. Guitar cognoscenti in the crowd will notice the instrument is a bit of a "mutt". In his search to get exactly the sound he wanted from the guitar, Linc had some major modifications carried out. From the top down, it now has Grover heads, a '57 Stratocaster neck, Humbucker pick-ups and a Gibson bridge and tailpiece. (The bottom portion of the body was milled out to fit these last two things). According to what I've heard, he also had the internal wiring changed a bit, too. Linc had his bridge set abnormally high, raising the strings far off the fingerboard. This gave him his very distinctive "clean" tone (a very good example of which is his playing on "Cat's Meow"), but this also meant you had to have abnormally strong fingers to play it, especially high notes. In its original version, the Telly had the stock Fender bridge and tailpiece. In order to get the height on the strings that he wanted, Linc stuck popsicle sticks under the bridge to raise it higher!

All in all, it's a unique instrument to match Linc's unique style. The Telly is what he used during the '60s when he was with the Orchids (they originally used custom painted, lilac Jazzmasters and a Precision Bass), and it's the guitar that was used on all the recordings that are up on this site -- with the exception of "Twistin' 'Round the Table".

Besides the L5 he used on his two Muse albums, Linc also owned a Strat. I'm not sure whether he played that on the Gotham album, or this Telecaster (anyone know?).

Considering how much use this guitar got, it's in remarkable shape, and was obviously very well-cared for.

RIGHT: Thanks to Paul Sullivan for this photo. A student of Linc throughout the late '70s. (He took three lessons a week. How much did he practise?) He now lives and teaches in Brooklyn. This is the L5 mentioned in the caption above.

Before Linc, it belonged to Art Betker, although I doubt Art was the first owner of this fine instrument, judging by its age. Paul plays it every day during lessons and certainly thinks of (and misses) his old teacher every time he does.

Judging by the photo, the L5 is not the only fine guitar Paul owns.

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