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Pack Leader

by Alex
(Stafford, England)

Pack Leader

One of 70 made in the 70's by Roger Bucknall and Terry Pack in conjunction with Martin Barre of Jethro Tull. Through neck construction. Made in either walnut or Rosewood. Mine is a Rosewood model. Made with DiMarzion pickups, Gibson electrics and featuring revolutionary truss rod design. Original price in the 70's appx £700. Roger Bucknall has continued making high end guitars under the name Fylde Guitars.

ANSWER

Hi, Alex--

Nice guitar! The information you provided is about the extent of information available. The Blue Book does not list prices for these guitars, nor could I find any pricing informatiuon from other sources.

Lynne

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Pack Leader

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Nov 18, 2011
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Pack Leader
by: Anonymous

I have just purchased a Pack Leader acoustic. I am wondering if i have bought some sort of fake, as every post i read on the net refers to the rare electrics that were built in the Seventies.

It has a sticker with the model number (74CE), date and initials of the persons who 'handcrafted' it (although this is spelt handcerafted.

I am dubious about the origins of this guitar, although it sounds fantastic to me so i am not too concerned.

Can anyone please shed any light on Acoustic Pack Leaders (if they are supposed to exist)? Am i being ignornant or have i been naive in thinking i have a gem?

Thanks

Sep 29, 2011
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RE. the originators
by: terry pack

Hi,
Your information is not quite correct. I set up the Company in 1977 with Roger Bucknall and Barriemore Barlow (Jethro Tull), not Martin Barre. We gave Martin one of the first few to try out for us and to get his opinion. It was originally copied from the outline of a double cut Les Paul Special and I asked Roger to give it an arch top, like the standard but he took the design to a whole new level with an extremely bevelled wedge shape, which we were delighted with.
I still have three of them, out of the less than 70 we made.

Jun 16, 2011
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Wanted Packleader electric guitar !!!
by: Denver

Anyone have a PACKLEADER for sale or know of one please let me know. Very best to you all.
carr822@btinternet.com

Mar 04, 2011
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John Miles PL Pics
by: JC

http://stephencarson.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/h_reading.htm

These are on a site about John Miles. Some of the other links on it don't seem to lead anywhere, so it may not be accessible for long.

Cheers
JC

Feb 16, 2011
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Fylde / Pack Leader
by: JC

Thanks Pete, I must admit your version of the Fylde / Pack Leader story is pretty much the one I have believed myself for the last 30 years. I always imagined that what I had was an attempt to use the work that had gone into the Pack Leader but make it a more economically viable proposition. I also recall that before I got it, EMG pickups had been mentioned. It was just coincidence that I found the DMs shortly after and I had to do a little chisel work to fit them. I was surprised the first time I saw a PL, that it had DiMarzios fitted. Mine are really old, with 2 wires each plus screen, so coil splitting is not a non-surgical option.

I wonder what became of the other 2 dozen Fylde guitars. Nice to know that mine isn't one of those dime-a-dozen Pack Leaders though.

Because the PLs are pretty rare and special, I had considered putting together a Wikipedia page on them. I think their story is emblematic of the interest players and makers have had in striving for perfection and deserves to be more widely known than it is.

Any comments from owners or other fans?

(I was joking about the dime-a-dozen bit, so don't get precious)

Feb 12, 2011
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Fylde, not Pack Leader prototype
by: Pete

I too have a guitar which looks almost identical to those owned by Phil Truran
and JC. Mine has the Schaller pattern tailpiece as described by JC and a set of
very early EMG pickups: a humbucker in the neck and a double wound
humbucker/single coil in the bridge, with a switch to flip between the
different sets of windings.

I know the history of my guitar, and I'm confident that these are not Pack
Leader prototypes. They were made in the Fylde Instruments factory in Kirkham
between 78 and 79/80 when Fylde Instruments went bust.

There are signs that Roger Bucknell's brilliant engineering brain has been
applied to the design: set neck, mahogany rather than rosewood, conventional
truss rod and the distinctive inlay bars instead of the vine leaf are all signs
of someone trying to reduce the production costs.

When the business failed, everything of value was put into a saleable condition
and sold off in a big auction. I think this included most of the batch of Fylde
electrics. My guitar was bought at the auction by Keith Carter, the son of
Charlie Carter who used to run Sounds Acoustic in Chester Rd, Manchester. Keith
later decided he'd rather have a Telecaster, and sold the Fylde to me, this
must have been around 1981. I had it set up, a truss rod nut fitted and the
bridge repositioned to line up with the neck by a local luthier Peter Smith.

I spoke to Roger about this guitar once and he said that fewer than 30 of these
instruments were ever made, so between us we have 10% of the entire production
run!

I have photos of my guitar which I'm happy to contribute if Lynne is prepared
to give them houseroom.

Getting back onto the Pack Leader topic, I've not seem the name John Miles
mentioned yet. He's probably the most well-known Pack Leader owner but there
aren't many photographs of him with the instrument. I did find this rather
cheesy shot:

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/85217392/Redferns

If Charlie Carter lives and anyone here knows how to get in touch with him, or
you just want a chat about Fylde electrics, please drop a note to
pete.young@btinternet.com

Jan 30, 2011
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Prototype prototype
by: JC

I guess my guitar must be the prototype of the prototype. It looks very similar to the one Phil Truran has, without the coil switches. The Schaller bridge/tailpiece is a slightly different model with finetuners, identical to their current 456 model. The main difference, however, is that mine is badged Fylde instead of Pack Leader.

I worked in Blackpool as a nightclub manager from 1979 to 1982. One of our DJs told me the story of Terry, Roger and the plan to make the best electric guitar in the world. He later told me that Fylde were having a clear-out as the project had come to a premature end and asked if I would like one of the bodies - I nearly snatched his arm off. In retrospect, I guess this was the period when Roger moved from guitars to snooker cues for a few years. I was expecting a fairly basic unfinished body but, apart from pickups, electrics and a truss rod nut, I got a complete, finished instrument. Although I bought a second-hand pair of DiMarzios a few weeks later, pressure of work meant I didn't complete the electrics for a few years and have recently replaced them again with better quality components in 50's style wiring.

As a musician and as a roadie in the 70s I got to use some superb guitars but, despite the absence of the through-neck, this one beats them all. What else could I expect when my electric guitar was made by the people who make the finest acoustic guitars in the world?

Oct 07, 2010
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Rosewood Pack Leader
by: Stuart Mortimer

Hi, I have a Rosewood Pack Leader which I bought from Bobby Abbott from the Black Abbott´s. It can be seen it in action on Youtube "Russ Abbot in The Black Abbots very short clip". Bobby bought it from Roger in Blackpool new. It has had a couple of changes but one original difference between this and any others I have seen is that mine has a white edging all the way around the front of the guitar and the inlay on the head is brass.

Sep 24, 2010
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My Walnut Pack Leader
by: Lurcher

I had a Walnut PL for a while. I got it in about 1984 in Blackpool and it was just the sweetest baby I ever met. Unfortunately it was stolen about a year later.
It was unique in that it had a rectangle of marquetry behind the truss rod opening, following the leaf pattern of the fretboard markers. There is so much to appreciate in these guitars. The woods, the slightly V neck, the zero fret to mention just a few.

Sep 17, 2010
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I have the original Packleader prototype
by: Phil Truran

Hi Guys
I stumbled across this site by pure accident. I have been looking for ages to see if there are more owners.What a lucky find!Bit like the guitar really!
I came across my Packleader in a Birmingham music store, no longer there now and had no idea what it was at the time. Just loved the build quality and the way it played. Bought it on the spot and then went into see John Diggins of JD Guitars in Moseley, Birmingham. He recognised it straight away and as he'd done a lot of work on a number of these for Roger Bucknell, John was very well up on the history, needless to say. He told me that mine was the prototype with some unique differences from the production versions,( if you will excuse the use of the word)I would dearly love to show you guys what it's like but have no idea how to post pics on here. Can anyone help? Cheers.

ANSWER

Hi, Phil--

If you will Email me, I will post the pics for you.

UPDATE

Phil--

The pics are viewable at:

Pack Leader Original Prototype

Lynne

Jun 08, 2010
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Packleader Guitar
by: Paul r.

Hi everyone,
looking for a Packleader electric so please let me know if anyone has one. Condition not important as long as it plays nice.

ravenschild@live.co.uk

Many thanks,......Paul r.

Apr 25, 2010
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pack leader45ce
by: john knowles

i have just got this guitar. But would like some back ground on it. please.

Apr 14, 2010
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Never seen a rosewood model!
by: Ade Valentine

Hi,

I'm Adrian Valentine and I own no. 030 (I believe very difficult to read)which is a walnut model and looks slightly different to yours. I know of 2 guys on harmony central who have 2 other walnut models and all of ours are slightly different in finishing/pickups and jack plug set up (mine is like a strat while the other 2 are mor SG.

But all 3 are original.

Have photos if you are interested

Nov 24, 2009
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I have no.12
by: Grahame Hill

Hi,
I own serial number 12. Here is some info that Terry pack sent me.

?Re the history. It was all my idea, I wanted to bring about a new style of hand built guitar. I asked Roger to build them for me and gave him the outline of the shape, based on a Les Paul Special but asked him to carve the top like a standard. He went farther and produced a stunning carved top that was far more striking than I had asked for He also came up with the reverse truss rod idea, which was unique and so the truss rod design and the extreme carving away was Roger's design but the overall concept and shape, including inlay design, pick up choice, name was mine. The name was chosen by a bunch of students at Preston Technical College, where I was studying and they came up with my surname and Leader and designed the logo. Barry Barlow from Jethro Tull was also made an equal partner, he supplied the finance and the contacts with the recording world, including Martin Barre and John Miles. It was a 3 way venture with me being responsible for the concept and the marketing, Roger the construction and Barry the finance and contacts. I retained the trade mark and name (still do) when we decided to make no more. We only made 70 guitars because they were just too labour intensive and were not a practical proposition. Because the solid Brazilian Rosewood guitars were so heavy, we used Canadian Walnut for some but out of the 70, only about 25 were Walnut.
Hope this helps,?

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