George Kooymans

George Kooymans used a black Gibson Les Paul Custom on the recording of Radar Love. This is also explained in detail in the book 'Songs, snaren & gitaren'. The guitar was bought as occasion in 1969 at Muziekhuis Servaas in Den Haag and was previously owned by Andy Tielman.

Seen here is the guitar being used - which was a 3 pickup model - playing the track in question live in 1973. The pickup covers were removed to brighten up the sound, and it's very much viewable in close in the promo they did for "She Flies on Strange Wings".

Het eerste persoonlijke contact tussen George en Henk vindt plaats in 1980 als George hem zijn splinternieuwe BC Rich Bich gitaar in handen drukt met de woorden: ‘Speel hier maar eens op’.

In the early 80's it seems George got a taste for B.C. Rich guitars, and amongst the first of these put into heavy use were a few B.C. Rich Bich models including this Brown one with DiMarzio pickups being seen here used on Rockpalast 1982 for the Moontan song "Vanilla Queen". He was seen with these a lot in the early-mid 1980's. George owned a few of these including a dark tobacco sunburst one, the black one seen here, and a natural finish one.

Here's a clip of a sync performance on Dutch TV from the 80's where we can see on of the B.C. Rich Bich guitars Kooeyman's uses the most showing that it's a 10-string model guitar. It seems this one has been around a lot and had lots of modifications and changes over it's life time. It also appears to be a favorite because it seems from 1982 onward we see George use this guitar almost exclusively and very rarely changes to anything else live.

After Cut seems George Kooeymans got into using other B.C. Rich models as well including this custom white single-humbucker Warlock with reverse headstock and custom fretboard script inlay (hard to make out) visible a handful of times in the music video for "When The Lady Smiles" from 1983.

‘Bij “Cut” heb ik veel over mijn ouwe Roland JC200 gitaarversterker gespeeld, maar ook over de Roland JC160 van Barry en heb ook een Vox AC30 en een Fender Twin Reverb gebruikt'

George started using a 3 pickup Danelectro/Coral Scorpion 12-string Guitar sometime towards the mid 1970's, It may have been under another brand name only availible outside the USA though. It's visible in the music video for "Instant Poetry" and probably used on the Switch album in 1975 as well. I have also seen Barry Hay (lead singer) use this guitar around that time as well.

This is an incredibly rare guitar and hard to find a good picture of online. What determined that this was a D3N12 scorpion is that it has no vibrato and three pickups, rather than the more common 2 pickup model hardtail, or the three pickup model with a vibrato.

Here's a picture of George with it in the 70's - http://iv1.lisimg.com/image/9693902/250full-george-kooymans.jpg

George Kooymans, known for his work with Golden Earring, played a Gibson SG Special Electric Guitar on several tracks throughout the band's career. A YouTube clip titled "George Kooymans veilt Gibson SG gitaar" shows him using this guitar, and an additional photo from the Muziekencyclopedie archive further supports its use.

Explained in the book 'Songs, snaren & gitaren'. Used for several recordings

Op ampgebied legde Kooymans lange tijd een voorkeur aan de dag voor Vox AC30's, waarvan hij een behoorlijk aantal heeft. Zijn eerste Voxen kocht Kooymans in de Amerika, toen de Golden Earring speelde in hetvoorprogramma van hard-rockgitarist Ted Nugent.

Here's George Kooeymanb's playing a Yamaha SG2000 electric guitar on their hit "Radar Love" at a show in 1977 in Zwolle, Netherlands.

Starting around 1980, George started using this Gibson Maurauder model for Drop-D songs like "Long Blonde Animal" live. This guitar was most likely bought in 1975 and first used on the To The Hilt album as it is seen in the promo video for the title track. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2ZCSxC8Qv8

On occasion George Kooeyman's used various Stratocasters, some customized, some stock, some vintage. See below for another clip with a CBS Strat. The one above is for a track called "Slow Down" using a modded stratocaster with hot-rodded pickups (Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders?).

Long Blonde Animal 1980 - CBS era Strat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pXoCzs4H4E

Single pickup Gretsch 6119 with Bigsby as seen in the "Another 45 Miles" promo from 1969.

George started using these in the 2000's. Haar or Haarguitars is a Netherlands based custom shop guitar builder. George has several of these with various spalted, quilted, or flamed tops with Orange and Black ones being those the most photographed.

George Kooymans uses the Malekko Heavy Industry B:ASSMASTER bass effects pedal, as referenced by Asshole in their publication.

‘Bij “Cut” heb ik veel over mijn ouwe Roland JC200 gitaarversterker gespeeld, maar ook over de Roland JC160 van Barry en heb ook een Vox AC30 en een Fender Twin Reverb gebruikt

Photo of a Les Paul Standard being used in the 1970's, he also still uses these live currently off/on.

Especially Build for George Kooymans. Shape: Regular Grand Auditorium Cutaway: Venetian Cutaway Top Wood (Solid): Adirondack AAA Back and side wood (solid): Javanese Rosewood

Inlays with a stork, symbol of his hometown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sLdVcECpUg

George Kooymans is associated with the Homestead Blue Pigeon guitar, a steel-string acoustic model crafted by Homestead Guitars. This guitar features a Regular OM shape with a Florentine cutaway and is made with an Adirondack AAA top and Javanese Rosewood back and sides. Notable details include an ebony fretboard and headstock, gold-plated peg head, and unique inlays such as doves on the fretboard and an abalone rosette. The headstock is adorned with a custom Homestead "K" logo in brass and abalone. Kooymans' guitar is equipped with an LR Baggs VTC pickup and lacks a pickguard, boasting a striking dark blue finish. A user-uploaded photo from Homestead Guitars serves as the source of this information.

In this pic you can spot the Coral Sitar in the hands of George

In this pic you can spot the LP in the hands of George

Cruciaal in Kooymans uitgebreide gitaararsenaal is vanzelfsprekend ook de Les Paul die hij bespeelde op de originele opnames van 'Radar Love'. De song werd door George Kooymans ingespeeld met een zwarte Gibson Les Paul Custom. Deze gitaar is niets meer en niets min-der dan een waar museumstuk. Kooymans kocht de zwarte Paul in 1969 in Den Haag hij muziek-handel Servaas. Het was een tweedehandsje, maar niet zo maar een tweedehandsje. Voordat Kooymans hem kocht was de Gibson Les Paul Custom het eigendom van AndyTielman, één van de oerrockers van de Indorock en dus van de Nederpop. De gitaar legde Kooymans kennelijk geen windeieren, want nog hetzelfde jaar kreeg hij de Zilveren Harp van Conamus voor zijn solo-werk.

‘Bij “Cut” heb ik veel over mijn ouwe Roland JC200 gitaarversterker gespeeld, maar ook over de Roland JC160 van Barry en heb ook een Vox AC30 en een Fender Twin Reverb gebruikt.

In 1979 speelde ik in Zevenhuizen op een Les Paul Junior waar ik een grote huls op had gemonteerd. Ik had op mijn gitaar een schakelaar zitten en met een stroomstoot schakelde ik een enorme vuurvlam in. De dreun was zó hard dat er een gat in het tentzeil geslagen was, de kop van de gitaar eraf lag en ik lag ernaast

You can spot the Marshall on top of all amps

In this user-uploaded photo, George Kooymans is seen with a Marshall Super Lead 1959 amplifier head in the background.

In this pic you can spot the tape echo in his rig

In this pic you can spot the Conn on top of the rig

In this pic you can spot the wireless next to the Conn tuner

In this article it is described that George uses a Catalyst Panthera

In this article you can read that George uses a Gibson Firebird for the solo on 'Latin Lightning'

In the article "Earring Gear" from the Golden-earring-museum, George Kooymans is noted for favoring a fully restored vintage Supro Dual-Tone Electric Guitar, although it is mistakenly referred to as a Gretsch. This guitar was purchased for him in 2000 by fellow guitarist Frank Carillo.