One of the premire musicians of the
San Francisco music scene from
1965-
1975. John Cipollina's style charachterized the individualistic
spirit of the era. His sound was
unique, to say the least. This unusual sound was achieved by the development of Cipollina's amplifier stack, and it's unique connection to his guituar.
The amp stack was made up of Standel bass amps (each Standel was equipped with two 15-inch speakers), two
Fender amps a Fender Twin Reverb with two 12-inch speakers and a Fender Dual Showman that drove six Wurlitzer horns. His guituar was wired so that the
bass pickup fed into the two Standel bass amps , and the
treble pickup fed the remainder of the stack. Cipollina used a
custom foot-switched system to select reverb, tremolo, Astro Echoplex(the unit mounted on the right of the Twin Reverb), Standel Modulux(on the left of the twin reverb) or the horns. Truck running lights indicated which effect was being used. Cipollina also employed a
Gibson Maestro Fu, Vox wah-wah and volume pedals. His amp stack is now located in the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
During his career John Cipollina played with many bands and was a founding member of Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver Messenger Service (1965-1975)
Copperhead (1971-1973)
Man (1975)
Terry & the Pirates (1973-1989)
Raven (1975-1976)
Freelight (1977-1979)
Novato Frank Band (1977-1978)
Rocky Sullivan (1978-1979)
San Francisco All Stars (1979-1984)
Thunder & Lightning/Nicksilver (1977-1989)
Dinosaurs (1982-1989)
Zero (1984-1988)
Fish & Chip (1982-1989)
Problem Child (1986-1989)
Throught his career Cipollina had the honor to play with such
Rock & Roll legends as
Jimi Hendrix, The
Greatful Dead,
Carlos Santana,
Eddie Money and Tom Fogarty. John Cipollina passed away in May of 1989 from a lifelong respiratory ailment.
sources www.johncipollina.com, the music collection of Micheal A. Smith of Portland, Oregon and www.penncen.com/quicksilver/