I just got finished watching "That Thing You Do!" on DVD again, and I swear,
I like that movie more every time I see it. Maybe I've led a sheltered life,
but I think it's got to be one of the best music movies ever made.

Anyway, what impresses me most about it is the attention to detail -- I
mean, geeky detail that most audience members would never notice or care
about. I've been reading the book "Beatles Gear" by Tony Babiuk, which has
been giving me quite an education on '60s-era instruments, and I was amazed
to see the authenticity of the gear in that movie. I never paid attention to
the instruments the first couple of times I saw it, but this time I noticed
how, as soon as the Wonders hit it big, they went out and bought Fenders and
Rickenbackers. And the Vox Continental organ used by Cap'n Geech and the
Shrimp Shack Shooters was a nice touch.

What I'm wondering, though, is what were they playing before they hit it
big? There weren't any close enough shots for me to catch a logo on the
cheap instruments they were playing during the early part of the movie, and
I don't know my guitars well enough to recognize what they were. Anybody
know? Were they equally appropriate for the time?

Robert Berry
(exceeding my Audities post quota)