Saturday 30 October 2010

More belly buttons

I’ve said it many times before, but I'll say it again, I am sooo very indecisive when it comes to deciding on the pickups I'm going to use for any particular guitar.

I don't know why that is,
I lurve P90s
or maybe I do really.

You see for me, when I'm thinking about a guitar it is all about the finish. Don't get me wrong, I have a plan initially about how I want it to sound - usually that starts and gets somewhere close to ending with a P90 - but it is the look I'm really into. The thing that defines a Jooky guitar for me.

So I get a good idea about the design of the guitar, and then I have an initial idea of the sound, the type of pickups I'll need.
And then I change my mind.

Don't get me wrong, quite often it comes back to what pickups I have available, or if I'm being specific, what I can find to buy. Sometimes, I'll buy new pickups if I can't get, say a coil-tappable reverse wound humbucker sized P90 with blue neon flashy bits or a Tele pickup for the bridge that is really going to hit the mark. But mainly that goes against the 'ethos' and I'll come across something else that makes me think 'Wow' or 'what if' and then the chaos takes over and I'll change direction.

Like on the OCD one, for instance. my initial thought was a couple of single coil Fender strat pickups with a Bareknuckle humbucker at the bridge. But then I thought at the last about the lippie pickups and then the Filtron-a-like, as they seemed to fit with the rather intensely cool finish we've gone with and then its all change; a bing and a bong.

And so I'm sitting here thinking about the second scratchplate that is coming with it. The SSS one, which I was going to put some Fender Strat pups in, basically because maybe even the 'Plan B' should be something a bit more interesting too, you know what I mean. If Geoff ends-up switching the plates and then sticking with the triple-S, I'd hate him to find it boring. I'd hate for the guitar to lose out in the personality stakes. And maybe, just maybe, I'm thinking that I might be missing a trick.

Though don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that for the first time in Jookydom it isn't actually and entirely my choice - the guitar is being made specifically, and (shock horror) to a budget, so I can't suddenly completely change tack and throw another couple of hundred quid on a set of pickups, even if I wanted to. I have to be a bit more disciplined than normal, especially as the budget is already only relevant in historic terms anyway..all the money is spent.

Hmmm...Maybe I'll have to get creative.

And I guess that is another area that is making the move to building the 'Jooky Customs' interesting to me, more problems to solve, keeps the brain ticking over whilst the fingers are burnt and covered with glue. I wonder if I'll ever do another one

2 comments:

thecurefan said...

I'm happy with 3 standard strat singles. If the need ever arose I can always change them at a later date, and send the originals 'home' to find a new place on another jooky. Besides the second plate is an added bonus as the original idea was one with HSS, so for me all is good.

Hope this hasn't put you off doing custom orders :)

The Jooky Guitar Emporium said...

No, it hasn't put me off and I'd happily do another one... I was wondering more whether anybody would want me to ;)