Bank Holiday, Gone, Gone and Gone

Well, my collection of shiny new switches arrived on Saturday, and after mucho bit-champing, I finally got to try to place them lovingly under the appropriate scratchplates on Sunday evening.

Typically, it wasn't as easy as I had hoped, as all three of the ones I'd got for The Crowley One didn't quite fit in the gap, which is most annoying (obviously the one I had in first had fitted, but it was an odd old switch that I can't seem to replace like-for-like.)

Anyway, the upshot is that I need to do a bit of wood removal and wire lengthening, and that will need to be later today as tools are in the garage-without-any-light. And it is dark out as I type this. Because it is 4am.

As for the Blue Moon One, at least I'm ready to go on that, but after messing about with the Explorer for so long, I had lost my motivation, dah-link.

Then my daughter chucked up over me for good measure.

Blah.

Well, more 'blleeeuuurrggghhhh' as it happens.

Other than that, in addition to the Charvette I obtained on Friday, I also seem to have two SGs on their way from the same chap. Oh, and a Hondo spikey super-strat sort of thing with a blue crackled finish.

Not quite sure what I will do with all of them - four new projects (gulp) - but I'm sure I'll think of something. Oh, there is another Tele custom on it's way too, I'd forgotten that one. That should arrive today.

I daren't count how many bodies and necks that will make I will have  in 'stock', though off the top-of-me-head I can think of enough body & neck combos to make...
3 SGs,
3 Telecasters,
2 Les Pauls,
2 Strats,
the Epi Dot and
the Shergold..

Oh and two spiky things, and

the Nuno-esque one that is still at the guitar repair shop.

And two short scale guitars I gave my brats that were meant to be covered in Pokemon or Fireman Sam or something, but haven't quite been Jookyfied six months later.

Oh, and another two Strats behind the piano I'd forgotten about, so that is four Strats in total.

So quite a few, I guess. Getting on for twenty-lots in fact. Bugger.

I'd better get me finger out...

It might seem odd to gather parts in such numbers, but some of them will get moved on as I tend to gather-a-plenty and then realise a few months down the road that I've cherry picked and none of the others are 'quite right for what I happen to want to build. Probably daft, but it is nice to be able to have a muddle around and see what fits with what else.

So anyway, sorting The Crowley and Blue Moon Ones are top of the pile now, and then we'll just have to see what happens next. Why are things never simple?

A Kick Up The '80s

I was talking about the SG body I picked-up the other week - if you remember it was going to have a geometrically challenged finish - and still may.

Anyway, I was trying to get my head around what pickups to put in it, when I happened across a chap flogging a couple of pickups from an '80s Gibson SG. Being a geezer of little brain, "SG = SG", to me, sounded like a good idea.

Well, it turns out that the pickups in question are the HB-L ones Gibson made in conjunction with Bill Lawrence for a couple of years before moving on to the hot ceramic thingies we know and sort of love these days.

Now I've not tried them yet, clearly, but like the T-Tops I mentioned before and included in the rather wonderfilled Loveless One, they are a bit of a Marmite thing. They are either revered or reviled, though like most things scarcity seems to be increasing their reputation  nigh on twenty-odd years later. I haven't got them to hand yet, but reading around it seems that they have little circuit boards on the back ... most odd. I did find a picture, but whether mine will look the same, I'll have to let you know.

No surprise then to hear me say that I'm rather curious to discover how they sound - loud at a guess as they are rated at a whopping 13K - so it should be fun.

A Little Red Charvette

As I'm-all-a-waiting parts yet again for those I should be doing, I've been having a sneaky think about what to do with the SG body, and I am going go for the '80s thing and stick with the geo-fabric, but give it a platinum leaf top, suitably shredded I expect.

Bit of a Super Trooper One then.

I've always wondered what Angus would have looked like if AC/DC had emerged as Disco....

Speaking of the '80s, I've just picked-up a rather bright looking, pointy guitar - a Charvette - which is crying out for some diamante, I would imagine. I've never had a proper pointy guitar (as basically at the time they were everything I hated about guitars, to be quite frank), but I don't mind trying something different, and you never know it might be fun...

Shield those retinas kiddies...







UPDATE:
Well, the pickups arrived and they do indeedy look super-cool, and all very Matrix-like.
In fact this whole post looks particularly Keanu Reeves inspired in many ways.
But the pickups - they are a matched pair - a HB-L and a HB-R, known as 'The Original'.

Methinks that wee SG is going to Raawwkkk

Have a fine weekend

Switching Frustration

Well, yesterday was another day gone out of my dwindling supply on kidless moments, and it was a little frustrating to be honest.

Firstly, The Crowley One seems to have a dodgy switch. Now I've triple and quadrouply checked my soldering and for once my shaky mitts aren't to blame, and after working out how to use a multimeter for such things, it seems that the switch is itself knackered.

Really annoying.

So I've ordered a replacement and I'm now waiting for new switches for both it and The Blue Moon One.

Thumbs-are-a-twiddling as I type (which may excuse the spelling).

Other than that I have started to gold leaf The Old Burny One. This is the '80s Burny Les Paul I've been talking about for aeons but never quite gotten around to sorting out. It is lovely though, and I'm doing something. Which makes me feel better about the world.

I'm going the craqueleur route for the top to give it a crazy paved look, and then nitro lacquering it so that it will age further as time goes by.

It's what I did on the Crowley One and that looks crazy (a tee and a hee).

Other than that, I've had a rethink on the Old Burny in terms of pickups. I'm going to go with a P90 plus a PAF, as they are my two faves and it will give the most tones I can squeeze out of it. Well, the most I like anyway.

Here's a couple of fotos of the nearly done Crowley One, and a couple of the Lulu One, because I just lurrvvee her, so.

I got those, waiting-for-the-postie blues...

Here's Lulu ...

Edging Closer To A Golden Dawn

Well, what can I say...?

The Blue Moon One is still to be finished as I managed to knacker up the switch and didn't have a replacement handy. Tis on it's way now, so fingers crossed it won't take too long to arrive and be fitted.

Turning into something Homer-esque at the moment. (Simpsons or Greek, take your pick.)

On the positive side of things, I did however manage to finish The Crowley One - well, apart from the missing scratchplate, but that is an easy 'fit' once I find it. Fotos to follow once I have, but at the moment I've got a little bit on set-up to do, in between jumping in the air and hitting minor power chords.

As for the sound, well, I'm really rather impressed. Very much 'Classic' Rock, but it tones down well for a nice bluesy-ness, and can also get very hot if you so wish.

Sounds amazing with a fuzz pedal, has to be said.  Indeedy, as I said before, it is a couple of Gibson pups from a Les Paul Platinum, and with the mahogany body and neck, it really hits the mark. The neck pickup (the '57) is definitely my favourite sound - real old school - but flicking to the bridge you get more oomph. all nice and clear too, I'm rather pleased.

Be good to get it done, as it is going somewhere special methinks.

Other than that, I was having a closer look at the SG body I got the other day, and being quite a detail person, I (finally) noticed that it hasn't got a hole for either the switch or the output Jack.

It did have, but they have been filled in.

Now, OK, maybe I'm missing something, but two volume, two tone, two pickups - at a stretch you could have both on all the time and choose between them by turning the individual pickup volumes up or down, though mid-song would be interesting, but no output jack would slow things down, wouldn't it?

Maybe I am missing something.
What do I know anyway?

Right, Crowley, action, intonation, check. Better get going...

p.s. Just found my lovely platinum leaf covered scratchplate under a pile of poetry books. Can you imagine? Fotos later then when it is all assembled proper-good-like...

WIP - The Crowley One

Well, D Day-5 and counting, so it was nice to take a leap forward on the The Crowley One today, which entailed a bit of finishing around the edges, sorting the neck out and connecting it and finding all the parts.

Well, apart from the scratchplate which seems to have disappeared somehow, so I'll have another search for that. It has come on a wee bit more since the fotos- the headstock and tuners are now as they should be and bits like strap pins, which I normally forget until the last minute are in place, as are the pickups, with real screws and everything. In fact I should probably have taken another foto, but didn't, so there we are.. Tomorrow
 is officially National Solder Day (in Jookyland anyway) so we should all be wired up and getting close to the finishing line. Which is handy, especially if I get the Blue Moon One done as well, of course.

Obviously, my football predictions were like the rest of my life and half-right or half-wrong, depending on your perspective on such things, so it is a sad farewell to Blackpool, and a rather amused 'terrah a bit' to the blue noses, though their usual delusions of grandeur will undoubtedly be seeing it as a step toward a regular European place and another trophy. Bit of a double for the porn twins and the delightful Mrs. Pesky though, bless their claret and blue cotton socks. Takes a special kind of owner to get two clubs relegated in the same season (OK, not technically true, but ownership has a 'long tail' and it takes a while to unpick, as it were.)

Anyway, I was happy Wigan survived, and in a way chuffed the Wulfes did too, as they might be our secret eight-fingered-cousins that we prefer locked and hidden in a tower somewhere, but even so, it doesn't seem right without a derby day, does it?

Monday, Monday, la la la la la laaaaaa

Squeaky Guitar Sunday - A Betting Tip You Should Trust

Well, the lovely old mahogany SG body washed up on the shores of Jookyland yesterday, along with a matching neck (which I probably won't pair with it, as it happens, as I have something else in mind) - which is all to the good.

I seem to have a bit of a stockpile again at the moment, of bodies and necks anyway, if not quite so many pickups, I can entertain myself by playing mix and match, sadly, but it can go on for hours.

The SG body though, I'm aiming to fix it up with a lovely wee Stratish neck I got a while back that I have been itching to use on something other than a Strat.

As for the finish, well I lurrvveed The Loveless One with it's spangly, sparkly golden variegated finish, but repetition is bad for the soul, so a clone of that clearly isn't a runner.

As the foto shows, I have got some extremely seventies purple patterned fabric, which could go well, so maybe that could be it. We'll have to see though.

Other than that, not a lot happens at a weekend around here...and more to the point it is nice to watch the final day relegation day battle thing without a pulsating knot of primal fear bouncing around my guts.

Blackburn, Blackpool, Wolves, Wigan, Blues - perm any two from five.

Obviously, I don't really care, but I would smile if one of either the Wolves or Blues go down, both better obviously. Nothing better than watching a Blue-nose cry.

In fact my order of preference is Blues, Wolves, Blackburn, with Blackpool and Wigan equal as I like them both. Maybe Blackpool are the one I'd like to stay up most, as they have the least money and will have had to beat Kent United at their place to do it. Which would be good in a biggish way.

So that has basically doomed Blackpool and Wigan - I'd get your bets on now...

#superinjunctions ? I've had a few, but then again...too few etc.

I must admit that I'm pleased to announce that I am not at all interested in #superinjunctions, I don't use Twitter and I don't even know who Imogen Thomas is/was/wanted to be in the first place.

This site is limited to guitars and football (here and there) and West Brom playing the Geordies tomorrow is far more interesting to me.

Though whether Fergie plays his first eleven against Blackpool on Sunday does interest me, I have to admit.

I would love Blackpool to stay up, so if he decided not to play Player A on the left wing, Player B at Centre forward, and Players C, D, and E across the middle it would suit me down to the ground. Especially if it meant that Wolves and the Blue-noses both go down.

Actually, somebody just told me that this Imogen wench is a singer and is putting a band together and will be doing gigs in Manchester.

I'm guessing that is a joke, but I don't understand why it is funny.

But this is Jookyland - so what's the plan?

Well, not a lot happened yesterday in the end - long story of longer lost relatives - but there we are. I am somewhat inspired now to get on with things as it is the last week before the school holidays and history tells us that such times tend to bring the urgency out in me, after all.

So the plan - well, The Blue Moon One, which is the very definition of 'easy win', and I'm going to get a new soldering iron today, methinks, so in terms of things to do - that has to be numero ein.

After that, I'm going to cane The Crowley One, as that seems to be dry now and I am loving the rather aged stone cracking-all-over look of the finish. Plus think I have all the parts, which is always a bonus. It would be a good one to get done, methinks, though where I get a tweedy case for an Explorer, I really don't know (All suggestions on a postcard).

I decided on black hardware for that one for some reason - probably aesthetic - though can't remember if I got any tuners or not, I'll have to see. The neck is done anyway, though I might need to try and do a bit more on the headstock as it looks a wee bit bland. Burning logos into a dark background means they don't stand out so well, so I might have a go at filling the words with a bit of 'leaf'. Not sure how that will work, but worth a try.

If I get those two sorted, I'll be doing well, but I'm also at least going to have a pop at The Old Burny One. I have all the parts for this, so it is a finishing thing - aged gold. Whether that would dry by the end of the week, I'm not sure but it has more chance if I start it, of course.

Anyway, usual end-of-week vague promises of action sometime in the near future. Time will tell.

In other news, you may have noticed that The Golden Shower One is no longer for sale. A rather insight-filled friend of mine pointed out that I didn't want to sell it in the first place and he was quite right. So I'm going to keep it, for now at least.

I know it breaks 'The Rule' so I'm sure it won't be a permanent state of being, but there we are. Just don't tell anybody, I might have to sue you to suppress something that didn't really matter in the first place. And how silly would that be?

My first Jooky guitar, how cool is that?

1980s Burny Gold Top - Want

I just saw this on MR - a rather beautifully aged Burny Gold Top from the 1980s. Now, this is most definitely my kind of thing - it is gold, it has P90s and the finish is cracked, crazed and well worn.

In fact, I would rather like it muchly indeed.

Now, being brassic, I'm not going to be able to have one imported from Japan, which is just life like, but I do happen to have a rather stripped down 1980s Burny lay about the place, and was planning on giving it a (real) golden top, and then making it look all cracked and crazed.

Some coincidence, I know, but there we are.

Now, I've not got around to it - and the pickups are Bare Knuckle Mules, of course, though they have cream covers...but maybe, just maybe this is the kick from behind I've needed to get going...

Could this indeedy be the day that I start it?

Who can say, it is Friday and nothing of worth ever happens on a Friday - a universal truth. Even The Good Friday Agreement took until the following Wednesday to be wrapped up. And well, Good Friday itself - when you think about it - wasn't that 'good' for the chap nailed to a cross, now was it?

(I might have my history wrong somewhere - though no doubt this post will be referenced by some eedgit via Wikipedia and my ignorance will in time become a universal truth/received wisdom/the facts of life. So you may laugh today, but tomorrow, well, Uncle Orwell is coming to get you...)

But there we go, I really want a golden topped Burny with cracks on it.

Cool.

Maybe I should finish the others first though?

Rolling Along

Well, rather typically my soldering iron went up in smoke - third time this year - and so I've not got around to finding a replacement or doing The Blue Moon One. Slack, I know.

Anyway, instead, I've given The Crowley One a couple more coats of lacquer and played lots of twangy things on The Lulu One. Which remains lovely. So all in all quite a lazy day.

I almost  bought a Gibson SG, but it wasn't meant to be - though I did get hold of an SG neck and body combo which I'll be Jookifying in the near future I expect, so all is well in the SG direction.

I'm at that point again where I have lots of ideas, but am missing key parts for the ones I want to get on with now. For instance, I am still short of a neck for The One One, missing out on at least four occasions on Ebay, and the design for the body I'm still not 100% about. It is going to be leaf over fabric as with the Lulu One, but which leaf and which fabric...I can't quite decide. We will see though and at least I've got pickups for once.

One I am ready to 'do' is The Burny One as I have all of the parts (actually still need a bridge but that is easy) and also know exactly how I'm going to do it.

But nagging at the edges of my brain, there is something holding me back (as with the Crowley One before) and I'm not sure what it is - though am begininning to trust the feeling. It may just be it has taken too long and I've lost the interest/impetus/excitement, or it could be that there is a better idea bubbling under somehere. Or perhaps I've just got bored. I don't know.

Anyway, better get a soldering iron, that'd be a start wouldn't it?

Oh and if anybody wants to swap something Jooky for something SG-like, give me a shout...

Part-Exing In The UK

Still a plonked artistic impresh, but later today...

Well, times are hard for everyone at the moment, and I know I've mentioned it before, but generally I'm quite happy to take a part-ex on any of the Jooky guitars - especially if it is for something interesting.

Anyway, as I said, I've mentioned such things before and have long promised a list of things I'd be interested in - which has been added as a page on the menu bar thingie at the top, with dramatic insight, called 'Part exs'. There is a clue there.

Just thought I'd point it out.

As for today, well, I thnk it is about time I sorted my little blue beauty out, The Blue Moon One. It is shifting daggers in my direction right now, the minx.

Hopefully fotos to follow of it all cheery and light later on. Or maybe tomorrow, we'll see.

Incoming: A Shergold Nu Meteor - There aren't a lot about

 Well, OK - I never got to finish The Blue Moon One again yesterday, as basically real life intervened once more, but I did take delivery of the rather cute Shergold Nu Meteor I mentioned last week.

This was part of the 'deal' for The Pink Panther One and I must admit I'm chuffed it went that way.

But the guitar; Well, Shergold were a British guitar maker - with links to Burns - and the Nu Meteor was an upgraded version of 'The Meteor'.

Not an enormous success it has to be said and was only made between 1979 and 1981 according to the Shergold site, with only 40 guitars ever being made, with a list price in 1980 of £234.86.

OK, 40 guitars doesn't sound a lot, but around here feels something like mass-production.

As for my one - well, originally the Nu Meteor was a three single coil jobby, which was a new departure for Shergold, but my one has been converted to dual humbucker and has a home-made scratchplate.

It surprised me (reading about it) that the Schaller tuners are likely to be originals, but I know the previous 'keeper' put a new bridge on this one, so all in all, not an artifact.

In terms of build - well, the body is a lot better looking than I expected, given the luke warmth of the response when this came out.

It has a kind of faux neck-thru look to it, and looking under the hood, the body is actually built that way, but the neck is bolt-on so I'm guessing it was 'design' rather than something practical.

The body itself is meant to be made of 'obeche, maple and mahogany' apparently, with the neck being maple and the fretboard rosewood. The pickups it comes with are DiMarzios, though originally it would have had Kent Armstrong single coils.

There are some lovely touches to the guitar. I love the screwed on metal plate with the serial number and the headstock is beautiful - always loved them, and lets face it on such scarce guitars having the name of the model on the truss rod cover is always helpful.

Sound-wise, it is surprisingly mellow. The guitar is quite small - it apparently has a three quarter sized neck, though scale length is 24.75 - but the action is low and it really plays nicely.

The pickups surprised me as I was expecting something ludicrously high gain, but they are actually quite mellow (or can be) and tone-filled. It is a very easy guitar to play, if that makes sense, you just pick it up and lose half an hour without noticing.

But what to do with it?
Well, in truth I'm in two minds. I guess I should sort out the scratchplate, you can see the original outline on the body by the amount of fading around the scratchplates shape, but whether I should put it back to it's original state and go for three single coils or just put some screw holes in the existing one so that it is no longer held on by the strings, I don't know.

As for the finish, well I must admit I really rather like it as it is, it has aged nicely over the last thirty years and to be honest nothing immediately springs to mind - which is unusual as the first thing I usually think when I get a guitar is that it would look lovely in purple paisley with a matching scratchplate.

So we will have to see. I have invested a fiver in some New-Old-Stock Shergold knobs from Ebay, and have stripped it down and given the fretboard some lemon oil and the body/neck a good clean and polish.

The Shergold web site is well worth a look, by the way, if you are vaguely interested in old guitars. And if this example is anything to go by, if you come across one cheap somewhere - and looking on Ebay the more expensive models only go for a couple of hundred quid - it might be worth a punt.


The Shergold web site is HERE... and I'd like to thank them for all the background info...

Repair and Refinish - 3 Steps To Heaven

Step 1: FInd a Guitar with a Bosted Neck

Well, I'm pleased to say that after 48 hours (I forgot to do it earlier) I removed the clamps from the Bosted Epi One and sure enough the neck was back in one piece.

I've since strung it up, set the action and intonation and done all those other tweaks we so love.

And yep, it plays perfectly, and the neck feels as solid as a rock.

Step 2: Glue and hold it tightly

(I did cringe a wee bit as I tightened the strings, half expecting the neck to fly off and brain me, but nope. Titebond Original is verily tightly bonded indeed.)

As you can see in the second foto, there is a noticeable mark where the break is, so in true Jooky style I thought I'd attempt meself a bit of a professional looking refinish, so you can never tell that it was broken in the first place. You know the type of thing I mean, like invisible mending...

Step 3: Invisibly Mend It

OK, I could probably have run a little bit of paint or used a felt pen or something, but this seemed more appropriate until I decide to do something else.

In summary, well chuffed.

Hit Me Baby

OK, I know I've got all sorts of things on the go at the moment, but one that is nagging around the edges is The Backporch Voodoo One... If you vaguely remember, this is going to have a unique Wizard Novatron pickup - which is basically a low powered humbucker that is voiced to sound like a resonator - which is a neat trick, lets face it.

I haven't 'done' a single pickup Strat for a while, but I think this is the kiddy, so there we are.

Anywaysup, I have the Strat body and neck, and in terms of the finish I've been playing around with iron paint and basically trying my best to rust it. That part isn't too difficult, unlike finding a way to make sure that it stays looking cool and basically doesn't end-up spread across your Iron Maiden T Shirt when you are playing it.

But, I've got a couple of things to try that I'm hoping will do the job so hopingly I've nearly cracked that one now, so with a bit of luck it should be on the cards in the near future.

What I haven't done yet, of course is get the pickup, but I think the time is about right so I'm planning on ordering it next week (as lets face it, the chance of me finding one second-hand are slightly remote.)

In terms of the look though, I want to take it a bit further than I talked about before. So even more Jooky than normal.

What I'm thinking is that it would be cool to maybe use beer or whiskey bottle tops for the knobs, maybe cut a scratchplate out of something like a road sign or car number plate or, well, whatever.

I'm thinking trailer trash chic, so maybe it should be The Britney One instead. Hmmm...

Is that cruel?
I don't know.

Friday Night is for Writing

Well, Friday night again, and not a bad week all in all - I'm feeling a bit chipper about having (finally, finally finileatementy) finished The gorgeous Lulu One - and I figured it would be nice to have one final flourish and maybe finish something else before the weekend brought the usual Bratski noise.

And so the plan today was to sort out The Blue Moon One, as man with the Pink Panther gone, I needed a bit of offset back in my life.

I was also going bullet-biting and gluing the Bosted Epi's neck.

What was there to lose?


But The Blue Moon One. To recap, the finish is done, everything is bolted together and all that is left is for me to wire in the delight-filled pleasure zones that are the Kent Armstrong Hot Lipstick pickups. If I could at least manage that much soldering I'd be prettily chuffed, methinks.

Other than that, The Crowley One got a couple more coats of lacquer, and now it will just be drying time as far as the body goes, and a bit of sanding - to rough it up rather than smooth it, obviously.

I'm also secretly pacing the ward floor awaiting for a new delivery, as there is a DHL stork out there somewhere with my latest child in the back - the Burns-a-like thingie who's name escapes me right now. What is it called, I really can't remember as I'm typing this away from my enhanced memory (my email and internet connected computer). I'm thinking it begins with a 'M', but I could be wrong.

Oh, Shergold - that were it.

Still, that'll be nice, haven't played one before and I've been practising all those lovely guitar parts I can half play from Saint Julian and Peggy Suicide (About 3 minutes worth in total).

Other than the art,  man, I've been thinking about the commerce, and I'm coming around to the idea that I should have a kind of swap shop approach to flogging the guitars.

Instead of just listing prices, maybe I should have a bit of a wish list of things I'd trade them or part-ex them for. I mean, OK getting parts costs money, but maybe if you wanted the Lulu One and had a set of interesting pickups I'd like to try, or a nice Wamouth neck etc. Well, it makes it easier doesn't it? Nobody has got loads of money at the moment and trading is fun after all.

I'll have to think about that a bit.

And as it happens the Busted Dot got it's neck glued in the end, which is cool - least I hope it is. I'll find out tomorrow night for sure when it has all set good and proper-like.

But The Blue Moon One, I really do need to play those pups.. So come Monday...

Fleeing The Coup

Ah, it's always a sad day when one of my Jooky babies leaves home...but as you can see The Pink Panther One is wrapped up warm in it's nice new case, clutching a flask of soup for the journey and venturing on toward it's new life...

Always brings a tear to me old eye.

Other than that, obviously I haven't started on the Busted Epi yet as I've been far too busy tweaking the Lulu One.

Lovely, lovely, lovely she is too.

Sad days, indeed.

Introducing: The Lulu One

Well, I'm pleased to be finally able to introduce you to The Lulu One, finished, playing like strawberries and clotted cream and sounding awesome.

For those of you that have followed the saga, this has being going to have many forms since I picked up the Pine Tele body all that time ago, but it really was worth the wait, even if there was a last minute twist, just to keep it interesting.

From the top it is a Tele, Pine bodied, maple necked. Wilkinson split Kluson tuners - which I love. A proper old school Tele Ash tray bridge complete with a proper Ash tray cover.

Speaking of hanging around  at the bridge, there is a quite exceptionally cool sounding Bare Knuckle Brown Sugar pickup nestling beneath the chrome.

Oh, and it was always going to be an Esquire so it has an Esquire plain black scratchplate.


As for the finish, well I've talked about it plenty, but the body was covered in a lush gold and green paisley. This is on the sides and back and really is one of the nicest I've used so far. As for the top, well the paisley there has been covered with copper leaf, which in turn has been attacked with various acids and the copper has been eaten away in parts and generally tortured so that the paisley is exposed and is coquettishly peeking thru. There are also some lovely blue traces of copper sulphate (I believe, and if my recollections of chemistry sets in the late '70s is any way a guide) which set the damage off proper-like.

This mixture of fabric and corroded metal leaf is a first for me in so many ways, and it is something I'll be revisiting in the near future as it is very effective.

As for the sounds - I was really looking forward to having a play with the different variations of the Esquire wiring - over the years there have been many kinds of 'mods' to get more from a single pickup - but in the end was a bit frustrated by it as basically it didn't seem to add a great deal to get excited about.

I know, you wait for ever and then your Xmas pressies are shonky. But instead of moping I decided to get stealthy and hide a lovely P90 soapbar, out of a PRS SE One beneath the scratchplate.

Now, I didn't really know what this would sound like - I'd asked around and the general feeling was that it would be too far from the strings to work proper-like, so in truth I was expecting to be trying a variety of higher powered 'buckers and the like until something cut thru nicely, but lowly and beholden, I'm really rather chuffed to say that it sounds great.

Better still the middle position gives a phasey/half-cocked-wah type of sound which is just gah. (Which was the only Esquire 'mod' that had impressed me, as it happens.)

So there we are. I need to get it set-up proper-like as the action is a touch low, but it plays great, sounds brilliant and just looks the pooch's peanuts.

Lulu, we love you, and like the best of divas, you were well worth the wait.

For the record then:

Pine Body
Maple Neck
Wilkinson 'Split Kluson' tuners
Wilkinson "Ash Tray" Tele Bridge with Compensated Brass Saddles
Bare Knuckle  'Brown Sugar' Bridge Pickup
PRS SE One P90 Soapbar, Stealthily Hidden Neck Pickup
Esquire Pickguard
Paisley Finish
Corroded Copper Leaf Top

Makes Me Want To Shout

Well, there will be fotos and blurb tomorrow, and a formal introduction no doubt, but I'm really chuffed to have finitoed The Lulu One today, and in so many ways it is a real leap forward.

The 'mixed media' approach of the corroded leaf on top of the fabric finish looks far better than I hoped (to my eyes anyway) and all together it feels like a proper old guitar. Not in a foney relic way, just the choice of old school Tele parts - the bridge and maple neck.

I changed direction slightly in the end as far as the 'sounds' go, which was one of those inspirational things that actually come off in a really cool way and I have to say I can't keep my hands off the old girl.

It makes me want to shout, what more can I say?

As for non-Tele bobbins, well other than starting the Nitro spraying of The Crowley One, Lulu took over, but was worth the time spent.

Tomorrow though, I'm going to have a change of direction and have a go at gluing the neck on the Busted Epi. I've had a few practises sans glue, and everything seems to go into place quite nicely so it is loin-girding time and with a dollop of good fortune, hopefully it will be a painless experience.

Well, fingers-crossed.

As to what happens to it, assuming the neck ends-up straight, I can't really allow myself to think about it too much in case I jinx things, but I am half-tempted to do something splodgy with paint, a la Stone Roses, but then that's been done too many times before. Or I could be radical and keep it stock and just play it, that would make a change.

Heh ho for the open road...

Double Vegetation

Just needing Wire & Strings....Lulu Baby

Well, things have started well this week for once, apart from the broken Lulu neck of course. Luckily, a replacement had appeared from the keeper of the Post Office flame only minutes before, so a ready alternative/life-saver was to hand.

It proved to be inspiring anyway, as feeling a bit miffed about the whole episode I put the guitar together with the exception of soldering the pickup and output jack thing in. It looks wicked, I'm pleased to say and the new neck feels all dreamy. So maybe 'It was meant to be' as me gran used to say.

That was yesterday anyway, and today, hopefully I will finally wire up The Blue Moon One and The Lulu One too, so there we are.

As for the Crowley One, well that is drying and will then be fine sanded (I don't actually know if that is what you call it, but it sounds like I do so we'll keep it) and then given a good dose of protective lacquer. I'm going to use nitro on this as I want it to age nicely, being as it has had such a good start.

Other than that, the search is back on for a neck for The One One, as I have everything else I need (not sure on the finish yet, but will be soonish, I expect.) but not a 22 fret maple neck after the one I ordered turned out to be a fret short of a solution.

Oh one thing as far as The Pink Panther One's departure went, I got a part-ex which is a 1978-1980 Shergold Neomarauder (or something). This is a lovely old British guitar, and only 40 of them were made, so that is going to be cool. It has already been modded, so there is no instrinsic historical value to consider, so it should be fun, fun, fun.

Julian Cope plays Shergolds, which is cool. I like Julian Cope...



Anyway, the day is young and I'd better get me iron hot and pokey.

Lulu With a Broken Neck

Enhanced Cornering Ability

Hmm, this isn't meant to be a twitter account, but breaking news in Jookidom is that I managed to trip over.

Not an amazing insight into my life, it has to be said.

And the fact I was carrying a guitar neck at the time, well that  too isn't unusual.

However, I landed (guitar) neck first onto the stairs somehow and then amazingly didn't get impaled on that lovely piece of maple when the headstock broke off - the headstock connected to the neck that I was about to put onto The Lulu One.

I guess blood would have been impressive as a finish, but somehow I don't see me fixing this headstock back on somehow...even when my tube of Titebond arrives

Anyway, it would make more sense to bleed over the Crowley One really, I guess.

Ho hum

WIP: The Crowley One

Well, this has got to have taken longer than any of our guitars to get this far, but I'm finally getting pleased with the finish on our lovely dark satanic Explorer-type-of-thing, The Crowley One.

As you can see, me and the boy have applied the variegated finish, and then using all sorts of weird and wonderfilled gubbins, artificially aged it even more - for a sepia tint - and then cracked the lacquer.



Don't get me wrong it isn't a swimming-pool-tile kind of 'crazing' but it looks like weathered stone, which is quite lovely, and will apparently continue to age for a while yet to come. It still needs a final lacquer as it is all quite delicate right now, but it looks excellent. I'm well pleased we spent the time.

As far as the rest of the guitar goes, I've got the pickups wired up (a first) and I'm thinking I will put some platinum leaf on the scratchplate to match the pickup covers. I think it needs black hardware though, I'll have to see what I can do. Gold would just be too blingy and chrome or nickel wouldn't really match, I don't think.

The One One: An Anniversary Waltz

Well, I keep mentioning The One One, so it is about time I got my act together and spilled the beans.

The first Jooky guitar - was it only a year ago?
Well, err, no actually.

For those of you that missed it, I had the idea that it was about time that The Jooky Guitar Emporium moved into the realms of signature guitars. You know, where companies get famous endorsees to work closely with the guitar maker, maybe even pick their favourite colour, and then coin it large as all the suckers fans queue up to play 'exactly' the same guitar as their idol.

The flaw in the thinking is that of course it is unlikely that the 'idol' was playing the signature guitar before they became famous enough to warrant one and were in fact playing something more 'stock - were no doubt playing a guitar which you could buy a lot cheaper with the added benefit of not looking like some saddo fanboy, but we can gloss over that train of thought.

So anyway, I thought we should do one too, despite the fact that we only ever make one-off guitars, and we would never actually want to/be in a position to sell lots of chinese fake copies of it, but there we are, who really cares. It's the thought that counts.

So I had a think about  it and was planning to run a competition to find the person who would get the signature guitar - The One One. But then I thought, well, there are actually quite a few people who have followed what we are doing in Jookyland and generally laughed with me instead of at me, and I figured that I'd much rather it was somebody like that who got the guitar. Somebody that would actually get the point, rather than just hope for a freebie that they could bang on Ebay.

Now there are more candidates than you'd imagine - I get lots of people chatting on Facebook and by email, but really I wanted somebody who is likely to 'gig' the guitar and basically flash it around a bit. More because I like the idea of the guitars being used than because I'm looking for the publicity and all that.

So, I'm really pleased to say that I've got a willing victim, and in a way it is nice as it is Andy the chap who was meant to be having the ill-fated Jazzmaster/Firebird hybrid at the end of last year, before it all went to pot and we gave up on the idea of doing 'Customs'. That feels good in lots of ways, but there we are. He's a good geezer too, which makes life simpler.

As for the guitar, well for a start it isn't going to be a re-run of the previous project, that would be pointless. Instead it is going to be something 'from scratch', which I think is the right way to go.

Thinking about the guitar then, I want it to really show where Jooky is now and in a way the 'one' in the middle of the name is as much about this being somewhere near the anniversary of our first guitar (and yes that probably means there will be 'The Two One' appearing in 2012. Actually can I say 2012 these days or has it been trademarked by the Olympic bods?).

But the guitar - I want it to be about what we are doing in the here and now, and so I'm thinking that it will be a combined fabric and leaf, of some kind, finish. I want it to have a good choice of sounds - maybe mix P90s and humbuckers, and generally I want it to be sharp. The neck, I know Andy likes maple and 22 frets so that is what we'll look for, and generally that is that.

In terms of the parts, I'm a-hunter-gathering as usual, but the Tele Custom body I mentioned the other day is ideal (not least as I hope it won't need routing) and I'm expecting a neck that was meant for a different project that seems to fit the bill. Assuming they all fit together proper-like, which isn't always the case.

So there we are...should be fun, and I'll no doubt keep you in the loop, track our progress and generally talk you thru it, as we go.

And yes, I know the first anniversary of one of our guitars being built was in February, but down here in Somerset, well things can take a bit of time...

Like A Famous Violin Maker I Can't Spell

Well, another day of not a lot happening. I did get some clamps so that I can have a go at fixing the Epi Dot's busted neck, but despite visiting a dozen shops, ginormous big and back-street-svelte, I couldn't find any 'Titebond Original Wood Glue' for love, money or future promises of delightfilled behaviour.

Elusive? Moi??

I could have bought a different type, but I'm guessing this stuff comes highly recommended for a goodly reason, and for the sake of a couple of days when I probably wouldn't get around to doing much anyway,  I just got some off Ebay instead which will arrive next week sometime I expect.

In summary then, The Busted Dot One: I haven't started yet.

Moving on, the top and sides of The Crowley One are covered in beautifully Jooky molten iron leaf, which is good, but I managed to scratch it before we'd got as far as the lacquer, which isn't so much of a nice-to-have.

I know you probably think such trifles don't matter to me - but the roughfinishedness of the Jookified guitars is generally planned with a pinch of randomness sprinkled lightly on top. Anyway, if it had looked good, I'd be leaving it, but in this case it didn't so I'm going to re-start the top later on.

See - Stradivarius had a skip outside his gaff, filled to the brim with Violins he'd Townsended because they weren't as proper good as he hoped. That's why the good 'uns were so good.

Obviously, I'd have been going thru the skip, gluing them together and covering them in crushed velvet and ostrich feathers, but there we are. Point made..

Other than that, I've been thinking about The One One - my idea for a one-off signature guitar, and have chosen/selected/picked/spoken to a willing victim.

All will be revealed soon enough, and I am gathering the parts for that one in the soonerest as I would like it not to be one that lingers, for once.

*Sigh*

Going to have to get my act together. I promised sooo many things, and delivered sooo very  little this week..

Now there's an Epitaph
or maybe a flashback
to a school
report.

Broken Neck? I ask yer...

Well, after handing over design responsibilities to my art director (he is the grand old age of 8 going on Picasso), we, err, he has decided that The Crowley One would look better completely covered in our molten iron leaf, and he is probably right.

Action a bit high? Wonder why that is...?

So that is what we have started to do, and stunning it looks already - I'll put some fotos up later on.

In addition to this, we are going to complete the effect with a cracked lacquer finish, which is a first and one I've been wanting to try for ages but never gotten around to.

OK, he has got more bottle than I have, and doesn't accept excuses.
I have no cojones, it is true.

All in all, it is proving to be quite a stunning guitar - whether I will be able to get the thing out of his grasp once it is finished, who can say, but then I probably shouldn't try should I?

Today though has seen a bit of a trip to pickup an old Epiphone Dot which is in need of a little bit of Jooky love or at least some love full-stop.

It is a Korean one, and lovely neck-wise. I had one of these years ago and it was a grand guitar, and I'm really keen to see how this one goes. That one was in perfect BB King 'nick', whereas this one has a broken neck.

Now, a broken neck on a guitar, I must admit, I would understand if it sounded a bit on the 'terminal' side of things, and generally I would have to agree with you, if that is indeed what you are thinking and maybe even if you aren't.

And it is very true - fixing a guitar with a broken neck - and quite spectacularly, very much broken it is too - this is not something I've ever tackled before, but I fancied having a go to see how hard it is to do. So there we are.

Ah, that would be doing it...

And in my defence, I've had some good advice already, involving glue and clamps and lets face it - how wrong can it in fact go?

Well, looking at it in 3D, I must admit I'm not sure that I know the answer to that one and am a little worried that I might well be finding out.

Maybe the guy that fixes them down in Bristol might be a better bet after all.





Or should I get my son to do it, he wouldn't (search desperately for a) waiver in the face of such things.
 
And sellotape is a seldom used guitar finish after all, it may well catch on.

Anyway, whatever happens I'll show you how it goes as I go along, and there we are.

Lovely looking guitar though, your Epi 'Dot'.

Busy Doing Nowt, In Truth.

Well, day one of my newly forged freedom-to-create and I achieved precisely nothing. The Explorer body is however ready to go - can I claim I delegated?

The Funky One - Never To Be Forgotten *sniff*

Or am I in danger of being accused of sweatshop/child labour exploitation?

I did pay my lad in Jaffa Cakes, but will that swing it?

Anyway, one thing I did do was get the neck ready and decide on the body coverage.

As I said before The Crowley One will have a Molten Metal Leaf top, but this will now be accompanied by a low key paisley back and sides, which I think will look pretty cool, it has to be said...

Although I have got some  Platinum Leaf, which might be nice on the back, or perhaps on the scratchplate if I put that back on. Decisions, why can't I make them?

What else? Well, I was going to solder The Blue Moon One's lipstick pickups in, but shaky-hand-syndrome meant it wasn't really a runner, so there we are. Better luck tomorrow I guess.

Oh, I did acquire a Tele custom body that has been routed for either P90 soapbars or humbuckers, that should arrive soonish, which is cool. I love the look of them, and The Funky One - which had a rather hot pickup selection - was one of my fave of the Jooky guitars. Utter lunacy but cool as cool can be once you tamed the savage 'Slag. Pity I got rid of all my P90s, have to find some more I guess.

Ho hum.

Finishing and Starting

Well, no more school holidays for a few weeks, so I'm figuring that it is about time I got my finger out and got some guitars dusted and done. OK, I always say that, don't I?

Anyway, this week I will be finishing The Blue Moon One and will probably be finishing The lulu One as well. Now, there's ambition for you.

Other than that, my lad has been earning his pocket money and sanding back the Explorer that I stripped the skulls and roses off last week, and it is ready to go for a bit of molten iron. And that is what it is going to have, some beautifully aged iron leaf on top that looks like it is burning away to show hell below. Can only be The Crowley One then, I guess. As I said before this is going to 'feature' a couple of Alnico Gibson Humbuckers with quite pretty Platinum tops on them, and basically I want it to be Classic Rock without dipping into Metal. So no cruciforms or pentacles, although if you play your scales backward you might find a hidden message. maybe.

That should be fun - and I'm still deciding what to do with the sides and backs, it has to be said. It is a lovely piece of mahogany, so I might just leave it exposed, but then I have some 1950s Popeye and Olive Oil fabric, which might just...OK, maybe not.

I can decide tomorrow I guess, no panic.