Some Candy Talking

Well, it seems I have another wee Jaguar project to get my head around, and it looks rather spiffy, I have to say.

Excuse the warped pickguard, I really shouldn't leave them in the shine of the sun, but the lush Sherwood green nitro cellulose finish  is gloriously wicked and in simple terms, I really can't wait.

That will become The Toking One, obviously.

In other news, I got first sight of the circuit board thingies for the Sophie's Filthy Boots Fuzzes and they look as dreamy as a circuit board can.

Verily classy posh methinks.

Can't wait to get my sticky little fingers on the first of the Sophie's..

*sigh*

La la laaa

Sophies Bits Are In Hand

Well, top excitement in this neck o' the woody woods, as I heard today from Planet 'Life Is Unfair Audio', that the PCB for Sophie has been designed and ordered, and the rest of the parts for this goldenest of golden girls are also on the way.

The aim is that we'll have a very limited number of these pedals available come September, but that there will be some fun and  games in advance of that - but more on that laterish.

Fuzz is cool. I think that is my new mantra

La la laaaa

Sophie Is A Goer

Well, I mentioned that I had got a stupendously cool pedal from Mike at "Life Is Unfair Audio" the other day, but what I failed to mention was the reason we'd been having a natter or three in the first place.

Which was a well poor show on my part.


So what I should have said was that the longer toothed among the regulars of this unlikely blog may remember that in the early days, I had planned to do a few Jooky pedals - in fact the first Jooky Guitar, The Paisley One, had one built-in, as did a couple more along the way.

And not doing them proper-like, has always niggled me a wee bit, and so I asked Mike if he would be interested in collaborating on a pedal that will be exclusively Jooky, and lucky for me he agreed.

And so, the game began. We started talking fuzz, and Mike has been beavering around with his breadboard to come up with something a little different to the norm. See what we decided was that we wanted something simple to use and kinda vintage sounding, but to also be tweakable so that you can reach those mad nutter places we all know and love. And man he is good.

And as we are  now at the point where it is really going to happen, I have to say I am really rather bloomin' excited about the whole shebang. We should have the first finished pedal before too long, and then there are  a few plans to get it out there and see what people think.

And obviously, there will be verily few of these pedals made, all will be individually cool and uniquely groovy, and it doesn't get much betterer than  that.

So that is Sophie's Filthy Boots Fuzz, coming sometime soonish.

La la laaaa

Sold: The Red or Dead One

About The Red or Dead One

The Red or Dead One is a first for the Emporium, featuring both one of our beautiful, variegated ‘Marilyn Golden Tops’ for the body and headstock and our not-yet-quite-patented ‘Cilla’s Rusty Iron’ finishes for the scratchplate. All of which are protected by first coats of acrylic and then nitro lacquers.

The guitar is of course based on the ‘70s MIJ homage to a Fender Jaguar or Jazzmaster. Tuners and bridge are both takes on traditional parts and work perfectly.

As far as the pickups go, these are re-wound pickups from a Fender Strat and to give it a bit more of a grungy vintage, the tone knob is in fact a Sophie’s Filthy Booots Fuzz effect, based on a NOS Germanium diode.

All in all, it is a unique looking and sounding guitar. Verily groovy indeed.

*

To be clear, The Red or Dead One is an utterly unique guitar, and there will never, ever, be another made. It is signed and numbered, entirely hand built and finished cooler than a pleasant night checking your shoes. There will genuinely never be another guitar like this and past experience suggests that it won’t be around for long.

Technical Stuff:

Type: Marilyn’s Gold Top, Cilla’s Rusty Iron Scratchplate

Electrics: Rewound Fender Stratocaster Pickups. Sophie’s Filthy Boots Fuzz

Guitar Type: Gibson SG body, Fender Strat Neck

Construction: Variegated Gold Leaf Finish to the body and headstock. Rusted Iron Finish to the scratchplate. Alder body, Maple neck.

Strings: Nickel 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Dual Volume, Dual Tone, Three-way Switch

Special Stuff: Certificate of Authenticity, Builder Signed and Numbered, All Wrapped with our Trademark Jooky Wrapping.

Serial Number: JGE#33

RSP: £499 - SOLD, SADLY SOLD

Sophie - Getting Some Satisfaction

Well, not a lot happening today in truth other than that I've gone deep down inside The Red or Dead One and very, very technically diagnosed, studied, analysed, determined, pondered, decided and generally come-up with a diagnosis as far as the mis-firing fuzz goes.

I then turned the germanium diode around so that is facing the right way, and now it works.

It is the little things, after all.

Don't get me wrong, this little Sophie isn't some mad in-yer-face explosion of fuzz, it is more of a thickener - think Keef getting Satisfaction, rather than MBV full-on mayhem.

It sounds great and authentic thru my nice little Blackstar, and it will stay I think - I  had half considered whether I should put the tone pot back in, but the fuzz stays. End-of.

As for The others, it is too hot today to think further, so I've instead been playing guitar a bit - it makes a change.

Getting A Grip On

The Beaton One with unlikely SSS Scratchplate

Well, I must admit I feel a bit happier about what I'm doing after putting my little list together the other day. One thing I did forget though was the hyper-glowy Lil Red Charvette I picked up a while back.

I've been mulling this one over and can't really decide whether to just restore it to it's former glory, or totally Jookify it... First things first though, I'm short of a couple of bits - namely saddles for the bridge. Or maybe a totally new bridge if they aren't standard parts I can grab from elsewhere, so I need to have a bit of a mooch for them.


Decisions, decisiveness. MIA.

Other than that, today is the day I'm planning to ironise (ferrousate??) the Rusty Nail One's SG body prior to getting deep down and tarnished with it. Fotos to follow, obv. It will be the first time I've tried this in anger so fingers-crossed that I don't mess it up. I am really tempted to put a ring of iron nails into the front of the guitar too, just for good measure, but we'll see.

Not that I have any iron nails, mind you, but I kinda like the idea of the guitar looking like some sort of ill-kept medieval armour. Though I suppose it should be hot-riveted then. And I'm a shipyard shy of those.

No, doesn't make a great deal of sense to me either..

As for the rest of my latest list of things I may or may not get around to doing one day, well I also am going  bullet-biting and finally going to try and finish The Blue Moon One. Either that or bin it (which I don't want to do, but that is my incentive). It is turning into a sore point with mental blockage capabilities tagging along like a vaporous trail at the moment and before it develops into something worserer psychologically, I feel I really need to just do it, get it out of the way or if I can't manage it, get somebody else to.

But I go around in circularish flight paths and there is nowt to be gained from rambling further in that direction. Just needs a bit of action.

The Beaton One - Taken from behind F'narr, f'narr etc.

As for incoming stuff - well, not a lot in truth. Some tuners for the Rusting Nail, oh and a bag of olde worlde Germanium Diodes. Why do I want them when I'm not upto the task of soldering pedals anymore? Well, I'm going to try and put a little fuzz into one of the guitars in the near future, so I thought I'd have a play.

Actually, it is The Beaton One that is going to get Sophie'd after I had a brain storm last night and decided to make it a bit of a Rock machine in an alternative indie kinda way. It is going to have a single sooper hot pickup (probably coil tapped) and a Sophie's Filthy Boots Fuzz built-in. I really couldn't face doing a straight three single coil Strat to be honest, but this should be a bit 'wow' and 'Jeez' and maybe even a little 'Cor blimey'. All wrapped up in one.

I'm happier now I've decided, but am missing lots of parts so that is slipping to the back of the rear burner thing for the moment until I have some money to buy them.

Did I say I was going to give The Beaton One away? OK, will maybe explain that later when I've thought it thru proper-like.

So this week - Finish the Blue Moon One, start the Rusting Nail One, gather parts for the Charvette, try and sell something so I can buy more parts (so if you fancy The Futuristic One, I'm open to offers ;) and generally do - something.

Anything.

Just get on with it and stop talking so much.
All words, no action.
Get some trousers.
Walk the walk etc.

That should keep me going, until I repeat the list next week.
And the week after that.

Pedalling Away

Gord, where does time go. As it happens, I know, as bratskis are pretty full on, and outside of that I've been having a sneaky plan in a couple of directions...

First up, I've been messing about on paper with a design for a Fuzz and Booster combo, and am pretty happy that it is somewhere close. This is for the Guitar Grounds 'growler' project thing I mentioned before, but let’s face it, it is for fun. I don't mind admitting such things.

Taking my time up front is paying benefits though, as it has set me thinking about the whole approach to take, and given me an idea or three for a couple of Jooky pedals. I said (ad nauseum) before that I was going to be spending some time on pedals now, and I'm a bit happier with that now. I think Sophie will make a come back for one, but with a few new wrinkles, gord bless her.

Secondly, I've been looking at ideas for building a guitar from scratch. Well, a guitar body, crawl before I stumble, and all that. Again, a bit of time up front has helped me get my ideas together and I think if it goes well it will be a bit of a classic. I want something relatively simple - single P90 will come as a big surprise for the regulars - but the body shape and controls will prove to be a bit funky, I think. Not off-the-wall, despite the paisley I quite like nice lines and simple designs, believe it or not, but we'll see where we end-up I guess.

Anyway, the first step was obviously to come up with a design, and the second is to think about wood. For that I'm thinking something that has been reclaimed - it is still Jookydom after all - and as luck would have it there is a cool place not a million miles away that does that. As to the type of wood, I was thinking mahogany, but I'm quite open to trying a few different ones. Ash is lighter and zingier, and then, well, we'll see.

As for cutting it, I'm going to invest in a Router and hopefully I have somebody that will show me the ropes (though to be honest theoretically, I think I have a good idea.)

I'll document it as I go anyway.
Should be fun.

Cool.

Finally Sophie Might Stop Crying

As with my pondering the other day, I've been thinking again about doing a few effects pedals, though maybe with a change of direction from the previous plan.

In case you don't remember, I was going to put effects in old cigarette or tobacco tins, which were quite nice when I prototyped them, but I was always conscious that the holes were left a wee bit jagged and lets face it, they weren't going to last long with somebody jumping on them in their size eleven Docs.

Instead then, I'm thinking that I should bite the bullet and use some proper enclosures. It would be nice to think that if I do make them that they will last longer than the first rehearsal, lets face it.

Each will have to be individual, as per, but maybe I could do a limited run of say five Sophie's Filthy Boots and then leave it at that. Get the lady out of my system and all.

Another Day, Another Donut

Well, obviously, the other day's euphoria at making a decision over the scratchplate - pickguard for our American readers, hi y'all - has given way to another change of mind. You see, I was pleased enough with it, but not, like, pleased enough, if you see what I mean.

I decided then to have another go, and that has been this morning's job. Another record bites the dust, but there you go. There were a couple of reasons for this Volte Mush, as cockernees say in Germany:

Firstly I decided that I would rather use a Les Paul type of pickup selector, rather than the Jaguar-esque slider that I had planned to go with. This was mainly because I wanted something that was a bit more on the solid side, but also because I'd used a slider on the Paisley One, and lets face it, life is too short to get in those sort of ruts.

Secondly, I just didn't like the shape. It didn't look enough like a record, too much had been taken away.

So there we are, and I am happier with the new one. The pickups and bridge pop through the plate and the record is as near intact as I could make it. The melted vinyl effect around the pickups looks better with them being surrounded too.

Other than that then, I did forget to put the screw holes in, which is a slight inconvenience, but I can do that once the paint has dried I guess.

As far as the putting-it-together goes,, the body is being readied for such interfacing at the moment and I'm aiming to have the electrics wired and ready to pop in tonight. Hopefully then, it should be playable this week, or maybe next Monday, depends how things go.


For the people who are waiting not-very-patiently for the Sophie's I've been promising, apologies, but they will be here when they arrive. The girl is always worth the wait though.

Frustrating Week

Well, it started so brightly - nice little pile of Sophie's ready to be put into tins and things, The Paisley One en-route to pastures new and The Pretty In Pimp One well on it's way to going together.

Then I managed to put my back out a wee bit, abseiling in Snowdonia.
Silly really, but it was that final 300 foot drop for the cameras that did it.

OK, maybe not.
I did rick my back but  it was stretching for something on a high shelf in the pantry.
Not so glam, yet
still bloomin' painfilled,
my days have proved.

Anyway, what it meant was that sitting to solder or drill was out, so no tins of fuzz just yet, so I concentrated on sorting the scratchplate for The Pimpy One...and what a mare that has been.

Basically, this was the first attempt.

It is faux suede, meant to be golden in hue,
and soft of touch
but looked a bit dowdy to me
and apparently like a piece
of cardboard to others.

It was also quite big, and I wanted something smaller.

Next idea then was to get some gold coloured velvet, which I did
as you can see here
but that too doesn't work.

I mean, I like gaudy and that is half the point here -
the fire-burnt-neck
and the seventies gaudiness of the body
I know, I'm
very deep.

But it looks rubbish
even by my standards.

Anyway, I have a Plan C now, so later I'll try and sort that out.



Speaking of the pimpy one, I've decided against the sustainer as it doesn't really fit with what I want to do with this guitar. I'm thinking funk or vague jazziness, and that doesn't feel right.
It is going to be a pair of P100s then
with maybe something a little extra if I have the time.

Nice to improvise a tad
here
and over
there.

So there we are, less than I wanted, but can't be helped.

Sophie-is-a-coming..

Well, one more bratski at home than planned today, but I managed to have a good crack at building something for once, and the end result is that I have five - that's FIVE - Sophie's Filthy Boots fuzz boxes gubbins built, tested and ready to install in whatever they end up going into.

I'm pretty chuffed with that, and a couple at least will end-up in the tins I was on about the other week. maybe something Sex Pistols like, and maybe The Stones tin. I dunno.

I also want something a little more Jooky, and there is an old Senior Service tin I like that may join the cheeky throng.

All in all then, a productive morning. And if the postie ever deigns to show up with the gold velvet stuff, I might even manage to get a scratchplate together for the Pretty in Pimp One.

For the hundreds - OK two - people who have been asking then, you should be able to grab a piece of Sophie for your very ownsome later this week..

p.s. No, this photo has nowt to do with this post, that Sophie isn't even wearing boots - pah.

More Fake Nostalgia - Coming Soonish

I mentioned a while back that I was planning on doing my best to make sure that we at any one time, have at least one of each of our things - Amy, Cheryl, Sophie and Leona - and with the school holibobs over, I figured I'd better get me finger out a wee bit and do something about it.

I also said, recently, that I'd got an idea for some 'classic' looking amps, effects etc. and well, basically, I figured I might as well use them as a way forward.

Where I'm going with this, is that I bought these tins a while back, with no real reason in mind, and so I'm going to turn them into either amps - Amy or Cheryl, or maybe a couple of each - and some into fuzz boxes.

There will still be only one of each design made, so I'm not selling out - man - and I won't sell all of them, as I quite fancy one or two around the house meself. But making them would be a step forward, lets face it.

Here's what I'm aiming for then:

1. The Beatles & The Stones:

I think Serge Pepper has to be an amp, and The Stones surely has to be a dirty little scrubber like our Sophie. That was easy to decide.
Free Mars bar if you buy these...
La la la




2. Pink Floyd and The Who:

Despite the fact that they are liars - I went to Yorkshire and looked all through the fone book for Townsend or Daltrey and I am positive that none of The Who, Live In Leeds - I've always had a sort of detached liking for them. Pink Floyd have grown on me over the years as well, and Dark Side of The Moon is still quality, apart from the shonky sound effects.

Not sure which will be the amp and which the fuzz here yet..though it is probably obvious in truth.


3. The Sex Pistols and The Clash:

Getting into things I really remember rather than have picked-up on later, I'm happy to say that 'Punk' infects this whole Jooky phenomena - ahem - with it's DIY principles, even if it never was like that really, but there we go. The Sixties was probably boring too outside of Woodstock.

Two Clash tins, for some reason, so overall I think two amps, and London Calling for our Sophie.



4. The Mini and The VW:

Last but not least, I really liked these Haynes manual tins, for some reason, maybe even because I grew up downwind of Longbridge and am quite keen on The Magic Bus.

Mini for a mini amp, and some Volkswagens can sound a bit fuzzy to me these days, so easie peasie.

So that is the wee plan. Haven't got a clue when I'll do them, and there will be some other, more Jookified, tins and cigar boxes on the horizon too, but there you go. Oh, I'll call these our Foney Nostalgic Collection...

The Paisley One - On The Bay

Well, I've done something I never do, over the last week or two, and got rid of a few guitars and related bobbins.

It's funny how you collect these things, but I realised that there are only so many I can actually play, and so...better to make a bit of room.

I think generally, I'm getting into the whole Jooky thing a bit more seriously now. Lots of people are visiting the 'For Sale' part of the site, and finding nothing, and more are asking when they can buy various stuff. So it would be nice to get a bit on top, I reckon. If I'm being honest, I like it too, which is the main thing.

Anyway, as the final plank of my decluttering tendency, I've put The Paisley One up on eBay, and am open to offers. That is the hard one, as it is the first Jooky guitar I've made and I have to say I love it loads, but there we are.

Half making space, and half a justification to make more guitars.
And my Tele is so ready to be made now.
The Nouveau Riche One as it is soon to be known.

If you fancy The Paisley One with it's lovely fuzz and good looks, you can buy it or make an offer HERE.

Sold: The Paisley One

It wasn't all free love and The Beatles vs. The Stones in the Sixties, there was a fella who played the Guitar called Hendrix, and a thirst for invention and advancement that saw mankind race to the moon...look around and then come back with some Seaside-of-Tranquility rock for the kids.

Millions watched in black and white as an acid-fuelled world turned technicolour around them, before Jimi burned his guitar and single-handedly ended the Viet Nam war.


I might have that part wrong, I wasn't born until '68 so I am basing a lot of this found-memory on Time Life commercials and the dim recollections of my parents.

Ever since, we have all become accustomed to a variety of re-writes of history and the glorification of the dead stars of the day.

Jim Morrison was the lizard king not some fat alkie who rarely washed.

Janis Joplin was an artist not a clapped out drunk who ingested her body weight in Southern Comfort before breakfast,

And of course Jimi Hendrix was the best guitarist ever to grace the planet,
despite never being able to keep his guitar in tune.

And it is Hendrix that inspired us to make this unique piece of guitar history that is The Paisley One.

It is Hendrix that we thought we would cynically cash-in on, like everybody else does

It is Hendrix and the questions that are raised every time the circulation of a guitar magazine dips,
that pushed us to think about the eternal lament -

'What would he be doing now if he hadn't snuffed it?'

And The Paisley One is our response to that unanswerable question.

The Paisley One is our retort aimed with barbs at the Disney-esque 'Gibson Hendrix Authentic Electric Guitar' and to all the other phony nostalgia that people pedal, based on myths about stars they never met or even rated at the time.

There were forty million people at the Isle of Wight festival back then, 
and they are just the people I've met.
Woodstock?
I hate to think.

And The Paisley One is our response,
for we truly believe that if Jimi Hendrix were alive today,
he wouldn't be stretching the limits of music and musicianship
with midi-controlled voodoo robots,
and he wouldn't be creating
Venusian soundscapes
full of psychedelic volcanoes
erupting dolphin-inspired
operas.

Nope, he would be doing what
every
other
relic
of that decade is doing and
would be playing
a
Paisley
Strat
on the end of a pier
or if he is lucky
in a Vegas casino,
or at the Albert Hall,
cashing in on ersatz nostalgia and
burning
his
guitar
twice
a
night
and three times on Saturday
for the Chicken-Kiev-in-a-basket brigade.

So it was with sadness that we set out to create a Paisley Strat,
to add our own tribute to the King of the Fuzz
to a world already teeming with them
in the shape of a guitar with a Strat body, PRS pickup, Suhr shaped headstock
and a Jooky built-in Sophie's Filthy Boots fuzz thing.

It was with a tear that we tracked down the coolest and grooviest design and
finished it with true psychedelic love.

We did it for Jimi,
and we did it for you
just you
to give you a piece of Jimi
to let you say you have
his guitar
because you are special
and we're not
at all
cynical
we love Jimi
and you
especially
you.

And we feel Jimi
would have wanted it
would have wanted you to have
The Paisley One,
to own his guitar.

Be him.

And one lucky person can now be Jimi,
can own his guitar,
can be
The Paisley One.

But there can only ever be one Jimi Hendrix
can only be one owner of The Paisley One
can only be one Paisley One
Will it be you?


To be clear, The Paisley One is an utterly unique instrument, and there will never, ever, be another made.
It is signed and numbered, and was entirely handmade by somebody who was at least born as a product of the Summer of Love, even if you weren't.

We're Sorry to say that you can't buy this guitar, as it has now been Sold.

Technical Stuff:
Type: Custom Guitar
Output: Single PRS P90 Bridge Pickup
Guitar Type: Based on a Fender Stratocaster shaped guitar with a Gibson-rip-off-style-headstock
Construction: Cloth over wood
Power: 9V Battery for the Fuzz effect
Output: ¼” Guitar Lead
Modes: Standard Bridge P90 and Sophie's Filthy Boots Fuzz, selected via a Slide Switch
Controls: Volume and Tone. Tone provides a fuzz level control when in Sophie's Filthy Boots Mode
Special Stuff: Certificate of Authenticity, Builder Signed and Numbered, All Wrapped with our Trademark Jooky Wrapping.
Serial Number: JGE#6
RSP: £SOLD

And now..

Well, the Paisley One is there at last, and between tweaking it a wee bit and playing it a fair bit more, it has been quite nice to get to the end of that particular, err, 'journey'.

I am soooo very Generation Zzzzz.

But, that isn't the end of things and it is equally cute to get back on track with what I should have been doing in the first place, and building some amps and effects.

To set the ball-a-rolling then, I'm going to put together a couple of Sophie's and an Amy or two. Maybe even a Cheryl if I'm feeling adventurous. I'm also plotting something new for the Cigar Box Guitar on the horizon, which will be nice.

Oh, and there is also a little Pink Elephant or two that I've got to get my head around...next in fact, but more on that anon.

But it is late,
or early

it is all
about
perspex

nitey-nite

Finally, Really Finished, Honest

Well, I thought it would never end, never mind you, but I am oh-so-gloriously-happy to be able to say that I have finally finished The Paisley One. Or JGE#6 as it will be forever known.

For the record - it is based upon a second hand Strat type body and I believe a Squier neck of some kind, although cut into the shape of a Suhr.

Though, I might struggle to pass this off as that.

The body is covered in a beautifully colour-rich fulsomeness of paisley fabric, which has been glossed to a sheen and sort of polished a bit here and there. Which makes taking fotos a bit tricky, but there we are.

The scratchplate is a second hand, left-handed one I flipped over and covered with the same cloth.

The pickup is a single P90 that came off a PRS SE One, that sounds excellent and sustains for a week at least.

The Volume pot is just that, but the Tone pot is really a Fuzz control knob thing, for the cunningly hidden-under-the-hood Sophie's Filthy Boots Fuzzy thing, that is switched on with a little sliding switch on the scratchplate.

Other than that, I've put a nice ashtray bridge cover on which serves no practical purpose and doesn't quite fit right despite the gentle persuasion of my lump hammer. It looks good though, and that'll do for now.

All in all though, it sounds amazing and is all made from lots and lots of boney old scrag end...which is of course what my Jooky little adventure is about..

I'll try and record a video or something later on so you can hear The Paisley One in action


Cool as

Filthy Stuff, no strings attached

Well, in yet another last minute change-of-mind, for which I'm becoming somewhat known and in-fame, when I came to wire up The Paisley One, I decided that rather than go with the previous forty-seven ideas, what I really wanted was one of our Sophie's Filthy Boots Fuzzy things available on-tap.

And so that is what is happening,
I've changed the switch to a different type,
Sophie is in her little England Glory matchbox, and
the tone knob is now going to be a control for the fuzz -
so it won't mean a thing when the switch ain't got that swing -
doowap, doowap dooo-wap.

As for actually finishing this guitar that has become a bit of an odyssey or perhaps an Iliad,
that should be done today.
Wired-up and ready to go.

Just one problem
I've realised
I forgot
to buy
any
strings
so I
might
have to
pop-on
and out.

la la la

p.s. The Foto of Sophie Ellis Bextor has nothing to do with the Sophie of the Filthy Boots, clearly. I just thought it made a change to see a model with some flesh on her. She is my new heroine.

Nowt New Under The Sun

It's funny, trying to come up with some designs for new guitar effects as basically (and I am thinking fuzz in the main here) there are so many variations already out there, that how you could possibly know that the 'great new fuzz sound' you've come-up with hasn't already been created elsewhere is beyond me?

Given a world with an infinite number of guitar monkeys with soldering irons, they can't all be writing Hamlet, if you see what I mean.

And having given this some thought, basically, I can't see that it matters. Sound and tone are personal (and like colour I'm still not convinced we all hear or see the same thing anyway) and taste more so.

What perhaps does matter more is how you create the sound and the way circuits are put together, the components used. There are two schools on the components which come down to one question, to use 'original' Germanium transistors or not. Other than that, 99% of components in a fuzz are hardly that interesting.

So yay or nay? Again, I don't think it matters too much, another matter of taste, but the Germaniums do seem to sound different, like valve amps versus solid state. Myself, well so far I've not used them, but I'm going to give them a go this week, so we will see.

On the circuits, again I can't imagine anybody these days is coming up with anything fuzzy that is truly original unless they are adding features or tighter tone controls or hotter boosters, but even then it is just tinkering and the law of diminishing returns will surely cut in. The basic fuzz circuit won't change too much. And these days it is so easy to find so many circuits out there. There are loads of web sites with schematics and layouts that you can use easily enough and try. Many of them (most of them) are clones of 'famous' pedals,and in some cases the only way to get your hands on one without flogging a limb, but there are a few scattered around that claim to be original. All of which is why I've deliberately not claimed our Sophie's Filthy Boots to be anything other than my interpretation of what a fuzz should be. My tuppence, as it were. I'm sure somebody, somewhere will have produced the same sound using the same components in a similar layout, but there we are. (Some dizzy whore, 1800 & 4)

It is funny though (and what prompted this Boxing Day whimsy) but I was reading somewhere about a fuzz some bloke had built, where the board layout was posted. He was claiming it as an original (as we know a dangerous game, I think) when even I could recognise it as a straight lift from one of the more obvious schematic sites. The really funny thing was that his schematic had been laid out using the rather brilliant DIY Layout Creator software, and the one that may have, err, influenced him is in that piece of software's own library of layouts.

Now, to be fair it may be a coincidence, as I have said about monkeys above, and in general terms I think anybody playing with building effects will do as I have and spend a lot of time looking at other people's work and trying to understand how they work, and maybe how you can improve them before coming up with your own variation, but even so it made me smile to read the bluster.

Sophie's Filthy Boots: Fuzz In Excelsis

Moving on from amps a wee bit, we have also been spending some time trying to come-up with a dirty, sleazy, slapper of a fuzz box, and believe it or not, the convent education hasn't gone to waste after all, and I think we might just have got there.

Breathe.
Must remember to breathe.

I'm sure there will be more as time moves on, but I'm chuffed to announce that our first pedal is a rather naughty little bint we've decided to give the moniker 'filthy boots' or to be more accurate 'Sophie's Filthy Boots', as we feel that it is quite a sophisticated little number, if truth be told, but one that is perhaps trying to shock, if you see what I mean, and deflect attention from it's quite nice, BBC, middle class roots. Our Sophie is a one knob girl, and seems to scrub up well to start with before basically going ape-shit when the party starts.


We were actually going to call this something like 'Lou's Patent Leather New York Boots', but forgot, and so didn't, but the dom imagery of shiny-boots-of-leather could have fitted quite nicely and maybe fed into our decision to go for the daughter-of-the-Beeb kind of nomenclature. So Lou could have worked and maybe should have.


But in the end didn't prove to.

So there we are.