Raymond-A-Go-Go

Well, I decided that I'd like The Raspberry Ripple One to go to a new home, and the long-and-short of it is that it is off to a young lad in the North West, which is pretty cool. I would have been quite happy playing it every day, but them rules are there for a reason, and I figured somebody was telling me something about that wee guitar so it is off to a new home in the frozen north. It's a zen-thing..

I also opened the case of The Fabulous One, and I don't quite understand it but the neck is pretty twisted. I've never seen one like it before, though when I twisted the truss rod it sounded like a bag of spanners, which might explain something. Even so, it looks most bizarre, I've never seen that happen before.. You live, you learn.

Anyway, as somebody else is obviously also telling me something about this one too, I've decided I'm going to replace the neck. I am also thinking about putting an old school horseshoe trem on while I'm at it, but we'll have to see how it goes. Nice to play it again though, even if the low E is 3cm off the 'board now.

The Raymond One is also off on it's travels, so this is going to be a week of courier hell again, but there we be. So The Ronin, Raymond and Raspberry Ripple Ones all need to be sent, I'm not sure I can cross that many fingers at the same time.

As for The Fallen One, well I think something special is going to be happening with this beaut, so I need to get my act together and sort it out, pronto, Tonto. Which means routing and staining and waxing and well, everything elseing.

Busy times, these holidays be.

La la laaa

Introducing The Raymond One

Well, I'm pleased to be able to introduce you to the latest lambikins in the Jooky dip, The Raymond One, and what a Tele on steroids it happens to be.

From the top we have a paislified ash Tele body, with a maple/maple neck. Kluson-esque tuners and a superb Wilkinson Strattish trem, all steel block and push-in arm. And man does it get zingy-wid-it. I'm not a big Strat trem fan - especially on Teles where I'm quite trad normally - but this feels so solid I can't help but use it. And the sustain is just excellent.

What else? Well, a hand-chopped Jerry Reed scratchplate, introduces itself sweetly to a Mojo Pickups hand wound Wide Ranger Humbucker, which is the dog's doodies.

Controls are standard Tele fare, apart from that Marc has put together a bespoke wiring loom that twists the Esquire formula to work beautifully with the Wide Ranger. So three quite gorgeous tones can be had from the three-way-Tele-switch. And man, I am loving the full fat one, it sears your ears in a big way, while using the tone control on the middle one brings out a really mellow tone that I almost feel bad about mentioning is quite jazzy. Scary stuff when you have fingers like saveloy and a memory for chords like, err, a wotsit that doesn't remember much..

And it is true that these Wide Rangers are something all by themselves. I talked about them a lot when I did The Tatty One, and they really do catch the Tele tone, but with more grit in there that makes you want to really belt the strings as you get such a jolt back. It is pretty addictive.

As you'd expect cleans with a touch of reverb are just sublime, but that clarity cuts thru even the full on fuzz I use to cover up my dodgy playing. Actually, I'm not sure such visibility is that good a thing. Hmmm. maybe it's time to get another flanger, an octaver and a couple of delays to smooth things out.

So there we are, Raymondo is in the house, and the boy has got some pipes on him.

La la laaa

Sold: The Raymond One

The Raymond One is a modern Telecaster with some serious intent.

From the top, it has a beautiful ash body that has been lovingly smothered with a beautiful pink paisley. This is topped off quite sweetly with a hand-chopped pickguard made from an old Jerry Reed record.

Sounds-wise, a single Mojo Pickups Wide Range Humbucker has that unique mixture of clanging cleans and gritty lows you’d hope for, but with a certain mellowness in the middle that genuinely sounds like nothing else. And a Wilkinson, Steel Blocked Strat trem, complete with push-in cranking handle, gives a lovely sustain and all those wobbly shimmers we love so.

To get the best out of it, Marc Ransley at Mojo has crafted a bespoke ‘Esquire’ wiring loom, tailored to this particular pickup, that gives three usable tones from the standard Tele control switch. The wiring is of course a classic in it’s own right, with CTS pots, PIO capacitors and Ye Olde vintage looking cloth covered wiring.

As twang is the thang, we’ve gone for a lovely maple/maple neck with Kluson-esque tuners, which has been waxed and feels great to play.


*


To be clear, The Raymond 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 slo-mo run across the pebbled beach at Portishead. There will genuinely never be another guitar like this and past experience suggests that it won’t be around for long.


*** SOLD ***


Technical Stuff:

Type: Leona’s Groovy Guitar

Electrics: Mojo Wide Range Humbucker, Esquire Wiring

Guitar Type: Fender Telecaster

Construction: Ash body, maple/maple neck, Fabric Finish

Strings: Nickel 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Volume, Tone

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

Serial Number: JGE#58

RSP: £799

Dragons and Telecasters

Even Yellow Dragons Have To Start Somewhere

Well, not quite a cigar shaped like a banana, but I'm pleased to report that The Raymond One has been drilled, wired and generally put-together-again, and I'm rather happy.

I even managed to get some strings - I know, I'm shocked too - and it sounds absolutely beautiful.

I'll do a proper introduction tomorrow though, when I find the camera and stop twanging the whammy bar (is that right?)

So basically, I will somehow have finitoed two Jookies in the first week of the holibobs, which is rather amazing, but thinking about it is probably down to wall-to-wall Spongebob to escape from and not being able to have my little nap of an afternoon.

The obvious question is 'What next?' even if it is just me asking it, and I think the answer is likely to be a combination of my lass's Lightning Dragon which now seems destined to be having polka dots as well as lightning and dragons, gold leaf and yellow and orange paint, and err, something else.

The bright and cheery Lightning Dragon is likely to be a bit of a departure from my norm, but there we are. Makes a nice change.

There is a dedicated Dragon Guitars blog up and available now if you want to follow the progress and devastation Here. In fact The Fire Dragon was the first guitar I ever made, a couple of years ago now and no doubt you'll see that all taste was left at the starting line.

I am a little gutted though. I found a lovely maple scratchplate with a real mother of pearl dragon inlayed into it, from Vietnam on Ebay, which would have looked perfect, but oh no, not a hope.

Who'd want that sort of thing?

I should have known better than to suggest such bobbins.

It could be a long, hot summer.

Anyway, the body arrived today and won't need much jiggling to make the neck work, so that is good.

Other than that, I'm really going to have to brave the router and do something about The Fallen One aren't I? I can see it coming.

La la laaaa

National Raymondo Day

Well, and so it was that yesterday's high point was indeed the finishing and playing of The Ronin One, and what a little lovely it is. I think I played it for three hours straight last night and a tweak here and there, it just sounds excellent and feels beautiful in-the-mitt, as it were.

Ah the benefit of sick kids sleeping on the settee.

Actually, can't think of another one.



But all that love must be put aside today, as I brace myself to (shock) use an electric drill and somehow manage to (horror) use it to make some (surely not) holes in The Raymond One.

I know, there is truly no start to my talents.

The first hole is hopefully simple as it just needs to be between the pickup and the control panel rout thing. I won't say I could do it with my eyes closed as I may feel obliged to try it. But hopefully it won't be too tricky.

The other hole is for the jack socket to be fixed into, which is a bit bigger and so I will drill it twice, once to make sure I'm doing it in the right place, with a teensy drill bit, and then another with a big momma of a bit, just to make sure.

"Drill twice, measure afterwards to see if you got it in the right place",
my new mantra. I like to be professional about such things.

After that it is sewing it together, soldering things into place and generally going out to buy some strings as I seem to have run out again. How? I really don't know.

As for other stuff, I seem to have been banned from Ebay for three days. Apparently, if a guitar has Gibson pickups in it and you happen to mention the fact, they kick you off for infringing copyright. Obviously I should have said it was a Gibson guitar copied in China, because that must be OK as they never seem to do a lot about that sort of thing or 'Fender Custom Shop' guitars with Squier trems and, and, and...oh, it isn't worth worrying about, is it?

La la laaa

Ronin To Raymondo

Well, that was a bit of a scurry of a flurry of excitement earlier on, and I am loving The Ronin One. It is much better than I thought it would be and it has some great sounds in there. I can't quite make up my mind whether I prefer the single coil or the 'bucker, but together they are excellently lovable.

It's always an odd moment when I finish a guitar - especially when there have been so many twists as there has been with this one - as I have this moment where I love it, and then one where I'm not sure if it is as good as I think and I'm almost looking around for approval, then finally I play it for an hour or two and know. And this time, I really love everything about it.

In many ways it reminds me of the Sonex, though that had PAFs in and wasn't as tonally interesting as The Ronin One, but the neck is just a total joy. Lovin' it.

I've come to the conclusion that sound-wise it is somewhere between a Les Paul and a Tele Custom - with the Wide Range Humbuckers. Definitely has that sound when both pickups are mixed together.

As to what is next, well I'm aiming to get The Raymond One fettled before the end of the week, so with a bit of luck I might just get that started later today or tomorrow at least. That really just needs a couple of holes drilled and then a bit of soldering and screwing and we're in happyland. Though to be honest, if I'd been offered The Ronin One's completion over the course of the six-weeker, I'd have probably taken it.

La la laaaaa

Quick, Quick and Sloooowwww

Definitely My Old Honey Now

Well, the usual flurry of a morning, as I had completely forgotten to pack up The JoBo One for it's impending journey, so that was what I did, alongside stopping the Daleks invading Portishead by fixing broken Sonic Screwdrivers and drip-feeding coffee to the washing-machine-fixer-upper.

But it is all ready to go, the planet is safe and the washer turns once more (if only at half-speed), so now it is just waiting for a courier again.

There isn't much other news apart from that I removed the scratchplate and replaced the hated speed dials with reflector topped knobs on Old Honey.

Not a lot to do to it, of course, but you have to make these things your own.

Bit More of a To-Do list

The saddest thing is that it is the Lazarus-like The Raspberry Ripple One that I'm playing most at the moment. Maybe it is just because it was one I thought that was gone for good, or because  being able to fix the busted neck twice now makes it feel like it is really mine or something, I don't know, but I really do love playing it. Even if I'm treating it like a piece of precious crystal at the moment.






As for Raymondo, well if the courier comes at a decent hour I'll hopefully be able to sort that out with some perforations later on, which would be nice as I really want to hear that Wide Ranger in action once more. I think I need a Tele in my life again.

La la laaaa

Getting back on the Gee Gee

Well, I've cheered meself up a wee bit over the weekend playing The Raspberry Ripple One, which I have to say is a lovely guitar, and as for everything else,
well,
whatever.
I don't care anymore.

So revitalised I'm going to drill some holes in The Raymond One and get that Wide Ranger fitted and strummable and then
I will
smile, smile, smile.

I will also fit the switch, tuners and nut on The Ronin One,
and then play that for a while and then
I will
smile, smile, smile.

Then I will play The JoBo One for a while,
before it wanders off to pastures new and then
I will
smile, smile, smile.

As for plans, well  I think I should really try and get The Fallen One ready.
OK, it involves routing and I have no safe routing capability, but I'm sure I'll manage somehow.
I think that is going to be a totally stunning guitar.
I will get that fettled and play it some and then
I will
smile, smile, smile.

And then I could fit the new nut, tuners and switch to The Ronin One,
and play lots of old 70s songs that will sound perfect, and then
I will
smile, smile, smile.

As for couriers, insurance, numpties in Totectors and everything else..
I'll worry about them on the morrow.

I love it when the lithium kicks in.

La la laaaaaaaa

Raymondo and Betty Blue - Getting On With It

The Raymond One - Gagging for some Mojo

Well, in between peeping thru the curtains to see whether Old Honey had happened to just be left on the doorstep by the courier, I thought I should do something productive to keep me going yesterday.

Young Marcy Mojo is sending the Wide Ranger Humbucker and wired control plate to arrive tomorrow, so I figured it would make sense to have The Raymond One ready to go.

So as you can hopefully see, Raymondo now has a neck attached, strap pins - I remembered the strap pins - yeah - and a rather fine Wilkinson Strat trem with a solid steel block and a lovely little grub screw that let me tighten the hole that the trem arm pushes into so that it doesn't fall out and I don't cross thread it. Some people think of everything, don't they?

Removed the clamps - then had to prize my 'caul' off

And there we are - ready to go.

Well, nearly. I noticed yesterday that there is one slight issue with the body that has escaped me thus far, which is that somebody seems to have forgotten to drill a hole for the jack socket to sit in.

And more to the point, somebody a lot closer to home didn't notice this before covering the body with paisley , grain filler, and lots of lacquer.

So one last job on that and we'll be clover-based.



Other than that, I took my life in my hands earlier and unclamped The Betty Blue One to see how the veneering had turned out.

It is one of those odd occasions where I was dreading the idea that it had worked too well, as of course the idea is for it to be ragged so that the corrosion of the bronze beneath is partially visible.

Roughly trimmed the veneer away

And horror of horrors, it turned out well. It was a little neat but I can soon fix that sort of bobbins, so I'm really quite pleased.

From there I removed the excessive veneer and generally hacked around the edges and introduced a couple of minor splits and scrapes.

Once that was done I sanded it back and generally got it how I wanted it.

Power, that is. Power.

I had an idea that it would be nice to have the veneer not quite reaching the edge, but to sand it so that the corroded bronze was removed and the nice blue beneath would show thru as a faux binding.

So that was what I did and amazingly it looks how I imagined it, which is most odd. If things start looking how I imagine them we may all be in trouble. Especially Gideon George Osbourne. Not pretty at all.

Bit more of a twin

So the paint is peeping thru the bronze which is peeping thru the veneer which is going to be covered in lacquer.

I'm liking this better, the more I think about it.

Anyway, I'll finish the sanding and then lacquer it to death later on. There is no real panic on this as I haven't got any of the other parts yet and Mr Mojo is doing me a P90 Tele pup for it, and that will take a while as it involves different magnets or something technical like that. Wrong kind of magnets, can cause havoc with your winding apparently.

**** Interlude ****

Edges sanded for a 'faux binding' and lacquered to death

Time moved on, so I just finished the sanding and started the lacquering and the walnut burr just comes to life. I think this is going to turn out pretty good, if I say so meself.

And then of course it had dried before I posted this. So you can see for yourself what I meant.

Obviously, I'd appreciate it if you kept all these details to yourself, as I know Paul Reed Smith often pops in to try and nick my veneering technique so that they can get away from that Doctors-and-Lawyers reputation, and get down with the kids like me. I try to distract him, but he is getting sneakier all the time.


La la laaa

Loving the corrosion peeping thru...

More Mojo Bobbins - WIP The Raymond One

Well, as I've been screwing together the various new bits for The Raymond One - and I am loving the Wilkinson trem, it is solid-in-a-good-way and well zingy - then I get a quick email from Marc at Mojo to tell me he has done the pickup and wiring loom.

And here it is.

As the discerning among you will easily note, it is a single humbucker of a Wide Range demeanour, and it has a three way Tele switch, where the chap has come up with an Esquire-esque cogitation of capacitors and other fiddly leccy bits to dredge a selection of tones from the single pup.

All of which is rather cool and I can't wait to try it out.

Good stuff

La la laaa

WIP: The Betty Blue One

Can you see the join?

Well, time is running out, so I figure I should maybe do something productive today.

Some of the parts have arrived for The Raymond One, so I'll get them added to the mix later, but The Betty Blue One is my Dame du jour.

The story so far..

I started with a lovely alder Tele body, and smothered it lovingly with Bronze enriched plutonium. Or maybe paint. Yes, paint it was.

Not so lovingly, I then went for an open yet blinded Parisian window looking out into the blue night, and basically hit it with a load of noxiously fuming acid and other gubbins.

On the back, it looks great and on the front it is a little more subtle as there is a plan.

Oh yes, is there a plan.

Well, yes.

And the plan that I planned is to cover the front with a lushly lush walnut burr laminate, which will be slightly tattered and torn so that the corroded bronze beneath peeps through.

And I have to admit that this morning as I looked at it, I really wasn't sure whether it would work or not. But as I can't imagine there are too many people to ask, I figured I might as well give it a go and see for meself.

So as you can hopefully tell, I've spread my glue, and pressed on the veneer and then clamped the beejesus out of it  (I am loving the ad-hoc tableness of the clamps I got from Simon at Fusion, most useful and cool.)

And there it sits.

I will give it an unclamp and rearrange if needed later, but it will be tomorrow before I can do much more of use. (And yes, there is a lack of clamping going on in the middle, but that's ok, I have a plan...)

In other news, obviously I am awaiting couriers and will be tomorrow too (Old Honey is a coming) so don't expect too much sense out of me.

La la laaa

Before the err, storm of walnut.

Stripily Backed

Jooky Instant Tables Inc.

Oops, I Did It Again

Old Honey - Masterwork from JXG Guitars

Well, my big plans for the week have kinda fallen into ashes, as I forgot that today was destined to be AWOL day, and I've just realised that the school holibobs start on Thursday evening rather than Friday. So I've lost two days of my final five already without really trying.

But there we are. I'm still hopeful that I'll get The Raymond One fettled and hopefully The Betty Blue One veneered before the week is out. Well, you never know.

In other news, I've got a nice lefty Jazzmaster neck on it's way, which should be fun for The Fallen One, and I seem to have acquired another, err, Les Paul Studio.

* cough *

I know, I know.

This one is a bit different though, as it is fairly new - 2010 - and is one of the 50s Studio Tributes they did for a while. So it has a lovely big neck, rosewood board, isn't too heavy as they have removed all the pulp and pips (I'm convincing myself that is a good thing) and boasts twin P90s. If this wasn't enough, I'm getting it from the luthier John Gill of JXG Guitars fame, and it is one he has done an amazing job on, basically, upgrading everything in and out of sight, adding a Bigsby and giving it a relic job based on Neil Young's Old Blacky. As this is a Honeyburst finish though, it has been rechristened, Old Honey, which I like so that can stay.

It should be here on Wednesday anyway, and I'll do a proper introduction/specification list then, along with a lot of genuflection and general gibbering.

John's spec is crazy tyop notch:

Gibson Les Paul Studio 50's Tribute in honeyburst. Original 2010 Limited Edition
Bare Knuckle Blue Note P90's (alnico IV magnets in bridge)
Bibsby B7 fitted (stop tail holes filled with mahogany/maple plugs)
Converted to ABR-1 (nashville holes plugged with maple), KTS bridge with titanium saddles and long stainless steed studs, double wheeled.
Full rewire to 50's spec with braided wire, CTS pots, Russian PIO caps, 0.022 bridge and 0.015 neck.
All plastics replaced apart from jack plate and truss rod cover. Bareknuckle P90 covers and Fatboy switch tip.
Brown rear control plates. Tuner buttons are aged Kluson replacements.
Allparts Speed knobs, one has broken so was replaced, it's a slightly different colour just to be upfront- all part of the relic fun!
Fret dress and unbleached bone nut fitted.
Finish has been buffed and medium relic'd except for heavy pickwear. The neck is unrelic'd.
Hiscox Liteflite Pro case, custom made to fit the bigsby.
Set up for 11's
 

If you haven't come across JXG before, there are some examples of his work on his web site Here, and I'll see if I can find some fotos of a Les Paul Jr he did a while back which would make Gibson's Custom Shop hang their heads in shamefilled shamedness.

So that is rather exciting.

As I am now offish poorhouse brassic, any offers for The JoBo, Old E and B Movie Ones would be very timely, and my old battered Gordo might have to go too. Such is the life of a poor little chap of slender means but big ideas..

La la laaa

Only Making Plans For Raymondo

Well, as next week is the last of holibobless Jookiness, I figure I should concentrate and make my last arrow count (I do look back on those self-improvement courses fondly. Apart from that one in an Irish Hotel where I woke Russell Grant up at 4am, me drunk, him in a towel.)

So, I figure I should concentrate on getting one guitar finished, and maybe have something new to distract me from Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, Top Gear and Minecraft. Oh and Peppa Pig (though I secretly like that one. It's Rebeca Rabbit, she's a bit of a cutey.)

The one 'Mostly Likely' then, is the rather cheery The Raymond One, so I have got my finger out and ordered the missing bits, which are (you always knew there would be a list at this point, didn't you?):

1. A Stratty Trem:

Not my usual Tele approach, but I've gone for one of those Wilkinson/Gotoh ones, all steel blocks and baseplates and everything else. I would add that it isn't because they have a push in trem arm and that I always cross thread the screwy-in ones, but I'd be lying so I won't do that.

2. A Pickup:

Young Marc of Mojo Fame is going to wind me one of his wunderfilled Wide Range Humbuckers. I want this guitar to have some gritty balls as well as do the twang thing, and they are perfect for that.

3. A Wiring Loom/Control plate

Again, Mr Mojo to the rescue, as he is going to wire me a control plate that will give me a stunning array of sonic options, utilising his lovely paper in oil caps and CTS pots and trendy switches and old fashioned wire and whatever other voodoo he throws in there for goodly measurement.

4. Strap Pins:

I always forget these, but I like the jumbo ones. (That isn't another Russell Grant divergence.)

And that is about it, which can't be bad.

Which means of course that I can do nothing more on that for the rest of the day, so I might as well do something else instead.

La la laaa

Jookylicious Baby

Well, I did finish The B Movie One in the end, and crafted a neat little cavity cover out of the B Side of the same record, and jolly nice it looks too. As I was in-the-zone, as it were, I also did the pickguard for The Raymond One, though I am still waiting for the record for The Travellin' Man One, so that will have to be another day.

Other than chopping records up, I thought today could be a good day to finally make a Haut D'Jook T Shirt, or at least see if I can. So I've done one based on The JoBo One to see how it looks. Or more to the point, see what is left once it has been washed, I guess. I'll do a before and after later if you are really interested. Actually, I'll do it whether you are or not.

This is what it looks like at the moment prior to something biological.

While I was cooking old records, I took some advice (not for the first time) from luthier-extraordinary Wez Venebles and made myself a new fruit bowl out of an old Simple Minds record. We always struggle with the bananas you see, you can't put them in with the other fruit without sending it bad, so this could prove to be a godsend. I don't think it can be an official Jooky though, so don't expect it in the Hall of Fame just yet.

And the award for the best use of a
Simple Minds Record Goes...Bananas

It does strike me that I should get on with old Raymondo though. I basically need a Strat trem thing, a pickup, wiring stuff and that is about it. So not too much in truth at all. Hmmm...

As for the rest of the day, who knows... I am only one man after all, and a T Shirt a fruit bowl, scratchplates...well, it takes it's toll. I am toll-less.

I've got to work out how to use the washing machine now of course, that could take a while, has to be said...

La la laaaa

B Movie - NOw with Covered Cavities, Bless

Raymondo gets a Jimmy Reed 'plate

Travellin' At Last

Raymund-a-Go-Go

Well, the week has started with a slink, but a little progress is no better than progress at all. As my Granny once said. Drunk, obviously.

So The Raymund One has had it's finish finished and very bright and sunny it is too. Tomorrow will see me chopping some innocent vinyl into a pickguard with a bit of luck, and then it will be mothballed until I get my act together and all the parts are here.

I also started to finish The Travellin' Man One - start at the back of course, but I don't think this wet weather agrees with my gubbins as it is taking forever to try even the first coat. Hopefully I'll get another one in before nite-nites, and I can do the front tomorrow.

All in all it feels like crawling uphill in molasses at the moment.

Tomorrow is another day though, so there we are. Waiting for multiple couriers, I just remembered. Gord, my specialised subject.

Anyway..

La la laa

Travellin' in the right direction at last

Filling that grain like it's 1999

Raymond No Burr

Well, I'm feeling the love now as far as The Raymond One goes, but I've had a change of heart and have decided against putting the veneer on it, as basically I don't think it would work (aesthetically) with this paisley.

I know, I know it kinda kills the whole 'Raymond Burr' thing, in the same way that deciding not to put the Pearly Gates pickup in The Pearly Dewdrop One fails to amuse too, but there we are.

So, I've snapped up another swamp ash Tele body which is going to get corrosion plus veneer instead, which makes more sense I feel.

Told you I was inconsistent, most of the time.

As for the pickup-things, I'm coming around to the idea of going for a single 'bucker with some smart leccybobbins to give some different tones. I loved the Mojo Wide Ranger and I think that would be perfect for The Raymond One.

There, a decision, imagine that on a Sunday and all?

I also think I'll do my final vinyl record scratchplate, though I think I should find a picture disk or maybe a clear or coloured vinyl one. Which might take some charity shop shopping to sort out. It needs to be something groovy and cool, so that might kill my chances somewhat. And have something to do with Raymond. Hmmm. Been better with Arnold and gone the Pink Floyd route. Still, there we be.

Raymondo has had a good lacquering now anyway, so that be good. Should be dry by Monday, even if nowt else has been sorted out.

As for other stuff this coming week, Raymondo will soon be in parts-a-waiting hell, so I'll be moving on The Travellin' Man One tomorrow and getting that looking lovely. Oh, and I'm planning on sorting a T Shirt out while I'm at it too.

La la laaaa

Like a Butterfly Under A Tricycle

Well, The Raymond One now has a full dose of paisleyness and is lovely and bright. Almost seems a shame to cover the top up, but then, tis a hard knock life. I'll do some fotos later on.

I am feeling rather horrible now though, it has to be said, as when I'd left Raymondo drying, it seems a butterfly decided to err, flutter by, and somehow ended-up upside-down in a dollop of glue. And well, basically snuffed it.

Departed.

Tis now an ex-butterfly and all that Python stuff people quote without realising it wasn't funny in the first place and that it only makes them look like right plums.

But the dead butterfly. It made me a bit sad.

What a waste.

(Actually, it may be a moth, but "flutter by little butterfly" sounds better than "th mo little moth".)

But anyway, it isn't good and I only hope the wee thing was glued-up in more ways than one and didn't suffer. I do wonder if I should bury him, maybe under the walnut burr veneer, so he is part of The Raymond One forever, or is that just too weird?

I don't know.

I guess I've never gotten over Jurassic Park and all those mozzies in amber.

Anyway, I'm starting on the paisleyness of The Travellin' Man One while Raymondo dries over the weekend, and I can lacquer then burr, as it were, next week.

Young Mojo Marc sent me some more fotos of the pups for The B Movie One, so they will no doubt arrive next week sometime too and then I'll have something else to stress over.

But back to The Raymond and Travellin' Man Ones, I think I've sorted everything in my head apart from pickups and wire for these two now, so I need to think about them I guess and start to do some shopping when I have pennies to rub together.

The Raymond One is HH so I'm going to go for a Mojo Wide Range Humbucker and probably some sort of PAF type, as between them they should give some nice tones to play with.

The Travellin' Man One is HSS and is going to have a couple of single coils and a splittable 'bucker at the bridge. This will be a bit of a hot PAF, I think. I'm really tempted by a couple of lipstick pickups for a bit of bluesy bite, but we'll have to see.

Obviously, a bit more fun to be had there, methinks, so who knows where we'll wash-up in truth.

Both will have Strat trems, so I'm thinking of the Gotoh/Wilkinson ones with the solid steel block to make them all zingy like new toothpaste, and tuners I haven't really decided about yet, but probably Grovers or Gotohs, I can't decide such things yet.

I seem to be fast approaching the guitars-coming-out-of-my-ears scenario once more, worse if the new bridge for the Marauder - The Ronin One - ever arrives, but there we are. Though The Fabulous One is jangling into a new pasturally sunset, so that's one of my kids less to worry about, just got to teach it to cook for itself before it goes.

But I am a little haunted at the moment, by the butterfly crushed beneath the Jooky tricycle, it has to be said.

La la laaaa

TV Jookies and Raymund's Burr

Well, I managed to start the paislification of The Raymund One yesterday, but ran out of sticky gubbins so am on a bit of a crusade to find some today that doesn't involve Ebay and waiting for a week for it to show up. But such is life. Never even got as far as that on The Travellin' Man One, which is really bugging me.

My plan to have these a good way along by the end of the week has kinda disappeared in a cloud of sloth, as I've fallen in love with my Vintage Lemon Drop and can't leave the wee thing alone and time just seems to disappear in a haze of '60s white man blues, played with panache if not accuracy, style or feel.

It's lasted a week though, that is going some around here. So I'll probably flog it soon.

I love the advice not to feed a bull into the table saw

As for other things, all the parts are on their merry way for The Old E One so that should be nice to do next week, and I may even have found myself a router, so who knows, wood may be chopped.

In fact the highlight of the morning was Mr Mojo himself sending me some fotos of the flatwork (I just nod and look as though I understand) for the two TV Jones sized P90s he is crafting for The B Movie One. I've never tried one of Marc's petite P90s, but those that have have been raving about them, so I can't wait. Cool McGroovy. TV Jookies, doesn't get better than that.

As for today then, I'm on a glue hunt like a poorly dressed Pet Shop Boy.

S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G, I'm shopping.

La la laaa

Double Paisley With A Touch of Burr

The Raymund and Travellin' Man Ones
Await Paisleyification With
Rust and Burr On-the-side

Well, I must admit I never expected to get The JoBo One fettled at the first attempt, but I guess monkeys can throw  shaky spears if they have enough goes, so a Jooky miracle might happen once-upon-a-time-a-long-time-ago-today.

Must admit I'm rather chuffed with it and it seems that maybe Marc at Mojo's wiring works better than my attempts, as far as the Esquireness goes. (ahem)

In other news, I had the paisley arrive for The Raymund One, so the foto shows that along with the walnut burr laminate which will go on top of the top as well.

I'm going to have a day of paisleyification tomorrow, doing that and The Travellin' Man One side-by-side, assuming I've got enough finishing bobbins to go around. Which I might have, or probably possibly not.

I decided to put The B Movie One away in it's case until I have the pickups and all that, in case you are wondering how come I'm not getting twitchy about having so many guitars around all of a sudden.

La la laaa

And then, one day, there may be....The Raymond One

The Gypsy One
I Lurrved It So

Well, still on a vapourific bent, one I keep mentioning is that I've long wanted to do another veneered Tele, as I loved the rosewood-topped The Gypsy One, and more to the point I have some lovely walnut burr laminate sitting doing nothing.

And like Ol' Mama Nature, I abhor a vacuum more than anything.

Apart from, perhaps, emptying one.

Anyway, the thing I love about The Gypsy One is the sheer ramshackleness of the finish. I butchered the veneer and used rust around the edges for that authentically dilapidated feel, and it sounded grand. And basically, I haven't gone this route since and feel I want to. So there. Unburnished Fizzyness, as it were.

As for The Raymond One, I want it to be another Tele, walnut burr veneered front over a lovely deep
red paisley so that it peeps thru the splinters. I like the err, (excuse the attempt at appearing of-this-Century) "mash-up" of different finishes and I have just figured that this would work. In my head at least.

I may be wrong, but who would know if I didn't at least try?

Not me anyway.

Oh and a couple of twangy 'buckers for the noisnikness. I'm thinking I might pair a Mojotron with one of their Wide Rangers and see where that gets me. Or maybe a P90, I don't know in truth. I just make this up as I go along, let's face it.

So again in the vapour-stakes, this is one more for the list, though as it doesn't involve grave personal danger, cowardice might see it happen sooner rather than terrah-a-bit-later-on.

In case you are wondering what all this talk is about, it is really because I can't actually do much this week and it has given me the 'opportunity' to think about what I do want to make. Sometimes it is suggested by the parts I have and others it isn't. Hope that helps.

Today though, in between chasing Wendy houses around the garden in windy gales, I'm going to try to start the body work and generally get some paisley onto The JoBo One.

La la laaa