The OCD One - WIP

The OCD One: Front - Uncut

Well, I promised to show the OCD One as we went along, and then failed dismally, so here is a bit of a flavour...

Firstly, to recap, this is the first 'Jooky Custom' guitar I've attempted, where I put one together to somebody else's 'spec'. In this case Geoff,
nice bloke Geoff.

Anyway, it has taken a while due to various falls down stairs, and mishaps, but we are finally at the lacquering stage and I figured it would be nice to show the design.

I think I mentioned before that it has a kinda old-style goth/emo look to it, and in the fabric we've used as a covering, Geoff has picked-up on that in a big way...as you can see. As before, it will have a 70s headstock, maple neck, twin lipstick pickups and a Retrotron 'Hot Liverpool' humbucker, which will be coil-tapped, blah blah & a blah.

So there we are...you won't see another like this one...

The OCD One: White SSS Scratchplate

p.s. The dents on the scratchplate are just where I haven't cut-the-'oles out, as it were...

The OCD One: Uncut

The OCD One: Black Scratchplate HSS

The OCD One: Black scratchplate reclining casual like

Vapourware - Riding The Peace Train

As I seem to be talking 'Vapourware' at the moment - although I do fully intend to actually build a few guitars soon, so it is more of a case of setting me stall out really - I thought I'd tell you my plans for that wonderfilled guitar-that-I-know-nowt about that does a mean impression of Hawkwind's Silver Machine.

I mentioned it the other day and a couple of people have since told me that it is definitely of a 1960s vintage, and that it hasn't been upgraded, though nobody has produced the pictures, so who knows really.

Where was I?
Oh yes. Anyway, I'm talking about the Strat-a-like with lots of switches and knobs and an auto-wah and fuzzbox built-in.

Well, having a good an' proper look now, I've decided that what I'm going to do is upgrade the tuners and possibly the neck if it is anywhere near a standard size and it doesn't scrub up decent like. I'm then going to give it the ultimate in groovy finishes, as befits it's possible vintage, and depending on what I find under the hood, I might well swap the pickups for something else. It depends though, and I must admit I'm slightly reluctant to swap the pickups as the existing ones sound so bloomin' good, but like I say, I'll see where we're at when I get to that part...)

Other than that, despite my initial misgivings, I've completed fallen in love with the bridge, so that stays and I am scared to death to rewire the effects, as god knows what they will look like, and as they don't crackle or hum, that is fine anyway.

The finish, I think, will be something special (I always say that, but am I wrong?) and I've already got a good idea of what that will be.

All in all then, not too bad and I still can't believe how much fun it is. All it really needs now is a name - 'The Peace Train One' has a nice ring to it.

***

Ooh, I do like Natalie Merchant

Something Completely Different

I mentioned the pine tele body I'd picked up, you know the one I fancy turning into something vaguely Esquire like, although with a second pickup hidden under the blank scratchplate? Yep, that one to the left with the plain black scratchplate on it..

Anyway, I was away for a few days and spent them thinking a lot about it, and I've come to the conclusion, that maybe this is the baby where I should try something that I was saving for my first custom designed body shape thingie. Another proof-of-concept, if you like, as I have no patience.

Well, the Esquire approach is definitely the way I'm going. I've got a quite beautiful Bare Knuckle Brown Sugar pickup for the bridge, and am yet to decide on the neck pickup, but am thinking of a P90 of some kind, if that will prove powerful enough.

As for the finish, I was initially thinking of a deep brown stain - I have a hang-up about rosewood teles, and was thinking that that might be a nice idea, to try and get somewhere close to the colour. However, it struck me that it might be the time to try the copper-top I have been thinking about, and as it happens I think I will. I think I mentioned before that I've always liked the idea of the Zematis and Trussart guitars, with their different takes on metal bodied guitars, and whilst I don't really want to go the whole hog, I am thinking that a copper top for the body would be particularly lovely looking.

Not that I'd want to leave it all Duracell-a-like, no.

What I've been investigating over the last couple of months are some of the finishes sculptors and roofers use to artificially age metal. I mean, if you have a brand new tin roof on your cottage, why wait decades for it to go a lovely shade of weathered when you can help nature along a wee bit?

Another idea is maybe that I could have a go at enamelling (?) though I think I need a furnace or a blowtorch to do that properly as it involves, err, melting glass powder. Might try both of course...

Anyway, that is what I'm thinking - either a bit of enamel or an artificially and artfully aged copper top for the guitar, with the remainder of the body having some other finish. Maybe even the rosewood look, who knows.

So that is the plan, I'm going to get some copper and see what I can do from there (though I don't think I'll be using the traditional roofer method of a few pints of cider and then taking a leak over it...)

Naturally, this could well become The Weathered One...or perhaps the Teacher's Jewelry One. Who can say?

More belly buttons

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

I don't know why that is,

I lurve P90s

or maybe I do really.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nowt on the block again

I typed 'Potless into Google, and...

The keen eyed among you may have noticed that I'm back to the 'nothing to sell' stage again, which happens quite often I guess. 

This time it is because a nice chap called John has gone for the Spangled One, and hopefully will report back soon with his impressions of it. 

In the end I decided that I wasn't 100% on the pickups, having spoken to him about the type of music he plays, so in a last minute reversal, I swapped in a rather nifty set of Fender Tex Mex ones. These are lovely pickups (apparently the ones they put in the Jimmy Vaughan signature geetar), and I love the fact that the middle one is reverse wound so that they hum cancel in those crucial in-betweeny positions.

Anyway, as part of the deal I have a nice Dano '59 reissue coming back in this direction, which I think could be fun. I'm on a bit of a lippy pickup hike at the moment, so the timing couldn't be better...

Still, I guess I'd better get my finger out and do something. I like the idea of doing the Custom things, and the OCD One has been a joy so far, but it is nice to do them the old fashioned way and make it up as I go along, innit?

I'm a Jigsaw - Or all about going to pieces in the box

Fabien de Frietas - Another dodgy finisher

Well, the OCD One started so well, but I don't mind admitting that I cocked it up. Nothing drastic, and no real harm done, but it wasted a bit of time and added a few more days to the 'Expected delivery date', which isn't good.

What did I do?

Well, the lovely finish we're going with involves a cream coloured cloth with a rather wicked design on it. This, I think will look the canine's cojones when it is done, but I didn't think about the fact that the guitar body I'm using (a lovely, lightweight Alder one, if you are wondering) had previously been finished in black.

Don't get me wrong, I've used black bodies before (and red, blue, purple, white, silver and well, lots of colours now) and never had a problem, and maybe it is because the fabric is a little thinner or that the cream is just that bit more tender, but the bottom line was that you could see the black thru the cloth, which kinda killed the effect somewhat.

Worse still, where I'd applied the adhesive with a brush you could see brush marks through it too.

In summary, nightmare.

Anyway, that was a little too Jooky, even for me, and so I've stripped the guitar back, given it a good smoothing too, and done what I should have done in the first place which was to give it a nice white undercoat. Something that will pay dividends later on...methinks.

So there we are, confession over.

While I've been waiting for the paint to dry, it has given me the chance to get on with some other OCD bits, and I thought the neck was as good a place to get going as any. As I mentioned before the wood is really nice and as it happens there wasn't much to do other than to put the Schaller tuners on and add the logo. I did, give it a light sand and a couple of coats of very thin nitro - investment for the future kind of thing. It was a practically unfinished neck so it needed a touch of something and oil didn't seem to fit with this one.

Other than that I've started to prepare the finishes for the two scratchplates. The one the guitar will 'ship' with (the HSS Filtron and lippie pickups) is having a black version of the cloth, to give a nice contrast. I was a little worried that it would look too busy, but as it happens it doesn't, and I'm pretty chuffed with that.

The second one, which is the three single coils, is going to be cream to match the body, and again it was nice to see how that worked out as it retained the cream look and gives a nice indicator for the body, of course.

Surprisingly, I even remembered to use the right colour pickguards (I had one white and one black...soooo...)

So, basically we're getting closer now. Once the pickguards are finished I'll wire them up, and I can be getting on with the body finish after a bit of flattening of the undercoat.

In more of an upbeat summary, can't be bad...

Back On Track, All Over Again

Well, things are getting back to busy in Jookyland once more. I'm putting the finishing touches to the Funky One - more on that soon, and my first Custom job, The OCD One is coming along too.

On top of that, I've decided to have a go at another Tele after picking up a beautiful hand made pine body from a chap, and a lovely neck off the bay. I must admit I've always been intrigued by the idea of pine bodies, since I read that some of the original Teles were made of pine, and more recently I (think) that the Fender Baja Telecasters have gone that route again. Actually I just checked on the Fender site and they are Alder, but there we are. They do make Custom Shop ones though, so there. More to the point, what I'm planning to do with this one is something a bit swish.

First off, it will have a rather cool finish - no surprise there, I guess - but I want something that looks a little along the lines of a single pickup esquire, with no pickup at the neck.

Saying that, I'm really tempted to have a hidden humbucker or overwound P90 under the traditionally blank pickguard, so  that the options are there, but without it looking like it.

This has it's own problems, I guess, as the magnets will be further from the strings and covered by a layer of plastic, but I'm hoping that a higher powered pickup should overcome this. I'll give it a wee go... Other than that, I could maybe put a boost circuit in or something...

Anyway, no doubt you'll hear more about that soon...la la la.

Feels like we're back on track

***

Speaking of the OCD One, if you've been following my escapade into Customness, I'm pleased to say that it is coming together quite very nicely, and more to the point it has been a real pleasure working with Geoff, not least because he makes decisions a lot quicker than I do.

As far as the future goes, I am actually quite keen to try it again, so if you have always fancied one of our guitars, but never quite seen what you want, give me a shout, and who knows...we could make beautiful musical instruments together.

I am sooo very cheap, you wouldn't believe it. Laaa.

Jooky Custom: Getting a bit more OCD

Well, I mentioned The OCD One, which is my 'tester' of a first Jooky Custom Guitar, but didn't really explain what is happening in any detail. Which has a certain irony, I guess.

Anyway, the idea is simple - I've worked with a really nice chap called Geoff and agreed a spec for the guitar, which is basically a Strat shaped, large headstocked, HSS pickuped thing of beauty. It is going to have a quite amazing emo-goth finish, which is cool even by Jooky standards, with a contrasting scratchplate design. I won't explain the finish further yet, but it will really be a moment of jaw dropping intensity. If you check the comments on this site, Geoff is very nicely explaining how it goes from his perspective. (Which I might regret in the long run - la la la). But the OCD One:

Wiring wise, the humbucker is going to be something spesh, coil tapped and generally cool and then there are a couple of single coils in there in the middle and at the neck for all those traditional sounds.  As far as the humbie goes, we're going for a good old-fashioned Filtron look, in the shape of a GFS Hot Liverpool Retroton. Again these are something a bit different, giving a flavour of the old Gretsch twang, but they have still got the balls of a good PAF. I like these a lot as you don't get the mushiness which you find on a lot of hummers when you try to clean them up. I've never coil tapped one before, so that is something new for all of us.

The two single coils are going to be Kent Armstrong Hot Lipstick beauties, which will give it a good range of sounds methinks. I like these because they give you that Dano sound, but then have a lot more too. Easy to get the standard Strattiness, but then can get almost Jazzmaster like with a bit of tone fumbling.

The neck is a one piece maple jobbie, with a (surprise, surprise) maple fretboard, which should be nice and bright and it is a lovely large '70s Fender headstock at the top. It's got a lovely 'pattern' to the grain, but nothing in your mush and PRS-wallpaper-like.

To fill the holes in the end I've just grabbed some Schaller tuners, which should mean that the tuning will be as solid as a rock and for the bridge it will be a nice piece of Wilkinson Steel which will give a good dose of sustain, and generally everything is going to be nice and solid. I just can't wait to play it.

To make things even more interesting, it is going to be 'supplied' - I am sooo very businessman-like - with a second scratchplate, set-up with a standard three single coil combo - Fender pickups in there. This will mean that it should easy enough to swap things around if the need ever arises. The design will be different on this, and all in all, I think that is a nice touch. Might even be a little cigar box amp to match, if I get my act together, and I already owe somebody else one too. (Note to me: Make some amps you muppet.)

As with a couple of our guitars before, I'm planning to finish the err, finish, with a thin coat of nitro, over a poly lacquer basecoat. I know a few people will throw their hands up at such a concoction, but especially with this guitar, I think it will age beautifully that way. I do the same with a lot of the necks anyway, despite the usual abuse and oil I inflict on them...


So things are looking good, and I think the first Jooky Custom is really going to look like a custom guitar...

All in all then, I'm looking forward to this and have spent the last week or so scurrying around and gathering the parts, and I'm rather keen to get back to doing some guitars. Pronto like, missus.

OCD, is definitely the new cool.

Incoming.....

It is probably stating the obvious, but I don't tend to plan too much, as far as all this Jooky bobbins goes. I have plenty of ideas and stuff, and I probably talk about them before I've thought them through, but generally I make it up as I go along. It's cooler like that.

The fact that a lot of what is made comes down to the parts and things that I happen to come across helps, of course, but there we are, I wouldn't want to get too hung up on stuff and I do have quite an addiction to chaos, randomness in-excelsis.

All of which is why I'm rather excited about a guitar that I've picked-up from t'bay, which is all very off the wall. As you know, I tend to get a bit from here, a couple of parts more from over there somewhere and then hustle for the rest before I 'create' dah-lin'. This time though, the guitar is trashily perfect as it is and other than a few minor changes - I'm going to refinish it Jookily, and maybe put new tuners on as they are a touch to the left of ropey, and I think probably I will end-up rewiring it too - it will just be fun from the off.

What it is, is a bit of a mystery, but I'm told by somebody who appears to know more about vintage guitar bobbins than I would ever want to, that it was made in the early Seventies, probably by Teisco. It might be Argos for all I know, but my own eyes tell me that it is vaguely Strat like but as with a lot of guitars at the time (and I blame that Les Paul chappie) it has a bunch of knobs and switches which control a fine collection of effects such as distortions and even an Auto wah. (I lurrrvvveee an Auto wah). Couple of batteries slip in the back and away you go.

The body is thinner than a real Strat and as far as 'carves' go, there is only one which nestles my ample stomach quite nicely, and an excuse for one so that it doesn't chafe my batwings, but man does it sing. It has that lovely Danelectro kind of sound to it (the tin can bridge might have something to do with that) and in summary it is beautifully cheesy.

So all in all, as far as Jookiedom gets, this is a bit of a gift-from-the-dogs...and I'm looking forward to piecing this one together big-time. I'm thinking that I'll keep the black scratchplate for once, and Jookify the body with something nice. Maybe cowgirls or death-head-skulls would be fitting. Or maybe even Paisley, who can tell..

Nice words..

It is always nice to hear from somebody who has taken the plunge and bought one of our Jooky little things, and more so as it is entirely unsolicited and not even a little bit prompted (ahem).

OK, I always ask if people will let me know what they think and some do, others don't but there we are.

Either way, Paul the newly proud owner of the gorgeous Mellow One had this to say, gord bless 'im:

"Stumbling across The Mellow One on ebay, it was fascination, quickly turning into love at first sight.  In the flesh, the vibe is 100% rock 'n' roll with its single humbucker and the mellow paisley finish complementing that maple neck and big 70s style headstock perfectly.  The playability is spot on and highly addictive.  In fact it's taken me 30 minutes to write this, 'cause I keep stopping to play it!  As for that BK pickup, it sounds superb, both clean and dirty - I just know the neighbors are going to agree!  The only problem is this worrying interest I'm starting to develop in paisley..."

Ah....

Custom is as it does

Well, after much thought I've finally got a grip of Ye Olde Jooky Custom Programme. Though I'll obviously have to think of a better name. The idea is then that I'll now be making (or at least offering to make) Jooky guitars to anybody that wants one. They'll get choices on all the bits and bobs and then I'll create their monster for them. Which is all good stuff, and it means that I won't quite be surrounded by guitars that I have to try and sell before I can make the next one - and more to the point it should stop the emails saying 'I really like the Mellow One, but couldn't it have X, Y or Z'.

How does this fit with my aim to start making some original designs?
Well, I'm glad you asked.

Basically, they will just become options - you can have something traditional, which I'll source elsewhere, cloth or paper finishes a specialty of the house, naturally, or you’ll hopefully be able to pick one of the designs I've been working on.

So will this all cost people shed loads?
No, I don't think so. I still very much want to keep the old recycling ethic going, and like anything it depends on what you pick...

All I need now is to do a proof-of-concept, to see how it works in reality...


And guess what?

Yep. I'm pleased to say that I've got my first err, victim. A lovely chap from down south who is game enough to let me try and put a guitar together to his spec. And I have to say I'm really looking forward to it, as it is a bit more of a challenge in some ways, yet nice to have somebody to bounce ideas off. The guitars will still be complete one-offs, of course, and the whole ethos remains the same, but it makes things a bit more professional and basically gives me a sharp kick up the back and side, which is all good.

Anyway, the first of these babies is to be a Strat shape, CBS shaped headstock and a HSS pickup arrangement.. All maple neck and tapped coils, with a fine and uber cool finish.

Sounds like fun, and I'm already scouting for toys, as it were.

It's going to be called The OCD One, it is going to have a crazy goth-come-emo-esque finish, and I can't wait.

Ta-daaa

Jookadelic Baby

OK, enough belly-button-spotting, time to get back into Jookyland proper like.
First things first, is the Funky One. If you remember this is a lovely '72 Tele-esque guitar, with a rather crazy and yes, funk-filled, paisley finish to it. I love the Seventies Teles, all monster scratchplates and double humbuckers, and this one is a lovely player, I'm pleased to say.

Anyway, I have a decision to make about the thing, and it is my usual dilemma of pickups, as basically I've got some interesting ones to choose from.

First up are the Wilkinson PAF-like pickups that came with the guitar. I must admit, despite the rather excellent Vintage (tm) guitars, I'd kind of assumed that these would be a straight pull-out-and-chuck-away thing.

I know, me of all people being snobby, can you imagine?

Anyway, that changed in the nano second it took me to play my full six string repertoire, as they sounded amazingly good. Couldn't quite believe it, and I'm really tempted to keep them. But as ever, I have some other pickups to hand and so there is a...

Second option, which was really what I thought I'd do in the first place. These are an odd couple. At the neck would be a Di Marzio pickup who's name escapes me, but that was taken out of a Fender HM Tele. This has an amazing, tone to it and is quite unlike yer bog standard humbie. I really like the pickup, but not enough to remember its name. With this then, I was planning on slapping an IronGear Hot Slag into the bridge. Again, a bit of a monster of a pickup, but one that cleans up amazingly nicely - you could almost take it home to meet your mother, if not mine.

Third option, and a bit of a wild card, is a pair of Tokai PAF-esque pickups that came out of a Japanese Les Paul. Are these called 'Love Rocks', or am I getting muddled-up about that? Whatever they are called, these are a bit more traditional sounding and I think they would be lovely like a lovely thing in the Funky One.

So what to do? Stick with the Wilko, go heavy with the Slag or take a punt on something from the orient?

I don't know.

The wiring too, I'm dilemma-angsted about. I had originally wired it a la Les Paul with two volume, two tones and a switch (like a '72 Tele, surprisingly), but I'm coming to the conclusion that (apart from if I use the Di Marzio and Hot Slag where the extra controls might come in handy) it might be nicer to go more simplistic, with one tone and a single volume.

Again though, what to do.

Still, I have time to decide, how hard can it be...?

Back In Black

It's funny, but after going around in circles for the last few weeks, I've finally got it straight in my head about how exactly I want the 'New Jooky' to work. With me the hard part is cutting down the ideas to those that I can actually get finished without turning in 28 hour days, nineteen days a week, and that is the case again - there are so many cool things to be doing, that I need to keep it simple if I'm ever likely to do something I'm happy with. Blah blah blah. I know, I go on a bit. Tis boring already.

Anyway, lots of R&D to do, but of more interest is the one-that-has-been-sitting-patient-like-on-the-bench, the fabled twin buckered '72 Tele-a-like, The Funky One. Basically, it is waiting to be wired for the second time, as I probably said, due to the fact that my daughter took pliers and wire cutters to the insides and I haven't had a chance to look at it again since. The time though is right now - well, next week anyway - and I'm going to get it sorted out.

I haven't done many Teles before - this will be the second in fact - which is mainly down to there being a lot less second-hand parts available for some reason, but this is a bit of a beaut and I'm starting to itch about it all. The finish is absolutely beautiful if mad and colourfilled paisley is your thing, and there we are.

I've also promised to get my act together on the Growler pedal project, which has had far too many false starts and unavoidable delays already, but is all cool...

Anyway, meandering through fields of vague promises again, time to stop.

Gone, Gone & Gone - something Paisley and Spangled, all at the same time

Just a quick note to say that for the next few days, the rather glittery Paisley that is The Spangled One is available a wee bit cheaper...

So if you have been hanging in there, thinking 'Hmmm...' this might be your chance to do a good deal.

(I am sooo very car trader)

Anyway, in summary - for the next few days, for this lovely guitar, I am very much open to sensible offers..

Thank you very muchly

If you are interested email me at info (at) jooky (dot) co (dot) uk

p.s. In case you are wondering, this post previously mentioned The Mellow One too, but that has now sailed off into the land of the rising sun.
Near Ipswich, if my geography isn't as bad as I think

I'm in Lust

*Sigh*

 

Mapleglo

Rickenbacker 660

Now that is mighty pretty

The Cremery - Groovy Guitars

Following on from my Gordon Smith sycophantism, I wanted to mention somebody else in the UK that is making some groovy looking guitars. They have only been around a short amount of time compared to GSG, and to be perfectly honest I'm not sure whether they make totally individual guitars or those they have on their web site are a 'range' of products, as it were, but either way they are way cool. Maybe I should read the words rather than just staring at the guitars with my mouth open.

If I'm honest, I'm actually hoping that they are total one-offs as that would make them even more so rather awesome.

They are called The Creamery, by the way, better mention that hadn't I?

Anyway, the first of theirs I saw was a Zachary-inspired butcher's block telecaster, which looks utterly lovely. I quite fancied having a go at one myself when I came across the phlegmatic Mr. Zachary, but never quite got to Ikea to buy the board, but I might do yet.

Following on from that though, I used my offset-radar and discovered their Jazzmaster influenced guitar the Blackguard One. This looks gorgeous (I may have mentioned it before, thinking about it) and I would love to have a thrash on such a thing.

Since then, they have become winders of their own pickups and added to the guitar list (which makes me think - hope - that maybe they are one-offs) and generally got all rather swish-like.

So one off guitar makers or something new and special in guitarland, I don't know, but either way, they look beautiful and I think worthy of a long-term-eye-kept-on type of agenda.

I hope they don't mind me showing you a couple of their photos - if you are from The Creamery and do, let me know and I'll draw some artist impressions with crayons instead...

Gordon Smith - That's the way to do it...

I was talking about my plans for the yet-to-be-named guitars I want to make, and how they will be different from the total-one-offs I've been putting together so far.

For the infrequent flyers among you, the basic idea was that people would get a bit more of a choice. My attempt at a vaguely custom-like made-to-order thingie.

All of the associated hot air reminded me of the rather wonderful Gordon Smith Guitars, as basically that is exactly what they do - they have some fantastic designs and put you a guitar together to order.

Not that I'm saying GS are full of hot air - I think they are fantastic - or that Jooky ones will look like Gordon Smith's, there's not a lot of point in doing that, but I don't mind admitting that they are pretty inspirational and I'm not too shy to copy a good idea here or even over thereish.

My favourite Gordon Smith guitar is probably the simplest, the GS 1.6. It is under-stated, simplistic and utterly brilliant to play. I'll try and remember to put a photo up of one, but to give you an idea it is a sort of single pickup Les Paul Junior type-o-thing - the one I prefer, obviously, is the one with a P90 rather than the coil-tapped humbie.

You might think that it is odd to be praising 'a copy' of a Gibson classic, but the two I've tried are much better than the Gibbo equivalent, the tones much more usable and the necks are beauty-filled to play, so no apologies for that.

GS are the pooch's bobbins as far as I'm concerned, and the consistent six-month waiting list reinforces that. They are also handmade by a British luthier, not churned out of a robotic CNC on a production line, so they are truly individual, and beautifully made.

(I have no affiliation with GS Guitars, by the way, I just like them. So there.)

So am I going to rip off their guitars?
Nope, I want to make something different, but I can see the sense of how they work and I like the way they do things. So maybe that I will unashamedly snaffle

Any Colour You Like Baby

One of the things that has set me on my merry way with all this Jooky stuff, is the idea that in these days of mass production in guitarland, big American corporations utilising off-shore construction and everything else, that it is still possible to do-it-small, and make something cool without charging thousands for it.

Don't get me wrong, money is useful, but I'd much rather have the fun of building things without being scared that I've invested my life savings, or borrowed shed-loads of money, and that if I don't sell that Swarovski  encrusted Flying V for a few grand I'm back on the streets and pimping the brats to the local priest.

Which of course is why the guitars I've sold so far have been - let's face it - crazily cheap, and despite being all the things that normally cost the earth (one-off, unique, hand-made etc.) that's the way I like it. Saying that, I got told that they were suspiciously cheap, and I have noticed that the more I charge for them the quicker they sell, but there we are...guitarists are a strange breed. Luckily I can eat whether they sell or not.

But suspiciously cheap?
Well, I can see the point of the suggestion. If you put a couple hundred quid's worth of pickups in a guitar and then sell it for the same sort of price, it does look odd, I guess.

So how does that happen?
Well, as I might have mentioned once or thrice, Jooky guitars are generally made from parts I've bought second-hand -  not always, but most of the time - or sometimes even based on guitars I've been given. Well, twice in fact, but here's hoping.

This means of course that the parts are cheaper, and whilst I could still maybe charge based on their retail. value, I don't really want to. Seems a bit unfair in truth. Often then, guitars will have parts that are worth a load more than the complete guitars are up for, but so be it

Everybody wins.

Don't get me wrong, I don't make a loss on them (actually I did on one, but there we are) but I'd rather they were out there being played than sitting here waiting for somebody to pay thru their schnozzle.

Well, that's the story so far, and for the Kylie/Leona/'Ones' guitars, that is going to be the way of things forever more, I think. If I'm not painting corners a bit close to home.

Moving forward then, with my ideas for shiny new guitars, how does that work then?
Well, I'm planning on building bodies from scratch, and then using top quality pre-made necks until I get the bottle to try making those too.

Pickups and other parts? I'm thinking that generally these will be new, mainly because when I come to sell such beasties, I want to give people options - not just say, 'you can have a Gibson pickup which I've seen listed on Ebay, if you are sharpish'.

All of which sounds a bit more luthier-like than Jooky, but I guess that is where the twist comes in, as I'm planning on making the bodies from reclaimed timbers, whether that is wood from a groovy reclamation yard, or old fireplaces or furniture, time will tell, but either way I don't see myself buying ready-to-use guitar 'blocks' that just need shaping.

Basically then, the idea is that I will have a couple of designs for the body, and then choices for the neck, pickups and hardware - and then of course, being Jooklyland, some interesting options for the finishes...which should be fun.

So again, my perfect plan part 73 1/2 - I talk sooo very much.

My Kinda Business

Have you seen, the most beautiful guitar in the world...? OK, it's a bass, but...

As I mentioned the other day, I've been thinking deep and long about building a Jooky guitar body from scratch, and so - more than any other time - I've been looking really carefully at a lot of guitars. Don't get me wrong, I know how they work and understand all that radius bobbins and intonation things and stuff, but I mean more from an aesthetic point of view. I'm thinking about form, baby, and trying to get my head around why it is that I like some guitars but not others.

And saying that - why I like - is probably a good starting point. If I'm going to come-up with my own design, I guess the easiest and most sensible way to do it is either to take an existing 'shape' - a Les Paul, Strat or Tele - and change a few of the curves. This will no doubt make the guitar more saleable too, and lets face it the majority of electric guitar players probably play a guitar that is more or less one of those shapes, even if that majority are playing a guitar that is influenced rather than influential.

I don't want to do that though - lovely though the Holy Trinity are, I can't really see the point.

So I want to do something a bit different.

At the other end of the spectrum then, we have the I'm-not-like-everybody-else approach, where odd and weird shapes are created not out of any desire for playability, but rather to scream LOOK AT ME. By that I mean the BC Rich kind of stuff, and the weird and wonderful things luthiers put together to get a few column inches in the press and on-line which will hopefully gain them a few more punters through the door. Though we know most of them will be asking for a Strat or Tele with added extras, when they do arrive.

But I don't want to do that either. I've done the Spring collection shock jock thing before, and fun though it is, I can't say I want to make things I really don't want to play myself. I may only ever make one guitar anyway, so it would be a shame to have some monster in the corner that I can only play on stilts with a false arm to hit the glockenspiel.

So where does that leave me? Well, I'm kinda ruling myself out of the heavy metal arena as it isn't my cuppa and I've never fell in love with the pointy things they play.
I'm also unlikely to go for the Holy three, much as I love playing those sort of guitars you have to ask - what would be the point of yet another copy of such things?

But what does that leave? I mean, the guitars I love are things like Jazzmasters, Jaguars - the whole offset thing - so they would naturally come into my thinking. I've said before that I love the look of a lot of the old Voxes, the Teardrop especially, but even the Phantom is interesting in a lot of ways, and I like the idea of stretching what a guitar can do without getting into Midi and track pads and the like. I also love the look of Rickenbackers, surely the most underrated guitar of all time. Ok the 330 and 360s get all the attention alongside that funny bass thing whose name escapes me, but their solid bodies look amazing. I just love the curves on a Rickie, less interested in the chrome addiction, but there we go. Some of the old Epiphones were excellent too - again the shapes are interesting and a lot of the time deceptively simple and you have to love that classic feel to their necks when you find a good oldie. Dan Electros are a similar case - the double-horned one especially, one of the most beautiful guitars I've ever seen.

So in terms of a body shape, I guess what I'm saying is that I want something that is going to look like a lost, small builder classic that stopped getting made in the Seventies because they never sold enough to stay in business, not a tweaked version of a guitar that everybody wants to play.

There, that sounds like my kind of business plan.

Sloth-filled and Lethargy Incarnate

Well, it's been a while and if I'm totally honest hardly anything has occurred in the land of Jook. Not that I see that as a permanent state of being, but it was the end of the school holibobs and then first-days-at-school, and other stuff got in the way.

This domestic blissfulness has given me a chance to think though, and I now have a pretty good idea of where I'm going on a number of fronts, and the biggest bombshell is that I will probably continue to do the odd Leona or Kylie guitar, as basically I like it. What will be different though, is that they will be more of a custom thing, but more about that soon I guess

As far as the pedals go, the 'TG Growler' I have been prototyping - breadboarding, I am very technical - and should be able to build the first one in a couple of weeks time when the youngest bratski is at school full-time and I have time to breathe. The open-wired one sounds good, and I've got a couple of alternatives to play with there too, which are interestingly cool. Not sure if I said before, but this is going to be a two-button-thingie, with a fuzz and a boost able to work together or on their ownsome.

As for Jooky pedals, I've got a good idea where that will go too, so the long winter months should be filled quite nicely.

In the longer term, I've been playing a wee bit with ideas for a Jooky guitar body design, and have surprised myself as it proved to be relatively cool, though maybe I should wait until I've built one before I get too cocky about that. I'm really into the idea of doing a body from scratch and have some nice ideas I think that will be a bit different from the usual Fender and Gibson re-treads. Again though, more on that as it moves...

And there we are. Not a lot new to report, but things should pick-up soon, methinks...