Bit of a Track to the Side

Well, while the lacquer-dry-repeat cycle is going on as far as the Blue Moon One goes, and then can't-solder-until-the-kids-are-at-school-tomorrow one sorts itself out as far as the Loveless One is interested, I got a little sidetracked by an old, battered Strat body I've had lay around for a while. And the left over gold, copper and variegated gold leaf that was stuck in a box.
The body I got ages ago and it truly relicked in every way - including being chewed by a rabid mutt in some places. Still, it is nice and light, but I've never really got around to using it for anything. You want a flat surface for the fabric most of the time, and well, this is battered. It has to be said.

Anyway, I got to wondering what  it would look like gilded and fancied messing around with the different types and going for something more aged from the start - less lacquer than the Golden Shower and Loveless ones have 'enjoyed'.

So this is where it is at. Total chaos and verily Jooky. I've deliberately gone for a 'where it drops' approach right down to literally dropping the leaf onto it then panicking it into some semblance of coverage. I've also left gaps of course and roughed it up even more.




I'm still not sure whether it is a trial for something or it will actually become a guitar yet. Guess we'll see, I'm not a big one for throwing things away, after all.

Monday, Monday

Wire Me Up Baby Doll

Well, it seems I'm in the midst of an activity-flurry as far as Jookiness is concerned. The Loveless One just needs to be wired and bolted, The Blue Moon One is nearly ready for a bit of lacquer and god forbid, I've even decided on the pickups and found them too (as in acquired) and the lipstick loveliness should arrive sometime this week.

So it could actually be that I finish a couple of guitars without getting balder/greyer.

Odd, most odd indeedy.

To top it all, I even sorted out the pickups for my Old Burny guitar - the Les Paul I'm building based on an '80s Burny carcass. Somehow, I managed to get my mits on  a pair of Bare Knuckle Mules - which are basically bang-on-the-money-honey hand scattered pickups based on the exact recipe Gibson used back in the day when they made good guitars. Best of all they come with 'double-cream' covers, so they might look like ye olde traditional P90s if you squint a bit.

I did actually consider putting P90s in, but I've wanted a nice Les Paul for ages now and I'd only end up still wanting one whilst I loved the P90s, if that makes sense. The only question is whether I flip the magnet on the neck pickup for some of that Peter Green out-of-phase nonsense, or do I just see how I get on and maybe have a go at doing that if I get bored..

Lacquer me Sugar

Decisions, decisiveness-not-at-all.

Whatever. I'm kinda planning on getting onto that baby once the Loveless and the Blue Moon-like One are feeling more together. (Although my copper topped Tele is of course a consideration. No doubt it will be whichever one I think I'm meant to be doing at the moment of most boredom etc. You know the score.)

But there we are, so many plans, so little energy. Time will tell.

I am soooo very Zen.

See Moon, Cwy Like A Baby

Well, a long way to go, and the paisley is still free-fallin' over the edges, but here is the starting-to-take-shape The Blue Moon One complete with copper leafed/gilded scratchplate...

Jarringly pretty, I think.

I also decided it s going to have lipstick pickups (once I find a set of three - more SRV than jingle jangle)

Just woke up, excuse the slllooowwwnnneeessss of speech.

Born of Frustration

Well, the bits I was waiting for, to let me complete the Loveless One arrived just now, but unfortunately, a little late for me to use them today...

Tis a shame, have to be next week now, I guess.

In the meantime then, I thought I'd sidetrack meself and get started on the Blue Moon One - the blue paisley Jaguar type of thing I was talking about.

So, as you can see, I have started to put the fabric on. OK, you can't really see yet, but you will next time around.

What else you can't see is that I have sorted the neck out too, and best of all gilded the scratchplate. (I can't remember if I mentioned but I wanted to try a copper leaf scratchplate, and I think it should work nicely here... That is being lacquered at the moment, which will no doubt take the weekend, but it should look good (I keep telling myself). We'll see once it is finished anyway.

So not a total dead loss of a day in the end after all.

Morning Glory, and Doing the Foney Moroni

Well, the post in these here parts can be a bit ropey at times, and you never really know when they will show up - depends on what time they ended the day to hit the cider, has always been my guess.

However, this morning saw an early delivery of some parts ripe for Jookification, and mighty pretty they are too. (although, I have to admit I was hoping it was the T-Topped pickup for The Loveless One arriving, I'd have liked to have sorted that out today. *sigh*)

What they are is a Strat body and neck combo, although the shape of the headstock hints that the 'Fender' logo might be a bit optimistic. Not that I ever leave them on.

I guess it is funny, so many people spend time putting Fender and Gibson logos on things to convince the world their Bitsa is the 'real deal', when as soon as anything shows up here, real or fony mcboney like this one, the first thing I do is sand it off. I must be missing something here, Hmmm...

Anyway, the body is more interesting and quite lovely looking. I'm guessing it is handmade as the routing doesn't look mass produced and the finish in the 'holes' isn't uniform, but what is the wood? I don't know.

It is nice and solid and has a lovely grain in it that goes all thru (not a veneer, I mean), but I'm a bit stumped. The chap who flogged it me said it was Mahogany but that he'd been told it was definitely sycamore by somebody else.

Either way it looks lovely in a '70s Strat kind of way, and it would be a shame to cover it up...so I'm really not sure what I will do with it. The neck is a lovely bit of wood too, it has to be said, just odd about the headstock shape.


Maybe I should leave a Fender logo on a headstock and join the fakers for once, make some money.


Nahhhh, where's the fun in that?
Anyway, I'd feel a total muppet...as opposed to my usual partialness.

While I'm talking vaporware...

Well, after sorting out my head about the blue paisley Jaguar, I turned my inactivity to the pine Telecaster body I've been meaning to do something with for eons, and finally decided what that will be like..

Firstly, it is a pine Tele body, following so far? I may have mentioned it.

Finish-wise, it is going to have a golden paisley on the sides and back, with a Copper leaf top. The copper leaf showed up this morning, and looks amazing and I'm really into the idea. Originally I was going to use copper sheet, but I like the idea of mixing the leaf and the fabric and this seems the perfect opportunity.

In terms of pickups - I'm going for an 'Esquire' approach, that is a single bridge pickup - I have a nice Bare Knuckle 'Brown Sugar' one which I've been saving for a special occasion, and then the wiring will do something clever with capacitors and resistors to give a few more sounds. I did think about a hidden neck pickup, but to be honest, I like the idea of an Esquire au natrel-like

The neck is one I picked-up a while back, maple on maple and unfinished. I was in two minds about giving this the traditional glossy tele garnish, but I don't think I will now. It looks rather beautiful as it is. The only downside is that I need to cut a nut slot, something I've been cowering away from as I've only ever done it on Cigar Box Guitars and when you are using a bolt for a nut, finesse is less of an issue. So loins need to be curdled in that direction. After that I've got Schaller tuners, and an ash tray cover for the bridge. I love those things, but haven't used one since The Paisley One all that time ago...

And there we are. I've been talking about my Lulu Copper Tops for a while, but the time is now.
Well, soon anyway.

Delving in my parts box, err, room.

Well, I've finished the neck on the Loveless One, put some fine tuners on, polished the frets, oiled the rosewood and cut a new bone nut and all that is left is for me to fit the pickups when they arrive. All good stuff.

And so I find myself looking around at piles of parts and deciding what it is I want to do....and where does my gaze fall, but onto the Jaguar/Jazzmaster body I picked up for my ill-fated escapade into the realms of custom guitar building.

The body, at the time, I was really pleased to get. It is a handmade, ash Jazzmaster/Jaguar shaped thing and is crying out for a lovely blue paisley finish. I've also got a nice hand made big-headed Strat neck, which looks the part and a real temptation to put some top notch single coils in there. The original plan was P90 plus a Humbuckers, then it was going to be a pair of Gibson P90s...but I like the idea of a Strat in Jaguar body, so I'm going to do that. (I know, I always put humbuckers and P90s in Strats, so obviously it makes sense to put Strat pickups into a Jaguar, like obviously.)

I'm thinking I should get some that are on the warm side though, just to give it some bite and a touch of oomph.

No fotos yet as it is still vapourware, at the moment...but probably will be more 3D come tomorrow.

Unless I do something else instead,
always a concern.

The Loveless One - WIP

Well, I got a wee bit of time at the weekend and managed to lacquer the variegated golden top of the Loveless One, so that it is all shiny and pings in the morning light. It has turned out pretty well, amazing in fact, and I ended-up leaving the waxed wooden body on the back and all. I might still sand and oil that though, have to have a wee think to be honest.

As you can see, the neck has been plonked into place. This still needs a bit of work, dull frets that need a polish, dead rosewood fretboard in need of a nice oiling, a new nut to be cut - that sort of thing, but it is wired up with the exception of the pickups, and tuners I've sorted - some nice Schaller ones, or maybe something else...and it is starting to look most guitar-like.

As for the pickups, I was umming as per, when I noticed a Gibson 490R pickup for sale, which is what comes in a lot of SGs, of course. These are quite high output and 'Rock' like, and to be honest not my favourite pickups of all time. I don't seem to go for Ceramic magnets, for some reason. What caught my eye with this one though is that it has been 'T-Topped'. Now if you know your Gibson pickups (la la la, how nerdy am we?) you'll know that there was a period of time when T-Top pickups were Gibson's big thing. Seventies, I think. Anyway, the originals are worth a packet now, but some bright spark noticed that the more common 490R is in fact exactly the same pickup, but with a Ceramic magnet instead of the original Alnico V. In modderland, people started swapping the magnet for an Alnico and basically 'T-Topping' their pickups for that great Led Zeppelin/Jimmy Page sound.

All good stuff. Anyway, I snapped that up, and am going to be pairing it with one of my faves, an IronGear Alchemist 90 - their P90-in-a-humbucker-shaped-tin, which should give us a fair old whack of variation - to match the leaf of the guitar. (Just thought of that, and am sadly quite pleased with myself...)

Anyway, not a bad start to the week..though obviously I need to vaccum the carpet and teach the brats not to leave power leads lay around under tables.

Cream. Sometimes you just need it

What can I say? I know I've mentioned it before, but I love the fact that there are some really cool UK-based luthiers, who are willing to do things their own way and make some really groovy guitars.

One of the Creamery's Beauties...

I also love the fact that there are some really cool UK-based pickup winders, basically showing those Americans how it should be done (my tongue is cheeked as I type that, I will point out, as I'm not particularly jingoistically modified as it happens, but if the Yanks seem to want to play the Born In The USA card and see it as a benefit, I can't see why we can't do the same with Crafted In Salford and all that.)

Best of all I really love the fact that The Creamery exist as not only are they UK-based but they both make wicked guitars, from reclaimed materials, which always impresses me, and they also wind an ever increasing range of verily interesting pickups. Not just the basic PAF, Strat Hot, Strat Cool, Tele tweedy ones you'd expect, but Wide Range ones (which Fender don't do anymore even) and all sorts of other cool looking and sounding bobbins.

Anyway, I'm thinking that The Loveless One might just have to be treated to a set of their pickups if I can find the dosh, or I can be lucky and win their competition to win a set just for registering for their newsletter. Bugger, shouldn't have mentioned that, I may be increasing the competition. Actually, don't bother, you wouldn't like them. La la la. (ahem)

More to the point, doesn't that Walnut Jazzmaster-esque lovely, make you want to drool.

When I'm grown up, I want to be the Creamery too.

Loveless, on a Friday Night

Loveless and Ragged

Well, it has been a funny, kinda complicated week in Jookyland, but at the end of it I've got a better idea of where I am with it all. Pickups apart, the next guitar I'm going to do is nice and clear in my mind.

It will be my second 'go' at gilding, but this time will involve some faux, pre-aged/corroded gold as a top for the SG I was talking about.

I know, I go around in circles, but there we are. The reason for this is pragmatic, I've got everything I need for this one, whereas I need to spend some dosh on buying more gold if I'm going to do The Old Burny One, and I'm potless until something sells. (OK, the Daisy Jook One has flown the coop since I started writing this, but that'll just pay for pickups for this - The Old Burny One needs a whole lot more).

So, the SG. Well, it will have either a waxed or oiled body with a stunningly awesome (assuming I get it right) top of variegated gold, as it is known to us gilders. I think it will look pretty stunning and I would indeed have already started it today if the curse of the sick brats hadn't risen like Glenn Close out of a cold bath and screwed with my schedule, man.

Tidier and vaguely burnished

As for the pickups, I do know where I'm going with these as I want a P90 at the neck and a hot-ish humbucker at the bridge. I'm thinking maybe IronGear ones or if something sells soon I'll probably give Allan at Catswhisker a shout as I miss the Fat Pussy One's grit and venom already. (I am so poetic when I'm on my own, get me.)

Oh, I didn't mention the neck - this is going to be a bit swish. The SG body I have is obviously set for a bolt-on neck, and I have a quite off the wall handcarved one. Originally it was going to be Firebird like, then I changed my mind and went more for a golf club shape. Either way it is seriously Jooky and I'm loving it with the SG body. Tuners, I don't know at the moment, we'll have to see what happens. Nice bone nut though, that is for sure.

Speaking of bone nuts, I got a tip from my Bro' and bought some welding nozzle files for a couple of quid off Ebay, and these are absolutely brilliant for cutting or adjusting nuts. I'm sure the $130 sets from StewMac have something over them, but they are doing the job for me, and as I haven't got $130 for a set of files...they will continue to, I would imagine.

Name, oh yes, the SG will be 'The Loveless One', you'll see why when it is finitoed

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ INCIDENTAL MUSIC ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

And as it happened, a window of opportunity presented itself before I'd finished typing this, and I have in fact gilded the top of the SG body in an ersatz and yet variegated manner. Another one let it dry enough that I could generally tidy it up and give it an initial burnish (Gilder lingo, keep up.) Hence the different fotos.

Well fancy.

And all ragged again. How did I do that?

As you can see I took great care to overlap the leaf by a mere 2mm and didn't end-up with tonnes of golden leaf flopping around the place. (Assuming I put a picture up of the body after I've removed the extraneous masses of gold leaf that are currently flapping around the place. Which I won't have, lets face it.) and generally it looks rather stunning.

So there we are, The Daisy Jook One will be off to her new home - and keeping some stunning company, from what I've seen of the existing tenant - and we are off on our merry way with The Loveless One.
Not such a wasted day/week after all...

p.s. That was a perfect example on non-linear writing. Clear as mud with fotos to match... Mwah.

Oddly unsure

OK, maybe not so odd, but this morning I dug out the various bodies and necks I've got around the place in an effort to decide what to do next.

Glynis Johns, for no apparent reason

You see, I've kinda shelved a lot of things as I came to the conclusion that perhaps I didn't want to plan ahead - gets a bit boring that way, like a job or something - and so instead I'll just keep the parts warm and well fed until they are called into action by a lightning bolt of inspiration.

Only trouble is...

But, as it happens, seeing them all spread around (I should have taken a foto, but it may have proven grounds for divorce, so better not in truth,) the way I thought I was going totally changed.

That's right I'm going for a seven necked SG.
Wish I'd thought of it sooner.

However, that might take some planning, so instead I'm going to have another play with my new found gilding and doing something else with the SG body that involves that. Alongside that, which will be fun, is the Old Burny One which I'll be more traditionally gold-topping.

The only problem I have is that I have sold all of the humbuckers for some reason and I see both of these guitars having them. So why did I sell them? Well, because I didn't want to use any of the ones I'd got is the reason, but they are gone and so I have no 'buckers at all. Which is an issue.

Hmmm...and no money to buy anymore, which is more of one.

So I guess I need to flog one of the other Jooky guitars that are on the slab to fund things. Which is OK, they are up for sale and always go sooner or later.

Which brings me back to my 'What to do next' point.

Hmmm...

Introducing The Twangy One, Proper-like

Well, it's had the longest gestation of any Jooky guitar ever, but I'm really chuffed that I got off my lardy arse found my motivation and finished this baby, as it has been a real real Revelation.

From the top, it is a twin humbucker Strat with a delightfilled and cool paisley finish.
The pickups are Kent Armstron 'Kentrons' which are the clever old chap's take on the Gretsch Fil'trons, that twanged away the early years of Rock 'n' Roll and have kept Brian Setzer in business for the last thirty years too.

Tuners, are split Kluson type and lovely and smooth.

Controls, perversely, I went for a Les Paul-esque approach with dual volume and tone knobs and a three-way switch. The reason for this is that I wanted as many options on the pickup front as possible, and it has paid of in bucket loads of spades as not only does this baby Twang for England - which shocked me for some reason - it means you can easily find Tele and PAF Les Paul sounds alongside your Duane Eddy special tone. All of which makes it remarably versatile, I'm most imssed with meself...

To complete the traditional-yet-without-a-tradition approach, I've gone for a Tweedy case. After far too many problems with couriers in the past I've bitten the bullet and decided that all of the Jooky guitars will have a hard case in future, which means that they won't quite be as cheap as they were, but at least they have more chance of arriving in one piece.

But there we are...my latest trick
mwahh xx

Sold: The Twangy One

About The Twangy One

And so, you come off the platform – rabid applause cushioning your jump from the stage, to the side of the dance floor. You look at the primitive spotlights, see condensed sweat dripping from them, sizzling like fairy dust. You wipe your GI glasses on the front of your soaking frilled shirt, smile a crooked smile as for the first time in your life the girls are looking at you as anything other than a geek. You talk with your hands, but never let go of the guitar around your neck, curled wire flipped over your shoulder. You’d invented Rock ‘n’ Roll together, what could ever come between you again?

*

The Twangy One is the sound of the birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Scotty Moore, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran, that twanging, singing tone reverberating around you as you stomp and thump. But it is also much more than that, the tone down you can hit a country Tele sound as well as the Fil’tron-esque delights that come so easily. More twiddling of the silver knobs takes you into a bluesy-jazzy tone for those BB King moments, all the way through to Seventies Rock and the sharp noise of what came next. This is a stunning looking guitar with a range of sounds you’d never expect to be popping on out of a Strat.

The Twangy One, is a Strat with two Kent Armstrong ‘Kentron’ humbucking pickups. Controls are Les Paul-like, with twin volumes and tone knobs and a three-way switch. The tuners are Split Kluson types and the finish is pure, unadulteratedly Jookified Paisley.

To be clear, The Twangy 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 Buddy Holly. There will genuinely never be another guitar like this and past experience suggests that it won’t be around for long.

Technical Stuff:

Type: Leona’s Groovy Guitar

Electrics: Catswhisker Handwound Mini-humbuckers

Guitar Type: Stratocaster Type

Construction: Cloth over wood

Strings: D’Addario XL 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Two Volume, Two Tone, 3-Way Pickup selector

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

Serial Number: JGE#23

RSP: £399


You can buy The Twangy One at our Ebay Store HERE

Finally getting Twangy

Before I finished it...

Well, no fotos yet as I can't find the camera, but I finally put the Twangy One together today and it sounds amazing. I think I said before, that I really didn't know quite what to expect from the Kent Armstrong 'Kentrons', other than something vaguely Gretsch-like, but they are a lot more than that. Though I have to admit to playing Eddie Cochran and Derwayne Eddy songs for the last hour or so...

In fact the only real concern was fitting all of the knobs on the scratchplate without digging chunks out of the guitar, but it came together and all is cool.

Bit of a set-up needed, but it works for me...cool.

Stray Cats, that's what I need to try, a bit of Selzer, can't beat it...

Fotos later, I expect...

Things that like to go Splat

I do so love people who wantonly attack guitars and do things cool and groovy stuff with them...and one of these days I will have the Pollocks to splatter paint in such a way as this....


As chilled as a granite flower

Its on Ebay at the moment HERE

Sold: The Golden Shower One

About The Golden Shower One

Picture the scene, the trapdoor to a dusty loft creaks open, thin beams of yellowing light creep into the room, avoiding the shadow threatened corners. Cases of long forgotten newspaper are moved to reveal a longer neglected tweedy case. Key turns, case opens and unleashes cascading moonbeams, glittering shards of light as the faint light is captured and catapulted by the real gold top of a long neglected guitar.

You carry it down, pulse raised, pupils dilated, wipe away the dust with sweaty drenched hands. You take it out of the case, breath short and fast as you sit it on your lap. The gold is immaculate, the body a relic in the truest sense. You feel the age weighing down on you. You plug it in; the faint hum of an old valve amp softens. You look around before you hit a chord, catch sight of yourself bathed in the glister, warmed by the beauty of the guitar you hold. You hit a biting, hard, snarling chord and are transported.

*

The Golden Shower One is a genuine relic from the 1970s, rescued from a loft and built from the ground up with a Jookified take on the original Gibson Les Paul it aped. The Stopbar tailpiece is replaced with a trapeze type, the pickups are Kent Armstrong P90s, one reverse wound to give a ‘hum-free’ mid-position. The tuners are Wilkinson ‘Kluson Style’ for that traditional snotty green look, and the finish – man – the finish is real, 23 carat gold leaf, hand gilded and sealed with a lacquer that will preserve the looks for all time. The Golden Shower one is a genuine one-off tribute to Les Paul himself and the guitar that carries his name.

To be clear, The Golden Shower 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 British Dylan. 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 Guitar

Pickups: Kent Armstrong P90

Guitar Type: Gibson Les Paul Inspired

Construction: 23 carat gold leaf over wood.
Dean Markley Jimi Hendrix Pure Nickel Strings 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone

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

Case: Tweed hardcase

Serial Number: JGE#9

RSP: £399

On the block

Well, I decided that The Golden Shower One needed a better home, and so that is on the block complete with it's switch tip and trendily gorgeous tweedy case over at our 'Ebay Store' - I am sooo American - along with the lovely Cherry Vintage SG I got, err, just the other day. I also put the Daisy Jook One up for auction as well.

All over, I'm having a bit of a spring clean in Jookyville, and have flogged on loads of parts and pickups and god knows what else in recent times. It's with the aim of a more focused one-at-a-time approach I'm adopting, in the faint hope that I might finish something once in a while..

Anyway, there we are...

The Golden Shower One - Pimped to Bejesus

Well, I was only going to tinker, but ended-up replacing all of the wiring, putting a new bone nut, new green-ended-authentic-looking tuners, new pots, changing the knobs to reflector/top hat ones, oiling the fretboard and buffing my baby to within an inch of her life.

I also got the girl a new place to lay her head in the shape of a most comely tweedy hardcase...

After all that, she sounds divine, plays beautifully and looks a million bucks.

So I'll no doubt flog her now that I am entirely happy...


Here she is anyway (and yes, I'd forgotten to put the switch tip back on, it is in the case... *sigh*)