Fabulously B Movie-ish

Stained Ash. Shocking In It's Simple-ness

Well, the lacquer is dry on the back of The Fabulous One, and I noticed I'd 'nicked' the front so I have filled that and sanded it back. I almost feel like I know what I'm doing at times.

Anyway, once that was done I gave it a couple of coats of copper on top, and then got creative with the House Home Brew Concoction. Hopefully, that will be dry and get lacquered over the weekend and be ready for it's nuptials next week.

With nowt else to do then, I thought I'd do something a little different today and instead stained and then sanded back the Swampy Ash Tele body I mentioned. The B Movie One, as it will forever now be known.

In a shocking turn of events, I'm going to go for a (shhh - don't tell anybody) pretty plain finish - wax, and then do something more Jookified around the edges.

I'm really not sure what I'm thinking of - far too simple for one such as I - but there we are. Jookies, also available in beige, before you know it. Quite worrying, in truth.

Corroded Copper - Bit Trickier, I Must Say

I have to say, I've never done this before, and scared myself to death when I put the black stain on and it looked like a puddle of Cherry Blossum, but once it had dried and been sanded back it looked rather nifty. A couple more goes with an 'Oak' flavoured stain and I was happy enough and so I've moved on to a nice wax finish. I did ponder going for a hard wax oil, but really I want this to be a bit of a soft-sheen experience, although it'll have a few 'touches' around the edges, I'm sure.

Obviously, I'm getting in touch with a previously unknown subtle side and I'm not a little shocked, it has to be declared, but it is good not to be predictable, don't you think?

As I haven't actually got any other parts for this one at all, it might be a while before I mention it again, of course, but there we are.

La la laaa

All The Single Ladies

To The Left, To The Left

Well, Day 3 of fettling The Fabulous One which I'll no doubt bore you with later on, but I had a good/bad day yesterday on the postal front which both troubled and dee-lited. Groove is in the heart and all that..

Starting on a low note, The Raspberry Ripple One arrived at it's new home via the tender mercies of UPS. Good so far. I was really pleased with how that turned out and how well the broken neck had gone together and the fact it sounded stunning helped too. Imagine my dismay when it turns up with...yep, a broken neck.

How did I feel?

Gutted.

The only good thing was that it was broken somewhere other than where I'd fixed it - sad I know but that was actually quite a relief,
but not much of one.

On the plus side, I had an absolutely beautiful Swamp Ash Tele body arrive. This is the one I mentioned that is routed for TV Jones pickups, so is basically begging to be turned into a La Cabronita, so I guess it would be rude not to.

To The Other Left, To The Other Left

The only downside is that the wood is really beautiful looking and I'm feeling guilty about even thinking about covering it up. Hmmm, I might have to stain it or something and do something a little different.

The other nice one is that I got a small pile of T Shirts - Fruit of the Loom, no cheap tat (ahem) - which I'm going to use to make some Jooky T Shirts. Haut D'Jook, as the Parisians know it.

I did think about doing some general ones, but that's a bit boring, so I'm instead going to just do them as and when. The first one is going to be a 'Companion Piece' for The JoBo One, as it seems somewhat ideal for crass commercialism and brand extension and all that. I want the T Shirts to be one-offs, of course, and hopefully a tad on the cool side of the street.

But, today, more finishing and lacquering, with an insurance claim to sort out. Lovely.

La la laaa

WIP: The Fabulous One

Step 1. Baywatch Bronzed

Well, I managed not to kill myself with the leccy drill, though I did somehow press the button picking it up and set it off so that a black bag wrapped itself halfway up my arm before I realised I should take my finger off the trigger. Which is probably a good argument against National Service.

Either way, it  was a shame as it meant the pottery artwork of the bratskis, which was resting on the bag at the time got distributed widely, in fragments.

But on-topic, there are now a variety of holes in The Fabulous One, into which the pot, socket, neck and pickup all fit and there we are. No blood on the tracks,  which is a bonus, just pottery fragments on the floor, which isn't.

I even remembered to drill the holes and fit the neck on The JoBo One while I was in the mood and as young Mr Mojo is winding tonight it might be a Fabby runner in the next week or so.

Step 2. Tarred With An Acidic Brush

All of which means that The Fabulous One has moved on a notch and is in finishing heaven.

In the end I decided to go for a blue corroded bronze on the back and sides, with a blue/green corroded copper on the front, which I think will look pretty cool if I don't mess it up. Hopefully you can see the acid in action on the back (in the fotos, I don't mean you are some kinda peeping stalker, that would just be rude) and hopefully it will be done tomorrow so that it can dry over the weekend.

Step 3. Err, wait a while...

One thing I'm going to try a bit differently, is to go for a Danelectro inspired faux-binding effort around the edges, which will either work wonderfully or you'll never hear me mention again, I expect.

But that is for tomorrow, I need to get my story straight on the ceramic front.


La la laaa

Driller Killer

Well, today is offish day 2 of the Fab saga, and with no couriers, children or floods (so far) to blight my crops, I'm going to brave the drill and hopefully get on with the finishing if I don't mess that up.

I had a good squirrel and I'm thinking that maybe I imagined the bridge and tailpiece arriving, or that I've thrown them out with the wrapping, which is more probably possible, so I've ordered replacements for the replacements of the replacements, and hopefully they will arrive this week. Or at least before I finish the rest as god knows, I do hate to be kept waiting.

In other news, it has suddenly dawned on me that if I can get competent at the routing holes and slots out of chunks of wood, it actually opens all sorts of doors as far as making odd and wondrously weird guitars. Which might sound odd but there was a bit of a gap between me thinking I might give-it-a-go and it actually proving to be useful. A gap in my brain.

I know.

It has been staring me in the face.

I admit I am a little slow at times.

So I intend to Percy McVere and gambol into a future of unlikely rhomboids and learn how to use a ruler and everything until I can actually be a useful-type who can take old planks and make, well, new planks..

It will be so cool, I might actually do it.

Sometime.

Back in reality-ville, I seem to have acquired a gorgeous-of-grain swamp ash Tele body routed for a couple of TV Jones, not thinking that I haven't got any TV Jones shaped pickups and that I have a pile of wood/bodies off young Simon that I haven't exactly dented in a good way either. But it is very pretty, almost seems a shame to cover it up. I will, but it will feel a shame.

But anyway, holes to drill, wounds to dress, that sort of thing.

Laters m'dearies.

La la laa

It might not look a lot, but...

Well, today was of course Fabulous day in the little kingdom of Jook, and I have to say it started quite well.

First-up,  I got into a bit of reaming and fitted the lovely new Grover tuners.

I've recently fallen in love with Grovers for some reason, maybe because they just feel solid and kinda tunersome. Though today's obsession is not likely to be indicative of future performance, I am indeed a tuner tart.

Anyway, after that I gave the frets a polish, the board an oil and generally spoodled and branded it, Jookily.

I don't know why, but it always feels like a real guitar when I put the name on the headstock and that I am obliged to finish it. It also stops me dithering over which neck to use, of course, which is a victory of sorts.

From there I thought I'd be clever and try and put the pot thru the F hole on the body, just to make sure I can. And well, basically I can't.

It is just too big or maybe the hole is too small.

A first for me, apparently.

So a choice - I could use a smaller pot, but am rather attached to the CTS ones as they are goodly, or I could sand out the F hole so that the girth of the pot no longer snaggles on the sides.

And as the F holes needed a bit of sanding anyway, that is what I did. In fact it only took a second or three to get it in once the sanding was done.

Cool I thought, and then promptly spent half 'n' hour getting the thing back out with a knitting needle and a piece of Blu-tac.

Hmm, not so good.

It was quite helpful having the Busted Riviera handy for comparative purposes, as the fact that the F holes on that baby are enormous, convinced me that maybe it wasn't (just) that I was as handy as three left feet stopping me from getting it in, as it were.

So that was good news anyway.

I know it is sad, but the bridge cover
arrived and I really like it...

As for the rest, well there is still no courier on the horizon, so drilling-in-the-garage would seem to be out for the rest of the day, so I carried on with sanding the rest of the body and generally removed the splinters and everything else from my fingers. Very nicely smooth it is now too. The guitar I mean, my fingers are like sandy beaches.

As for drilling, well one for the 'morrow, I guess, and in truth there shouldn't be too much.





My little Things To Make And Do list for the morning:

1. Neck plate holes. Four, always handy for putting screws thru and connecting necks to bodies. Might as well do the ones in The JoBo One while I'm at it. Actually, I might have already, must check.

2. Jack socket. I had decided I wanted this on the front rather than in the side. Can't quite remember why, but looking at how much fun I'm going to have getting the socket in place on the Riviera, I'm reconsidering. Fender put them on the side and who am I to argue with Uncle Leo after all.

3. Volume Knob Pot Holing. There is only going to be a volume control, so that makes life simplerer, as it means I have to only drill one hole. I remember why I like single pup guitars now. Simplistic for one with so little of the grey stuff.

4. Mojo Radiator From Space Pickup. Again there is only one of these which makes my life simpler. This will sit on the surface of the body, with the exception of six magnet pole pieces that extend below. So it will need six holes for them and then two teeny ones to screw the pickup down. If I'm brave I might rout a little ditch instead of drilling the holes, I'll see how my Weetabix goes down tomorrow.

5. Strap pins, tailpiece, anything else I've forgotten. I can put all these on after it is painted so no worries for now. Mainly as I can't find any of them anyway.

So that is it. Today was half a washout and tomorrow will no doubt be angst-ridden and generally painfilled.

On the plus side I now know exactly what I'm doing with the finish, so that is good.

Now, where the f%^k is this courier then.

La la laaaa

Vaguely Fabulous

I've still not actually started

Well, as I probably hinted once or thrice, The JoBo One is awaiting the usual bobbins, so today I get to play at something else.

Tis a hard knock life, innit?

And the objet de m'affection today is The Fabulous One, which I really need to get my head around, and generally see where I'm at.

The story so far is a tale of an unwanted wee semi-acoustical body reminiscent of a Fender Coronado (though as it has some wood in the middle, hopefully minus the feedbacker-maximus attribute.)

This is to be paired with a nice Strat neck of my recent acquaintance with a set of Grover tuners to keep it on the straight and narrow.

As for the pickup, there is a curios of a stunner from the land of Mojo in the form of a proto-toaster, which may remind you of something Ricky-like, but clearly isn't in any way influenced. (Ahem)

This will be paired with a nice Mojo wiring harness if I can ever figure how to get it through the f-hole and no doubt sound jangletastically lovely.

As for the bridge and tailpiece, well it is an ABR type on a floating bit of rosewood, and currently AWOL is a tailpiece, which I thought I'd organised, but maybe haven't.

Nope. No closer to being finished from this angle either

Unless it arrived and I didn't notice which is always possible.

Actually, the bridge is AWOL too, so perhaps they eloped.

And finally, as all good stories end, it is going to be coloured in.

I'm thinking that it will be stained and oiled around the back and sides and then have a nice corroded copper top. Or maybe bronze, or more-maybe-even both, in fact.

I've kinda decided that I need a semi-acoustic as my third guitar - actually anything that works would be a bonus right now, and so the race is on between this and the Busted Riviera, and as that needs three pickups and a Bigsby this might just about sneak in, methinks.

And there we are.

So today, after all that pre-ambulation, I'm going to see what I actually need to do and what there is left to order.

And then, well, get on with it. Assuming the courier arrives before schools-out.

There are holes to drill and sanding to, well, sandulate and if I can get those trifles sorted, I may even get going with the holy doing-of-the-finish. I have one more wrinkle up my sleeve for this, but I know how you like surprises, so that can wait I reckon.

Lovely.

See, I got my mojo risin'.

Eye of the Tiger.

Grrraaaahhhhh

La la laaaaa

WIP Again: The JoBo One

Do you think I have a fat arse?

Well, amazingly, The JoBo One is getting a lot closer to 'there' on a daily basis.

In fact, as you can hopefully see it is now sporting a rather trendily cool retro Beach Boys vinyl scratchplate and is only missing a pickup and the control plate/wiring bobbins.

Oh, and I went for Ye Olde ash tray bridge cover too, that was a late addition and should probably arrive tomorrow.

But it all looks rather nice. To say I'm stunned is obvious - most people think it is thyroid, but no I suffer from constant surprise - but there we are.

As for the scratchplate, I managed it on the first try of the day, in the end using my patented record-chopping-stratagem of sticking the record in the oven for thirty seconds so that it gets vaguely floppy, then attacking it with a craft knife until it crisps up again, then repeat until done.

After that I sanded the edges and there we be, simple.

As for the screw holes, I have an old soldering iron that dabbed those out easy peasie like, no bother.

I wish I'd done some fotos of the process now. Hmm, maybe I'll do another one later and do that.

Now if I can just find a 24 inch single, I might do a My Bloody Valentine one for my Jazzmaster.

So The JoBo One now is officially back to 'Waiting for Parts' status, and I can think about what is next.

La la laaa

Note To Self...Don't Be A Plum

One to remember -
I try to be a helpful soul,
after all.

If you are booking a courier to take a guitar to it's new home,

it may be wise to check that the guitar in fact fits in the case
before 
you err,
book the courier.

It is never good to take things for granted.

If you ignore my advice,
you too
may feel
like a
total
plum.

That is all.

La la laaa

Hope and Reality

Midge Ure Plays a Vintage
So Who Am I Kidding?

Well, not a lot else to report at the moment, so I've been mooning around thinking that I really shouldn't have got rid of both the Les Paul Studio and the Sonex at the same time, as well as nicking the pickups out of the Gordo. Or the PRS One. Or the other ones I forget.

Not the best piece of guitar husbandry, I must admit, especially as The Raspberry Ripple One is off on it's travels now, leaving me light-of-'bucker. And more to the point down to one usable guitar.

This year gets weirder.

All of which set me off on a Les Paul trip again. It's something I've thought about a fair bit and yes, I know it is sad as I am only ever likely to be a 'Retired' guitar player as far as getting out of the house with one goes, but I really want a proper Les Paul.

I mean, I loved that Studio - it was perfect, it played great, sounded great has every mod done I would have done and it looked beautiful; but I'm not talking about rational thought here, I'm talking about sadboy mid-life crisis and I haven't got the roots-count for a pony tail or the balance for a Harley, so this is as good as it gets.

(I think I said I had my proper mid-lifer at 21 and have been seriously worried for the last couple of years, since I hit 42, but that isn't what I'm on about.).

So putting the sad-getted-ness out of mind, and the fact that having a grand to waste on a guitar for me to play in my living room is unlikely, what I really want is an old style Les Paul that hasn't had it's innards removed, hollowed out or filled with American air and is sort of, well, solid.

It should have a maple cap, not bothered about it being figured, plain looks better imho, but I wouldn't run away from one if that was the case. I know they look a bit tacky, but I like cherry sunburst or lemon drop or honeyburst kinda looks, and if I'm dreaming it should be bound of body and neck, have olde worlde wiring and caps and nickel bits 'n' bobs too..

As I probably describing something old or custom shop, that is never going to happen, so I'm thinking a LP Traditional is probably as close as I am likely to get in this lifetime. Which is OK, it is kinda possible if I set my mind to it over the next decade or three and forget about kids in cardboard shoes stood in puddles and everything else..

So that is my long term aim, and I fully accept it will never happen. And though I can say that and know it is true, there is this corner of my brain that will be forever named hope.

But in the short term (real world) I still fancy having something LP-like to play, so I might treat meself in the coming weeks to a Vintage or an Epi or something.

The Vintage V100 I had was lovely, and they are pretty cheap, or I have always fancied one of the 'Peter Green' Lemon Drops too. Hmmm... It has to be 'hog and maple though, none of this poplar top with a creme brulee filling and 0.3 micron-thin veneer.

But will I be happy? Probably not, but then happiness is such an overrated concept, don't you find?

And no amount of thinking that it is good-enough-for-the-likes-of-me will help anyway.

I'm not sure this degree of self-awareness is good for me.

I'm off to try and make a scratchplate out of an old Beach Boys record - wish me luck.

La la laaa

Scratchin' Around

Well, I got a couple or three LPs the other day, and am trying to make my mind up which would be the best to use for a scratchplate, for The JoBo One.

The three I got (after trawling thru the K-Tels and Easy Listening masterpieces of house clearance hell) were:

1. Beach Boys - 20 Golden Greats - which is the same one my Dad had when I was a kid and I played to death, and has a surf vibe that kinda fits with a pink paisley Telemaster, I think.

2. Fleetwood Mac's - Rumours: Which doesn't have Peter Green on and isn't really that bluesy, but I like the cover, and

3. Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms, which basically, I don't mind chopping up too much.

Actually, Mark Knopfler is who Joe Bonamassa reminds me of, thinking about it. Hmmm...

On past performance all three of these will no doubt be shattered in moments and I'll be back to pick up Demis Roussos and Pam Ayres instead - and what a night that could be - but I think I'll wreck them in that order and fingers-crossed one of them might be usable-ish.

Actually, I didn't even realise people bought a vinyl version of Brothers In Arms, I thought we were all meant to buy a CD Player so you could enjoy the depth of Walk of Life and the rest, after of course spreading jam over it and feeling cosy in the knowledge that it would last forever. Always sounded more of a threat to me, that part.

But there we are...it'll be worth it in the end

La la laa

Looking Good if you Squint

Well, tis the last day of the current school holibobs, so lots of chasing around finding stuff discarded and since well disguised.

The JoBo One is dry and has holes cut out, and a little shopping saw me catch a hand-filled-full with old LPs and 12" singles, so I will hopefully be able to make at least one decent 'plate. Well, it would be nice. If not I'll just scratch a spiral onto some black plastic.

I have got this whole dilemma going on about whether I should be using a 'good' record, and ruining it in the process, or a 'bad' one and then ending up with a guitar featuring a Val Doonican scratchplate on it with all that suggests - cardigans, mainly - about the maker/player/man next door to the chippy.

But then I thought that if I'm going to cover the label up it doesn't matter anyway. Record company gold discs aren't usually the record being celebrated, so...well, whatever.

As for the coming week, I want to get The JoBo One sorted, of course, but I think The Fabulous One has got to get moving. I still haven't got a proper tailpiece, though I have everything else, including a lovely stuck-on-a-lump-of-rosewood bridge, so it really is only being delayed by me. So there we are.
This week I need to at least try to start being Fab, if nothing else.

My other challenge is to try an decide what pickups to put into my old Gordo which is looking a trifle disgruntled and sort of naked in it's lack of noisemakingness. I did have something lined up, but then ran out of money again and the boat was missed, but such is life. It is making me play The Raspberry Ripple One, which is good. Or was until somebody bought it (I think). Either way, I am neglecting my Jazzmaster at the mo' for some reason as I'm in a bit of a 'bucker mood recently, which is odd, but there we are.

But anyway, hopefully tomorrow will start warming the motor of progress's diesel engine. A bit Soviet-Bloc and clanky, but then so am I in sooo many ways.

La la laaa-ski

Record Breaking

Well, things aren't always as straight forward as I hope. Sometimes ideas work beautifully, other times they take a lot of work and then more others still are blinkin' dangerous.

Case of point is that yesterday I had this "great idea" to cut the pickguard for The JoBo One out of an old vinyl LP. I know it isn't original, you'll find plenty of guitars on-line with them, I'm not making any great claims for trail blazing. In fact I even did it on my second ever Jooky though I cut that in a melting kinda manner with a soldering iron. So nothing new to be proud of, I just thought it would look good against the pink paisley.

So I dug out some vinyl - for younger readers, these aren't the small plastic CD things that your Granny used to keep her music downloaded on, these are the big black things that you thought were invented by cool DeeJays just before Xmas.

So anyway, I got an unwanted copy of something or other - Age of Consent by Jean Paul Sartre or maybe Bronski Beat, I think it was for the fact fans out there - Fired up the Quattro Gene and the first one shot past me ear and exploded on the garage wall.

Hmmm, maybe a slower speed setting would be wise.

Try 2, I went for Transvision Vamp's Debut Album - I always really liked them, in an ironic way, I'm sure - and figured that maybe a lower speed setting might be a good idea, although it would make Tracey Tracey sound like she was on Mogodon. Or was Tracey Tracey in the Primitives, and it was Wendy James vamping it up? I can't remember now.

So off I went and it simply shattered. "Ahh", I thought, "Maybe I'm not on the right track."

(ker-ching)

So I left it for the day while I retained a head on my shoulders. I might have to give it another go and maybe not use a Flymo to cut it next time, but I'll have to trawl the charidee shops for some more LPs first. Possibly try using a hacksaw to cut the shape out next time though, we'll see. I can't just give up on the idea, and in fact that is half of my problem. Now I've thought of it, it has to be done, let's face it. I'm like a dog with a string of sausages chasing magpies in the garden taking care not to tred in cat shite.

Other than such distractions, The JoBo One is having a weekend bathing in lacquer as I'm pretty pleased with how the paisley looks. It's actually a bit brighter in the reality, which is all good and despite sounding like yet another broken record, I really can't wait to play this one.

In other news and as school holibobs somehow stretch into next week, I'm aiming on starting a bit of woodwork on Wednesday, but ideally I'd have The JoBo One ready for the pickups and wire by then, and then drop them in when they arrive from the land of Mojo..

All of which sounds quite 'Handy' but  you know better than that.

Apart from dreaming up meta-guitars this week, I've been resurrecting another dormantly old idea and am going to do a few Jooky T Shirts.

Obviously they will all be one-offs and I think they will be tied to individual guitars - maybe when you get a guitar you get a T Shirt to match, or maybe I should do something else with  them.

I don't know.

Anyway, I've sorted out some T Shirts so we'll have to see how it goes when they arrive and my brain kicks-in. So possibly November.. Truth is Andy Warhol is dead and Baby I don't care.

La la laaa

WIP: The JoBo One

Well, as expected there hasn't been a lot of Jookyness this week, but I have at least started to paisleyficate The Jobo One today, in all it's Prom Queen splendourness. And you can't complain too much with that in your Versace manbag.

I think I said before, but Marc at Mojo is winding me one of his lush Broadcaster pickups and doing me a nice ye olde specc'd Esquire wiring loom, so that is me off the hook for the tricky stuff.

I have a lovely maple neck for it and I think I've got all the other parts apart from that I need to chop a scratchplate, which I'm looking forward to with bitter almondy relish.

I'm not quite sure whether to just go for a plain black 'plate or whether to go metallic and then match the headstock to it. Decisions, decisions. I guess plain would highlight the paisley better, so perhaps that is the answer. I have gone for the now traditionally Jooky Gretsch knobs for this one as, well, I like them. Sad I know, but there I am.

Other than that it is olde worlde Klusons, Wilkinson proper Tele plate, brass saddles (though groovy for the modern palate) and I don't know. Big strap pins maybe, was there anything else? I forget. I know I should really get an ash tray cover for the bridge, but sometimes, to be honest, I really can't be arsed. I probably will, but not today, eh?

Speaking of which, I forgot I needed to drill a few holes, just little things like for connecting the neck and pushing wires thru and that. Nothing critical, more your nice-to-haves-and-have-nots.

Hmmm. that would have been a brighter thing to do today prior to lolloping on with the finish
.
But anyway, here are some WIP piccies to delight and generally amaze.

Me if not you.

Just ignore the lack of practically hollow features for the moment. I'll get to them soon enough, promise.

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

Thinnering Out Vaporifically

Well, as I'm introducing guitars I haven't made yet and generally talking vapour-ware in-excelsis, I thought I'd carry on and move into the love-to-if-I-prove-vaguely-capable-of-such-feats department.

A long long time ago, when I was younger, had hair, some of it long, and played in a band, I once bought a MIJ copy of a Tele Thinline by Antoria, crazy cheap.

Now it was a lovely guitar, if memory is right solid maple and weighing a hundred weight, but unfortunately I wanted it as a backup to my Jazzmaster and it was nothing like. (I'd know that now, back then, less so, clearly.)

So it went away, got chopped in against another and there we are.

It is still very much one of those that got away that I regret. No choice at the time, but even so, I've always fancied a Tele Thinline ever since. Though maybe one a bit more svelte.

Anyway, one of the things young Simon enriched me with, was a nice lump of ash cut into the outline of a Tele, and a piece of maple (???) that I could carefully nail to the top.

Or maybe glue, it's a long time since I've seen the real thing.

He had also given me the routing template for a Tele Thinline, and I'm guessing if I chop chunks out of the ash in the right places then bang on the maple and strategically cut a few holes in that, I might get somewhere close to a guitar kinda thingy.

It might even, in a parallel world sort of way, be nice.

Well, you never know. The ash looks lovely if nowt else.
Though I would probably cover that up, to be fair.

And yet, if by some stretch of imagination's knicker-elastic I got that far, I would just have to put a single P90 at the bridge or perhaps a TV Jones and call it The Away Got That One.

Well, you never know...

La la laaa

Trundling Along Like Dean Moriarty

Well, brats-stop-play, as expected around here, but I've been plotting and planning future projects after having a proper look thru my recently acquired Stash. I've already mentioned the Telemaster body I got from young Simon which will become with all aplomb The JoBo One, but there was also a Strattish kinda body too, which I've been thinking about.

I'm guessing this is Alder (though I'll ask him to find out for sure - I'm hopeless at spotting wood that isn't mahogany, maple or ash - they all look the same to me) and it is more curvy and slightly thinner than the Fender template. Something kinda Super, I guess, or maybe Showmastery.

I am sooo verily expertish indeedy.

Anyway, I've been looking for the right body for a guitar I have wanted to make for a friend of mine for a long time now, and I think this could just be perfect for it. It is routed for HSS which I think is bang-on with lots of scope for multi-tonal-goodness and the boy likes a trem so that fits too.

As for the finish, I'll have to have a think about that, but I reckon it should be something special after all this time and maybe I'll mix it up a wee bit and see what happens..

Pickup-wise, I'm thinking a hotter PAF type at the bridge and a good couple of Strat pickups in the middle and at the neck. Coil-tapping the 'bucker giving us all the classic tones with a bit of oomph when needed.

Which probably means two lipsticks and something that sounds like a sitar by the time I get that far, but there we go. I don't suppose it would come as a surprise to anybody if I happened to change my mind once-or-thrice.

So that's The Travellin' Man One, coming sometime in the future, somewhere near you.

La la laaa

The Third Guitar

The Third Guitar
Coming Soon
Many Times

Well, I've sort of made a big deal about buying lots of guitars recently.

And I've kinda gone on about selling them again.

And then I've made some I want to keep.

And then I've sold them too.

It may not make a lot of sense.

I can see that.

OK, it doesn't, and to this chaos I should bring order, but, well, OK it won't happen, but to at least give an impresh of an ordered mind....I've decided that:

1. I like making guitars.

2. I like playing guitars.

3. I don't like owning lots of guitars as I get stressed about it.

4. I don't know why that be.

5. I really should just get what I want and stick with it, and carry on making Jookies for that bit-on-the-side-that-keeps-life-interesting sort of thing.

So, that is what I'm thinking of doing.

This time.

I'm going to carry on making my Jooky dahlinks and they can keep moving on to pay for the next one.

Simple.

In the time between the two events I get to play guitars I really love. Which is a good thing.

Personally, I really only want/need/can cope with two or three electrics of my own at any one time.

There is my Jazzmaster which is sacrosanct and going nowhere.

There is my Gordo which I think isn't worth selling and I fall in love with it again everytime I play it.

And then there is The-Third-Guitar.

(There was a drum-roll there, in case you didn't spot it.)

Now the third one, I don't actually know what it is.

Some days it is a Les Paul Standard, others it is a Jaguar and more yet others it is a Vox Teardrop, a Ricky 620 and a Firebird.

But the important thing is that this is the little blank box in one of those slidy puzzle games where it is the only space that can be changed and only one piece will fit there at a time.

It is my own little revolving door.

My sanctuary,
my little pot of Gassy madness.

Not much of a metaphor or allegory or parable and I don't even know whether it is ironic or not, but I guess what I mean is that I can have one other guitar as a 'Keeper' and it will be the one I change over time.

For I surely will.

So a Keeper that I will change.

Yep, that makes sense.

As for right now, with everything going, the 3rd spot is up for grabs, which is fun in a TBA kinda way.

Of course this separation is a cop out, and I can find a million excuses to convince myself of whatever I want on any given day, but I feel as though I am trying and it is the thought that counts.

Such is the life.

La La laaaaa

Pink Sunshine

Well, top excitement as far as The JoBo One goes, as believe it or not I've got off my rear long enough to sort out all of the parts - with the exception of the pickup, unsurprisingly - and they should arrive this week with a bit of luck and all usual robbin'-postie-get proviso bobbins.

For the record, it is an alder bodied Telemaster that is going to be hot bubblegum pink paisley-ified, it'll have a lovely maple/maple neck, and will be a single pickup'd Esquire.

There, it sounds so simple when I say it like that.

As for the sticky point of the pickup, well Mr Mojo's lovely Broadcaster is still the best Tele pup I've ever heard, so it isn't a tricky choice to make. Just got to remember to speak to the chap.

"Remember;" Ah, something else that sounds so easy when you say it quick.

>>.>>>> Musical Interlude - Bit of Fuzzbox, if you were wondering <<<<<<<<

OK, that was easy, just emailed Mr Mojo and he is going to do me a nice Esquire wiring loom as well as the pickup. Lovely. The thought of sticking capacitors into dark places left me somewhat cold, it has to be said and it'll work this way, of course, which is always a bonus.

(Why do I feel I've said those exact words before? Hmm, probably the last time I got a Mojo harness. Must try harder to be original. Unless I've said that too, in which case Fla-di-dooo-la-li-par-fo-si-me-rayy-n-booo.)

*cough*

Other than the bits for my main man JoBo, I also got a tailpiece sorted out for The Fabulous One, which will come in handy to hold the strings on, I expect. I even remembered to stock up on supplies of bronze, iron and copper paint as they always come in handy too, and even even even more oddly, thought to meself that I should buy some paint brushes as finger-painting the home brew acid plays havoc with the nails, sugar, not to mention the NHS waiting lists, and who wants to sit melting on a trolley on a Bank Holiday? Eh, who? Not me, that's for sure..

It is that kind of attention to detail that separates me from so many other acid-splattering-junk-modelling-guitar-pimpers, let me tell you.

So basically, and in a summary of sorts, I'm again waiting for the postie. I've flogged all my guitars (Jazzmaster and Gordo-in-tatters, apart), and so am revived and enthused once more, (perhaps even renewed? who can truly say), for the fight ahead.

I have piles of wood, loads of bits 'n' bobs and a pile of Lego.

What more can a Jooky Boy want?

I think we may be slowly edging into Jooky phase 2, a brighter world with less confusion and contusions, less shade and cherryade and well, something interesting for me to rabbit on about. I need a nap now.

La la laaaa

p.s. Sadly Fuzzbox had tried to turn into Bananarama by this point, but I've always liked this song..

Hunting and a Gathering Virtually

The Jobo One - A Telemaster on a bed of paisley pink

Well, somehow The Raspberry Ripple One gone and got fettled, I'm still not quite sure how, and to play it is to lurve it. Well, I think so anyway.

In fact, a small plea - PLEASE DON'T BUY IT.

There, that was subtle.

But anyway, where was I? Well, obviously the rest of the weekend is going to be Jubilicious as I am the Queen's #1 fan and all, but it doesn't stop me thinking about what happens next, and so I have been. So lock me in the bloody tower, seef I care.

With holibobs once more precluding woodwork, it is The JoBo One I'm aiming to do over the next couple of weeks. As it happens I'm a bit light in the parts department, but I have the Telemaster body, I have pink paisley and I have various lots of gubbins. After that, well, I need all the other parts.

Still, the hunter-gathering is half of the fun, and my current shopping list reads:

1. A neck. I'm thinking maple/maple for the twang is the thang,

2. A bridge. It has to be a full monty Tele one I fear, all brass saddles and steel of plate,

3. Control plate. I've actually got a Mojo harness already, so I just need the plate and knobs,

4. Scratchplate, I'll have to make that. Luckily Simon included some plastic gubbins for me to use,

5. Pickups. I am a bit undecided on these. On one hand I fancy doing an Esquire with a Mojo Broadcaster at the bridge. Actually, that sounds good. On the other I could maybe find a TV Jones or PAF and put it at the neck. Dunno, can't decide really, but time will tell.

6. Tuners. I really like Grovers at the moment, so I'm going for a set of those.

7. Screws, strap pins, and other bits 'n bobbins.

Hmmm, sounds quite a list. Still, all good fun.

La la laaa

Sold: The Raspberry Ripple One

The Raspberry Ripple One arrived in Jookyland all tattered and torn. Its neck was broken and all it’s body parts had been snatched. It could have felt sorry for itself, we could have felt sorry for it, but an inner strength appeared like a scene in Rocky 14.9 and to be quite honest we all got a bit of the eye of the tiger, rolled-up, rolled-up our sleeves and got on with it.

Starting with the neck, as it happens it was an easy thing to put right. Titebond glue and an assortment of clamps and Bob was our Aunt and things got strange at our cousin’s parent evening.

From there, bronze and copper enriched paints gave it a top-to-toe tan. It felt quite Essex, even more so when we started splashing our home brew acid in it’s face.

After that was done and dusted, we moved onto hardware, Grover tuners are rock solid, so blam, in they went.

A cheeky wiring loom came direct from a Gibson SG, and was poignantly joined with a Gibson ’57 Classic humbucker at the neck and a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P90 at the bridge. And man do they rock.

If The Who really did “Live in Leeds” (and believe me I went thru all the fone books, they don’t) this SG would have nailed the tone. I don’t know where Robbie Krieger and Angus Young live either, but they would feel at home too.

All in all, this is a stunningly pimped guitar, which proves that rags to riches tales aren’t just for Hollywood. Tom Hanks couldn’t even spoil this one.

*

To be clear, The Raspberry Ripple 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: Pam’s Baywatch Bronze, Lulu’s Copper Top

Electrics: Gibson Classic ’57, SD Phat Cat P90

Guitar Type: Gibson SG

Construction: Mahogany Bod, mahogany/rosewood neck, Corroded Copper/Bronze 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#54

RSP: £799