Sooo Many Plans

Well, The Golden Shower One is coming together in theory now, and I think it will be very full of swishness indeed. My idea now is to take my rather battered and torn old Japanese bolt-on necked Les Paul, route it our for a couple of P90 soapbars, replace the tuners with some that work and rewire it with some not clicky and scratchy pots, switches and wires. So it is a working guitar.

After that the fun starts. As I mentioned before I am planning to do a gold top, but with a twist, as I am going to use gold leaf which is quite a job, but I think well worth the effort. I've had some great advice and pointers from the sooperb Wez Venables who has done some wicked gilding on some of his guitars. God knows I'm not one to nick other people's ideas (intentionally anyway) but standing on the shoulders of giants, and all that, well, I'll see where I end-up.

Other than that, I've got a trapeze tailpiece, which will hopefully work well, and am intending to grab another small multi-fx unit to surface mount on the guitar somehow. I've talked before about putting the wiring on the outside for this, and I still think that is the way to go, though maybe with a couple of wrinkles. Depends how good my routering is really.

So there we are, should be fun and challenging in equal measures, and it has a deadline, so hopefully that will 'galvanise me' somewhat. get me out of my recent stupor.

In a similar yet completely different vein, I've decided to make myself a guitar that I can play. As I keep mentioning, I've got a bit of a problem with my hand which means that I'm struggling to play for any meaningful period of time. I did however find out that guitars with quite chunky necks are better for me than more modern sizes. Anyway, I fancy a Les Paul, but haven't got a couple of grand to buy some sort of historic replica, so...necessity being inventions old bag, I'm going to be pragmatic.

As luck would have it then, I came across somebody flogging a body and neck combo, that has been generally battered and partially stripped that could fit the bill. It is a nice old '80s Burny copy - one of the much acclaimed 'lawsuit' models, but full Les Paul weight, the 'right' headstock and everything else. I like the idea that it is battered to be honest, and in the main I think I'll leave it that way, apart from that I'd like to give it a kind of aged gold top finish. Proper nitro paint, but I'd like it to look the part so that it is cracking and everything else.

As it will hopefully be 'my' guitar, I'm planning to put some good PAF pickups in there, maybe Bare Knuckle Peter Greens, or some Gibson '59s, or Catswhisker PGs, I'll have to see. And then I'm going to push the boat out and maybe get some Fake 58 parts (tuners, pickup rings, wiring etc.). Well, we'll have to see. But I think I'm at the point now where i want that guitar in the corner that I play consistently, rather than having 15 lay around the place that I never get around to making the most of. Obviously, it will never work out like that, but if nothing else making my own appeals more than buying off the peg, so there we are. I can hardly preach the joys of one-offs and then buy something mass-produced, now, can I?

I have to admit that it seems odd thinking that an Eighties guitar is thirty years old, mind you, I must be getting on a bit meself after all.

Dumb & Bass

Well, I finally got my act together today and fitted The Daisy Jook One up good and strong  - pictures to follow once I've given it a bit of a final touch of powder and lippy. I'm particularly pleased with the girl, I have to admit, not least because it is the first guitar I've finished in a while and I've always had a deep-seated and perverse need to have a good excuse to twiddle some dice shaped knobs without resorting to plastic surgery.

Actually, I just broke off to put some strings on and give the wench a bit of a rough set-up, and I am mighty impressed with the pickups. Not sure if I mentioned them before, but the originals were a little bit harsh to my ears, and I happened across some guy selling some mini-humbuckers locally and grabbed them.

(Never fitted pickups to a semi before, and can't see me doing it again either. All those rumours about it being a bitch of a job are bang-on-the-money.).

But the replacement pickups, and I must admit I was a bit reluctant, as the fella said they were either handwound by Catswhisker or Wizard, or perhaps even one of each as he had bought sets from both and couldn't tell them apart. Whatever they are (and man I love the randomness of it) they are pure gold and I am seriously chuffed with them. They would let you play both kinds of music (country & western) but also do a goodly 335 impression if you squint a wee bit. Actually, BB King territory isn't a million miles away thru a nice wee amp of the valve persuasion and we do love the King in Jookyville.

As for the finish, well, that is lovely too, I think you'll agree - at least the chaps among you will - and what can I say...?

I'm-a-rhinestone-cowboy...

***

Other than that, I went to the other side briefly the other day and got meself a bass guitar. Now, I've never had one before, and doing a bit of recording recently it seemed a good idea.

It is nowt flash - a Vester - but does the active and passive thing, and I find that I can play it OK I even managed a bit of Red Hot Chillis stuff, which is something I struggle with on a guitar a lot of the time. If I concentrate. All that Jazzmaster training helps, I think, with the longer neck.

All good fun. In some ways, and I know it isn't really, but it is almost like playing a musical instrument...


Right off to play with Daisy and maybe have another go at 'Money'...

Like A Golden Shower...

Well, I've nearly got all the parts together for my Gibson Golden Topped Tribute (really must think of a proper name), and I have settled on how I'm going to do the effects too, which I have to admit was the fly in the aqueous cream.

Basically, to be a bit different, I've found my inspiration from a cockroach and am intending to put the exoskeleton on the outside, in the shape of a small multi-fx unit I've managed to get hold of within my budget. Well that was the plan anyway, but when the FX showed-up this morning they didn't work *sigh*.

Never simple, life around here.

Besides that though I'm pretty happy with the idea now, so it is just a case of finding a proper replacement and then starting on it come the 1st of February.

Before that though, I do intend to get back to both The Daisy Jook One and The Twangy One, which are hanging around awaiting my attentions and really do deserve to be finished before I start on something new. The Crowley One too, has been sprayed and is dry, but I'm still pondering that one. I've got the PRS Tremonti pickups, but am wondering if I should have a go with something else.

I've recently stocked up on P90 soapbars, a couple of Gibson ones out of an old SG and a bareknuckle Nantucket one just for good measure.

So many guitars, so many pieces of guitars around the place...better do something with them all really instead of just talking the yip.

The Jangly One - Not Quite As Sold As I Thought

*Sigh*

Don't you hate it when they click "Buy It Now" and then,
well,
then they
don't.

So...if you were kicking yourself about missing out on my Jangly baby....you have another chance.

Open to offers Over Here :)

I Wouldn't Have The Soup

Well, I've nearly got all the parts together for my Gibson Golden Topped Tribute (really must think of a proper name - actually I just did, The Golden Shower One), and I have settled on how I'm going to do the effects too, which I have to admit was the fly in the aqueous cream.

Basically, to be a bit different, I've found my inspiration from a cockroach and am intending to put the exoskeleton on the outside, in the shape of a small multi-fx unit I've managed to get hold of within my budget.


Well that was the plan anyway, but when the FX showed-up this morning they didn't work *sigh*.

Never simple, life around here.

Besides that though I'm pretty happy with the idea now, so it is just a case of finding a proper replacement and then starting on it come the 1st of February.

Before that though, I do intend to get back to both The Daisy Jook One and The Twangy One, which are hanging around awaiting my attentions and really do deserve to be finished before I start on something new. The Crowley One too, has been sprayed and is dry, but I'm still pondering that one. I've got the PRS Tremonti pickups, but am wondering if I should have a go with something else.

I've recently stocked up on P90 soapbars, a couple of Gibson ones out of an old SG and a bareknuckle Nantucket one just for good measure.

So many guitars, so many pieces of guitars around the place...better do something with them all really instead of just talking the yip.

This week in Jookyland...

Well, I've been having a think about my Gibson Tribute, and I've pretty much got a plan now. First up, I've got an old '70s Satellite Les Paul copy I picked-up a while back for £40. First thing I did was flog the humbuckers for £20, so basically in terms of the challenge, it owes me £20.

On top of that, I've got two PRS Soapbars I picked up for £20, some PRS tuners (the Satellite ones are scrap) I got for a tenner. So all in all, I figure I can make the guitar usable for £50 all in.

In terms of the finish, I'm going for the gold top - initially, after a bit of good advice - I'm going to spray using some gold poly. I've got the end of a can somewhere in the garage, so that is pennies. After that I'm going to get some 24K Gold Leaf and finish the top with it, before giving it a Nitro 'thin skin' finish. Never used this gold leaf before, so it could be fun. How much gold leaf is, I don't know, but I'll go hunting tomorrow and see what I can dig up. Hopefully though, the finish could be about a tenner all in.

All of which means I should hopefully have £30-40 left to buy some sort of multi-fx that I can gut and include in the body somewhere. It will have to be small, though I'm really tempted to go for the klunky angle and have it 'integrated' externally, so that all the wiring is outside of the guitar and maybe the effect unit is kind of surface mounted. Depends on how big it is, I guess...

Saying that, I fancy a trapeze kind of tailpiece so I might have to jiggle my change in my pocket a bit somewhere down the line. Hmmm..

This week though, I'm going to get my finger out and finish something, and as I have a deep, mostly submerged, need to play a guitar with red dicey knobs, it is The Daisy Jook One that is destined to get my full attention.... I'm going to twang-that-thang in a big way.

A yeee and a hawww.

Amen sister.

Jooky's All Gold

Jooky's All Gold? Nahhh...

Well, I've been thinking about what I can do for the Music Radar £100 challenge, and my first thought was to go the Matt Bellamy (of Muse fame) route and do a tribute to him. He famously uses a rather spiffy guitar with a built-in Fuzz Factory, and funny midi controlling pad. OK, the midi would be pushing it for a hundred quid, but I figured I could come up with a Sophie or something (well, until I remembered how shaky-handed-soldering isn't ideal.)

Naturally, two other people who are planning to get involved have already talked about 'Doing a Bellamy', so that kinda went off the agenda.

More to the point, it was hardly original, and it would be nice to have a different slant on it.

So then I got thinking about Gibson. Now Gibson, despite what everybody says about the old 'uns being better than the new ones, for me, are still the benchmark. Fenders I love, but they are still the Ford to the Gibson Cadillac, but they do amuse me a wee bit as they seem intent on making everything they do into a Limited Edition, or instead something totally off the wall that nobody wants.

Now innovation, I'm all for and some of their recent stuff is great on paper, but putting effects into guitars (and I know I do it, but I only do one at a time) seems odd. One thing guitarists spend a lot of time doing is trying new effects, worrying about what order they go in and generally mythering around the place looking for something they probably traded for an obscure eastern European transistor years ago.

The other thing they do (Gibson I mean) is mine their own heritage and keep releasing 'Tribute' models that are basically tributes to themselves, I guess, as well as the odd artist that used to play their guitars - and a few that didn't.

So coming back to the original point, I thought it was about time that somebody did a tribute to Gibson, in all it's incongruous and often clanging mixture of historically inaccurate and modernistic klunkiness.

So that's what I'm going to build, a tribute to the old - a gold top Les Paul - with a nowhere-near-seamless integration of something modern effects-wise. I'm thinking P90s and multi-fx, and maybe a few flashing lights. I'm thinking klunky and stitched together. Most of all I'm thinking it should use real gold. All for under a hundred quid...

Sounds like a plan, don't you think?

So, What can you get for a Hundred Quid?

Well, I have to admit I'm a little disappointed that I'm so predictable. I did indeed spend what 'Jooky' time I had yesterday creating a homage to Japan/My Bloody Valentine/Fugazi/Talk Talk and anybody else that makes weird beepy noises. God Speed My Silver Black Mounted Plastic Zion, and all that. That was using that there Line 6 Pod Studio thing, and it was a whole lot of fun.

(Don't worry I won't inflict it on you.)

Other than that though, the only news of the day was that The Crowley One got it's first coat of lacquer, and more of interest the Music Radar annual £100 Challenge is now officially a go-er.

This I did last year, and the basic idea is that you have to build a guitar spending no more than £100 on parts/finishing materials and all that bobbins. This year it is running between 1st February and 1st March, so I need to get my thinking cap on.

My entry last year (and only two people actually completed I think) was of course the Velvet and bling covered Pretty In Pimp One, with it's twin Gibson P100s, gold painted 10" record scratchplate and jazzy tailpiece.

This year?

Well, I don't know, but it should be something different to my Jooky norm I think.

Hmmm...what to do, what indeedy to do?

I don't know actually.

Reasons to be tearfilled, Part 76

An apology to everybody who reads this blog or just visits the site and gets assailed by it.

First of all, I got a little Blackstar HT1R amp - a single watt of pure valvey guitar goodness, and despite dodgy mitts getting in the way, i can't help but noodle chunks of daylight away - which gets in the way of actually making guitars.

This I could deal with, mainly because as I've mentioned before I can't play for too long at the minute. So there was still a chance I'd actually finish something sometime soon.

Until that is, I got a Line 6 Studio UX1 thingie, which lets you plug your guitar into a PC and record things. Brilliant and simple. I love it.

But it is Pod Farm which is the really amazing thing. You get to pick from dozens of 'Classic' amps, effects, racks and god knows what else. Which is all uber cool and full of very time using-up-ness, but more to the point - and this is the second reason for the apology - it encourages you to make stuff up with lots and lots of different layers. Tunes, and err, soundscapes and things. Maybe even a nascent (gulp) rock opera.

Now in itself, that shouldn't really be too much of a problem - but when you do such things, like writing shonky blogs, you do need the odd person to hear or read them if you don't want to be a complete self-pleasurer. And I am a little scared I might get a wee bit over excited and start posting them on YouSpace or MyTubes or wherever, and worse even, I might feel the need to do that here too.

Inflict them on you.

So I apologise, for the even slower than normal progress in the Jooky dept. and worse for any future nitemare toonz you might find popping up as background music the next time you trot along here.

I'm sure it will be only a short term problem, I bore easily.

Incidentally, one word of advice for anybody suffering balance problems. Wah wah pedals are groovy in excelsis, but they can make you fall over a lot. I'm also going to avoid unicycles in the future.

Well Evil Bed was a silly name

OK, I changed the name of the Evil Bed One, to The Crowley One, as I think it is a bit more whhoooo-hhhooooo

I've had a day of necks really, sanding them applying 'logos' with a burning stick and generally getting them ready to be reattached to bodies..

Speaking of which, the Daisy Jook and Twangy Ones are nearly dry, so tomorrow should be getting to look more guitar-like, and the Crowley One is 99% ready to be sprayed with sticky lacquer stuff.

Rubbish fotos in the kitchen, but here is the latest pix...

I'd given up on Effects Pedals

I used to use lots (and lots, and lots) of them, delays, flangers, chorus, volume/wah/ distortion, overdrive and well, all at the same time too.

Which could be messy.

But I gave up - although I did get a Vox Wah just the other week, forgetting my balance is shonky and that I fall over whenever I try to use it.

But I had given up, until I saw this fella on YouTube.

The guy is playing via an EHX Pog2, which does amazing organ sounds and is ultra cool.

I like it a lot

I really am that cheesy, it is true.

Here he is...

Exploring My Evil Side

I said a while back that I wanted to do a 'shape' guitar, and that I'd picked up a lovely mahogany Explorer-esque type of thing to fulfill such desires.

Anyway, with the Daisy Jook and Twangy Ones still hanging around and drying, I thought I'd make a start on what will become The Evil Bed One.

As I haven't done it for a while, here are some WIP fotos - firstly I take it to bits, and then I start to put the slightly mad skull and roses fabric on it. This shows the back, but I'm going with the same design all over, although I might use a different scratchplate, not sure yet.

The pickups are a pair I got out of a PRS Tremonti, which should fulfill my rock chick needs (?? might have that wrong somewhat) and there may be a wrinkle or two I'll include somewhere down the line.

The foto over to the left of me, shows the fabric having being applied to the back of the guitar and covered with a grain filler - to turn the cloth 'plastic' and generally make it harder wearing and less likely to get damaged.

There will be a couple more coats of that, then I'll repeat the whole exercise on the sides and on the front of the guitar and voila. It will look like a guitar covered in skull and roses cloth (designed by somebody famous who I forget).

Once that is done, there will be a few coats of lacquer poly then nitro, sanding a bit of a polish, and then the rest of the guitar will be put together. New wiring and pickups, different bridge as it was a bit tinny for my liking, and of course the neck will get the 'jooky-not-yet-patented treatment' as a finishing touch. Not quite sure what will happen to the scratchplate yet, hmmm, wonder if I have a big enough piece of copper. Or maybe plain black would be good, dunno.

All in all, should be fun.

I've always fancied an Explorer, but as I tend to sit down to play kinda discounted them, but they are easie-peasie to balance on your leg. Well comfortable...

Tis all good...

And then there was one

Is this it?

I think everybody that plays guitar goes thru this sometime, and I almost hate to mention it, but I'm really considering clearing the decks as far as guitars go and having just one guitar to play. I know, I know what you're thinking...

"But what about all those different sounds, Strat, Tele, P90, various humbuckers, Lipsticks..?"

Well, I guess my current difficulties with my hand/need for a big necked guitar are driving it really, but I don't play gigs, I don't do any recording and other than that I just plug in and have a play. Usually on whichever guitar happens to be nearest.

I'm not depressed about it, and I might mean one electric, one acoustic and a mandolin in truth, and there are always Jooky guitars to 'test' as well, which means I get my fill of weird and wonder-filled sounds. But I mean a single guitar - the legendary 'keeper', my 'go to' guitar, the one that is aging next to me, seeing the kids grow, getting battered and scraped, yellowing and all a bit doddery alongside me as I do just that.

It used to be my Jazzmaster of course, and maybe it should be again, but I am thinking that a big necked Les Paul with P90s is really 'me' right now, and maybe I should just follow my nose. Or maybe a BFG, humbucker plus P90 and no worries about dinging the finish.

So I'm all-of-a-ponder.

What to do, what to do.

I could just make one of course, but there is something exciting about buying a guitar isn't there? Exciting, and yet addictive. So perhaps, it isn't such a good idea after all, I dunno.

It is a recognised loop though - you buy a guitar, love it. Buy another, then another. Sell trade or lose one, fancy something different and then descend into the Danteian 77 rings of Fender, Gibson, Rickenbacker, PRS, Squier, Schecter, Ibanez, Shine, Yamaha, Martin, Epiphone....then onto the hand made guitars, odd looking guitars, weird as hell looking guitars, mandolins, banjos, dobros, ukes...and so on.

Then you decide you need just one as you are spending so much time buying and sellling them that you forget how to play, then you just have one guitar when someone offers you an amazing deal on a Baja Tele, and well, you'd be mad not to, and then you start thinking about that Kay cheese grater you started on and aimlessly check Ebay and there is one just the same - now vintage, but only £200 and well, it'd be rude not to, and then you start remembering the others through a golden haze of fake nostalgia and you start snapping them up as you really shouldn't have let them go in the first place, and anyway they are collectible now as everybody that was twenty, twenty years ago is at a similar stage and all the selling has ended and now the buying has begun again, supply demands higher prices and so on and so you go forth and the guitars multiply and suddenly you realise that not only have you got back all of the guitars you 'de-cluttered' just months before, but you've also got back all and every guitar you ever owned, lusted after or walked past in a shop on holiday in Abersychan in 1982 and meant to go back whenever it was that they opened (every second Tuesday in March), and so I'm thinking about downsizing the collection, with a total lack of nerves and concern as I know, and you know because it is the way, that like pigeons on elastic they'll all be back by dusk, and the circle will start again.

*breathe*

I do still quite fancy a Les Paul Studio '50s Tribute in Heritage Cherryburst though. Thomann are doing them for less than £600. Twin P90s, big neck...

Hmmm... Maybe I should just get one. I can always offload the others later if the Studio really is the one.

I can,
can't I?

Gutted Like A Fishy Thing

Well, in my quest to find myself a guitar with a big enough, club of a neck that I can play for more than ten minutes at a time, I finally succumbed and got meself a Les Paul Studio with a proper '50s neck.

This was before Christmas, but it finally showed-up the other day to mucho excitement. Anyway, I slit the tape on the packaging and opened it, and I have to say it was a beauty. A Fireburst (I think they are called), and it was gorgeous. I probably wouldn't have even covered it with felt or lizard skin or anything.

Looking up at the headstock though, I got a bit of a nasty surprise....it was pretty much hanging off, held on only by the lovely bell shaped truss rod cover and the strings.

*sigh*

It's insured and everything, but, well, you know. Gutted.

 

Luckily, I had also obtained an Ibanez Artcore Semi-Acoustic thing, which is equally pretty and arrived delivered by hand in a Hiscox case in perfect nick.

That has a pretty good chunk of a neck on it too, so I can play a bit at least, but....what can I say?

Parcel Force, I don't love you anymore.

Another Day In The Wet

Well, and so we are off again, if a little stuttering as per and it is tipping down. A boy could drown in weather like this. Can't wait for the hosepipe ban being announced.

But starting again we are, and for the record, The Daisy Jook One has now had a couple of coats of lacquer and been tamed a wee bit around the edges...
I've kinda got a yen to be a bit on the rough side with the girl, and I think she'll appreciate it.
I've also sorted out the neck and there we are.
I'm toying with the idea of a bit of bling, but we'll have to see.
Where does a boy get rhinestones in Bristol?
I really don't know.

I'm in a decisive mood.

As for the Twangy One, again a bit of a trim, cut, polish and a touch or two of lacquer and it is drying for a day or three now.

I'm using nitro from the start on both of these so it is a bit slower than my usual poly then nitro combo, but I'm curious to see how it goes.

Coats are kept tres thin, so hopefully won't take months to dry.
I'm really looking forward to hearing the Kent Armstrong Kentron pickups in this one, I've got a fancy for a bit of Duanne Eddie Cochran and can't afford a Gretsch, so this will be as close as I get, I guess.

As for after these pair, I'm going to jump toward The Pink Panther One, my Jazzmaster/Jaguar type of thing with either P90s or Jazzmaster pickups.

Or maybe one of each, I can't decide, not surprisingly.

But that will come later and I might even go for The Evil Bed One first, the skeleton and roses smothered, PRS Tremonti pickuped Explorer-esque, well, guitar.

Or even, god forbid, I might finally get my finger out and do my lovely pine-bodied, golden paisleyified, copper-topped Telecaster with it's Esquire-inspired single Bare Knuckle Brown Sugar pickup and simply beautiful maple neck.

Or even, I might just stop talking for a while and do something. That would be novel, and quite a first it has to be said.

And probably will be.

Michael Finnegan

Daisy Jook - From The Rear

Well, as seems to be the way of things, last week proved to be a  another complete right-off for one reason or other - mainly involving motorways, electric shocks and minor floods, but there we are.

However, things seem to have settled now and I'm looking forward to a week or two of unadulterated Jookiness. Unfortunately, my going missing and generally being hopeless at keeping in touch has meant that I'm no longer making the J-Bird One for Andy, which is a shame but I think in the end we were both thinking along the same lines and it was better to cut the losses.

To be honest this is probably for the best as I'm not sure my life is steady enough at the moment to provide a good 'service' in terms of contact and deadlines. Better I meander along doing things as and when I can and if anybody likes the end result so be it. Andy is a lovely bloke though, and very understanding and most importantly there are no hard feelings. Life just gets in the way of guitars sometimes, Que cera.

What it means though is that I have a nice stock-pile of some very interesting parts, which I think will turn up in other guises, which is all cool.

The Twangy One - WIP

One thing I am changing on the site is that the Hall of Fame is going to show the WIP of the different guitars I have in the pipeline. Nothing flash, but it should be interesting to see them develop over time (for me if nobody else). It'll also stop me putting the same number on more than one guitar, which may have happened before once or thrice.

As the J-Bird won't be flying now, I'm going to crack on with some of the others. So watch out sugar, Daisy Jook is a coming soon honey...and man you are going to get something to twitch away on when the Twangy One gets those Kentrons in place..

(Think I'll stop there to avoid further embarrassment...)

FingertappingpaisleylickingJooky

Ebay is such a funny thing. I had a message the other day from a chap who oddly enough is also selling a paisley covered Danelectro guitar on there (I list all the Jooky ones on there sooner or later, when I get around to it) and amazingly he had chosen what looks to be the same exact paisley fabric as I had.. not sure what the odds are on such things but I wish I'd had a fiver on it...

Another Man's Jookiness

Anyway, this is his - a single cut U2/DC'59...

See, there is nowt original in this world of ours...

I might bid for it, and who knows I may even win. That would be an odd feeling, I've never bought a fabricly covered paisley guitar before. It sounds kinda fun.

*

I have a guilty secret, of sorts. I was talking about the Widdly guitar I got the other day, and I said that I don't really know much about such things (which is true), however, I have to admit that in recent times I've been listening to some top tunes from that bloke who wears a KFC bucket on his head. Can't remember what his name is. Though there might be a clue there somewhere.

Ahhh...

Anyway, he is really rather amazing, and whilst I still don't think I'm likely to investigate a veggie alternative (Quorn Meat Ball Head, doesn't quite work does it? Though maybe Quorn Meat Ball Trousers, could in some distant galaxy where Hugh Laurie is still considered funny - like America, maybe), but I digress. But no, I'm not about to try and emulate the chukky-loving-chap, but I can appreciate the talent.

So fair play to Mr Buckethead, finger tappin' good, methinks

Feelin' Poodly

One thing I've never done is be particularly interested in shredding or fast guitar playing, or even medium paced guitar playing that is a little tatty around the edges I guess it would be easy to say that that is 'because I can't' which is true, but there was a time when I probably could have learned, but chose not to, as basically I wasn't particularly interested in that type of music.

Saying that doesn't rule out the fact that I've always been curious about the guitars - Floyd Roses on pointy Jacksons, and Washburn Nuno Betancourt (?) types of things that make squealy tippy-tappy sounds.

(I'm starting to realise that I am perhaps an expert after all).

Anyway, as it happens at least picking such a guitar up at some point in my life has always been on a list in my head somewhere, and so when I noticed somebody flogging a kind of Nuno-ish guitar that had been made out of top notch parts, but that needed some TLC and a bit of a bath, I thought I'd get it.

And here it is, all handmade body by some cockernee luthier, Walmouth neck, Floyd Rose twiddly gear stick thing and Kent Armstrong PAF and DiMarzio high N-R-G pickup at the bridge. (I might have that wrong somewhat).

I figured that even if I hated the guitar I could take it apart and make something new out of it, so I couldn't really go wrong.

So how does it play? Well, I still don't know how to twaddle or whatever you call it, but it sounds quite nice strumming a bit of cum-buy-ahhh.

And you don't get much more Rock 'n' Roll than that, lets face it.

As to what I'm going to do with it, I'm really not entirely sure.

Feel Just Like...

One thing that I think will change a wee bit in the New Year down here in Jookville, UK is that the types of guitars will begin to vary a bit more. It has already started in a way, with the Dano-based Jangly One and The Daisy Jook One on the cards too, but I've sorted out an Explorer-esque guitar which I'll get this week too and of course there are a couple of Jaguar/Jazzmaster types of things on the cards, which is always cool. They be my faves, innit-like?

I've been thinking a lot about my own 'design' bodies too, which is one of the reasons I think the Customs will disappear, at least for a while. I really do need to play for a bit both with routers for the wood and different finishes for the copper, and there is no point rushing meself of course.

One other thing I've been looking at is how the electronics gets done, as I really like the idea of making the guitars a lot more flexible - and getting all Lego-like and modular seems to make sense to the innately logical computer programmer deep (and very deep) inside of me. The best way of doing it though, I'm still not totally sure, but it will be fun to work it out.

Am I still enjoying this? I seem to ask most weeks, and for the most part I am, but it is easy to get into a rut and I'd really rather not. So I don't intend to.

Another Year In Jookidom...Slight Return

Blackstar HT-1R - Actual Size

Well, that was an unexpected break - I was going to write happy Xmas and New year messages and everything, but have a belated one or two anyway...

As for Jookines, well not a lot over the 'holibobs' it has to be said, but I'm back in the saddle and aiming to get the J-Bird One finally all together in the next week or two. Which I think will be a relief to all concerned. I might even send the things I should have sent before in the next couple of days, which again, might go down well.

Looking forward, my list of revolutions stands at the mo' but like I say we need this bird to fly, and then there will only be one more Katy's Killer Custom, as to be honest I'm not sure my haphazardly organised life lends itself in that direction in truth. Not now or without a six-month lead time anyway.

The third and final Custom is going to be one I was planning anyway - the Weathered One, my pine bodied tele-type of thing, with a copper coloured and covered top. I've spent a lot of thought on that one and it is going to be gorgeous. I finally decided it will be a paisleyified body with the copper top as I found something a bit swish and there we are.

What else?

Well, I mentioned last year that I managed to blow up my little home practise amp, which was a pain, but now I seem to have got three that are just about quiet enough to test that guitars work without distressing the neighbourhood bratskis.

The first was a teeny weeny Orange Micro Crush 3 watt thingie, which sounds surprisingly like an Orange amp. Most odd, and I have to say that I like it. It has a tuner on too, which is always a bonus.

The second one is a bit bigger - and old Line 6 Spider III 15 - which is fifteen watt and has built-in effects. This sounds more like it, it has to be said, and effects are fun - though I'm a bit of a tweaker and these don't actually have too much scope. The amp models are good though, and almost sound like real amps at a quiet level. Nice.

The third one, is a real amp of sorts. Well, pretty close. It is valve, though only one watt, but sounds stunning (and probably as loud as the Spider, but that's valves for you.) It is a Blackstar HT-1R which is the best little amp I've had the joy to play, at least at home levels. I can't leave the wee thing alone, which sadly means the other two are already looking to be a bit on the redundant side. The Orange is cool though if I'm in the garage and want a quick tune or test, and the Spider, well I don't have any effects anymore so at least that is fun to play with. But the Blackstar *sigh*. I was going to get a Vox Lil Night Train, but glad I went this route instead.
Though you can see the glowing 'bottles' in the Vox, of course, which would look nice next to the lavalamp in the living room...maybe.

Speaking of things turning up without a Jooky kind of slant to them, I managed to finally find a guitar with a bigish neck of the Les Paul variety, which should make playing a whole lot easier for me. I can actually play most things now for a short while, and as bad as ever, so things are looking up, But big-necked guitars make life simpler for some odd reason, and so I bit that there bullet.... Pictures of the ensemble to follow soon...