Introducing The Red or Dead One

Well I'm still waiting for a couple of parts for The Rusting Nail One, which is annoying because I have a deep need to hear them there pickups, but such is life. Hopefully Monday we'll be there and swirling twangy-like.

Among the despair, I turned instead to my beautiful Red or Dead One, and it is 99% there, and sounds, looks and plays rather smashing.

So by way of introduction, here is my Jaguar-esque piece of Jookiness.

Built out of a '70s Japanese 'tribute', The Red or Dead One has a jaw droppingly lush variegated leaf finish over a solid alder body, a look-of-the-week rusted iron scratchplate, three re-wound Strat pickups, and a sneakily incorporated Sophie's Filthy Boots Fuzz.

The only downside, and why I'm not shouting 'It's finished' like normal, is that trying now, well, lets just say young Sophie is proving to be a quiet one.Not putting out and basically however much I twist the knob, not a peep emerges from the girl.

Bit more work to do there then - probably put the diode in back to front again, I expect...

I'm quite keen to get the Fuzz working, as the history of the Sophie's is a bit frustrating after all, as initially I was planning on making some pedals, but unfortunately my shaky paws mean I can't solder things in that way too much.

The first Jooky guitar - The Paisley One - had a built-in fuzz, but this is a bit of a different design as it uses a Germanium diode, and doesn't need a battery.

There isn't even a switch, you just turn the little tone-knob-replacement and it is there or not, with lots of variety in between. Ultimate simplicity - and I still seem to have managed to mess it up...

Heh ho, shouldn't be too tricky to sort out methinks.

It's been quite a productive week though, two guitars very-nearly-there, and I am well impressed with the rusty iron finish. Amazingly, even my missus likes them (a first), though I am slightly worried that the guitars are starting to look a bit grown-up. Can't be having that now can we...