Before The Gold Rush

Well, back from a holiday in Devon, and somehow survived the bratski's withdrawal symptoms from the 'net, Lego, Sky + and friends. It was quite odd meself being off-line - hope you didn't mind the 'scheduled' posts, I thought it was good to keep the flag flying and all that.

But kids back to school next week, and I can hopefully finish of the last few guitars before I start on new stuff.

Top of my list is The Old Burny One, as this is a bit of a dream-made-real for me. I've always wanted a Les Paul, but got to play an '80s Burny a while back and it was quite brilliant. So when I got the chance to get a battered old body and neck from the same period, I jumped right in.

For the record it is solid mahogany - no maple cap, so that points in the direction of a gold top. It has the 'right' headstock shape, and for the traditionalists a long tenon - which basically means that the joint connecting the neck to the body extends all the way to the neck pickup cavity. This is meant to give more sustain, but who knows.

From there it has been mostly easy -

1. I got a '50s authentic style Gibson-esque wiring Loom from that chap Shugz. That has the right wire, right caps and right pots and switch. All of which probaaably helps tone-wise, but more to the point they look great. (Call me King Shallow).

2. Pickups are some '80s Gibson humbuckers. These were only made '87-'89 and were designed by Bill Lawrence. 'The Originals' they are called and the idea was something PAF-like but with a bit more. I like the idea that they are from the '80s same as the Burny, so looking forward to seeing what that turns out like. They were the forerunners to the '59 pickups, so we shall see what we shall see. (I may have that wrong, it happens).

3. For Tuners I've got some Gibson-branded ones, which I guess are Klusons, but I don't know.

4. ABR Bridge and Stopbar tailpiece are both Gotoh and a little bit corroded, which goes with the vibe.

5. Plastic bits are generic stuff. I've not heard that '80s Burny's or Gibson's had anything specific, and I could go for aged, but I don't see it is a big deal. I've got a scratchplate but probably will leave it off.

6. The finish is pure Jooky. It is 24 karat gold leaf, articifically aged to an extent so that it doesn't reflect the sun like Amritsar. It has a lovely grain to it, which I'm pleased with and it should continue to age rather nicely as it was finished with some Nitro. I did ponder the idea of inducing some crazing in the finish, but I think it looks aged enough so am going to let nature take it's course.

7. The headstock perplexed me. When I got the guitar it had a dodgy Gibson decal on it, which I naturally lost, but also had the old Custom split diamond which I wanthed to retain. I did think about putting a Burny decal on, but in the end stuck with Jooky and just got a bit punk about it. I think it works anyway..

After that, well, more things to finish before the next chapter starts methinks.

But there we are, first job next week is going to be golden.

Probably