Striking a Pose

Well,  after a quiet few days it was nice to get down to some Jooky stuff yesterday. First things first, The Sick One is amazingly cool. I'm well pleased with how it has turned out, and in awe of the P90 with extras pickup Allan at Catswhisker put together. I'm a bit gutted that I only get to play it until January, as you can imagine.

Other than that, things haven't gone quite so smoothly. Now The Bella Donna One is as simple as it comes. One pickup, a volume knob and an output jack. Simple. But can I get the thing to work?

Well, no, or I wouldn't have mentioned it, in truth.

It is doing my head in though right now. The pickup is fine, I've tried a couple of pots and two sockets and replaced all of the wire. There is nothing else.

I know it will be the simplest of things, but - GAH.

Other than that, I've ordered myself some rosewood veneer, so wrecking that will be what I'm doing once The Bella Donna and Old Burny Ones are sorted out (he says), so I can't see there being any further Jookies this year now. Though I may deviate from the Rosewood Tele template, somewhat. But that will be it. No more Jookies in 2011. It is official.

Still, never say probably not...

Introducing: The Sick One

Well, I already said that this baby is 'reserved' for Matt, but I've finished it so I figured I should do the honours...

Introducing The Sick One

The Sick One is a punk faced, hard playing noise machine, featuring an overwound – and over-the-top Catswhisker P90. Beneath the rusted iron is a pine body matched with a maple/rosewood neck.

The Sick One is a modern take on the Fender ‘Esquire’, with it’s single pickup, dual controls and steel saddles for maximum sustain.

The P90 has a secret, as it has been specially wound hotter than normal, and additionally given a second coil to make it hotter still,. This is activated simply using the push-pull volume knob thing.

For the record:

1.    Pine Body and Maple/Rosewood neck
2.    Catswhisker P90
3.    Push-pull activation of the ‘Hidden’ coil.
4.    Steel Saddled Tele Bridge
5.    Wilkinson EZ-Locking tuners
6.    A beautiful Cilla’s Rusty Iron Finish

*

To be clear, The Sick 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 rusty can at the bottom of a very cold canal. There will genuinely never be another guitar like this and past experience suggests that it won’t be around for long.

Technical Stuff:

Type: Cilla’s Rusty Iron

Electrics: Catswhisker P90

Guitar Type: Telecaster ‘Esquire’

Construction: Rusted Iron over pine

Strings: Nickel 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Single Volume, Push-pull, Single Tone

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

Serial Number: JGE#42

RSP: £799

Confused of Jookyland - One String on my Wagon

Well, I have to say I can't wait for the post to show up, as I really, really need to put the tuners on The Bella Donna One. I'm going to wire it up over the weekend, and with a nice set of solid looking Wilkinson 'Chicago' Klusons, well, the world will be a nicer place.

They'll keep the strings on at least.

Other than that, I did receive a nice set of tuners for The Sick One. I went for some locking jobbies, which are kinda cute, with their twirly knobs and all. I also decided to go for a black bridge in the end as it just suited the guitar better. That too shouldn't be horrendous to sort out now. Assuming I can manage to remember how to wire a push-pull pot, it has been a while.

Saying that I've now put the tuners on, and it is all a bit embarrassing, as I can't work out how to make them work. They have a twirly disc on the front which turns to lock the string (I presume) but so far it hasn't done that and all I've been left with is blisters. *sigh* Never had this problem with Klusons. I've slashed my fingers and spiked myself, but never got blisters.

The other WIP one is of course that old fave The Old Burny One. Again a bit of soldering is needed and I guess I need to work out what is wrong as the pickup proved to be OK after all. After that though (with a new found reality-avoiding-blind-faith) we are there - Rome and Rosed, so we shall see.

And once I get to the finale of that particular trilogy, that will probably be it for a while as I'm going to digress and have a go at making a Rosewood (veneer) Telecaster, just to see if I can.

Unless I get an Explorer to play with any time soon, but we shall see.

La la la.

Oh, and it is West Brom v. Spurs today, which means that I live in a household at war. Everybody is being excessively polite at the moment, laughing a little too easily and loudly, but it'll never last come 3pm. Come on my Baggy Boys...

Boing boing.

WIP: The Bella Donna One

Well, awaiting couriers, no kids at home so I get things done.

Recipe for something, that be.

Anyway, I finished the finish on The Bella Donna One, and decided in the end to go with the TV Jones Classic pickup, as it looks too good to live in a box and this guitar reminded me of a Gretsch for some odd reason.

Quick mock-up later and there we are.

I'm waiting on tuners - there is definitely a tuner drought at the moment - and the usual wiring-needs-to-be-done bobbins apply.

But it looks grand, I think.

On My Way To Amaryllis

Well, sick kids mean the soldering is out of the skylight (if there was a skylight, or even a light sky), so the top of The Bella Donna One is getting a good lacquering.

I know I should have taken a foto or three of the finish, but I didn't, so there we are. Once that is done I'm going to go for a contrasting bronze and copper corrosion fest on the back, as I think it will be kinda cool.

My only dither with this at the moment is whether to put the SD '59 in it or go a bit Gretsch and put the TV Jones I've been saving for the Joe Le Taxi One. I can always get another pup for that when I finally get my hands on the body, sooo....maybe.

But that is for another day. Instead then, I'll probably put The Sick One together today - all bar the wiring - and see how it looks. The finish looks great - or maybe sick - and I'm itching to get it together and have a go on the P90... Maybe tomorrow I can wire it up though.

Other news, I'm on the lookout for another Explorer as we seem to have entered fantasy island territory with the one I've been waiting for. So if you see one, give me a shout...

I did get a Tele body and neck today, which I'm planning on using to have a go at adding a veneer. I've never been into fancy woods, but I've always had a bit of a yearn for a Rosewood Tele and this seems likely to be as close as I get. It might have a twist or three, of course, we'll have to wait and see.

But there we are, more chicken soup, Lucozade and Calpol to organise.

A Starter: The Bella Donna One

Step 1. Smooth Copper Coat

Well, The Wasteland One is off to pastures new, and the lacquer has dried on the rather amazing looking The Sick One. I still haven't wired The Old Burny One despite best intentions, so all in the wonderfilled land of Jook is really positioned to finish something.

Naturally then, I've started something else, which will in time become the glory that is The Bella Donna One. I've wanted to play with one of these sort of racy guitars for a while, and here we are.

From the top then, it is a modern wee thing, with a vintage vibe, bit like myself. It has an alder body, maple neck, rosey wood board and a fixed bridge. (Not sure what you call it to be quite honest)

All of which dictates that it has a gorgeously corroded copper top and a single Seymour Duncan '59 humbucker at the bridge. It is a going to be soooo cool. Maybe by Easter, at a rough guess.

Obviously, I forgot to take a 'Before' foto, but for the record it was black with a couple of racing stripes down the front on the left.

As for the Explorer, today is now the day, apparently. So somebody tells me.

La la laaa

Step 2. Textured Copper Coat

Step 3. Acceeeed

A Study In The Unlikely

Well, with the exception of the tuners, I've now got all me parts for The Sick One, which is pretty cool. I've still to give it a taste of lacquer on top, but the weather is so damp I'm wondering whether it is best to leave it a wee while. Be a shame to screw it up this close to the wire. Though not unusual.

I also received the Gibson/Lawrence pickup back frrom Catswhisker this morning, so I can actually crack on and finally finish The Old Burny One. I almost regret saying that already as it probably means a house fire and third degree burns at the very least.

Allan at CW also sent his lovely Tele P90 thru for the Sick One, of course, so I might have a go at wiring it up at least. I also got the push-pull pot for the hyperdrive boost thingy, which is fun, fun and fun.

Oh, and the Explorer should arrive today (stop laughing)

What else, well my Italian sort of guitar, The Bella Donna One, should show up this week. It is a single pup jobbie, and is going to be copperified and fitted with a rather nice Seymour Duncan '59.

So there we are, I'll no doubt finish all of those this week.

(ahem)

To The Stomach

Well, The Sick One has been rusted, fixed and lacquered, re-rusted, re-calmed-down and re-lacquered and is now going to have a final coat of lacquer or three on the top just for good measure.

I thought I'd give you a peep before that though as it basically will look mucho the same from now on...just maybe a wee bit shinier, like.

The back is already finitoed, so you can see what I mean..it has a bit more depth, don't you think?

As for the rest of it, I finally decided on the Gotoh tuners, well, I went for the Fender ones too, but they will come in handy somewhere else, I'm sure.

As for the pickup and the other bits and bobs, well they will show up soon enough.



As I said, a nice chap called Matt has got first refusal on this one in January, so I'm just going to have to put up with giving it the odd strum or three until then if I manage to finish it in the nearest of futures.

I managed to somehow unnotice the Ninja courier chap yesterday as he slid on his belly across the path to shove a 'Sorry I missed you....' card thru the letterbox, so it seems like the Explorer will now have to be on Monday. Possibly. You can never tell.

As for other things of Jooky note, well, I think The Sick One will probably be the last Jooky of the year, unless my wee Italian Donkey arrives quicksmart and I feel the urge to create, sugar, but that's not a bad thing.

Last year (2010 for those in need of a historicalised perspective) I think I made 11 guitars and wondered if that was too many. This year I think it will be 22 or 23, which is slightly stunning for one so slack. And I still haven't finished The Old Burny One which I was hoping to do for last Christmas, but there we are.



Next year though, I think it will be one-a-month tops as it gets silly otherwise.

But there we are, la la laaaa

WIP: A Bit More Sick

Well, after an extended period dedicated to my newly enhanced patent-drying-method (I moved the guitar closer to the open window), I was happy to be able to start on the back of The Sick One.

In the end I went for more rust, but whether it ends there or not, who can say?

Not me, which doesn't give you much of a hope of knowing, really.

It has to be said it is all looking rather good. I've also ordered all of the parts now with the exception of the tuners as I can't make my mind up about those and they should be here before the weekend, or maybe early next week, I wouldn't know.

On the tuners, I was going to go with some Gotoh ones, but then I saw some Seventies Fender jobbies, which I like., with a big 'F' on the back of them. But I'm not sure that the Gotohs aren't better, so again I'm dithering between practicality and good looks.

However that ends-up though, I'm already pretty sure it is going to be sick, in a big way. And that is all that counts.

In other news, The Explorer is meant to arrive today, which is kinda exciting, but probably won't as it involves couriers and they always lie.

And I also, somehow, despite bestest intentions, seem to have arranged to acquire an interesting looking guitar that will arrive next week, perhaps.

I can't help myself sometimes, I just lurvve Italian styling.
I blame it on the excessive levels of distilled ristretto I consume, by the bucket-load.
And a lack of real spice in my life.
To poorly-quote some poet of my yoof.

Top Excitement

Well, now that The Sick One is recovering it's breath from the first bout of lacquering - or perhaps that is me - I've kinda run out of things to do again.

I've also run out of finishing materials and all sorts of parts, but that's by-di-by, doo-di-doo.

I suppose it is about right, proper and typical that The Sick One will go together quickly and without any of the normal angst, as I don't need to have finished it until January, but to be honest I think I will cope with having it around the place for a little while ;)

Yes, I realise I am tempting fate somewhat.

In other news, I got asked on Facebook why I've never done a Jooky bass, and to be honest I've never had a good reason - it just hasn't happened. Anyway, I think it is about time I did one, so I'm having a ponder about that at the moment too. It could be fun, after all.

But for now I'm waiting for pickups, waiting for materials, waiting for parts and waiting for some paint to dry.

*Sigh*

It's the excitement that kills me...

Getting Sicker

Day 2: The Sick One gets filthy

Well, I feel like a bit of a plum in truth, as it turns out that there was nowt wrong with the Gibson/Lawrence pickup I sent to Catswhisker for a bit of TLC. Still, Allan is replacing the wire just in case (which was probably him being nice) and there we are. At least it kills off one more excuse.

Anyway, it should be back soon and maybe I won't mess it up when I pop it back in The Old Burny One.

On The Sick One, the 'journey to the corroded side' goes on today, with more rust appearing and assuming my new fangled drying technique works (opening a window) we should be lacquering tomorrow, before starting on the rust again. All good stuff.

I've deliberately concentrated on the top so far, as the back is a nicely lacquered pine and I'm in two minds whether to leave it. Probably not though, as I think a nice rust would be a better bet. The top, this morning, looks absolutely stunning and already has the 3D thing going on - excuse the extreme close-up, I'm chuffed and stunned all at once.

In yet more other news, the long-awaited Explorer should finally arrive this week. This is a bit of a special too, and is already spoken for. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, but if I'm trying to do one-at-a-time, it probably makes sense. I'll have to think about that.

But the Explorer, I'm still mulling this one a wee bit, but it is definitely going to have a P90/PAF combination, which should be rather groovy.

But, to the rust..

Sick, Up Close and a bit flaky

A Start: The Sick One

Rust-a-go-go

Well, I mentioned The Sick One the other day, and in lieu of being able to work on anything else, I started to gather the parts.

I think I said that I'd got a pine Esquire body and a nice maple/rosewood tele neck to go with it. Both of these arrived quick smart, and after a bit of sanding in all the old familiar places, snuggly nestled together like old chums in a bus shelter.

As for the rest of the bobbins, I had a quick chat with Allan of Catswhisker fame about his Tele shaped P90 pickups, and he is going to wind me one in a made-to-measure kind of way. As this is going to be a true Esquire in that it will be a single pickup, I've gone for a clever coil tapp thingie. I had asked Allan about overwinding it and he suggested that we could effectively use two coils - one that will be normal P90 strength, with the second being used to give a boost when it cuts in. Clever geezer that Catswhisker chap.

Anyway, controls will be a simple volume and tone combo, with the exception that a quick yank on the Volume knob giving the boost, as it were.

As for the finish, well, I've removed the lacquer off the body and given the top the first couple of coats of iron paint. This is going to go a bit differently from those that have gone before as I think I'm going to build up some layers of iron/rust/lacquer, with a coup de wonkiness being either a smattering of bronze or copper, corroded of course.

I've not done it this way before, but I think it will be pretty cool at the end.

Well, I hope so.

The truth is, I really don't know, of course, but as this one doesn't have to be complete until January the fact that it'll take a few weeks just for the top shouldn't matter too much if I've got the rest sorted.

Other than that, it'll be a modern steel bridge, probably Wilkinson or Gotoh or something and some good tuners of similar ilk.

And there we are. The Sick One. Game on.

Lacquer off, two, three

Battleship grey, three, four

Textured coat, five, seven

Ooh, look at that twirliness, 6,viii

Sold: The Wasteland One

The Wasteland One is a hard nosed rock machine, featuring a stunning pair of Gibson P90s nestled into a solid mahogany body. A fixed mahogany neck gives just-that-bit-more sustain, and the body is simply rusty-in-excelsis.

Based on the Gibson Les Paul Special this sounds and plays fantastic and the addition of Fake58s vintage wiring means you can get every last drop of tone out of it.

For the record:

1.    Mahogany Body and fixed mahogany neck

2.    Gibson P90 pickups

3.    Fake58 Wiring Loom (CTS pots, Bumble Bee Caps etc.)

4.    Gotoh ToM/ABR Bridge

5.    Kluson-esuqe tuners

6.    A beautiful Cilla’s Rusty Iron Finish

*

To be clear, The Wasteland 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 poem of desolation and despair. 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: Cilla’s Rusty Iron

Electrics: Gibson P90 (Bridge & Neck). Fake58 Vintage wiring

Guitar Type: Les Paul Special style

Construction: Rusted Iron over mahogany

Strings: Nickel 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Twin Volume, Twin Tone, Three-way Switch

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

Serial Number: JGE#41

RSP: £799

Introducing: The Wasteland One

Well, I must admit I'm all rather chuffed that my 'Official Les Paul Week' actually produced (half of) the goods, in the shape of The Wasteland One.

This little dearie is a mahogany bodied and fixed neck Les Paul Special type, and is rather gorgeous, if I do have to say so myself.

From the top:

1. Mahogany Body
2. Fixed Mahogany Neck
3. Rosewood 'board
4. A Pair of Gibson P90s
5. A Fake58 authentically vintage wiring loom - all CTS pots, Ye Olde wire and Bumble Bee Caps
6. An amazing looking twisted rusted iron finish.

And as for the finish, it is pure greebo in a good way. It changes colour depending on the light and is real rust. I'll say no more..

And man, it sounds wicked.

Here's some fotos...

Come On Feel The Nooiiizzee

Well, The Off Key and Elmer Ones are off to pastures new, so we are back to our more usual 'Larder Bare' selection of guitars here in the Little Kingdom of Jook.

Why is that?

Well I never quite finished The Wasteland One yesterday, but will today.

I know I will.

Deep down.

In truth it all got a bit fiddly - the wiring proved to be slightly short-of-wire in the vicinity of the switch - I'm guessing the routing wasn't 100% to vintage specs as I'm sure Fake58s loom was right, so I had to do some extensions dah-link, and then pretty much everything else got trickier than it should have too.

Anyway, all is left to do is solder in the pickups, connect the jack and put everything back together and we're there.

Later today, I will be playing this guitar loudly.
You have been warned

(Warned, that is, if you happen to be my back-door-neighbour. And thinking about it, if you are, you also need to trim your tree as it is blocking all the sunlight. And your extension makes your house look like Wormwood Scrubs. Think that is about it for now.

Although I should point out that bin day is Wednesday and you aren't obliged to leave your wheelie bin in the middle of the road from Sunday evening.)

But there we are. The Wasteland One - I'll be boasting about it's vivid rustiness later.
Today.
Oh yes I will.

Did I mention that already?

In other news, I'm rather chuffed as I picked up a nice pine Tele/Esquire body. This should be here in the next few days, and it is going to have a nice handwound Tele bridge shaped P90 - when I get around to ordering it from The Creamery.

This is going to be a bit of a punk effort on my part and I've kinda promised to have it done by January, so somebody has first option on it, The Sick One. Which is all good news as I was wondering what I was likely to be doing once the Les Pauls were finitoed. Looks like it is Tele-a-go-go, one way or another.

Getting Wired

Well, I've sent my bosted Gibson/Bill Lawrence pickup to Catswhiskerville to be reconnected or rewound or whatever it needs to make a peep again, and also sent the nice man an old Seymour Duncan '59 I had lay around too that was similarly unassuming.

It's the resurrection principle - why stop at one?

All of which means that The Old Burny One is yet again on hold. It was always going to be the way, let's face it.

As for The Wasteland One, well I'm pleased to say that the rather lovely looking Fake58 wiring harness arrived yesterday, complete with a couple of Ye Olde Bumble Bee capacitors and a lot of vintage Mojo-ness. The only slight buzzy thing in the medicine is that I ordered the wrong switch and it is too big, but I have another more petite one, so all should be well.

You'll hear the shouts of dee-lite if I get it all together today, as planned.

As for The Joe Le Taxi One, I've got to the bottom of that and the body should be here sometime soon. I'm quite looking forward to that baby. I think a nice shiny TV Jones  pickup will do wonders.

I'm also thinking about doing another Telemaster, though maybe with a couple of Soapbar P90s and a Strat neck, though I guess that is another name for a Jazzmaster, really.

Not sure why I didn't think of that before, as it is a wee bit obvious, isn't it?

Hmmm.

The Sound of Deafening Silence

Hmm, well Les Paul week took a bit of a knock today, as after replacing every pot and the switch and then all of the wire, it turns out that The Old Burny One's silence in the bridge pickup department, is down to the bridge pickup not putting out.

Not a glimmer.

Not a peep.

The worst thing is that I am sure, positive and not a little certain that testing it was the first thing I did.

Though there is a smidgen of doubt as it is always possible that I simply tested the neck pickup twice.

Either way, everything else is perfect, I've dropped a 'scratch' pickup in there to make sure and there we are. I'm hoping Allan at Catswhisker will revive the pickup as lets face it after so much time, I'm more than a bit curious to find out what a Gibson/Bill Lawrence 'The Original' actually sounds like. I could put other pickups in, but I've waited this long, and...

I know, I may well hate them when I finally hear them, but there we are.

As for The Wasteland One, well, the wiring loom isn't here yet, so I was waiting on that anyway. I have though re-fitted all the parts I fitted before and then took off, so that is all we are missing now - and yes, I've tested the pickups - both of them. Twice..

Doesn't feel a lot to show for day one though, I hate to admit.

In other news, it seems my little Explorer will actually be here on Thursday, which is good. It is coming (had been coming for a fortnight) from Ireland, but after a little local difficulty (it being mis-delivered to a perplexed lady in Galway), it now seems to be finding it's way again. I love a good courier saga, it almost makes me feel competent.

Official Jooky Les Paul Week

Well, I have to admit that my determination to finally finito The Old Burny One failed dismally under a pile of tweaking of The Elmer One and a lot of Keef impressions in front of the mirror.

Sometimes these things have to be done, or they take away your lad card.

This week though, is very definitely lotsly a Les Paul week in Jookyland with The Wasteland and Old Burny Ones getting a good dose of solder and making sweet music, if things go well.

It's been a long time coming along,
let's face it.

Assuming all goes well, I think they may be nigh on the last guitars for 2011 as The Joe Le Taxi and Floored Genius Ones have faltered somewhat, and my little Explorer still hasn't arrived.

Also, of course, I've reached a point where I need to dream it all up again.

Which happens here and over there.

I'm pleased with everything I've done so far - the fabric finishes, the leaf, the corruption and degradation of all things metallic -  but I think a bit of R&D in some different directions would be timely.

(Obviously, if something interesting occurs to me in the meantime,
or the right project appears,
or I forget I've written this
or even thought it
which regularly happens
well, I love a challenge and it'd be rude not to,
wouldn't it?)

But to the solder...