WIP: The Old No.7 One

Well, we're still awaiting the neck for The Old No.7 One, but as the rest of the caboodle is pretty much kitted, I thought it was about time I did a bit of an update.

As you may remember, this if my first Custom for a long time and the little darlin' was somewhat based upon an old and battered Jack Daniels barrel, has a rather nice Mojo Broadcaster pickup with Esquire wiring, Fender bridge and ash tray cover for all those groovy sounds and a rather lovely scratchplate made out of a tin JD sign.

I may have mentioned that I was hoping to turn cooper and put a metal band around it, but after a consultancy period with my local blacksmith, it seems that it was probably a bit dangerous, so instead I've gone for copper topped studs, matching those holding the 'plate in place.

And all in all it is rather cool, in a totally f%^&*^in' screwed-up crazy boggling kinda way. The knobs are still MIA and TBC and generally not there, but will be soon, and generally this is it.

Just hope Paul approves.

I am resisting the urge to put a different neck on and give it a blast, but instead did a wee recording of it stringless using my patented lo-tec and generally cheap-as-chippy-chips Ebow replacement, a, err, tuning fork waved meaningfully above the pickup with variations of tone drizzled to taste. And a bit of bashing around.

Maybe some delays, echoes and other things would have helped, but it proves the wiring works if nowt else and if you want to hear what the Edge would sound like if he was brassic and didn't have a neck or strings on his guitar, this might well be it. But then again it might not.

Actually, the PC crashed and the recording got trashed, so I can't point you at it anyway. but maybe you can imagine (ahem)

So nearly somewhere closer than it was before, The Old No.7 One, a custom guitar made the Jooky way.

Reassuringly slowly.

La la laaaa

Give Me Mooer, Baby - Yeah

Pocket Money Pedals,
Matchbox Pedal Boards

Well, I don't tend to do the pedal thing too often (after far too many years of addiction), but I've always liked a bit of old school Fuzz, and have always fancied having a play with one of them there prog-tastic EHX POG 2s - all organ tones and funny noises.

Unfortunately, I can't really justify the dosh on the latter, so it was unlikely to happen in the near future, so imagine how pleased I was when somebody mentioned that there was a clone on the way from Mooer called a Pure Octave as part of their silly cheap pedal range.

And so I went for a shufty and managed to snaffle one direct-from-the-Orient (China, not Leyton), and while I was at it went for a fuzzy pedal too in the shape of their Triangle Buff.

What's In The Box, Daddy-o?

And anyway, showed-up they did, in pretty little black boxes, and diminutive little packages they are too. Both are indeed tiny wee, but metal cased and solid as a rock. You need a 9V PSU as they are too small for batteries, but as I am probably the last person around that finds such things a hassle it is no big deal.

Starting with the fuzz, it is pretty awesome, it has a great range of tones without going into the overly weird ones, so for Sixties and Seventies stuff it is bang on the money. And well, it is a fuzz, it fuzzes, I can't get too worked up about it but love the sounds on offer.

As for the Octaver/POD clone, well that it is great fun. There  are a variety of modes that give a range of uber cool sounds, but best of all for me is that it totally nails Les Pattinson's Echo & The Bunnies tone, so I've basically been playing The Cutter and other selected works very badly ever since. It probably does a lot more - and a few 'Indian' scales and you are into George Harrison territory without too much bother, but it does the sound of the Bunnies, what more could an 80s indie-kid ever want?

It is great fun, has to be said.

And if you were looking for a technical review, sorry this is the wrong place, but creamy and violin-like, and deep sustain and blah blah and blah etc.

So in summary, well worth the dosh if you can pick up one of the Octavers, and the Fuzz is perfectly presentable too, though there are many alternatives so you'd probably want to try it out before you stump up. It reminds me of a Big Muff, with added Coloursound, a side-order of Tonebending, but hold the Fuzz Factory, which is a nice place to be.

And getting back into this pedal bobbins, I'm getting a Sitar pedal from Burford sometime soon, but more on that another day.

I think I might also need a delay, reverb, Showgazer, couple of Overdrives, Flanger, Chorus and Phaser soon too. Well, I finally bought a PSU so it would be rude not to. Though as I haven't got any patch leads, I can only try them one at a time.

La la laaaa

WIP: The Seaside One

Pout Baby Sunshine

Well, what mayhem Christmas brings... Whiffy too around here, but that's kids for you.

Obviously, not too much of a Jooky nature has been going on, but I would like to introduce you to a plonked together WIP of the gloriously golden The Seaside One.

Clearly, the gold leaf is all of a twinkle, and has been roughed and worn and all those other things you do to gold leaf.

And the lovely Fender trem fits perfectly, and the Mustang bridge will do nicely too in the no-string-popping-outness that just plain is.

And the neck fits - huzzah! - and whilst I still can't decide between the red tortie plate and a plain minty old white one, the red is edging it at the moment.

Anyway, pickups and loom will arrive from the independent state of Mojo soon enough and we shall see what we, shall indeed see.

Can't wait.

As for other things, well, I really can't remember right now. Put it down to the sunshine, the moonlight, but never, ever, the jumpy up-and-down-punk-dancing.

La la laaa

Just Feel It

Treat 'Em Rough

And The Frou Frou Fox One
Gets in on the act too

Have A Jookilicious Crimbulmus

Well, it has been a long and arduous year in Jookyland, and I don't have to read all this drivel, but I wanted to say Taverymuch to a few peeps who have made it somewhat triffic, innit?

Firstly, Jools and all the chaps that are still seeing The Tickled Pink One around the country. I've stayed out of it more than I probably should have, but at last count it was in Middlesex somewhere, and the dosh is still trickling in. So cheers chaps..

Secondly, Marc at Mojo Pickups has been a complete star. I'm using his looms on nearly all the guitars which are a big improvement on my own efforts, and he is making the best pickups I've ever played, so this former pickup whore is definitely monogamous these days. He's going to be making plenty more for the Jookies in the new year and I can't wait to see what he comes up with. Cheers m'dears.

Other than that, obviously all the peeps who have bought a guitar. I don't do this for profit, so selling one means I can make another, which is a trip and it keeps it fun (couriers apart), so again, cheers m'dears, you are making an old raspberry ripple very happy. Think of it as care in the community.

And that is about it. I'll no doubt talk about next year soon enough, promise to make one guitar at a time and reduce the numbers, but we all know it will just be talk.

Hope you and yours have a fine Crimbulmus, and I look forward to boring/confusing/annoying you in the near futuredom.

Oh, and I snuck in the gold leafing of the The Seaside One, which looks vaguely appropriate if more of a yellowy gold in-the-wood.

La la laaaa

Sleigh Bells Ring

Well, not a lot happening in the little land of the fat white Jook, but in-between awaiting non-existent couriers yesterday, I did make a start on the gilding of The Seaside One, which already looks seasonally tacky and golden like a pantomime egg.

I always hate this part as it looks terrible, even though I know it will improve once it is lacquered.

Other than that, The Frou Frou Fox One finally dried in all it's awesome abstract expressionist glory, and with the exception of some tuners (which may even arrive today) I have all the bits 'n' bobs, and given a few hours quality time with my screwdriver, I could actually finish it.

I know, big conditional Santa clause there.

Ho ho and ho.

So there we are.

Nothing finished in the final furlong, but up to my neck in gold at the year's end. Lovely.

La la laaaa

I Do Like 2B

Yellow Stained The Seaside One
Next for the Man With The Golden Leafa
and Fag Tar yellow hands

Well, woke up this morning I was feeling fine, but there's something special on my mind...but no, The Frou Frou Fox One is still drying, so I won't be getting any further with that baby today, though it looks rather nice has to be said.

Well, if you spent part of your formative years sucking on postage stamps, I guess..

Instead then, I've got some sanding and staining to do with The Seaside One in preparation for a good old fashioned gilding. Hopefully the neck will also arrive today for that one and some of the other parts too.

Thinking about it. I'm not actually expecting to finish anything new this week after all, as I ladled on the acrylic on The Frou x 2, but be nice to be set-up for the new year, ready to go.

Jezz sending the fotos of the Mando-bodied The Shonky One the other day set me thinking about how I should finish it and the think I'm thinking is that it would look rather swish with a golden top too, especially as I have snaffled a nice old nickel Gretsch tailpiece and Marc at Mojo Pickups can make me some Harmony inspired pickups to match. All for the new year of course, but nice to dream about..

Other than that, I now seem to be the owner of a U.S Strat for the first time in my life. It is white (as all good Strats are), and after hitting a member of the crowd, and breaking it in the process, a previous owner had a replacement Allparts neck put on which feels rather lovely. Not that you'd know it, whoever did it did it good.

What else, well it's got those funny locking tuners with knobs on the back, which I guess is a good thing, has had Callaham saddles added, has pickups wound by Ash at Oil City Pickups which I'm looking forward to trying as I've never tried his 'wares before, and an odd little switch on the jack plate which apparently gives a passive boost.

So all in all I think you could say it is a players guitar rather than a trophy.

I don't really like Strats much, soundwise, which is why they normally end-up with either a single 'bucker or P90 instead, but I'm going to give it a go and see how it sounds/whether I get used to it. Funny place for a pickup, right where I'm strumming though, most odd.

Anyway, I'm off to stain The Seaside One's body yellow before I ladle some gold onto it.

La la laaaa

Getting Shonky On It

Well, not too much happening today, other than waiting for paint to dry and couriers to come and go, but it ended well.

And what was the glimmer in the corner of my eye-line that put a smile upon my mush?

Well, Jezz at Woodroffe guitars has been in touch and sent me a couple of fotos of the rather cool body that will one day be The Shonky One.

Better still, the semi-acoustic Jazzmaster body for The Hartlepool One is also nearly done, so the new year should be fun, I can't help but think.

All good stuff, can't wait to get a crack on with those.

Speaking of which, a nice Jazzmaster body came today along with some yellow stain and gold leaf, so I may even get going on The Seaside One this week.

It is all coming together somehow,  funny that.

La la laaa

Three Springs in My Whacker

Well, The Frou Frou Fox One is well on it's way, the corrosion is all corroded and I've just got busy with some acrylic to add a bit of purr and zazzle before I finish it. It might look a bit odd at the moment, but will sing like a choir of angelic upstarts by the time it is finished.

I have just remembered that I need tuners though, so I'd better sort them out pronto if I am going to have this done this week.

Well, no point in suffering from a lack of ambition, now, is there?

My metal punch arrived yesterday, so The Old No.7 One's pickguard can get punctured, though I'm a little disconcerted by the fact that it is spring loaded. In fact there are three springs in my whacker and I haven't got a clue what they do. The only one I've had before just needed lumping with a hammer, but I guess everything evolves, but me.

Oh, and as I was typing this, my consignment of 23 Karat gold leaf arrived so that I can suitably cover The Seaside One, when the rest of it does.

Cool.

Breaking news, it only happened seconds ago - what a world we live in.

La la laaaa

Teardrops, Teardrops, & Not a Pint to Drink

Pearl, ready for the road

Well, today has been designated 'painting day', though unfortunately it involves skirting boards and radiators and strict instructions not to throw acid at them once I've finished. Which does take the fun out of it somewhat.

So in between such joy, I gave The Pearly Dewdrop One a final twang, changed the old Hofner knobs for some aged Tele ones as they look and work better, packed it snuggle and am waiting for it to go away to it's new home.

I'd originally set it up with 11s and a medium action, but Ed who is having it prefers 10s and something lower, which is fair enough.

Frou Frou Feeling The Bronze

All of which set me off on The Frou Frou Fox One, and as you can hopefully see, I've stained back and sides a nice warm mahogany tone, given them a nice hard waxing, and have now moved on to the front which has been coated liberally with bronze enriched paint.

From there, there will be another coat of that, some blue-inspiring acid work, other chemical bobbins to make it stable and safe, some hard wax, some acrylic paint to taste and more hardwax oil to finish it off.

Once that is done, it may well be Wednesday, but I'll be happy and we all need a little something tucked away to look forward to on a Wednesday.

In other news, I've gathered (or they are coming anyway) all the bits for my golden Jazzmaster, The Seaside One, which I'm hoping will help me avoid Xmas TV over the next week or so. Well, a boy can dream.

Anyway...back to the skirting.

La la laaaa

Getting Foxy (Slight Reprieve)

Well, I seem to have confused myself slightly and thought that the bratskis were already on their holibobs, when in reality there is another week to go - so I might get something else done this week after all. Blimey and a lummy.

So here I am scurrying around trying to work out just what that might be, and the fave would seem to be The Frou Frou Fox One, mainly because I just about have all the parts, or will within  a couple of days anyway.

But what to do? Well, firstly, I'm going to stain the back and sides. That is easy enough.

After that the top is going to also be stained, and then I think another bronze/copper jobby but with different acid so it is more of a blue hue to it all. There will also be a little bit of acrylic colourfilledness  creeping in there too, just to keep things real.

I've gone around in circles about the bridge and tailpiece and have ended-up with a real trash sixties looking one which I think will work quite nicely. Pickup-wise, I've got a Gibson P90 Dogear and then a Mojo Pickups loom to make it sound it's best. Another Strat neck will finish the deal quite sweetly methinks.

Other than that, Marc at Mojo Pickups is aiming to do me something special in the pickup dept. for The Mysterio One, which I can't wait to hear, though that will probably be January's child and fair of face. If by fair we mean multi-coloured and acid fried.

Oh, and despite not liking Strats, I seem to have one coming this week, but more on that when it arrives. I'll be running the usual spread bet for anybody who wants to take a punt on it's stayinghereness, with the most likely timings being by-the-end-of-the-year.

An extra week though, cool. It almost feels like Christmas.

La la laaa

Going For Gold Like Scooby Snax, Yeah

Well, all is chaos at the moment in the little kingdom of Jook, with baubles all over the place and more glitter on show than at a convention of 1970s peedos, but will we let such shenanigans get to us and cause us to hide under the stairs, stroking korina with some wire wool? Not a chance.

And excuse the excitement, but there is something else that is golden and shiny on my mind, as after many months of searching, I heard from Marc at Mojo Pickups yesterday, that he is finally in a position to make some authentic repro Gold Foil pickups. I know he has wanted to do these for ages so it is really cool news.

Now these originally appeared in the coolest of vintage cool guitars, things like Harmonys and Silvertones and Mr Ry Cooder's own tone owes them plenty, so they are well worth checking out methinks. In fact, it is no big surprise that I can't wait to give them a try, but have the slight issue that I haven't got a guitar to put them into.

Obviously, I ordered the first set he makes (ahem) without considering that flaw in the plan.

Not that that is too much of an issue as for quite an eon of an aon of a while I've fancied making meself something along the lines of a Mosrite in all it's twangy off-key-looking-ness.

Which is something I've wanted for years (a Mosrite, I mean) but never quite got the chance/excuse/energy, and the copies I've tried haven't really hit the spot.

So I'm going to get Jezz of Woodroffe Guitars to make me a nice semi acousticalified body of the right shape, plonk an incongruous big headed Strat neck on it and see where that gets us.

As you may have noticed, a lot of the new guitars seem to be classic old shapes that have been Jookificated, and this is something that I think will continue for a while as it is fun, though I have a couple of ideas of my own that I really must get sorted. Groovy indeed.

So, back to the future, coming soon to an obsessive near me, The Scooby Doo One, tis gonna be groovy.

La la laaa

Gone, Gone and Gone

Well, bit of a good news bad news week in the end, both The Pearly Dewdrop and Floored Genius Ones will be on to pastures greener next week, while The beautiful and generally gorgeous The Resurrected One seems to have gotten stomped by yet another leaden footed courier and knacked like a knackered thing.

It never shines but it rains.

I knew I was asking for trouble calling it that.

On the plus side, I've started on The Frou Frou Fox One and should have photographic proofical evidence for you to wonder at soon enough.

The Old No.7 One is still waiting for a neck, but I put an electrosocket in and remembered the ferrules in the end and even got a set of Fender Klusons, so that is all good.

I'm not quite sure why yet, but I also bought a JD towel and some '70s poker chips, which I had some vague idea about using in the early hours, but don't now how anymore.

They look good and will make the case rattle if nowt else. The chips, not the towel.

Other than that, I think I'm taking on another Custom jobby, which is going to be quite stunning if it happens/we can pull it off, but more on that if it is go-go-go come the New year.

But there we are, busy, busy and busy.

La la laaa.

Sold: The Floored Genius One

The Floored Genius One is a stunning looking and sounding Jookified Jazzmaster that is truly cool in every way.

Based on Fender’s finest, a swamp ash body has been stained and waxed, back and sides, before being abused, scratched, scraped and generally bothered beyond a decent point.

The neck is a good old school handful with a low buzz-free action and a beautiful smooth finish.

The classic Jazzmaster tremolo and Mustang Bridge solve the old traditional problems.

Sounds come via specially wound Jazzmaster pickups, made by Marc Ransley at Mojo Pickups, they along with the top notch Mojo Jazzmaster loom drags every possible tone out of the guitar with ease.

All in all, this is a stunning looking guitar, with bags of tone and a beautiful feel. What else could you possibly want?



*


To be clear, The Floored Genius 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: Norma’s Natural Guitar

Electrics: Mojo Pickups Jazzmaster pickups, Jazzmaster wiring loom

Guitar Type: Fender Jazzmaster

Construction: Swamp Ash body, Maple/Rosewood neck

Strings:     Nickel 11s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Volume, Tone, 3-way-switch, Rhythm Circuit

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

Serial Number: JGE#30

Introducing: The Floored Genius One

Well, twice in one week is an unexpected pleasure, but I am pleased to be introducing you to the lovely, the slightly careworn, the Elvis Costello inspired, The Floored Genius One, a lovely lump of swamp ash Jazzmasterness.

And man it sings.

From the top it is a swamp ash bodied Jazzmaster.

Maple and rosewood neck (22 frets, and medium fretted, 9.5" radius, so not exactly vintage)

The body has been stained a dark walnut/oak hybrid and is unevenly worn and distressed, scratched, scraped and vaguely battered before receiving a hard wax oil finish that looks particularly groovy and itself has been patchily worn. Lovely.

Tuners are Wilkinson, with a Jazzmaster tremolo, Mustang bridge for goodly tunefilledness.

Pickups are a pair of Mojo Pickups' exquisite Jazzmaster pups, and a full Mojo wiring loom (CTS pots, Switchcraft switch, cloth covered wire, PIO caps) drags every iota of tone from the thing.

And sounds-wise, well it sounds like an excellent Jazzmaster, vibrant, dark and generally evil like an empire. If twangs your thang, Dick Dale would gush, if noise gets added in there, it can make you weep like a chutchy bunnie.

And all-in-all, I have to say I am really rather chuffed. I wasn't trying to replicate Elvis Costello's guitar, but I think I captured the vibe, and more importantly, I wanted that old wood feel about the body, and it certainly gets there on that score.

So there we are, The Floored Genius One, uber cool and not a little funky of the groove. Like blood and chocolate. Nice..

La la laaaa

I Do Like To Be...

Well, with a smatter of luck, some parts will arrive today so that I can finish The Floored Genius One, assuming I can stop playing Pearl for long enough to open the post. I nicked a strap pin in the end from something else, as teardrops are definitely a bit tricky to play sitting down unless you go cross legged and play it with the neck high in the air like a sitar. Still, I am loving it big style and the sound is just crazy cool.

Speaking of sitars, really sad to see that Ravi Shankar died - though at 92 I guess he didn't have a bad run at it. Maybe I should get a sitar bridge for the Frou Frou...maybe.

As for other things, well I mentioned I'd fallen in love with the new Fender Jazzmaster re-issues, mainly the one in Shoreline Gold, and as it is unlikely that I'll have £1400 spare anytime soon, I thought I'd make a gold Jazzmaster to scratch the itch, as it were.

Obviously, it won't be gold paint I'll be using, so instead I'm going to go forward to the past and dig out some gold leaf and get busy with it. I'm thinking the 24 karat gold leaf I used for The Golden Shower One, or perhaps it was  The Old Burny One, I forget, and as I want it to look a wee bit on the old side, I might finish it with nitro and see if I can get some of that there fancy crazing bobbins going on. Be fun at least.

I always liked this foto of a JM Patti Smith gave Thurston Moore, nice.

As for the rest, well I keep looking for a good excuse to try one of Marc at Mojo pickups' Jazzmaster sized Wide Range Humbuckers, so perhaps one of those at the bridge and a normal JM one at the neck. All of which will happen in the New Year sometime, so don't get too excited about The Seaside One.

La la laaa

Introducing: The Pearly Dewdrop One

Well, still a few niggles to sort out - namely a rear cavity cover, a missing strap pin and a new pot, but after such a long wait I'm thinking this is close enough for an introduction.

So I am pleased to introduce to you, the muchly heralded, longer-than-long awaited, The Pearly Dewdrop One, my first dip into the gentle lapping tide of Teardropness.

As you may recall, this was prompted by the fact that I've long wanted a Vox Teardrop guitar, but never found one that didn't sound complete pants, so instead what we have here is a mixture of two of my favourites - a Vox teardrop crossed with a Les Paul junior.

With a, err, Strat neck.


I know, dogs and cats.

So from the top it is an exclusively made body in a Teardrop shape, created by Jezz at Woodroffe guitars. Semi acoustic, naturally.

From there I got a Ye olde CBS Strat type of neck, maple and rosewood.

The wraparound bridge is Faber, the glorious P90 dogear was wound specially by Marc Ransley at Mojo Pickups, and the boy also did the wiring along with the handcrafted PIO Red Tiger cap.

As for the finish, well the back has been stained and waxed, while the top has got a Jooky corroded bronze and copper finish which is simply divine, sweetie.




But how does it play. Well, after god knows how much messing about the action is quite low. I've put 11s on it to get some tension, but you would never know it as you fly around the neck.

Soundswise, well I've talked ad-vom about how good Marc's pickups are, but the P90 combined with a semi acousticalified body makes for a stunning range of tonal tones. No problem at all with all those Epiphone Casino sounds, but with a little bit of grit in the mix it is just smile inducing. so you skip from Britpop and Johnny Marr to dirty filthy garage rock with a twiddle of a knob. Blues it absolutely nails and to be honest it is everything I hoped it would be. Sex on a sticky stick.

Obviously, it may take me a while to get around to fixing the pot and putting a strap pin on, so don't expect to see it for sale for a while yet....

La la laaaa

Two Strings On My Jooky

Well, it seems I still have some work to do in getting The Pearly Dewdrop One fettled. There are a couple of strings on now and the alignment is right, and even in it's unfinished state it sounds and feels stunning. Light as a feathery thing too, which is good, unless it's a buzzard or Slerk or something.

Today and some of tomorrow are probably going to prove to be my last real chance so I need to get my finger out and get a shift on with it, if I'm going to be playing Band Aid this Xmas. I wear one every Xmas, of course, and most of the rest of the year too. But strumming, well, it's kinda different. Two strings on my Jooky just seems never enough.

All of which has made me all the keener to get The Frou Frou Fox One started. I'm going for a clunky big tailpiece on this one in the end, because I can, and have a nice old Gibson P90 Dogear from a Junior for the noisnikking so all in all it should be pretty cool. I just want to get Pearl done first - learn the lessons and all that.

But the Frou Frau, I've gone around the houses a bit on that one in terms of what the finish will be, but I'm coming to the conclusion that maybe acrylic paint and corroded copper together could be fun. Only on the top mind, the back is going to be stained, as with Pearl.

I am also vaguely hoping that my errant tremolo will arrive for The Floored Genius One, though I have also ordered one locally (the other is coming from the US of A) which will hit the spot too. I need them here tomorrow at the latest either way, and I can't say hope is springing even momentarily. Everything else is done though with that baby, so it is just down to the thumbing of the twiddles and all that.

I have to say, I am already planning the next Jazzmaster as I want to do one in gold leaf (after seeing the new re-issues in Shoreline Gold), but I really can't add to the to-do list for a while, so I'll say no more. Until tomorrow, I expect.

sLa la laaaa

Like Falling Off A Barrel

Well, nothing doing as far as Jookification goes today - real life, don't you just hate it? Always getting in the way.

However, I did grab the odd moment d'Jook over the weekend and am pleased to report that I avoided casualty (only minor thumb slicing) and chopped a lovely pickguard for The Old No.7 One out of a metal Jack Daniels sign. And jolly cool it looks too.

I'm waiting for the punch I ordered to arrive so I can, well, punch some holes in it to put the screws thru, but that should be here tomorrow and there we be.

Other than that, The Pearly Dewdrop One is all back together and just needs a chunk of time or so to put strings on and give it a proper set-up and all that.

Hopefully tomorrow we should be twanging then.

Must try and remember some Joy Division, that'll cheer me up.

It's odd I've waited decades for a Teardrop and now that it is practically here all I seem to want to do is play my Jazzmaster. Maybe it's a guilt thing, odd whicheverwhat it actually is though. Indeed.

As for everything else, well, nothing doing, so not worth worrying about.

I am sooo verily zen.

La la laaaa

Scritching and Scratching For Pearls

Well, I seem to have acquired some casual moments to call my own this weekend, so I'm going to try my best to get The Pearly Dewdrop One fettled, and as the metal sign we're using in lieu of a pickguard on The Old No. 7 One arrived earlier on, I'm also going to take my fingers in my hands, book a cab for casualty and see if I can chop it down to size.

All good fun if it works, of course.

As far as the metal sign chopping goes, I am assuming that this will be a trial run and therefore a learning experience that will form the basis of some beautiful work later. (ahem)

That is what I'm telling myself anyway, getting my excuses up front and centralised so I don't have to formulate then later thru gritted teeth and blood loss related fatigue and general wussy wooziness.

Might have a coffee first though, you can't rush these things.

La la laaaa

Friday, I'm frustrated

Well, I never quite finished the Pearly Dewdrop One, but hopefully I'll sneak the odd half 'n' hour over the weekend and get some strings on the old girl. Must admit I'm a teensy wee bit lots bugged about it, but such is life. You get days like these.

As for The Old No.7 One, well that now has a solderified pickup and beautifully proportioned wiring loom a la Mojo and is as far as I can get until the metal sign for the pickguard arrives, oh and the neck.

It's come a long way in a week and is looking ancient up close, so I'm pretty chuffed with it. Tis all good.

Oh, the trad knobs will change, but I put these aged ones on anyway for appearances sake.

I'm good/sad like that.

But, anyway...

La la laaaa