The Body of a Chimera

Well, it may seem a little daft when I started with a beautiful walnut body (it's that missing chromosome) but I decided that The Chimera One should look, err, rosewood.

It isn't a Beatles thing, but I've always loved the Fender Rosewood Tele and this is probably as close as I will get for now, so what the hell.

And I'm rather impressed with how it has turned out. It is 'Time Stained' as ever, so a bit battered in places, but I left it shiny for a change and it works.

Obviously this is going to be an Esquire too, so I fitted the rather nifty Bakelite pickguard and have ordered a nice ebony 'boarded neck, as I have a new found love for such things after playing The Black Russian One.

Also of course, it is destined to boast the first ever Gimp Tele pickup, I know I can hear you are excited in your voice.

Not a lot else happening of course, but it is a time for miracles, so who knows..

La la laaaa

And at long last...

Well, three months ago The Old No.7 One was waiting for a neck months ago, and this morning nothing had changed apart from the tale of woe and so finally we looked elsewhere and I have to say I got lucky.

Long ago I mentioned Monster Relics, an American company who produce top quality relic parts, and who's necks are seriously cool - bizarrely looking old rather than tortured - and looking around in the past the availability in the UK was crazy limited, so they ended-up on the nice-to-have list.

However, it seems they have a new distributor in the UK in the shape of Super-Tone, the parts side of Marc Ransley's Mojo Pickups) and so I have ordered a most beautifully cool looking neck to plonk on Pez's Custom Jooky, and I am all of a buzz and a flutter.

The neck is a proper 60s jobby, slab rosewood 'board, clay dots, nitro finish and a genuinely old looking colour that makes some of the relics you see out there look plain daft.

So that should be here next week and hopefully bolted on shortly after.

It's been a long time coming, but I think it will be worth the wait in the end...

And my only problem now is that I'm developing an aged part addiction that Marc's Super-Tone is doing nothing to discourage. There is a beautiful maple Tele board on there too, and...

Well, have a shufty for yourself at Super-Tone's wares Here and find out more on Facebook Here

La la laaaa

Gimping My Tele Baby

Well, I got a lovely walnut telecaster body a while ago, and the subtle little plan has being to make myself a nice Esquire to have around the place, as the one time I used a walnut body before I was rather impressed.

Anyway, I've started staining that as I want it pretty and simple, and I snapped up a Ye Olde Bakelite pickguard, so that is cool too.

I was also really impressed by the neck I put on The Black Russian One - with the ebony board, so I am going to grab another of those for this and there we are.

As for pickups, well I've been thinking about a Gimp pickup for a Tele and have decided to go for one that I really loved when Marc at Mojo Pickups made me one before, which was basically a hot P90 in a Tele Bridge sized form...

And so that is what the second Gimp will be - a Tele P90 for the perfect Esquire...That will debut here too.

I feel so un-manic about this, I'm really not sure why, but it will be uber cool methinks.

A Tele P90 Gimp, can't really beat that.

Apart from maybe if I put a Bigsby on it..

That'll be The Chimera One then, it has to happen sooner or later.

La la laaaa

WIP: The La Cucaracha One

Well, it still needs a time or three to harden off, but I couldn't resist a plonk-together as far as the La Cucaracha One goes as I'm really rather chuffed with how it has turned out.

As you can see the back is a Venus d'Silo meets rabid wormery approach which I do so love, whilst the front is a Monet-esque nod to Gruel Britannia with a Pete Townsend jacket 'plate.

From there we will have a nice set of lippy pickups, Marcy Mojo is doing me a groovy loom and the real neck and tremolo will arrive sometime, I'm sure.

That was it anyway..

La la laaaa

Snax Time

Well, I've got a lovely and no doubt sexually healed pair of P90s on the way from Marc of Mojo Pickups fame, along with a rather trixy little loom that features a blend pot instead of the more usual three-way-switch, and with a bit of luck and snow drifts allowing, they should get here in the next day or three, and I should be able to plop them right into my Mosrite inspired The Scooby Doo One and smile, smile, smile.

So today, in between a few more layers for The La Cucuracha One's paint job, I figured I should make sure that the rest of the bits 'n' bobbins are in the right places and that Jesus still wants me for a pilgrim. Though was it ever truly in doubt?

And a quick peek reminds me that I did in fact nail the neck on, and it just leaves a few more mundane matters like wollaping the tailpiece into place, digging out some strap pins, twizzling the tuners, that sort of bobbins.

And I'm really excited at the prospect, it is going to be groovy.

La la laaaa

Liquid Pearl in the Half Shell

Well, a lump of clay bought enough time for the pickguard for The La Cucaracha One to get a liquid pearl finish, with 14 layers of gloop coming together rather beautifully.

This has taken nearly a week, but it has paid off and I think looks rather cheeky in a Pete Townsend jacket kinda way.

The body is WIP too and though I don't want to come over all Daniel X. Boyle (that would be awful, clearly), it has a definite Gruel Britannia vibe going on...still quite a way to go on that, but hopefully it will be finito'ed by Easter - it is a time of miracles after all..

As you obviously remember (as I am sure you are taking notes), The La Cucaracha One is a reverse Jazzmaster type of thing, La Boracha influenced, though more from the Charvel side of the tracks than Fender, and is destined to have three nice lipstick pickups peeping thru this 'guard. I also have a rather lovely neck on the way for this that should set it off a treat.

But the clay needs firing now, so a toodle and a tootle and a pip and a pop

La la laaaaa

Sold: The Spindrifting One

The Spindrifting One is a stunning looking and sounding Jookified Strat that is truly cool in every way.

Based on Fender’s finest, a swamp ash body has been stained and waxed, back and sides, and generally battered to within an inch of it’s life. We don’t mean a belt sander relic job, this is looking for something different with the concept being to make it look as though the body has been made from old driftwood, rather than an old guitar mistreated. We think we’ve carried it off and the finish looks stunning in-the-wood.

In addition to the finish, we have the first ever set of Gimp pickups. These are exclusive to Jookyland and have been made for us by uber Wizard, Marc Ransley at Mojo Pickups. They have a different, much better, tone at the bridge that is more Tele/P90-like that the traditionally weak Strat bridge pup, and some of the sounds the pickups along with one of Marc’s handwired wiring looms offer are plain beautiful.

The neck is maple/rosewood and fast with a nice soft C shape, 9” radius and medium frets, it has a low buzz-free action and a beautiful smooth ride.

The strings are strung thru the body with a hardtail bridge and sustain is excellent, whilst Wilkinson ‘aged’ tuners mean tuning is never an issue.

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 Spindrifting 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 Wound Jooky Gimp Pickups – Set GI#1 (CTS pots, Oak Grigsby Switch, PIO Caps)

Guitar Type: Fender Stratocastor Style

Construction: Swamp Ash body, Maple/Rosewood neck

Strings:     D’Addario EXP 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Volume, 2 x Tone, 5-way-switch

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

Serial Number: JGE#67

Introducing: The Spindrifting One

Well, the bratskis holibob mithering may be cramping me style somewhat, but I snuck thru some final tweaking and fettling yesterday and I'm pleased and proud to be able to formally introduce you to the rather splendid The Spindrifting One, and what a battered and aged bit of stuff it is.

From the top it is a back loading swamp ash bodied Strat, which has been given a lovely 'Time Stained' finish, battered around the ring and generally looks as though it has lived a life less ordinary.

The neck is quite divine, maple and rosewood, 9.5" radius, nice soft C of shape.

It is strung thru the body and hard of tail, so sustains like a little blue tablet, and has a lovely zingy tone. Tuners are aged Wilkinsons, strap pins some aged Gotohs which are my new faves courtesy of Planet Mojo.

And speaking of Mr Ransley, The Spindrifting One of course is boasting the first ever set of our Jooky exclusive Gimps pickups, in all their shabbiest of chicness. In case you missed these, they are uncovered and given a fabric binding here in Jookyland, and are something truly special, with a bridge pickup that is simply stunning and 'tweeny positions that just want to make you smile. These are everything I always wanted a set of Strat pickups to be but have never found and I am in love. End of.

These of course are linked together with one of Mojo Pickups vintage looms, complete with all the good stuff that entails.

Finishing touches are some shiny chromed pickup rings and shinier still Gretsch knobs and a rear control panel carved from an old Blues record.

So there we are, probably the best Strat you'll never get to play, as I may well just have to keep this one. OK, probably not, because of the golden rules of Jookiness, but I want to. I really want to, and Strats and me don't do that baby.

La la laaaa

Hunk of Burning Love

ST#3 - Front

Well, as per is normalish, the weekend had more to do with supermarkets and flying kites in force 9 gales than guitarification, but I did manage to finito a couple of bodies, along with a slight change of plan.

I had planned to make The Throbbing One a rusty finished '51 Precision, and have done the body accordingly, but as I have another body of similar spec to play with, I decided to instead do something different with that. I have a germ of a nano-idea I want to explore and it should be fun, so what the hell.

So this morning, I have two rather lovely and lovingly be-rusted bodies that are joining my Strappado collection, numbers #3 and #4.

As you can see they are a Jazzmaster body and the '51 previous mentioned and both have a stunningly cool rustificated finish. And they will be up for grabs whenever I finish the web site. I  know..

As for today, well, now for something completely different...

La la laaaa

ST#3 - Back

ST#4 - Front

ST#4 - Back

We Are The Gimps

Well, not quite time for a formal introduction, but The Spindrifting One is almost there (minus a string tree or two and some proper Gretsch knobs), but I couldn't resist stringing it up and giving the first ever set of Gimps a run for their moolah.

And cool though they may look, sounds-wise they really are superb.

The bridge pickup has a definite Tele sound to it that is just lovely - nothing like the anemic Strat bridge pickups you usually have to suffer, while the middle and neck pickups are more hot Strat territory, though as clear as a bell even when I dug out a Big Muff (old Soviet one) and a Fuzz Face (modern re-issue). I really love the fact that there is something more in there that is hard to describe, maybe a bit more in the middle than your average Strat.

The best part for me is the in-between tones which are glorious here, especially the bridge/middle one where you get a kinda other-worldly-Tele sound that is a total joy. The tone controls really come into their own too and you can do a real Tele to Strat change with barely a twiddle.

Other than that, I'm loving The Spindrifting One. I wanted to make the body look proper lived in old, and it has plenty of dinks and dents, but it is the worn patches at the top I'm really most pleased about. Playing wise, I like a hardtail Strat and this is solid, so that is cool, and the neck is bang on. I went for a flatter board (9.5" with a C shape) and it feels great bending strings.

A good day's work then, methinks. And the bits I'm waiting for should be here next week so I'll do the formal intro then.

But Gimps, a grand idea, and now a reality. I may have to break a habit of a lifetime and record these babies.

La la laaaa

Getting Deeper and Down

Well, I've been thinking about doing this for years and never quite got there, but I have decided that the time is right for the first ever Jooky Bass Guitar, and so that is going on the list.

It is going to be based on the '51 Precision, the one with the single Tele-like pickup, and I want it to be rusty with a plain black 'guard and generally look distressed if not distressing.

Obviously it will need a maple neck and maybe a few sequins.

OK, it might have a rosewood neck, no point getting silly about things.

I've already rustificated the back, as you can sort of see, and it is currently drying from it's initial hard waxing...which is always a joy.

So there we are, The Throbbing One, coming one day soonish.

La la laaaa

A Glimpse of the Gimps

Well, I'm feeling rather chipper today. The Black Russian One is awesome, in a box and awaiting a courier, and I've fettled and plonked my first set of Gimps in The Spindrifiting One.

For those of you that were tripping and missed it, the Gimps are my very own, uniquely specced pickups that Marc Ransley at Mojo Pickups has wound for me and then I have Jookified for goodly measurement.

These will only be available from the Jooky web site and will no doubt feature prominently in my guitars in the coming months.

Right, I am such an ad break.

The idea behind them is that I don't really love normal Strat pickups, and so we've come up with something that is subtly different having more of a Tele or P90 voice, which should be interesting, especially with a five way switch.

As for the look, well you can't see too well in the shonky fotos, but they don't have covers, instead are bound and definitely have an air of Jookiness about them.

The pickups are numbered and signed as with everything else, and they will be few and far between, I'm sure. These are the Strat ones, though I think there will be a Tele one soon...

Anyway, these are the first ever set and I wanted them in The Spindrifting One as that is pretty groovy too.

Now if I can just find some solder, I'll see how they sound

La la laaaa

Introducing: The Black Russian One

Well, this one in particular has been a long time coming, but I am more than pleased to be able to introduce you to the rather cool, The Black Russian One, the latest of the Jooky brood and probably the last La Cabronita inspired one I'll do...

From the top, it is a rather delish swamp ash body that has been ebony stained and hard wax oiled with minor distressing here and there.

The neck is a beautiful ebony boarded one that I really am quite impressed with.

Pickups are a pair of specially wound TV Jones sized 'buckers, put together by Marc Ransley at Mojo Pickups, as indeed is the simplistic yet cool wiring loom. These are Filtertrons with HiLotron covers, or something like that. Sound immense, which is the main thing, too easy to get distracted by nomenclature.

A few touches worthy of mention are that the battered and torn pickguard and matching back plate have been made from an old Television red vinyl 12", and a genuine Soviet era cap badge has been plonked on the headstock. I like the chopped off Wilkinson short bridge too, but maybe that is just me.

As for sounds well Marc has nailed some grit in among some twangy cleans and let's face it, that is all we ask for in life....

So there we are - The Black Russian One, unavailable in the shops as it is off to a new home with Andy tomorrow, UPS willing.

And in summary, tur-dahhhh

La la laaaa

Going to get myself a pink guitar and play, sha-la-la-laa

 

Well, another chronic diversion from reality meant I didn't do much for the last couple or three days, but I am setting-up my lovely The Black Russian One at the moment, so hopefully I will do the right and proper introduction laters, taters.

In the mean time, and for no understandable reason, I seem to have acquired a guitar that is verily unlike me, big time and stylee. I mean I never liked them at the time, don't particularly like fizzy rock music and generally, well, never really thought too much about such thing. But it is fun. So whatever.

Anyway, it is a pink (OK, burgundy mist) Charvel - Made in Japan in '88 apparently, and I have to say it is rather good. Sharp headstock and funny Floyd thing included.

It is in amazingly good condition although it needs a few tweaks and I need to remember how to change strings on a Floyd as they are nowhere near my zone d'comfort, but there we are.

As it happens I got a snakeskin (looking) strap just last week, so it is a marriage made somewhere nice with a view.

Luckily, I don't own a vest so no Joey Tempest/Stanley H. Ogden visuals for you today I'm afraid.

Other than that, I want to fettle my Gimps, but Russia is calling firstly.

This blog is definitely taking weird turns.

La la laaaa

La Cucaracha

Well, it's an odd thing, but I don't think I have ever made a red Jooky, and I don't really know why. Though I've never liked red Strats either, possibly because of Hank Marvin, but more probably because they remind me of the Bontempi guitar my brother got when we were kids that I was really jealous of, which I got an orange church organ thing instead.

Maybe that is it, maybe I am that sad and shallow.

But whether it is therapy or not, I have decided to make a red guitar - and I want it to be quite surftastic, so it'll have lippy pickups and be somewhat offset in form. I've got a love/hate thing going on with the reverse Jazzmaster 'Boracha' things, but I want this to be more coming from the Jackson/Charvey Surfcaster site of the road.

We'll see anyway. I'm thinking red Mother of Jooky/fairy dust sprinkling will be a nice touch, for The La Cucaracha One, when it finally arrives, maybe one-day sometime probably.

La la laaaa

Sold: The Shonky One

The Shonky One is a complete one off, being based on the traditional shape of Gibson’s F type mandolins, but at a size similar to a Les Paul. It feels great on the strap and plays beautifully.

The body is semi-acoustic, though with a feedback busting centre block, and we went for a big headstocked, CBS type of Strat neck, maple/rosewood, with a playable 9.5” radius and a nice C shape.

The body has been stained, aged and generally battered before having a pearl-like finish on the top.

Pickups are a pair specially wound by Marc Ransley at Mojo Pickups, with a Humbucker sized P90 at the neck and a PAF type humbucker at the bridge – this nails all of those classic blues and rock tones.

The hardware has a trapeze tailpiece, Gotoh aged strap pins, a Ricky style bridge and Wilkinson Ez-Lock tuners, so all is solid and works well. Mojo additionally custom made a wiring loom using Switchcraft switch, CTS Pot, PIO Cap and ye olde style cloth covered wiring for that true vintage vibe.

All in all, this is a stunning looking guitar that plays beautifully and nails the tone.




*


To be clear, The Shonky 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.

*** GONE TO A FAR, FAR BETTER PLACE ***

Technical Stuff:

Type: Bab’s Pearly Queen

Electrics: Mojo Pickups P90 and PAF, Mojo Wiring loom (CTS pots, PIO Cap)

Guitar Type: Gibson F Style Body

Construction: Semi-acoustic body, Rosewood/Maple neck

Strings:     D’Addario EXP 9s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Volume, Tone

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

Serial Number: JGE#72

RSP: £999