Liberian, Lion, Zion, Free Beerian

Well, not a lot happening all over again at the moment, but I have had a rethink on The Liberian One.

If you remember, this was going to be an ersatz baritone Jazzmaster, but then I decided to change The 668 One into a flashy Tele with Strat and baritonal-esque accoutrements, and so well, there we are then. All change at Jooky central.

But what to do with the lovely single piece swamp ash Jazzmaster body? Well, after many a thought, I've come to the conclusion that it is going to get itself a simple time stained finish. I'm thinking nice and light and generally groovy.

As for the neck, I am please to report that it will indeed have one. AVRI tremolo, Staytrem bridge, Sperzels, etc. All good things, and for the pickups, I'm going to play mix and match again and put a Mojo Mosrite at the bridge and a normal Mojo Jazzmaster pickup at the neck. For me, I think this could be the perfect combination.

At least this week.

As for other things, amazingly the legend that is The Babylon Blue One is actually coming together. I know, I'm stunned too - at this rate Fed-Ex may return The Travellin' Man One and my long-term inactivity list could be totally refreshed.

But anyway, what do I know?

Lala laaa

p.s. Hope you don't mind me nicking your foto Tim ;)

Sold: The Whipped One

The Whipped One is a complete one-off, even in the world of the unique eunuch. It boasts a beautiful walnut body and that has been given a gorgeous wax and stain finish to the back and sides, with the top getting the glory that is a Mother of Jooky Moondance finish.

As for the hardware, the bridge is classic hardtail which is zingy yet twangy and of course works perfectly. The tuners are Sperzel’s Trim Loks, for many miles of tuning-issue-free running and as for the pickup – well, wow.

The Whipped One is a bit special, so we have gone for a complete one-off, overwound and high of output, Mojo Pickups Mojotron. This boasts a couple of blades and despite being wowzer hot, still has a beautiful tone to it. I don’t know how the boy Ransley does it, but he does. Consistently.

To keep it all on the narrow and straight, Mojo have also done their usual top notch wiring loom, for ceaseless worry-free motoring.

As for the neck, well, this really is a bit special. For a start it is a Warmoth pro model, featuring a beautiful maple stick and side accessible truss rod. Which is handy as getting this baby flat is a bit of a must as the fretboard is more of a ‘board’ in truth as this is a fretless.

The ‘board is a lovely dark ebony, which has been helpfully scored to show where the frets would have been, which when you come to play it you will no doubt appreciate it as much as I have, although they are too shallow to be noticeable feel-wise.

And if you have never played a fretless you are in for a world of discovery. For a start you play on the ‘fret’ lines rather than between them, and bends are a bit of a no-no. The high output pickup comes into it’s own as without the metal bits, sustain is lower than normal, but there is a quite beautiful buzz about the whole thing, which as you get used to sliding into notes sounds stunning.

*

To be clear, The Whipped 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: Jooky Classic

Electrics: Mojo High Output Mojotron, Mojo Wiring loom

Guitar Type: Telecaster La Cabronita Fretless

Construction: Maple/Ebony Neck, Walnut Body

Strings:     11s Flatwound

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: JL#7
RSP: £1249

I Started Something... WIP Barry Island 668 Stylee

Well, I completely changed my mind as far as The 668 One goes, so it is no longer a black Strat, instead it is a sparkly pearly red Tele with a Strat tremolo. I'm not quite sure how I justify this as a Wilko Johnson tribute, but I'm sure I'll work it out.

So anyway, I've been doing a few layers of paint and glittery stuff and it looks rather like an ice cream has melted on it, which I like if nobody else does.

Of course (apart from the odd bit of paisley) this is the first proper bright red guitar I've done, mainly because they have an unfortunate way of reminding me of Bontempi toy guitars. Red Strats yeurrch.But this is different (you can't see the proper sparkly-ness in the foto, but baby the stars shine bright.

From here it will have a zingy Wilko tremolo, the I-can't-wait-to-hear-it Mojo Kay Speedbump pickup, Mojo Esquire wiring, a quite gorgeous maple/rosewood CBS style Strat neck, cool Esquire 'plate, ye olde Klusons and there we are.

All a bit boring, I guess, but as I have had a switch of decision making and the decision I have decided is that instead of the Jazzmaster Baritone, The 668 One is going to be my Barry Island in the stream.

And so, I think I can safely say that if the legend that is Mr Wilko Johnson had decided that he quite fancied a Jookified Baritone Tele with an old fashioned dirt buster of a pickup, and a wang bar to err, play  in Las Vegas, well, this might just have been it.

Unlikely, I know, but there we are.

La la laaaaa

Whip Me baaby

Well, I'll do a proper introduction in the morning light where fotos are brighter, more energetic and so much more lovely, but I'm pleased to say I finally finished the fettle of The Whipped One this evening and rather cool it is indeed.

For those who's memory is similar to my own, I'll remind you that it be:

1. A La Cabronita style Tele

2. Has a quite beautiful walnut body

3. The back has been stained, err, walnut and then hard waxed and has some reet pretty flame going on.

4. The top is an exceptionally groovy Mother of Jooky Opalescent finish

5. There may be gold in them there hills

6. The neck is a Warmoth maple/ebony fretless one, a nice soft V in shape and 12" flat in flatness

7. A single Mojotron pickup wound especially for this guitar a lot hotter than normal adorns the bridge position.

8. Wood is all that is to show for the neck pickup spot

9. An excellent Mojo wiring loom brings it all together

10. A hard tail bridge

11. Sperzel trim-lok tuners keep it all stable

And there we are.

As for how it plays, well the action is low, you fret it where the frets should be, and it has a gorgeous, almost, synth sound as you play, and the Mojo pickup was well worth doing as it adds the sustain you would normally expect to lose with a  defrettled guitar.

And to be honest, I can't leave the little mucker alone, well good fun.

But like I say, more anon...

La la laaaa

Pasta Blasta: Chance To Grab The Siren Song One

Well, a while ago, there was a guitar called The Siren Song One - a Jookified Esquire beyond compare.

I loved it lots and then lost, and it went to a new home.

I may have cried.

Now however, Mark, the owner of said guitar, is flogging it on for what is a quite daft cheap price considering the spec and uber beauty  of the wood.

So for a daft £300 you can do something I'm not allowed to do and buy yourself a piece of class...

As you can see Mark replaced the neck with a rosewood one, but will include the original maple jobby too - so you can dress to suit your mood. The original may need a fettle, which I will do free of charge, btw.

So if you want it, drop me an email at info@jooky.co.uk and I'll pass you over to Mark. He is a cool geezer, so you'll have no bother there. Don't worry about the fashion sense.

Here is the original blurb

The Siren Song One *sigh*

La la laaaa

 

 

 

 

Thursday Plonk-Together

Well, as we are all very vapour-ware at the moment, I thought I'd at least plonk The Bacchylides One together and see how things look.

And very pretty it is too - nice nitro Lake Placid Blue finish - not aged for once - and lots of shiny chrome is always cool, but what I really can't decide is whether to go for a minty white pickguard or instead nail on the red tortie...

I was thinking the white, but that there tortie, well it does look good.

*sigh *

All verily annoying.

In other news, The Travellin' Man One has apparently finally been released by U.S Customs and will be deported today, so hopefully it will be in one piece and we can try again next week.

Life is never simple.

La la laaaa

Bit of a Re-re-re-think

Well, I have this theory that other than odd things happening, if something stays on my 'Coming Soon' list for an age, it means I am not entirely happy about something, and The 668 One is kinds feeling like that.

You probably don't remember, but the idea was to do a Wiko influenced Strat - single Mojo take on the legendary Kay Speedbump, and there we are.

But it hasn't happened, so I've played Michael Finnigan, and changed things around.

It's good.

So instead it will now be a Tele but with a Strat tremolo, still have the red pearl and black combo for a nod in the geezer's direction, and it will of course have the Speedbump in pride of place.

Why? Well, no good reason, just if it don't feel right, it don't happen..

Blah blah, bored now

La la laaa

To Liberia, With Love

Well, still not a great deal going on around here due to dodgy mincers, but I have enjoyed playing my wee Musicmasterish Bronco-esque Baritone, which as experiments go has turned out quite well, I must admit.

So I've gotten to be thinking that next I should make a real one, and as I have a rather dishy one-piece swamp ash Jazzmaster body going begging, that looks like a good place to start.

I mean, I know a Jaguar/Bass VI is more traditional, but there is no point being awkward if you aren't going to show it, now is there?

So the plan is that the body will get a nifty finish (I'm hedging as I haven't decided what yet), a big long  neck, some tuners, a tremolo and probably some pickups. It is that level of for-thought and planning without which nothing would get done around here at all, of course.

In fact I want this to be quite a low down dirty thing, so some of Marc Mojo's Mosrite specials will definitely get used I think.

And that will henceforth and forthwith be known as The Liberian One, coming one day, soon and probably whenever.

La la laaa

RayGun Relics

Well, I know I don't do relics here in Jookyland, and that is for lots of reasons, but I must admit I do like some of them.

Not all, not the belt-sander brigade, but the ones where things are made to feel old rather than to look like road kill, I get that.

And then there are the ones that go so  far over the top that it can become an artform. I think the closest I got to that myself was with some rust and rosewood veneer, but I do have a high regard for the peeps that pull something quite so OTT off.

The reason I mention this is because I got Graham over at Ray Gun Relics to do me a tastfilled aged guitar (more on that another day) which has severely exceeded my expectations, and having seen some of his other work, I am definitely putting him in the artist category.

This is a 'Seaworn' one, which is superbly cool...think I'm in lust

Well, apart from the fact that his guitars are so crazy cheap.

For now.

So I am thinking I might have to treat myself to one of his exaggerated heavy relics as, as it were, a Tele  I think, I just can't decide which one.

Hope he doesn't mind my nicking his pix, but gord knows I like to share with the group...

You can find Ray Gun Relics on Ebay HERE

La la laaa

Baritonal Blues In A - I Need More Sleep

Well, anyway, my eyes are a bit ropey at the moment, which is my only excuse, but this evening I thought I'd sidetrack meself with a bit of baratoning of the Bronco.

So I got my impressive set of heavyweight strings - nowt drastic just 13 - 65 - and set about putting them on.

Now I know Boncoish has a normal rather than meaty big scale in the neck department, so I was expecting things to get a bit floppy if I tried to tune it down to A-A, but as the heavy A, D and G strings went on OK, I got more hopeful. perhaps even cocky. Not something I like to admit, but I could have been running before I could crawl, if you see what I mean.

Anyway, all the strings were on, I had tweaked the truss rod,  re-cut the nut, all that bobbins and we were looking good.

Then I tried to tune it, and do you think I could get anywhere near? No problem on the heavy 'uns, they went like a dream but the three lightest strings, more chance of the Pope swearing at mass or more to the point, when I did they were either hyper-tight or flippy-flappy-flopping around.

So I spent an hour convinced that I was missing something blindingly obvious and re-doing everything over and over (and yes, expecting a different result), until finally the penny dropped and I noticed that I had put the strings on in the wrong order. Five minutes later I'd swapped them around (thanking somebody else's god for split Klusons) and it sounds brilliant, and no floppiness apparent at all.

So yes, I need more sleep, schoolboy errors a-go-and-go-again.

La la laaaa

Broncotone

Well, I picked up this weird sort of Bronco meets Musicmaster body a while back, know nothing about it, but it is a bit of an oddity and let's face it, that always appeals.

Weirdly (or maybe not as I'm no expert) it is normal Fender scale, like a Strat or Tele, I mean, rather than the shorter scale I at first imagined.

So I nailed on an old Strat neck and it plays fine - the pickup is a horrid cheapo bar magnet thing, but surprisingly it sounds pretty good 'n' grungy and I have to admit I really rather like it.

But I can't really make up my mind what to do with it. Back in the sepia days of Jooky I would have covered it in paisley and had some fun, but I don't want to do that as it is a bit shonky in truth, so instead I thought I'd have a play at turning it into a Baritone.

The obvious way to do it is get a Warmoth or Allparts neck, but slack Alice strings apart, scale-wise, I read a suggestion a while back that simply changing it to heavier strings - 13-65 - would give a good approximation, so I'm going to try that first.

Obviously there will be a bit of tweaking involved (but it already needed a chunk of that, so no problem there) and I will no doubt put a better pickup in, but as a little fun-to-do, well, it seems fun to well, do. So I will.

I've got some chunky strings coming and if that doesn't work out will get a proper conversion neck.

So a plan of sorts, which let's face it is no plan at all.

La la laaaa

Something A Little Different, Like

Well, I've done a lot of Jazzmasters, hate to think how many Teles and Strats, loved the one Mustang I did (and really must make another) but I've never made a Jaguar. So perhaps it is time to put that right.

As it happens I have a few Jooky Customs on the list that I haven't divulged, but all need custom bodies or other bobbins, so I've been waiting to unveil them once there is something to take a piccy of. They do include what will be one hot mamma of a Jag, a couple of Jazzmasters, a Tele and  another Jazzmaster, but I'll get to them soon enough.

Which brings me back to my initial point - I haven't made a Jaguar.

So that is the plan.

I am going to make one.

It will be a nice alder body, have a Lake Placid Blue Finish, feature a neck - oiled and waxed, have pickups, Staytrem bridge, Fender AVRI tremolo and Sperzel Trim-lok tuners, and no doubt something groovy in the pickup and wiring dept. from Mojo Pickups.

All in all it will be cool and impressive, you'll say 'Wow' and I'll promise to keep it forever and then somebody will buy it, before a courier does an impression of Micheal Flatley and we are back to making jigsaws.

Or I could send it to the U.S for Customs to hide it for three months and then send it back here so I can send it back and give the courier another shot at it. Either works well.

So that will be The Bacchylides One, and Jesus will want me to tap dance on the beard of  Barbara Cartland
 with my size 9 ToeTectors.


La la laaaa

Introducing: The Starry Night One

Well, I'm pleased to introduce to you, the first (and maybe only) Jookulele to wash up on the shores of Jookyland.

But this is not just your usual 4 stringer, no by-jiminy, this is a soprano guitar with six string and tuned to EADGBE (though drop D makes life a whole lot easier, I must admit).

Feauring a beautiful Van Gogh inspired top, this is The Starry Night One and sure puts a jingle in your jangle.

La la laaaaaaaaa