Well, today I am expecting to see the arrival of Old Honey, from John Gill at
JXG Guitars up in Newcastle, and I have to say I am pacing the room like a right saddo.
To put that into context, I had a nap while I was waiting for the bratskis to be born (I've always been innately popular like that) so for one so laid-back, this is oddly weird.
As I mentioned John makes some stunning guitars, so I thought I'd pass the time by showing you a couple of them, so you can salivate as much as me. Thanks to John and Hugh for showing me the pretty pictures.
The first time I heard of John and his work was when Hugh (Shugz, of the wiring loom fame) had a Les Paul Jr that I craved in a big way. This was made how they should be made, and I remember being awestruck by the fact that John had used a 100-year-old piece of mahogany for the body, with every other part and component equally well thought out and handled beautifully. I mean, I think if I had such a piece of wood I wouldn't have the bottle to start to use it, but then John is a master craftsman and I'm not. From then I've been hooked and any mention of his work has got my attention.
And I have to say I love the idea of having a guitar custom made, but if I'm honest with myself I'm not sure I'd ever be able to justify it. I have that thing Hendrix and Clapton and the rest have, where it doesn't matter what guitar I play, it always sounds like me. It is a curse, I realise that.
Unfortunately, it sounds like the me that is a bit shonky and leaden and a bit of a trier rather than a good player. And I always felt that a guitar like John makes, or Feline and Wez Venebles too come to that, would probably be wasted on me.
All of which I hope explains my excitement, as a Gibson Les Paul Studio doesn't scare me, and to be able to get one that John has worked on to this extent - basically remade from the ground up - is as close as I'm likely to get.
So yes, I am over excited and I might just kiss the UPS guy assuming he gets it here in one piece.
But the Old Honey - I promised to describe what John had actually done to it, so I'd better.
Where to start?
Well, John basically took one of the Gibson 50s Tribute Les Paul Studios and turned it into something special. I think that sums it up.
And what he did was...I hear you ask?
Well, it's a bit of a list with astonishing attention given to the details the rest of us wouldn't even think about, but here you go:
1. Replaced the stock Gibson P90s with a pair of Bare Knuckle Blue Notes.
2. Fitted a Bigsby B7. To do this he filled the original stop tail holes with mahogany and maple plugs. Read that again. Mahogany and maple, in the same hole. So that they match the wood. Even though nobody would ever know. Crazily stunning.
3. Removed the Nashville bridge, plugged the holes with maple and then fitted an ABR-1, with a KTS bridge, titanium saddles and long stainless steel studs. So sustain city, methinks.
4. A Complete rewire to 50s spec (braided wire, CTS pots, Russian PIO caps etc.)
5. Changed all of the plastic apart from the jack plate and TRC. Bareknuckle P90 covers, Fatboy switch tip etc. The rear control plates have been replaced with brown ones, tuner buttons with aged Kluson replacements and then for goodly measurement, a new unbleached bone nut and a fret dress. Attention to detail, or what?
6. Oh, and the original flat finish has been buffed and then relicked, the guitar being set-up for 11s.
7. It is even coming in a custom made Hiscox case to cope with the Bigsby ( the normal LP ones don't fit, of course.)
Now forgive me, I can get a bit excited about stuff and despite my obvious ineptitude at times i do get a bit anal about the Jooky finishes. You wouldn't believe quite how many you don't see because I haven't got them right. Well, maybe you would.. But getting back to John, using both mahogany and maple plugs in the same hole, to match the body/top is an incredible attention to detail. I can see just from that, John is a top notch builder, though you only have to look at the guitars he has built to see it yourself.
But I need to get back to my looking-thru-the-curtains and pacing.
I wouldn't want to miss the courier.
That would be hell with a fan heater.
Laters dearies.
La la laaaa
