Coop Flown

Going to be sad to see the back of Betty

Well, it seems I am Jookiless again, with both The Fabulous and Betty Blue Ones off independently to nice new homes in Austria.

The Fabulous One is trailing a blaze immediately, with young Betty following on in a couple of weeks, once she has her affairs in order.

Trying to play the grown-up, they are both in the midst of being suffocated with gaffa tape, so I don't get tempted to dilly and dally, as it were.

And today is the first anniversary proper of when I took The Golden Shower One for a bit of fretwork to my local tech. I shall be making the ceremonial call at 1.35pm which is exactly the time I handed it over, jokingly asking if it would be done by Christmas.

I remember feeling bad as he looked a little hurt at such an outlandish concept..

(I dug out the receipt and checked - you know I have no memory.)

No matter, it will probably be done soon enough.

Or maybe I should just get it back and sort it out meself, always an option.

With the Jookies fleeing the coop, it was nice to add my 10% to the Tickled Pink thingimabob, which means I am now in with a good chance of winning the T Shirt.

Most odd.

Still, early days indeedy though, if you fancy making a wee donation Here.. It would be better if I didn't keep the T Shirt. Stewards enquiries and all.

As for getting on with stuff, I'm hoping the neck for The Resurrected One will arrive today so that I can get that nailed on and twanging. It is truly a verily beautiful looking guitar.

I'm a little perplexed by that and worried that, like The B Movie One before, it will be too pretty to survive.

It is the way of the world sometimes.

We crush the most alluring of blossom.

But there we are, back to my packaging.

La la laaaa

Ooah Betty

Well, blimey, I never expected that. I mean I had little idea, many fewer expectations (for the nations), but - crikey.

I mean, I knew I liked how The Betty Blue One had turned out visually - I just loved the idea that there are all these makers putting veneers on guitars to make them look posh, while Betty is veneered to look scratty, bless her.

OK, it's my sense of humour, but it turned out better than I could have hoped. So it looks great to these eyes.

But I didn't think the vibrato would be so good and I didn't know how the Mojo Tele P90 would sound either. And it sounds awesome. I mean it has the old Esquire wiring, which gives you plenty of flexibility, but I don't think I've taken it off the middle setting for more than a few minutes, a twiddle of the tone and it sounds amazing in lots of ways. Proper P90 sound, takes your face off. Curdles your loin.

As for the Xtrem, it is more stable than the Bigsby on Old Honey, and that is stable in excelsis for a Bigsby already. So that's a good thing. I'm sure it is.

As for what is next, well if the neck and the rest arrive for The Resurrected One I'll be doubly chuffed. If not I might just brave the router and see where that takes me. Takes me home.

La la laaa

Sold: The Betty Blue One

The Betty Blue One is one of the first ever Jooky Guitars to feature one of our ‘Vera’ veneers, in combination with a goodly measure of corroded bronze. The Walnut Burr veneer has been cracked, nibbled, attacked with a Tefal Steam Iron and generally battered and looks rather stunning. This might seem strange, but most veneers are added to guitars to add a layer of faux class, while ours has a different agenda.

Other than the finish, the body is ash, the neck is maple/maple for all those classic twangy tones, the pickup is handwound in Halifax by the quite brilliant Marc Ransley of Mojo Pickups and is a Telecaster sized P90 with all the sizzle you’d expect. Marc has also put together an ‘Esquire’ wiring loom, which gives three great sounds from the single pickup.

Also for the very first time on a Jooky, we’ve used a stunningly cool GFS Xtrem Vibrato, which manages to give all the best of a Bigsby, with far better tuning and best of all, it is easy to string up. The first of many, we expect.

To set it all off, we've even sanded back around the edges to give an ersatz binding.

*


To be clear, The Betty Blue 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 Parisian Café at Midnight.

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: Pam’s Baywatch Bronze, Vera’s Veneer

Electrics: Handwound Tele P90 by Mojo Pickups

Guitar Type: Telecaster Esquire

Construction: Walnut Burr and Corroded Bronze over Ash

Strings: Nickel 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Volume, Tone, Three-way Switch

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

Serial Number: JGE#60

RSP: £799

Getty Sweaty With Betty

Well, today is the day I finish The Betty Blue One.

No, really it is, I'm all determined and unbelievably unshakable.

There isn't too much to do, in truth. A touch of solder, a slight rejigging of the neck and I need to reseat the bridge a smidge too. Simple fare but in the end it will be worth it.

Other than that, the neck for The Fallen One should be here tomorrow, (fingers-crossed-fongers-crissed) along with the lastminuteremembered tuners and string trees, neck plate and bolts (I knew it was going too well) and of course strap pins. I really should buy a job-lot, I'll take a note.

As for The Tickled Pink One, many thanks to The Fat Old Man for his donation to the cause. We've already doubled my expectations for the whole thing, which is cool and who knows where it could lead. Maybe even a nifty, in my wildest dreams.

I have low expos.

I'm thinking of what else I can do to help the cause, so hopefully something will pop up that doesn't include Claudia Winkleman or that wench off Nighty Night who's name always escapes me.

Maybe it should be that the biggest single donation gets a guitar for free, or err, a T Shirt or something I can afford (before I get carried away again.)

I'll have to have a think.

But no more delaying tactically, time to sort that Betty girl out...

La la laaaa

From Old China to Betty Blue

Well, I've given the Old China a spoodle and a new set of strings and verily nice it is too.

I am quite impressed by the way the finish has been de-glossed, it looks a lot more expensivo. And the metal nut is good, I like them (Trying not to think about the Old Gordo) and it makes the tone a little zingier, I think..

Soundwise it is pretty PAF-like though a tad cotton woolly, and looking at the pots and wiring didn't exactly inspire me, but I'm going to leave it a little while before I do anything drastic.

I've got a Fake58 Les Paul loom somewhere, and daft as it sounds, decent pots and wire and all that might just be enough. I might not even need to change the pickups.

Really.

It could happen.

I could put the loom in and see, it can't hurt.

And then maybe next week I'll think about new pups...

I miss that out-of-phase bit in the middle the old Vintage Lemon Drop had, I have to admit.

And, well, what can I say?

I'm a guitar fiddler.

It isn't something I'm proud of.

As for other things, well The Betty Blue One is well and on it's way as the foto hopefully shows - I put the neck and tuners on and all that is left is the need for a bit of soldering to do and we're in business. Probably one for Monday, but there we go. Oh, and strap pins, I always forget the strap pins.

The neck for The Resurrected One hasn't arrived yet, but that too could be together next week also similarly like.

All of which sounds quite productive, doesn't it?

I wonder what will really happen?

(Note to self: Insert dream sequence here)

La la laaa

Betty Is Beautyfilled

Betty Wears Her Chrome With Pride

Well, not quite finished the Lightning Dragon yet today, but some super-speedfilled sorting out by Liam at Axesrus meant that the scratchplate arrived and could be gold leafed, which proved to be the most interesting experience of all and where I came closest to doing that
Dad thing:

Let-me-do-it-no-not-like-that-Jesus-won't-you-listen.

I didn't even do the:

speaking-slowly-whilst-fuming

stomp, I surprise myself at times.

Speaking of good service, I also received the replacement bridge plate for The Betty Blue One which means that it is ready to go too. Apart from that I ran out of strap pins again. Tis always the strap pins. Oh, and I can't find where the neck has gone either. But apart from that, it is pretty much there-ish. Man I lurve a girl in callipers.

Anyway, hopefully I'll have something to show later on...

Well, maybe.

La la laaaaaa

Bigsby Style (Slight Concern)

Well, I was so excited to be getting one of those lovely GFS Vibrato and Bridge Combos, it looked exactly what I needed.

But putting it together, I don't know, I mean I'm no expert and everything but...

Something just looks a little wrong somehow.

Heh ho

La la laaa

Ooah, Betty, I Can Feel...

Well, top excitement today as I got a lovely card pushed thru the door telling me that my chunky trem and bridge - for The Betty Blue One - had arrived from far flung lands.

Not quite requiring so much of a cheery hearthed welcome was the £9 customs charge, and the £8 the Royal Mail are charging me for the privilege of not bringing the parcel to my door, but there we are. I was half expecting it anyway.

So I can hopefully go and get that and do a bit of stuff with o'er Betty, though of course that was the point when I realised that I haven't got the girl a neck yet, which is a bit of an oversight.

I really must check that though, as I was sure I did have - maybe I've used it, wouldn't be the first of times. I still haven't heard the Mojo Tele P90, of course, so there is a hint of bubbly excitement, I have to admit.

But still, be nice to get closer to finishing something, it seems like forever since the last time.

On the back of such promise, I dug the body out of it's hiding hole, gave it a quick dust and dazzle and I have to say it is a bit of a wow-lit stunner. The walnut burr looks rather gorgeous pretty, and I am loving that it is tattered and torn so that you can see the corroded bronze beneath.

The shaved edge binding (I'm making up meaningless terms to make it sound good, today) also works for me in a big way, and the back is dee and vine. Like a Parisian window as seen by Monet after he'd been on Les Meths. Lovely.

If only the girl had a neck, it would be perfect.

How many times have I said that before?

At least in those Ruby Red Pimpernelistic dreams of teenage.

I know it is sad to get excited about tiny little small steps such as this, but there we are.

La la laaa

Her Name is Betty, And She is Jooky

Her Name Is Betty,
She's Kinda Kooky

Well, couriers come and couriers go, where the parcels end up...etc.

I think you know the rest.

But fair play to them, both UPS and TNT collected when they were meant to and the place looks a whole lot emptier now. And (forgetting the in-need-of-a-resurrection The Fabulous One, which I've taken apart), I am once more down to a single Jooky The Old E One, and rather lovely it is to play too.

So I'm not exactly upset about it.

The pickguard for The Fallen One has finished corroding and just needs some lacquer, which is cool, and speaking of lacquer I ran out, so need to sort that out so I can finish The Travellin' Man One too.

And further speaking of which, I'm going to chop a scratchplate for that today, I think and also paint the headstock of The Fallen One to match it's scratchplate, which I should have done at the same time but forgot, clearly.

I am human, it may surprise you to know.

As for other things, I've organised some wooden board stuff for The Hartlepool One, I went for a couple of types in different thicknesses as it is all a bit of a voyage-of-discovery, as per and I couldn't make my mind up as per also-like.

Without getting too far ahead of myself, I might actually try a couple of these until I get the hang of it, when I will obviously stop as there won't be any point any longer.

Other than even that I've got that itch now about The Betty Blue One and can't wait for the trem thing to arrive in a letter from America. Oh and the neck from Pontefract, which sounds less exotic but they make cakes out of liquorice, and how much better is that than Mississippi Mud Pie?

Other than all of that, it is back to waiting, always waiting

La la laa

Blues for Betty

Mojo P90 - Telecaster Bridge Pup Sized
Cooool

Well, I've been having a further ponder about The Betty Blue One, my beautifully bashed walnut burr veneered Tele, and have come to a couple of conclusions.

Firstly, Marc at Mojo has sent me a pretty piccy of the Telecaster-shaped P90, which will come with a nice Esquire-esque wiring loom to get the best out of the single pup and all that. So sounds are covered. The boy does good, all over again.

In fact he has blogged The-Making-Of-The-T90 Here and it is worth a look.

As for the neck, well I've got a couple of nice ones on the way, so I'll be able to choose between a rosewood and a maple board, which is nice. I'm thinking rosewood at the moment, but tomorrow, who can really tell which way the wind will be blowing.

None of which is rocking horse science, of course.

Where I want to try something a little different is in the shape of the bridge. Now I've never really messed about other than in passing with Bigsbys before, but Old Honey has been a bit of an eye-opener and I love it rather so.

So I was thinking it would be nice to go for a Trem on Betty. And as luck would have it, Denis Diaz of Diaz Guitars - more about their Ghost sometime soon -  pointed me at a new trem GFS in the US of A have brought out, the Xtrem, which will sit on top of a Tele with no big concerns but solves a few of the Bigsby quirks along the way.

You can also get a matching Tele bridge plate thing, which would be handy, it has to be said. And this looked all verily worthy of a try, so I'm going to give Betty Blue a face filled with metal work.



And sad though it may be, it is all a bit exciting.

I know, I truly should get out more.

So that is Betty Blue, in other news, I really don't know what to do now.

La la laaa

Raymondo and Betty Blue - Getting On With It

The Raymond One - Gagging for some Mojo

Well, in between peeping thru the curtains to see whether Old Honey had happened to just be left on the doorstep by the courier, I thought I should do something productive to keep me going yesterday.

Young Marcy Mojo is sending the Wide Ranger Humbucker and wired control plate to arrive tomorrow, so I figured it would make sense to have The Raymond One ready to go.

So as you can hopefully see, Raymondo now has a neck attached, strap pins - I remembered the strap pins - yeah - and a rather fine Wilkinson Strat trem with a solid steel block and a lovely little grub screw that let me tighten the hole that the trem arm pushes into so that it doesn't fall out and I don't cross thread it. Some people think of everything, don't they?

Removed the clamps - then had to prize my 'caul' off

And there we are - ready to go.

Well, nearly. I noticed yesterday that there is one slight issue with the body that has escaped me thus far, which is that somebody seems to have forgotten to drill a hole for the jack socket to sit in.

And more to the point, somebody a lot closer to home didn't notice this before covering the body with paisley , grain filler, and lots of lacquer.

So one last job on that and we'll be clover-based.



Other than that, I took my life in my hands earlier and unclamped The Betty Blue One to see how the veneering had turned out.

It is one of those odd occasions where I was dreading the idea that it had worked too well, as of course the idea is for it to be ragged so that the corrosion of the bronze beneath is partially visible.

Roughly trimmed the veneer away

And horror of horrors, it turned out well. It was a little neat but I can soon fix that sort of bobbins, so I'm really quite pleased.

From there I removed the excessive veneer and generally hacked around the edges and introduced a couple of minor splits and scrapes.

Once that was done I sanded it back and generally got it how I wanted it.

Power, that is. Power.

I had an idea that it would be nice to have the veneer not quite reaching the edge, but to sand it so that the corroded bronze was removed and the nice blue beneath would show thru as a faux binding.

So that was what I did and amazingly it looks how I imagined it, which is most odd. If things start looking how I imagine them we may all be in trouble. Especially Gideon George Osbourne. Not pretty at all.

Bit more of a twin

So the paint is peeping thru the bronze which is peeping thru the veneer which is going to be covered in lacquer.

I'm liking this better, the more I think about it.

Anyway, I'll finish the sanding and then lacquer it to death later on. There is no real panic on this as I haven't got any of the other parts yet and Mr Mojo is doing me a P90 Tele pup for it, and that will take a while as it involves different magnets or something technical like that. Wrong kind of magnets, can cause havoc with your winding apparently.

**** Interlude ****

Edges sanded for a 'faux binding' and lacquered to death

Time moved on, so I just finished the sanding and started the lacquering and the walnut burr just comes to life. I think this is going to turn out pretty good, if I say so meself.

And then of course it had dried before I posted this. So you can see for yourself what I meant.

Obviously, I'd appreciate it if you kept all these details to yourself, as I know Paul Reed Smith often pops in to try and nick my veneering technique so that they can get away from that Doctors-and-Lawyers reputation, and get down with the kids like me. I try to distract him, but he is getting sneakier all the time.


La la laaa

Loving the corrosion peeping thru...

WIP: The Betty Blue One

Can you see the join?

Well, time is running out, so I figure I should maybe do something productive today.

Some of the parts have arrived for The Raymond One, so I'll get them added to the mix later, but The Betty Blue One is my Dame du jour.

The story so far..

I started with a lovely alder Tele body, and smothered it lovingly with Bronze enriched plutonium. Or maybe paint. Yes, paint it was.

Not so lovingly, I then went for an open yet blinded Parisian window looking out into the blue night, and basically hit it with a load of noxiously fuming acid and other gubbins.

On the back, it looks great and on the front it is a little more subtle as there is a plan.

Oh yes, is there a plan.

Well, yes.

And the plan that I planned is to cover the front with a lushly lush walnut burr laminate, which will be slightly tattered and torn so that the corroded bronze beneath peeps through.

And I have to admit that this morning as I looked at it, I really wasn't sure whether it would work or not. But as I can't imagine there are too many people to ask, I figured I might as well give it a go and see for meself.

So as you can hopefully tell, I've spread my glue, and pressed on the veneer and then clamped the beejesus out of it  (I am loving the ad-hoc tableness of the clamps I got from Simon at Fusion, most useful and cool.)

And there it sits.

I will give it an unclamp and rearrange if needed later, but it will be tomorrow before I can do much more of use. (And yes, there is a lack of clamping going on in the middle, but that's ok, I have a plan...)

In other news, obviously I am awaiting couriers and will be tomorrow too (Old Honey is a coming) so don't expect too much sense out of me.

La la laaa

Before the err, storm of walnut.

Stripily Backed

Jooky Instant Tables Inc.

Oops, I Did It Again

Old Honey - Masterwork from JXG Guitars

Well, my big plans for the week have kinda fallen into ashes, as I forgot that today was destined to be AWOL day, and I've just realised that the school holibobs start on Thursday evening rather than Friday. So I've lost two days of my final five already without really trying.

But there we are. I'm still hopeful that I'll get The Raymond One fettled and hopefully The Betty Blue One veneered before the week is out. Well, you never know.

In other news, I've got a nice lefty Jazzmaster neck on it's way, which should be fun for The Fallen One, and I seem to have acquired another, err, Les Paul Studio.

* cough *

I know, I know.

This one is a bit different though, as it is fairly new - 2010 - and is one of the 50s Studio Tributes they did for a while. So it has a lovely big neck, rosewood board, isn't too heavy as they have removed all the pulp and pips (I'm convincing myself that is a good thing) and boasts twin P90s. If this wasn't enough, I'm getting it from the luthier John Gill of JXG Guitars fame, and it is one he has done an amazing job on, basically, upgrading everything in and out of sight, adding a Bigsby and giving it a relic job based on Neil Young's Old Blacky. As this is a Honeyburst finish though, it has been rechristened, Old Honey, which I like so that can stay.

It should be here on Wednesday anyway, and I'll do a proper introduction/specification list then, along with a lot of genuflection and general gibbering.

John's spec is crazy tyop notch:

Gibson Les Paul Studio 50's Tribute in honeyburst. Original 2010 Limited Edition
Bare Knuckle Blue Note P90's (alnico IV magnets in bridge)
Bibsby B7 fitted (stop tail holes filled with mahogany/maple plugs)
Converted to ABR-1 (nashville holes plugged with maple), KTS bridge with titanium saddles and long stainless steed studs, double wheeled.
Full rewire to 50's spec with braided wire, CTS pots, Russian PIO caps, 0.022 bridge and 0.015 neck.
All plastics replaced apart from jack plate and truss rod cover. Bareknuckle P90 covers and Fatboy switch tip.
Brown rear control plates. Tuner buttons are aged Kluson replacements.
Allparts Speed knobs, one has broken so was replaced, it's a slightly different colour just to be upfront- all part of the relic fun!
Fret dress and unbleached bone nut fitted.
Finish has been buffed and medium relic'd except for heavy pickwear. The neck is unrelic'd.
Hiscox Liteflite Pro case, custom made to fit the bigsby.
Set up for 11's
 

If you haven't come across JXG before, there are some examples of his work on his web site Here, and I'll see if I can find some fotos of a Les Paul Jr he did a while back which would make Gibson's Custom Shop hang their heads in shamefilled shamedness.

So that is rather exciting.

As I am now offish poorhouse brassic, any offers for The JoBo, Old E and B Movie Ones would be very timely, and my old battered Gordo might have to go too. Such is the life of a poor little chap of slender means but big ideas..

La la laaa

Like a Fallen Angel

Well, not a lot happening over the weekend, and with the coming week heralding the summer holibobs it is time to focus again. In fact tomorrow is out too, so I'm into the last four days.

Top of the list is The Raymond One then. All the parts are on their merry way, so it will hopefully be together before the dreaded day. If I get that done this week I'll be pretty chuffed if not chuffing pretty.

Other than that, I want to put the walnut burr veneer on The Betty Blue One, which should be do-able, but there probably won't be too much else.

In other news, I've been all-of-a-twitter about the new Squier Offsets that are being released this month. Proper Jazzmasters, Jaguars and Mustangs, for Squier money, sounds pretty good to me.

But then I got thinking about all the guitars that come and go around here and I came to realise that I'm never really happy with them unless I put them together myself. And I have to say buying a new guitar, well, it isn't something I ever do.

So basically, I figured I'd be happier making myself another offset guitar, and so with a bit of scurrying I found a nice Jazzmaster body made of solid ash with a walnut veneer and dredging my memory's memory, remembered that I knew somebody who was flogging a luthier made left-handed Jazzmaster neck. So I snapped that up too. I like a downside-up headstock, it makes me feel like Jimi, man.

From there I'll need to sort out a proper trem and bridge - I just got a mustang one, so that should be handy and after my experience with my MIJ Jazzmaster, it will definitely be a set of Marcy Mojo's pickups, though whether I go for a pair of his Jazzmaster ones or have one of those and one of his Jazzmaster-sized Wide Rangers for a bit of variety, I'm not sure.

We'll have to see.

As for the finish, I'll see what the body looks like when it gets here, but I've always liked the Elvis Costello JM so I might end-up staining it. I also like the Thurston Moore one, thinking about it. Hmmm.

So staining, well, either that or covering it with something toxic. Who can truly ever guess?

But that is all a bit of a long-termer really. The body needs some woodwork before I can start on anything else, so that alone will probably put it into next year. But I have to say, I'm already looking forward to getting to grips with The Fallen One.

And maybe I should get a Squier, just to keep me going, like, in-between....

La la laaa

That Was The Week...

Well, as it happens, I never got any further with anything much at all, but finishing The Old E One feels good as it seems sooo-very-long since I actually completed something. Or so it feels, anywasup.

I am in a bit of a state with balls in the air all over the place and I'm not really sure what will happen next. Mr Mojo is sending the TV Jookies for The B Movie One, so that will no doubt be do-able-ish next week.

In fact whichever one I do manage to finish next will be my fiftieth Jooky Guitar, which I find a little hard to credit.

I still haven't really found a good answer to the question of why I make them, other than because it is fun and all and because I want to make a guitar for me. Which might sound silly as I never keep them, it has to be said.

But despite my golden rules about having to sell them once they are made, I have a sneaky hope that when the music stops and I give in and do something more interesting instead, I'll be left holding my ideal guitar and that I can keep it.

What that ideal guitar is, I really don't know so I guess I'll have to keep stumbling along until I find it.

So for next week, The B Movie One, vinyl scratchplates, T Shirts and nothing at all new until I catch-up a bit.

Oh, there is The Ronin One - it seems Allparts have finally found me a bridge and that should be here soon. So that might be something else to play with too. And I need to put the veneer on The Betty Blue One too. So again, I'm losing myself in the fog. Ho hum.

La la laaa

Doing The Do, With Betty Blue

Well, as I changed my mind as far as The Raymond One goes and took my veneer elsewhere, I thought I'd better decide what to do with it.

I seem to be in a Tele mode at the moment for some reason, but that's no bad thing as I continue to mine my Esquire fetish, and I think it would be cool to follow on from The Gypsy One, which I have to admit I loved in a big way.

So the plan is for a corroded bluey bronzed plank look (as I did on the back of The Fabulous One) with a battered, ripped and generally torn walnut burr veneer on top which I think I might stain to give it a hue of blue.

It'll be an Esquire and there we are.

Sorted.

In fact it will henceforth be known as The Betty Blue One, which on current form means it will no doubt end-up yellow or something.

La la laa