WIP:The Elmer One

Well, it feels kinda good to have actually finished something, and The Drip Dry One is quite beautiful, and a touch raunchy around the edges. That old DiMarzio is something else though, and I'm preening slightly as I wired it out-of-phase with the P90 at the neck so that the middle-position has a lovely BB King/Peter Green hollowness about it. If you twiddle with the tone knob, there is all manner of goodness to be had.

Step 1: Cover the body with variegated gold leaf

There's a lesson for us all, right there.

As for your next question, which I'm guessing is 'So are you going to finish any of the other things you've half-started and left cluttering-up the place', assuming you live with me, that is, well, I think The Old Burny One is closest and should prove to be the (gulp) easiest.

It is actually a lot easier to start things, I've found, than finish them.
You may have noticed.

Speaking of starting things, which I'm not doing until I've finished everything else, of course, I did happen to accidentally spill some gilder's size onto a Tele body earlier today, as you do, and as it would have been a bit of a waste, managed to also accidentally drop some variegated gold leaf onto it.

A couple of kinds, sadly.

Step 2: Splash the copper paint around, and 'Feather' to taste

After that had dried, been tidied and 'burnished' as we pocket gilders call rubbing vigorously with a damp sponge and a rusty hammer, I also managed to spill some copper paint which oddly corroded almost immediately and well, looked quite interesting. Three or four times I accidentally did that before it looked right.

Happenstance, you can't legislate for it...

Not sure what to do with it, mind you, though I guess it would be a shame to waste it really, and I have got a nice Rosewood boarded Tele neck that would look lovely with it. Or even the nice maple/maple one, that could work.









I have also been thinking that it might be nice to try Jess's authentically Fifties like tele pickups, and this may well be a fortuitous place to do just that.

Co-incidentally, like.

But as I was saying, today is about finishing my lovely Old Burny One, and won't involve any lacquering or ordering of pickups or tuners or well, anything else to do with The Elmer One.

Step 3: Corrode the copper

Sold: The Drip Dry One

Sometimes, you just want a guitar that Rocks, with a big ‘R’. Good if it looks amazing too, but ultimately it has to sound the biz. That was the starting point for The Drip Dry One, and I think we got there, in spades.

From the top, it is unusual – a mahogany Strat body with the most amazing looking grain. Added to that it has a quite crazy wicked rusted iron scratchplate, the rust dribbling down the face of the guitar.

But it is the sound.

For pickups we’ve gone for an old Jooky favourite, a P90 at the neck. This is one of IronGear’s best kept secrets, the Alchemist 90 and it really packs a punch.

At the bridge we find the real deal. A genuine 1970s DiMarzio Super Distortion, ripped out of an old Les Paul and here it sounds quite brilliant.

Other than that there is a set of Wilkinson ‘Klusons’ to hold the strings at the top end, and a Wilkinson Bridge complete with a Steel block for maximum sustain, and boy does it work?

Yes, it does.

As a finishing flourish we went for an enormously silver Mojotone Vitamin K cap in among the wires, individual volumes, a single tone control and a three-way switch. Nice and simple.

So basically it is Sex on a sticky stick.

*

To be clear, The Drip Dry 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 coolish thing on ice. 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: Cilla’s Rusty Iron Guitar

Pickups: IronGear Alchemist 90 (neck), DiMarzio Super Distortion (bridge)

Guitar Type: Mahogany Strat Body, Strat Neck

Construction: Corroded Iron Paint over wood body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard

Strings: Nickel 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Dual Volume, Tone, Three-way Switch

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

Serial Number: JGE#35

RSP: £699

Introducing: The Drip Dry One

Well, it's funny that some guitars seem to take forever and feel unlikely to ever be finished, but then you reach a moment - god, I nearly said 'tipping point' sober - when, it just all comes together and you wonder what all the fuss was about.

This is a case in such a pointedness.

So, I'd like to introduce you to the latest produce of the Jooky meadows, The Drip Dry One.

She's a girl, bless her.

For the record, it is a mahogany bodied, maple/rosewood necked Strat, complete with:

1. Wilkinson 'Split Kluson' tuners

I've always loved these on Jazzmasters, and have kinda gone back to them after dalliances elsewhere. I just like them and they work nice like. So there we are.

2. Wilkinson Trem/Bridge with a super-sustaining steel block

I've used these before and they really do make a noticeable difference to the sustain and zinginess of the tone.







3. An Irongear Alchemist 90 humbucker sized P90 at the neck.

A Jooky fave, and I've lost track how often I've used them, but that is because they are always bang on the money.

4. A genuine 1970s DiMarzio Super Distortion at the bridge

This came out of an old Les Paul, and is of course what started all of this replacement pickup bobbins that distracts me no-end. Lovely in a Strat, better in a mahogany bodied one. It's Rock 'n' Roll baby.

5. I know it is silly, but I'm a sucker for a ghost story, so I've use a Mojotone Vitamin T or K, I forget which, capacitor. Big silver thing it is too, looks great. Anyway, it has Mojotone apparently, and lets face it, that will make all the difference to the sound of the guitar if nothing else doesn't.

6. A rather spectacularly rusted iron dripping scratchplate, which Banksy-like has dribbled gloopily onto the rather pretty body.

I've wanted to do this for a while, and had thought of doing it over a fabricified body, but the loveliness of the wood here made it an obvious choice.

This really is a rather beautifully 'marked' guitar, and in terms of sound it is red-hot. The P90 is just sexual, whilst the DiMarzio is hot and heavy. With the mahogany body and steel block, this sustains like a Les Paul.

In fact I've unwittingly gone back to do another Les Paul BFG wannabee. Maybe I should put a kill switch on too, though I've done independent volume pots and a master tone, so you can do the killswitch thing anyway.

So there we are. Hot 'n' Heavy, a bit like me

La la laaaa

WIP: The Drip Dry One

OK, I admit it. it all got a bit 'on top' last week, and not a lot seemed to go right. In a vague attempt to get myself back from the brink, as it were, I decided yesterday to take the quite radical step on sticking to one guitar until it is complete.

Obviously, not my normal thing, but there we are.

So I re-wired the Drip Dry One.
And then did it again.
And again.

Not because it was silent, no. More because it wouldn't shut up, and whatever I did, both pickups were on and that was that.
I still don't know why.
Anywaysup, I got all technical with the multimeter and it seemed as though the switch was knackered, so I chucked my toys and did something else.

Today then, despite the allure of other radical beauty, I went and bought a new switch and fitted it and if it didn't quite work first time, it was soon doing the bizz.

Happy chap.

So after that I did a bit of work on the neck - it was baked-in-grubby, but now is clean and oiled lovely like. And I even fitted it....

In fact it is done apart from that I have run out of time before I fitted some strings.

But tomorrow, I will fit strings, not start something else.
And once this one is finished, as I now know deep down and inside you'll be glad to her, it will - I will then think about something else.

I won't even think about thinking about what it might be right now.

The End.

~~~~~~~~~~~ Interlude ~~~~~~~~~~~

Obviously, something did pop up to detract me, I've snaffled a lovely looking Tele body and neck, and some Heavy Rock monstrocity, but more about them later..

~~~~~~~~~~~ Musical Interlude ~~~~~~~~~~~

Incidentally, and not at all linked to any of the above chaos, but I am loving to read  Erin Bennett's Blog right now, and listening to the various wicked songs she has on there and Facebook etc.

You can see what I mean HERE

No she doesn't play a Jooky, but I can like her anyway.

Drip Dribbling Away

Well, I had such plans, such guitar finalising plans...and then we're back into sick-kid-weekend mode, and soldering goes out of the window.

You see, I think I sussed the problem with The Old Burny One after getting out the multimeter and it seems one of the pots is dead, no doubt due to a bit of over-enthusiastic soldering on my part. I had a spare or twelve, so that was fine, but now...looks like Monday again.

I did however get the missing bridge for The Drip Dry One from the clutches of the local Posty, so between cold poultices and sugary tea, Calpol and the mopping of fevered brows I'm aiming to at least get that somewhere close to finished today. Given the odd few stolen moments. Or over the weekend at least.

I have taken so long on this one, that I'd forgotten how beautiful the mahogany body is. but looking at it now, it proper shimmers. The rust looks amazing too, I'm really rather chuffed and glad that I showed more than my usual levels of restraint. It happens rarely enough, let's face it.

As I said, I've gone for a Wilkinson bridge/trem with a solid steel block as they give the guitars zingy sustain a bit of a leg up. Pickupwise it is an old favourite an IronGear Alchemist 90 - P90 - at the neck, and a genuine '70s DiMarzio Super Distortion at the bridge. I've actually used a bridge P90 at the neck to even things up a bit.

Other than that it is a nice big-of-headstock Strat neck, rosewood 'board, Kluson tuners and a lot of attitude.

Like I said the other day, I think this will be my last Strat for a while, and it is going to be quite the rocker, so it is.

But I'm babbling..time to put the chukkie soup on the hob.

When Will It All Go Right?

Well, slight change of plan in that I'm still courier-a-waiting, and so never made it to town to get the shiny new bridge for The Drip Dry One, so I rewired it and that is that.

Instead of finishing that baby I dug deep and faced the pain that is The Old Burny One.

Now I thought I'd found the problem with this. I replaced the switch I'd managed to break, and I swapped the wires I'd manage to misplace...and things were looking good, but no banana.

So, at the moment I've got the neck pickup working but the bridge and middle positions of the old flicky switch are doornail dead. And man have I checked my wiring, rewired all sorts of bobbins, but nada, naff-all and zilch.

So is it a knackered pot?

Another dodgy switch?

Is my old Gibson 'Original' past it's sell by date?

I really don't know.

Wondering whether to cover up the bridge pickup and call it a Jr?

Nah, it'll never look right and will only bug me.

~~~~~~~~Musical Interlude ~~~~~~~~

Well, the courier arrived - wonder where that will end up?
But too late in the day for me to get to the Post Office, and I'm out of soldering time as far as the Old Burny One goes.

So, tomorrow, it will have to be tomorrow now won't it.

*Deep breaths *

Yours, beautifully bugged...

Talking The Walk

Time to get me act together and stop playing with the kids

Well, like I was saying yesterday - The Porn Shop One is bugging me. Don't get me wrong it is probably one of the best things to come out of Jookyland, but the neck is well and truly bent. More corkscrew than banana. More Twister than Fab.

Which is a downer.

But I have a new neck, so apart from finishing it to match, it shouldn't be a major issue.

Or so I thought until I conspired with myself to make it worse, as when I tried to take it off I somehow sheared it (if that is the right word for the top coming off of a screw and leaving the rest behind) which means I can't actually get the neck off at all. And when I do, there will still be a lump of metal sticking out.

On the plus side I did manage to remove most of the melted wiring mess from under the scratchplate, but it seems like a small mercy right now.

*sigh*

But that is for another day when my brain is clearer.

Today then, I have decided to finish up The Drip Dry One. I had wired this, but decided to do it differently and am going to re-do it from scratch. There is a good reason for this, but it escapes me right now.

Other than that I had already sorted out the tuners and the replacement - correct of size - bridge is awaiting me at the Post Office, Super Sustaining Steel Block and all, so I need to pick that up if my courier vigil ever ends.

From there, all that's left is for me to put a new nut on and get some strings in place and we should be there. Hopefully I'll be able to introduce you tomorrow. Or perhaps the day after the next one, or three after that.

Getting around to doing stuff is the tricky part, as The Bye Bye Buy One and The Off Key One are currently vying for my favours at the moment. I do love the Hot Slag in the BBBO, and yet Senor Jess' P90 is just sex-on-a-sticky-stick, so I'm spoiled somewhat. And you can't play with one without t'other getting jealous, you know what kids are like.

But enough talking about it...

Things to Make and Do That Never Got Made or Done Last Week

The Drip Dry One
P90 plus '70s DiMarzio Super Distortion fun
and, err, no bridge. Hmmm...

Well, I never got the Old Burny One finished last week, but I think I know why now, so with a fair gust and a bit of Irish luck at my back, I might well get it sorted today or tomorrow.

Hope so, anyway, I want to play this one and it is all verily frustrating.

Other than that, I now have the pickups for The Bye Bye Buy and Drip Dry Ones, in fact all the parts for both now, so this week might see a flurry of new signings around here.

Might not of course, but we'll see.

I've decided to swap the pickup choices between the two as the DiMarzio might well overpower the lippy pickup in the Bye Bye Buy One, so I'm thinking that should get the not-quite-so-warm-but-still-quite-hot-actually M Pire handwound pup instead, leaving the DiMarzio for the mahogany bodied Strat. As you can see above in all it's '70s creamfilledness.

Which of course should be cool. next to some P90 loveliness.

Dunno, I'll have to check them, I may have that the wrong way around.

Other than that, I've decided between my children, and I'm going to keep The Golden Shower One.

I realise that the Old Burny is/will be a class above it, and I will no doubt regret it forever more, but maybe that's the reason. I really like the fact that the Shower is a bit of a ratbag wreck. I might treat it to a fret dress instead and then just love it forevermoresome.

It does mean somewhat that I've given up on my twin 'bucker Les Paul dream again, as being a pauper this is no doubt as close as I will ever get, but I console myself with the P90s of the Golden Shower and that I'm going to pimp my Gordon Smith to within a mm of it's natural 3 score and eleven. Maybe I'll treat myself to another Vintage V100 or something.

So my 'Things to Make and Do' post at the start of last week, could easily be this week's list, and maybe even next week's too if I don't get my finger out,
but who cares, really?

Things To Make And Do

Well, since things are calming down - for my benefit if not yours - I thought I'd do one of my world famous updates on the state-of-the-play in Jookyland, UK.

From the top then:

1. The Old Burny One

This is just waiting for me to remember which wires go where and then it should be done.

Soldering.
   Today.
       Really.

I have to say this has turned out better than I hoped, just mad curious to hear what old Bill Lawrence was doing when he was at Gibson for such a short time.

2. The Drip Dry One

Another that is turning Odyssey-like, I've finally decided on the pickups.

At the neck will be an old favourite, an IronGear Alchemist 90 P90. Lovely.

At the bridge is a bit of a gamble. It is an American small-hand-winder pickup which is meant to be Hot PAF like. Quality is meant to be similar to Bare Knuckle and sound similar to their Emerald, but we shall see. It is made by M Pire anyway, but I can't find out much about them beyond that.

Other than that I've gone for some aged Kluson tuners, a Wilkinson Bridge and a splatted rust finish over the beautiful mahogany body. Should be a Rocker, methinks.

3. The Bye Bye Buy One

I mentioned the other day that I'd got an old '70s DiMarzio Super Distortion, and naturally that should go nicely with a Kent Armstrong Hot Lipstick.

Curious in a big way about this one, and I am still loving the finish...
The only real question is when will the pickups arrive


La la la


4. The Porn Shop One

This is going to be special, methinks.

Red Cedar Telemaster body, maple/maple Tele neck, Bare Knuckle Boss bridge pickup and a hidden '70s Gibson mini-humbucker under the hood.

Can't wait in truth... Mucho rustiness.

I'm refusing to start this one until I've caught up on the precious three.

Well, so I say now anyway.
I might just rustify the body,
it can't hurt.

And there we are.

After those I literally have nothing left to do. Simon at Fusion is going to do me a Teardrop body, and maybe something more Rickie shaped, but they are down the road somewhat. Until then, I think I'm going to be looking for a Firebird of some kind to defile. Time will tell though...

Taking Stock Again

I Could Be Yours

Well, well and quite well in truth, it seems we have three guitars for sale, something that has happened only once before I think. And then not for long.

In a way it is quite nice as I have three new guitars to play with a clear conscience, but in another I always get lazy once there are some in-the-bag.

You Can Have Me

Moving forward then, I'm still missing parts for The Old Burny One, waiting for pretty much everything for The Porn Shop One, and searching for inspiration as far as The Bye Bye Buy One goes. As for The Drip Dry One, I've kinda lost track of that somewhat. What did I need? Ah, a humbucker, bridge, tuners, that was it. I remember now. Is it me or are the names getting ever sillier?

Other than those nearly-dones, I've reached the bottom of my parts mountain now, and have no more bodies or necks lay around waiting for me to decide what to do. Well, there is the Parquet Tele Body, but I'm ignoring it for now. That is a good thing as I had had a bit of a spree and then got snowblind.

Me too
For Money or Favours

Going forward then, it is going to be more of a one-at-a-time thing I think. I like the idea of getting Simon at Fusion to make me another body or two, and maybe to start stretching things a wee bit in terms of what we do. The Telemaster set me thinking and there are a few other things I'd like to explore apart from Strats, Teles and Offset guitars.

As it happens, I finally got my finger out and have ordered the bits I was missing for The Old Burny One so there can be no more excuses really.

I do need to flog something again though to carry on this journey/crusade/dalliance - so if anybody  fancies making an offer or wants to do a part-ex, now is a really good time :)

La la la

Bye, Bye 1980s...

Step 1: Find a girl you love

Well, I thought I was there with The Moulin Rouge One, and then I noticed that the pickup ring was broken. Being a chap in possession of a bit between what is left of his molars, I took it back to pieces to fit a new one, before I realised I err, didn't have one to fit. Just big chunky monster ones. Which was a tad annoying. And so I await yet another part.

Typical, but there we are.

Looking around, I thought I'd take stock of where I am with everything...

Firstly, I noticed that The Old Burny One needs lacquer, plastics and a bridge. I haven't got any of those to hand, so...

Secondly, The Drip Dry One is missing a pickup and some tuners. Haven't got them either, so...

Thirdly, the neck for The Grecian 201 One never arrived Saturday, or the bridge and tuners, come to that, but hopefully they will show up in today's post, whenever that arrives. Can't do a lot until they do though, so...

Step 2: Throw acid in her face

Fourthly, I realised that there was indeed not a lot I could do yesterday so I might as well do something else.

Five minutes later and bored of cooking, gardening, entertaining the brats, my gaze turned toward The Little Red Charvette and I vaguely pondered.

Now this is missing a few parts as well, but unlike the others there was some stuff I could do to save my sanity. OK, that's a bit ambitious. But, ignoring the as yet unscavenged parts for this one - I'm going with a lippy single coil and a Filtron or P90 when I get around to it - what I could do was strip it down and smother it with copper paint, and then generally degrade it chemically. And, hopefully as you can see from the snaps, so I did.

As for today, I'll probably lacquer the top of the Charvette, before I copperify the back (it is still fluro-orange at the moment) and then it is back to waiting-for-parts, all over again.. I need a name for this one though, hmmm.

Something typically '80s that signifies the image over substance belief in the flash, overheated consumer and corporate greed driven thirst for unsustainable credit that ultimately fell about our ears.

The Bye Bye Buy One,
there that wasn't so tricky.

Then it's just a case of waiting for the postie, I guess.

Ah, that Monday morning feeling.
So many things to do, but none of them ready-to-go.
Might as well have a coffee.

Bye Bye Blue Bird

Ah well, The Blue Moon One is off to pastures new, bless it. It'll seem odd not having an offset guitar around the place again, though the Telemaster one is here soon so normality should be resuming pronto like, methinks.

Still, The Blue Moon One...on it's way. I never thought I'd finish it, never mind see it off on life's twosted journey, but there we are. All things change.

But with a tear in the old eye, and back to reality - well, I finally got to the bottom of what to do with the Tripadelic One's scratchplate, and figured that a contrast would be good, and copper leaf  could be just that without looking overly boringesque, like black or white.

And there she was...
Gone

Alternatively I might go back to Plan W and paint it, but something more abstract rather than the initial Rocky idea. Though paulski73 suggested a mirrored one in the comments, which I have to say is a pretty good idea too.

So in summary, my decision is made,
it is just that there are a few options to consider.

That are all totally different and discrete.

So you could say I haven't made any kind of decision whatsoever.

Which would be cruel
however accurate and
basically true.

On a plus side, it is soon to be wired with a Sophie's fuzz and a killswitch if I can find somewhere in Bristol that stocks such exotica, the tuners are on their way, so there is only actually the scratchplate left to do. Which is most odd. This is normally the bit I work out first. In fact this guitar has been a bit backwards from the end and as we approach the start, well, it leaves me perplexed.

Anyway, I also plan to wire-up The Moulin Rouge One, which just needs tuners now and it is ready to go. Well, ready to have strings and be set-up, but that is close enough.

In summary then, those two should be finitoed next week sometime, which is all good, and the Drip Dry One may well follow shortly after. I think I've sorted the missing pickup out for that, but we'll see later-like.

So today/the weekend - hopefully some soldering, a lot of sleep, tuners to fix, strings to put on and well, no doubt different directions to spiral off and into.

S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G, We're Shopping

Well, this not-doing-much-in-the-school-holidays is going well. The only one of the Ones I haven't touched is The Old Burny One, which was of course the only one of the Ones I was meant to be paying attention to.

Four little Jookies
standing in a row

As for The Drip Dry, Tripadelic and Moulin Rouge Ones, I have an ever-growing part list I'm-a-needing before I can make their selves complete:

1. Three sets of tuners. I'm a new convert to locking ones, as I may have mentioned here and over there somewhere so they will probably each have different examples of these as I try to decide which ones I love best.

2. A bridge/trem thing - for The Tripadelic One. I like the Wilkinson ones. Like the tuners, I've finally found ones I like that don't cost an arm and a leg. I've also started to buy these new more often that not, as I've had too many 'name' ones second hand that basically have probably been changed for a reason in the first place and who needs unexpected third-party-grief when I am perfectly capable of creating my own?

3. Two push-pull pots for the coil-tappicidity on The Tripadelic and Drip Dry Ones

4. A momentary Lapse switch (if I go kill-switch-crazy) on The Tripadelic One

5. A pickup - preferably something hot and coil-tappable to go with the P90 on The Drip Dry One.

6. Lots of strings as I seem to have run out rather than lost them, which was my natural assumption, I quite naturally assumed.

7. Three hardcases. Needed but always a pain as they can take ages to arrive.

8. Six bottles of Grolsch, as I'm coming around to the idea of strap locks after the Gordo nearly broke my foot last time I swung it around my shoulders in front of the mirror.

And that is just for these three.

On top of those I need shed loads of parts for the Telemaster, Little Red Charvette and another Strat I'm looking at strangely, once I get around to them. And a bridge and tailpiece for The Old Burny One, now I come to think about it.

Hmmm...

Think I should be able to scrape together the shrapnel  to get a set of tuners and strings for The Moulin Rouge One, which is 'pleasing', but the others will have to wait until cashflow improves somewhat... I blame the American Senate problems. Why can't they just love each other?.

All of which means I am open to offers on The Blue Moon One if anybody is pondering a potential purchase...'

Tripping Alight Fandango

Well, I'm back to waiting for parts as far as The Moulin Rouge and The Drip Dry Ones go. Tuners, a bridge, lots of plastic bits, the odd pickup, nothing drastic but progress-halting it has to be said.

I'm also scrabbling around for screws to hold scratchplates on, springs and yet more screws for pickups which are always annoying to have to buy and lots of finishing stuff. Basically I've 'run my stocks down' which was the aim, but I forgot that some of them come in kinda handy-needed. Still, moving-and-a-grooving for a couple of days again so it isn't like I'll be doing much anyway.

I mentioned I have a mentalistic Bare Knuckle pickup showing up this week, and that is destined for a single pickup Strat I've got in mind. It almost feels a blast from the past at the moment as my single-pickup-guitar addiction has been unsated for months. I've got a nice Strat body and my favourite big headstock ready to go, so all I need to do is decide on the finish.

Again for a change I thought I'd go forward to history and do a Leona's one. I've got something hippified that is actually a companion piece to the one I used on The Peace Train One. So it should be particularly groovy with a nasty in-your-mush underside.

Just to make it crazily ridiculous I'm going to build in a wee Sophie's Filthy Boots fuzz, and maybe even have a killswitch and something else I've forgotten for now. Could have been a lava lamp, but I might be making that up. The Tripadelic One, well that should be dropping-and-a-popping soon.

WIP: The Drip Dry One

Well, this not-doing-anything-in-the-holidays is going well. I've got The Blue Moon One finished, The Moulin Rouge One lacquered and in need of wiring and tuners and so obviously in this time of familyness I started on something else.

Says something about my 'productivity' and 'application' the rest of the time, perhaps, but there we are. Things you do to avoid parental responsibility.

I mentioned a while back  that I'd picked up a beautiful mahogany Strat body, simply clear coated and that I didn't really know what to do with it - as it looks too nice to cover. I had thought abot partially gold leafing it, but it didn't seem right somehow. Then I thought I should just build myself a Strat, plain and simple, but then I can't say Strats are really my thing to be honest, it's like owning a frying pan. Everybody has one, but they're not really something to get excited by. Useful for a veggie bacon sarnie, but the rest of the time hardly a thing of pride and beauty.

Anyway, In the end I decided to pretty much keep the look of the body, but do a scratchplate that is dripping in iron paint and somewhat running onto the body. This I would then rustify, to give an approximation of a melting '70s tortoise shell on wood look.

The drip drying being what I remember most about the 70s; Nylon shirts, and static electricity in your barnet. And I did a painting once of an ice cream on a cinema curtain and liked the idea.

So that is it really, gloopy iron paint dribbling around, the body being bashed like a broken Etch a Sketch to move the lines a bit, and then rustification and the crossing of fingers
.
For the neck, I've got a beauty of a flamed maple/rosewood big headstocked Fender jobby, and the pickups will be a humbucker sized P90 at the bridge and an overpoweringly hot humbucker at the neck.

What that will be I dunno. I have got a Bare Knuckle Holy Diver humbucker coming next week, but I am really tempted to try a Hot Slag, if you know what I mean. It's the kind of sound I fancy.



Saying that I've been meaning to try a Wizard 'Progression'  for a while too, and a couple of newer IronGear pups, The Blues Engine and the Dirty Torque, so maybe I'll do that here.
Who knows?

So The Drip Dry One, coming sometime, somewhere, one day in the future, but most definitely living in the past.