Not So Loveless Any More

Well, Sean got The Loveless One and I'm pleased to say that he was 'delighted' with her.

He said some nice things which I'll unashamedly paste below,
and sent me a few fotos of her nestling between his Gibson 2002 Les Paul and his not-very-plain-at-all Paul Reed Smith 2009 SC 245 10 Top -

and what a beautifilled trio they make...

Sometimes, it's just worth it dah-link

mwah
x

What Sean had to say was.....

"It is a joy to behold! A quick review for you. Packaging and presentation are first class, the wrapping and guide book are excellent and welcome touches. The guitar itself looks amazing and is very light, the pickups sound brilliant individually, but the middle position is a killer, just like Peter Greens Les Paul, very nasal and pinched sounding. That would be my default setting as the volume is lower than the individual.

Hope that makes sense!! From a very delighted owner!!"

Early Morning Mourning

Could I really finish something?

Finally, today after much messing around by UPS, the Royal Mail should be delivering the Loveless One to Sean, who snaffled it oh-so-quickly. I hope he likes it, I certainly do.

I must admit, the T-Topped pickup and P90 combo certainly caught me. It really was a striking sounding guitar and I have to admit I'm missing  it big time already. Looked amazing too, but the sound was right on the edge, even thru my little Blackstar babushka and I can't think of anything else I've played that sounded quite as sweet as it.

Actually, maybe I hope he won't like it and I can have it back again..

Other than the mourning, The Lulu One has been lacquered, looks great and just needs to be put together, soldered and generally alchemised. Though I haven't got a clue what I've done with the nut, if I'm being honest, and the tuners too, thinking about it. It is looking cool mind, it has to be said and I'm itching to get it finished..Teles always seem like proper guitars to me. Maybe me roots are showing.

Moving on, The Blue Moon One needs to be soldered in a big way, but that isn't kiddy friendly in the activity stakes, so will have to wait for a tender moment. Still, I might manage to sneak a half an hour here or there and get it done. Fingers crissed.

But none of these jobs are really plannable as young kids + hot soldering irons = bad mix.

So what to do between requests for drinks/food, visits to parks and all the other stuff on the agenda for this week?

Well, I figured that as I now have the lovely, loverly Fender Custom '69 pickups, the paisley to hand and a deep seated love for all thing offset - I might as well start on The Pink Panther One. The paisley I have is gorgeous and I've been thinking a long time about how to make the best of it. Not sure I have a suitable neck, but we'll see. I do like the idea of the Fender pickups, and they get rave reviews, and as I have a lovely Strat body or two around the place, maybe I'm being a tad perverse putting them in a 'different' guitar, but then who cares if I'm being honest. It's only an outline, after all.

(I do realise at this point that I should be careful, given my tendency to start lots of things and end-up finishing none of them, but what can you do? Multiple viewings of the Garfield movie aren't grabbing me overly, it has to be said.)

So where to begin? Well, as I've mentioned a few times over the last six months or so, I'm struggling with shaky hand syndrome a fair bit, which makes soldering a tad chore-like. I'm OK with small amounts, but it isn't easy and can be verily frustrating, particularly when there are three or four wires going to a small area, like a pot or switch or something. I've been thinking about this a lot, and have finally come to the conclusion that I should come-up with a different way of doing things that works better for me.

Initially I was thinking some kind of socket/plug idea, which would work, but to be honest I'm not sure that given the fact that guitars tend to get thrown around a bit, they would hang together as well as a properly soldered joint. It's still an option though, and I've used it for convenience here and there - mainly to connect switches in Les Pauls, I have to say.

Another alternative I've tried is connecting all of the ground wires to a single point - a washer - that then goes out to the jack socket. This works well and simplifies connections elsewhere - 'Star grounding' as it's known, but I can't help but think it is only solving half a problem.

My latest thought then is to use a bit of strip board, so that all of the grounds, lives and everything else are connected in a planned order. This seems a good idea, and I'm going to try that later on if I get a chance.

Why mention this? Well, I can't sleep and this is what goes thru my head in the early hours of the morning. Sad innit?

While I'm talking about under the hood, somebody had posted a link on Music Radar to a site that gave a  great tip on adding a 'fuzz' effect to a guitar that is passive - not needing a battery. I can't say I know how well it will work, but I do fancy trying this on the Blue Moon One. Basically it means that the tone control turns into a Fuzz control. Full on is no fuzz, full off is total fuzz. I only need a diode, which I should have around somewhere, though maybe a LED would work, and I have tons of those. Pondering again...

But there we are, probably a few weeks work to keep me busy and despite the fact I know I will only be able to snatch minutes here and there for the next couple of weeks, I still delude myself that I will have everything done by Friday...

Go figure.

La la laaaaa

Getting Coppery

During - paisley on and drying

Well, waiting for other things to happen - like me getting my finger out to finish The Blue Moon One, for instance, and mourning the fact that The Loveless One only stuck around for less than a day, I thought it was about time I did something about my Copper-topped Tele.

This has gone on a bit, I admit, but I finally cut the nut slot on the maple neck yesterday, which I've dreaded doing but proved to be quite easy once I'd had a couple of tips and faced down my demons. So there were no more excuses really.

Anyway, today has seen the beautiful pine body be attacked from the rear with a paint brush and some lovely golden paisley. That is the plan see, paisley on the sides and back, copper top on the, err, top, I guess. That is going to have a bit of a twist as it happens, but we'll come to that another day.

Before - am I doing this wrong?

Other than that, this is the Esquire type-of-bobbins I keep mentioning, a single Bare knuckle Brown Sugar pickup at the bridge, nowt at the neck and some interesting leccytronics to give a few more options.

Tis going to be good, I think.

I'd have one more twang on the Loveless One, but it is in a case in a box in some brown paper, awaiting a courier, as per.

La la laaaa

p.s. I know it has had 47 different names already, but I've decided to call it the Lulu One, for many reasons, most of them obvious.

Introducing The Loveless One

Well, my little SG baby has all grown up at last after a frightening flurry of activity earlier today. and she is now be-stringed and sounding like a little demon.

For the record then, this is The Loveless One.

It is a mahogany bodied, maple necked, rosewood fretboarded thing of beauty.

The neck was a leftie one I'd bought and is hand-made and nitro lacquered (apart from where I've messed about with it), with the headstock being re-shaped for that reverse thingie.

The top has been gilded with a variegated and generally aged golden leaf (ersatz this time) and looks amazing, the photos look pale by comparison - I really should buy a proper camera.

The tuners are Wilkinson Schaller types and rock solid.

The nut is bone.

The neck pickup is an IronGear Alchemist 90 humbucker sized P90 - which is ungodly,

and the bridge pickup is a Gibson one that has basically been modified by changing the ceramic magnet for an Alnico one, so that it turns all ugly duckling like into a beautiful slice of '70s rock - a T-Top pickup humbucker thing.


The usual three way switch,
two tones,
two volume complete the picture,
and there we are.

Soundwise, the P90 is everything you'd hope for, like a Strat on steroids - excellent sound to it both clean and over-the-top-driven.

The T-Topped bridge pickup, just hits that spot perfectly - I've been playing Doors tunes since I got this together and it has that Krieger/Kossoff sound in spades.I'm well impressed.

Anyway, I'm off to Break on Thru, or something

Sold: The Loveless One

The seventies was a hard time – high unemployment, school leavers going into meaningless courses or straight onto the dole, crime going through the roof, the country on its knees, the banks ringing their caravans as often as their brokers, the government in disarray.

Rather a lot like now in fact.

It was a soulless time, an angry time and the riots of the early eighties just around the corner were being heralded by the escapism of music that itself was reflecting the times with a veneer of glam, an angry punk sound.

The Loveless One captures the mood of the Seventies with it’s bare bones Rock sound and angry, spit-in-your-face attitude, all hidden below a shiny façade of gold that is slowly melting away, corroding to show the seedy side of life beneath. The P90 pickup at the neck is pure angry and dirty sex; the Gibson humbucker at the Bridge has been modified to replicate the Classic T-Top pickups of the era. The sound is deep and dirty, slimy and as greasy as the barnet on a hell’s angel.

To be clear, The Loveless 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 Buzzcock. There will genuinely never be another guitar like this and past experience suggests that it won’t be around for long.

Technical Stuff:

Type: Marilyn’s Gold Top Guitar

Pickups: Gibson ‘T-Topped’ humbucker, IronGear Alchemist 90 P90

Guitar Type: Gibson SG Inspired

Construction: Variegated Gold Leaf over mahogany.
Dean Markley Jimi Hendrix Pure Nickel Strings 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone

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

Case: Tweed hardcase

Serial Number: JGE#17

RSP: £399

Sorry - This Monkey Has Gone To Heaven (or maybe has been sold)

Monday, Monday

Wire Me Up Baby Doll

Well, it seems I'm in the midst of an activity-flurry as far as Jookiness is concerned. The Loveless One just needs to be wired and bolted, The Blue Moon One is nearly ready for a bit of lacquer and god forbid, I've even decided on the pickups and found them too (as in acquired) and the lipstick loveliness should arrive sometime this week.

So it could actually be that I finish a couple of guitars without getting balder/greyer.

Odd, most odd indeedy.

To top it all, I even sorted out the pickups for my Old Burny guitar - the Les Paul I'm building based on an '80s Burny carcass. Somehow, I managed to get my mits on  a pair of Bare Knuckle Mules - which are basically bang-on-the-money-honey hand scattered pickups based on the exact recipe Gibson used back in the day when they made good guitars. Best of all they come with 'double-cream' covers, so they might look like ye olde traditional P90s if you squint a bit.

I did actually consider putting P90s in, but I've wanted a nice Les Paul for ages now and I'd only end up still wanting one whilst I loved the P90s, if that makes sense. The only question is whether I flip the magnet on the neck pickup for some of that Peter Green out-of-phase nonsense, or do I just see how I get on and maybe have a go at doing that if I get bored..

Lacquer me Sugar

Decisions, decisiveness-not-at-all.

Whatever. I'm kinda planning on getting onto that baby once the Loveless and the Blue Moon-like One are feeling more together. (Although my copper topped Tele is of course a consideration. No doubt it will be whichever one I think I'm meant to be doing at the moment of most boredom etc. You know the score.)

But there we are, so many plans, so little energy. Time will tell.

I am soooo very Zen.

The Loveless One - WIP

Well, I got a wee bit of time at the weekend and managed to lacquer the variegated golden top of the Loveless One, so that it is all shiny and pings in the morning light. It has turned out pretty well, amazing in fact, and I ended-up leaving the waxed wooden body on the back and all. I might still sand and oil that though, have to have a wee think to be honest.

As you can see, the neck has been plonked into place. This still needs a bit of work, dull frets that need a polish, dead rosewood fretboard in need of a nice oiling, a new nut to be cut - that sort of thing, but it is wired up with the exception of the pickups, and tuners I've sorted - some nice Schaller ones, or maybe something else...and it is starting to look most guitar-like.

As for the pickups, I was umming as per, when I noticed a Gibson 490R pickup for sale, which is what comes in a lot of SGs, of course. These are quite high output and 'Rock' like, and to be honest not my favourite pickups of all time. I don't seem to go for Ceramic magnets, for some reason. What caught my eye with this one though is that it has been 'T-Topped'. Now if you know your Gibson pickups (la la la, how nerdy am we?) you'll know that there was a period of time when T-Top pickups were Gibson's big thing. Seventies, I think. Anyway, the originals are worth a packet now, but some bright spark noticed that the more common 490R is in fact exactly the same pickup, but with a Ceramic magnet instead of the original Alnico V. In modderland, people started swapping the magnet for an Alnico and basically 'T-Topping' their pickups for that great Led Zeppelin/Jimmy Page sound.

All good stuff. Anyway, I snapped that up, and am going to be pairing it with one of my faves, an IronGear Alchemist 90 - their P90-in-a-humbucker-shaped-tin, which should give us a fair old whack of variation - to match the leaf of the guitar. (Just thought of that, and am sadly quite pleased with myself...)

Anyway, not a bad start to the week..though obviously I need to vaccum the carpet and teach the brats not to leave power leads lay around under tables.

Cream. Sometimes you just need it

What can I say? I know I've mentioned it before, but I love the fact that there are some really cool UK-based luthiers, who are willing to do things their own way and make some really groovy guitars.

One of the Creamery's Beauties...

I also love the fact that there are some really cool UK-based pickup winders, basically showing those Americans how it should be done (my tongue is cheeked as I type that, I will point out, as I'm not particularly jingoistically modified as it happens, but if the Yanks seem to want to play the Born In The USA card and see it as a benefit, I can't see why we can't do the same with Crafted In Salford and all that.)

Best of all I really love the fact that The Creamery exist as not only are they UK-based but they both make wicked guitars, from reclaimed materials, which always impresses me, and they also wind an ever increasing range of verily interesting pickups. Not just the basic PAF, Strat Hot, Strat Cool, Tele tweedy ones you'd expect, but Wide Range ones (which Fender don't do anymore even) and all sorts of other cool looking and sounding bobbins.

Anyway, I'm thinking that The Loveless One might just have to be treated to a set of their pickups if I can find the dosh, or I can be lucky and win their competition to win a set just for registering for their newsletter. Bugger, shouldn't have mentioned that, I may be increasing the competition. Actually, don't bother, you wouldn't like them. La la la. (ahem)

More to the point, doesn't that Walnut Jazzmaster-esque lovely, make you want to drool.

When I'm grown up, I want to be the Creamery too.

Loveless, on a Friday Night

Loveless and Ragged

Well, it has been a funny, kinda complicated week in Jookyland, but at the end of it I've got a better idea of where I am with it all. Pickups apart, the next guitar I'm going to do is nice and clear in my mind.

It will be my second 'go' at gilding, but this time will involve some faux, pre-aged/corroded gold as a top for the SG I was talking about.

I know, I go around in circles, but there we are. The reason for this is pragmatic, I've got everything I need for this one, whereas I need to spend some dosh on buying more gold if I'm going to do The Old Burny One, and I'm potless until something sells. (OK, the Daisy Jook One has flown the coop since I started writing this, but that'll just pay for pickups for this - The Old Burny One needs a whole lot more).

So, the SG. Well, it will have either a waxed or oiled body with a stunningly awesome (assuming I get it right) top of variegated gold, as it is known to us gilders. I think it will look pretty stunning and I would indeed have already started it today if the curse of the sick brats hadn't risen like Glenn Close out of a cold bath and screwed with my schedule, man.

Tidier and vaguely burnished

As for the pickups, I do know where I'm going with these as I want a P90 at the neck and a hot-ish humbucker at the bridge. I'm thinking maybe IronGear ones or if something sells soon I'll probably give Allan at Catswhisker a shout as I miss the Fat Pussy One's grit and venom already. (I am so poetic when I'm on my own, get me.)

Oh, I didn't mention the neck - this is going to be a bit swish. The SG body I have is obviously set for a bolt-on neck, and I have a quite off the wall handcarved one. Originally it was going to be Firebird like, then I changed my mind and went more for a golf club shape. Either way it is seriously Jooky and I'm loving it with the SG body. Tuners, I don't know at the moment, we'll have to see what happens. Nice bone nut though, that is for sure.

Speaking of bone nuts, I got a tip from my Bro' and bought some welding nozzle files for a couple of quid off Ebay, and these are absolutely brilliant for cutting or adjusting nuts. I'm sure the $130 sets from StewMac have something over them, but they are doing the job for me, and as I haven't got $130 for a set of files...they will continue to, I would imagine.

Name, oh yes, the SG will be 'The Loveless One', you'll see why when it is finitoed

¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ INCIDENTAL MUSIC ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬

And as it happened, a window of opportunity presented itself before I'd finished typing this, and I have in fact gilded the top of the SG body in an ersatz and yet variegated manner. Another one let it dry enough that I could generally tidy it up and give it an initial burnish (Gilder lingo, keep up.) Hence the different fotos.

Well fancy.

And all ragged again. How did I do that?

As you can see I took great care to overlap the leaf by a mere 2mm and didn't end-up with tonnes of golden leaf flopping around the place. (Assuming I put a picture up of the body after I've removed the extraneous masses of gold leaf that are currently flapping around the place. Which I won't have, lets face it.) and generally it looks rather stunning.

So there we are, The Daisy Jook One will be off to her new home - and keeping some stunning company, from what I've seen of the existing tenant - and we are off on our merry way with The Loveless One.
Not such a wasted day/week after all...

p.s. That was a perfect example on non-linear writing. Clear as mud with fotos to match... Mwah.