The One One: An Anniversary Waltz

Well, I keep mentioning The One One, so it is about time I got my act together and spilled the beans.

The first Jooky guitar - was it only a year ago?
Well, err, no actually.

For those of you that missed it, I had the idea that it was about time that The Jooky Guitar Emporium moved into the realms of signature guitars. You know, where companies get famous endorsees to work closely with the guitar maker, maybe even pick their favourite colour, and then coin it large as all the suckers fans queue up to play 'exactly' the same guitar as their idol.

The flaw in the thinking is that of course it is unlikely that the 'idol' was playing the signature guitar before they became famous enough to warrant one and were in fact playing something more 'stock - were no doubt playing a guitar which you could buy a lot cheaper with the added benefit of not looking like some saddo fanboy, but we can gloss over that train of thought.

So anyway, I thought we should do one too, despite the fact that we only ever make one-off guitars, and we would never actually want to/be in a position to sell lots of chinese fake copies of it, but there we are, who really cares. It's the thought that counts.

So I had a think about  it and was planning to run a competition to find the person who would get the signature guitar - The One One. But then I thought, well, there are actually quite a few people who have followed what we are doing in Jookyland and generally laughed with me instead of at me, and I figured that I'd much rather it was somebody like that who got the guitar. Somebody that would actually get the point, rather than just hope for a freebie that they could bang on Ebay.

Now there are more candidates than you'd imagine - I get lots of people chatting on Facebook and by email, but really I wanted somebody who is likely to 'gig' the guitar and basically flash it around a bit. More because I like the idea of the guitars being used than because I'm looking for the publicity and all that.

So, I'm really pleased to say that I've got a willing victim, and in a way it is nice as it is Andy the chap who was meant to be having the ill-fated Jazzmaster/Firebird hybrid at the end of last year, before it all went to pot and we gave up on the idea of doing 'Customs'. That feels good in lots of ways, but there we are. He's a good geezer too, which makes life simpler.

As for the guitar, well for a start it isn't going to be a re-run of the previous project, that would be pointless. Instead it is going to be something 'from scratch', which I think is the right way to go.

Thinking about the guitar then, I want it to really show where Jooky is now and in a way the 'one' in the middle of the name is as much about this being somewhere near the anniversary of our first guitar (and yes that probably means there will be 'The Two One' appearing in 2012. Actually can I say 2012 these days or has it been trademarked by the Olympic bods?).

But the guitar - I want it to be about what we are doing in the here and now, and so I'm thinking that it will be a combined fabric and leaf, of some kind, finish. I want it to have a good choice of sounds - maybe mix P90s and humbuckers, and generally I want it to be sharp. The neck, I know Andy likes maple and 22 frets so that is what we'll look for, and generally that is that.

In terms of the parts, I'm a-hunter-gathering as usual, but the Tele Custom body I mentioned the other day is ideal (not least as I hope it won't need routing) and I'm expecting a neck that was meant for a different project that seems to fit the bill. Assuming they all fit together proper-like, which isn't always the case.

So there we are...should be fun, and I'll no doubt keep you in the loop, track our progress and generally talk you thru it, as we go.

And yes, I know the first anniversary of one of our guitars being built was in February, but down here in Somerset, well things can take a bit of time...

Like A Famous Violin Maker I Can't Spell

Well, another day of not a lot happening. I did get some clamps so that I can have a go at fixing the Epi Dot's busted neck, but despite visiting a dozen shops, ginormous big and back-street-svelte, I couldn't find any 'Titebond Original Wood Glue' for love, money or future promises of delightfilled behaviour.

Elusive? Moi??

I could have bought a different type, but I'm guessing this stuff comes highly recommended for a goodly reason, and for the sake of a couple of days when I probably wouldn't get around to doing much anyway,  I just got some off Ebay instead which will arrive next week sometime I expect.

In summary then, The Busted Dot One: I haven't started yet.

Moving on, the top and sides of The Crowley One are covered in beautifully Jooky molten iron leaf, which is good, but I managed to scratch it before we'd got as far as the lacquer, which isn't so much of a nice-to-have.

I know you probably think such trifles don't matter to me - but the roughfinishedness of the Jookified guitars is generally planned with a pinch of randomness sprinkled lightly on top. Anyway, if it had looked good, I'd be leaving it, but in this case it didn't so I'm going to re-start the top later on.

See - Stradivarius had a skip outside his gaff, filled to the brim with Violins he'd Townsended because they weren't as proper good as he hoped. That's why the good 'uns were so good.

Obviously, I'd have been going thru the skip, gluing them together and covering them in crushed velvet and ostrich feathers, but there we are. Point made..

Other than that, I've been thinking about The One One - my idea for a one-off signature guitar, and have chosen/selected/picked/spoken to a willing victim.

All will be revealed soon enough, and I am gathering the parts for that one in the soonerest as I would like it not to be one that lingers, for once.

*Sigh*

Going to have to get my act together. I promised sooo many things, and delivered sooo very  little this week..

Now there's an Epitaph
or maybe a flashback
to a school
report.

Searching For The One One

I've been thinking about this for quite a while, and as a premier builder of individualistically beautifilled guitars (ahem), I thought it was about time that I created a signature guitar - you know, came up with a guitar that somebody superbly fameified plays publicly that everybody else points at and sort of says 'Wow, if he plays one of them there Jooky guitars, then they must be truly cool and I should play one too'. Leading to queues of people wanting to buy sweatshop build 'replicas' and multimillionaire status.

Obviously that isn't what I want though.

Instead, I thought it would be a lot cooler to make a signature guitar for somebody who isn't a household name. In fact, for somebody that I, at least, haven't heard of.

Don't get me wrong I would like to make one for somebody who plays in a band and does a decent amount of gigs each year and doesn't mind being seen in public clutching one of my babies, but I won't be paying them and as it will be the only one I'll ever make, there won't be royalties either. So basically, they will get a free guitar and that is that.

It will however be fun, I hope, and there we are. Oh, they will have to appear on this blog/web site here and there too.

But how to pick this personage? Well, I guess I could have a competition, that would make sense, and it should probably be on line. Maybe I'll do that - people could tell me in thirty words why they should be 'the one'. Or better still, maybe they should describe the guitar (at least that way I can work out if it is something I can build... la la).

Anyway, that is the plan - our first and probably only signature player, the one one.

Coming soon, when I get around to it.