Learning The Odd Lesson Here and Over There

One thing that happened this week is that I learned a wee lesson about stuff. As I mentioned, a very nice fella bought the Paisley One, and wrapped heavily in brown paper and string, and then encased in boxes my local guitar shop donated, off it popped on the back of a DHL lorry.

I shed a little tear, our first Jooky guitar off into the world, but there we are.

Look forwards, that's the motto of the week.

Anyway, that was a week ago, and DHL's overnight service took four days and went from Bristol to Cambridge via Newcastle and god knows where else, but it showed-up. And I was pleased to hear that said new carer for the geetar thought it looked 'fantastic', which I'm chuffed about as you can no doubt imagine.

However, there was a bit of a 'but' which wasn't so good.

And the but was all about the fact that the action was very high, and more to the point that the neck was bowed.

And that this looked to be down to the neck bolts - the screws holding the neck on to the body - weren't all the way in.

The long and short of it then, and my first lesson, was that despite the fact that the Paisley One was very good for slide, it needed sorting out. Luckily, our buyer did it himself without too much trouble, and very thankful to him I am - he has been totally cool. My lesson though was that perhaps trying for added Jookiness by leaving the neck screws out a wee bit, wasn't the cleverest thing I've done.

Dumb, basically.

Saying that though, I think it may well have been OK if DHL had not bashed the parcel around - there was even a hole punched into the outer box - which brings me to my second lesson - all of our future guitars, assuming there are any, really must come with, and travel in a hardcase of some sort.

I know it makes it all cost more,
but better to get there in one piece.


Anyway, it all turned out well, but it's that easy innit?

Rough Finishing, For Your Pleasure

I have spent a pleasant few hours over the last couple of days, burning a guitar neck with matches.

And, it has to be said, my fingers.

Odd behaviour?

Well maybe, but it is for the Pretty In Pimped One.
It is all about Revolution, baby, I wanted the neck to show signs of riot and Molotov's cocktails. I wanted it scorched and so it is.

Anyway, this has taken days to do it right, just how I wanted it, but I got there and it has been set in place by six or seven coats of lacquer - it is setting now and after loads of care and attention to detail, what with the staining and sanding before..it now very much looks as though it has been through hard times.

Not a relic, something different to that which will contrast with the velvet body and generally tell a story for itself.

I thought I had better mention this as it probably explains a wider point about all of the Jooky stuff we're doing. I figured that I should probably explain this somewhere, as it is basically the 'core guiding principal' to this whole Jookiness of Being.

Our 'Brand Values' and any other bobbins name you want to describe what-we-are-about.


But where to start...? 

Thinking about it, it is probably easier to spot on the amps - old cigarette and cigar boxes, bit rusty around the edges - very nice and Mojo-filled, if you'll excuse the lapse into cliche-ridden-verbiage.


But on the guitars we are planning to make, it might be a bit more difficult.

You see the whole idea is to take second-hand bits, whatever they are - guitar parts or old tin cans - and turn them into something usefully cool and sometimes groovy.


Not because we want to be recyclers to the stars,
more out of an arty-up-our-own-bums kind of conceptual way.


That is why there is only going to be one of anything,
and everything can be  

displayed  

as easily as  

played.

Don't get me wrong, we want people to play them
and buy them - which is why we are keeping the prices very-un-boutique-like and cheap.

But that is money and not my point.

So for instance, looking at the Paisley One. It looks quite home-made, and the finish is quite rough. The odd screw is missing, the scratchplate is slightly raised and the cloth is runkled around the edges somewhat.

Rough finished, I call it and that is what I mean.

You see, like the Pretty in Pimped One, we took a lot of time making the Paisley One look quite that dishevelled. And if you think that is a cop out, I think looking at the care we take elsewhere with the guitar would prove you wrong.


The guitar itself is ‘rough finished’, but it was all planned and the bits that really matter have the care needed.

What we mean by that, is that it is intended to be serviceable, and work correctly, but that we deliberately aim for a home-made feel.

For example, we have no logo on the headstock, and the name of the guitar is simply written with a marker pen and then burned into the wood using a pyrography tool.

If you lift the scratchplate, you will see that the electronics for the ‘Fuzz’ circuits are contained in an Old England’s Glory matchbox.

Similarly, the scratchplate is fixed with screws but lifts slightly at the top and bridge ends. The four neck ‘bolts’ are fixed but not completely level. And of course the cloth that covers the body and scratchplate don’t have a pristine finish around the edges.

On the flip-side, the guitar has been fully shielded and star-grounded, the cloth has had fourteen treatments to turn it pliable, and then six coats of clearcoat and the neck has been sanded and stained. The Suhr shape to the headstock however, is pure chance – that is just how it arrived.

In summary the Jookiness is deliberate, and by design.

It's art baby, but you can play a nice tune too.

I'm not on a high horse
just figured
it would be better
said.

*

Elsewhere, I have a tender tear in my eye.

Not quite sure where to stand or what to do.

It is a sad day
when they stretch their wings..

One of the kids is leaving home
when the courier arrives.

Obviously, I made sure she was wrapped up well.
They grow, so very quick.

National Jimi Hendrix Day

Well, I guess it was always going to be the way.

In case you have been living in a cesspit at the back of a particularly dank and dark cave with extremely reticent neighbours, a 'New' Jimi Hendrix album has been released today called 'Valleys of Neptune' which is meant to be pretty special.


I must admit I'm looking forward to hearing it - Spotify here I came in a few minutes - but I do wonder how many more tapes they are going to dig up...

Anyway, as I say, no surprise really then to find that today is the day that somebody bought our own wee Hendrix-esque-backhanded-tribute, The Paisley One.


Now don't get me wrong, I'm pleased in lots of ways - I feel like we're on the right track, it 'validates' the whole Jooky thing and I don't know what else. But to be honest, I'm feeling equally sad, as it is a lovely guitar and it is the first Leona guitar we've made.

And now it is about to be gone, Sophie Fuzz and all.

Ah well, it should be on it's way tomorrow and there we are.

We've now got absolutely nothing at all for sale as well.
Better get me finger out.

Doo-doo-da-dahhhh






p.s. I love the comment on YouTube about this video that says,
'this song is about LSD, and thats a fact.'

It's a Self Indulgent Mythtery

I'm having one of those days where you are just stuck in doors, but can't even get into the garage to do anything useful as you are waiting for a plumber/heating engineer to come and bring warmth into your house as the boiler packed in.

You know the sort of thing.

Anyway, rather fed-up of Handy Manny and Special Agent Oso - looking after pre-schoolers is such fun - I thought I'd have a go at making Robert Fripp sorts of sounds, you know something Tangerine.

Grabbing The Paisley One - which I fear I won't be playing much longer - and the old Korg Pandora I got off somebody the other week, I settled down to have a go.

Although, I forgot he is a really good guitar player
and I'm not so
much of
one.

So I went for the Synth sounds on the Pandora - which are good fun - and ended-up attempting some songs by Toyah instead.

*sigh*

Always liked Toyah, even if she is a tad earnest.

Bless her little punky socks

The Paisley One - On The Bay

Well, I've done something I never do, over the last week or two, and got rid of a few guitars and related bobbins.

It's funny how you collect these things, but I realised that there are only so many I can actually play, and so...better to make a bit of room.

I think generally, I'm getting into the whole Jooky thing a bit more seriously now. Lots of people are visiting the 'For Sale' part of the site, and finding nothing, and more are asking when they can buy various stuff. So it would be nice to get a bit on top, I reckon. If I'm being honest, I like it too, which is the main thing.

Anyway, as the final plank of my decluttering tendency, I've put The Paisley One up on eBay, and am open to offers. That is the hard one, as it is the first Jooky guitar I've made and I have to say I love it loads, but there we are.

Half making space, and half a justification to make more guitars.
And my Tele is so ready to be made now.
The Nouveau Riche One as it is soon to be known.

If you fancy The Paisley One with it's lovely fuzz and good looks, you can buy it or make an offer HERE.

Sold: The Paisley One

It wasn't all free love and The Beatles vs. The Stones in the Sixties, there was a fella who played the Guitar called Hendrix, and a thirst for invention and advancement that saw mankind race to the moon...look around and then come back with some Seaside-of-Tranquility rock for the kids.

Millions watched in black and white as an acid-fuelled world turned technicolour around them, before Jimi burned his guitar and single-handedly ended the Viet Nam war.


I might have that part wrong, I wasn't born until '68 so I am basing a lot of this found-memory on Time Life commercials and the dim recollections of my parents.

Ever since, we have all become accustomed to a variety of re-writes of history and the glorification of the dead stars of the day.

Jim Morrison was the lizard king not some fat alkie who rarely washed.

Janis Joplin was an artist not a clapped out drunk who ingested her body weight in Southern Comfort before breakfast,

And of course Jimi Hendrix was the best guitarist ever to grace the planet,
despite never being able to keep his guitar in tune.

And it is Hendrix that inspired us to make this unique piece of guitar history that is The Paisley One.

It is Hendrix that we thought we would cynically cash-in on, like everybody else does

It is Hendrix and the questions that are raised every time the circulation of a guitar magazine dips,
that pushed us to think about the eternal lament -

'What would he be doing now if he hadn't snuffed it?'

And The Paisley One is our response to that unanswerable question.

The Paisley One is our retort aimed with barbs at the Disney-esque 'Gibson Hendrix Authentic Electric Guitar' and to all the other phony nostalgia that people pedal, based on myths about stars they never met or even rated at the time.

There were forty million people at the Isle of Wight festival back then, 
and they are just the people I've met.
Woodstock?
I hate to think.

And The Paisley One is our response,
for we truly believe that if Jimi Hendrix were alive today,
he wouldn't be stretching the limits of music and musicianship
with midi-controlled voodoo robots,
and he wouldn't be creating
Venusian soundscapes
full of psychedelic volcanoes
erupting dolphin-inspired
operas.

Nope, he would be doing what
every
other
relic
of that decade is doing and
would be playing
a
Paisley
Strat
on the end of a pier
or if he is lucky
in a Vegas casino,
or at the Albert Hall,
cashing in on ersatz nostalgia and
burning
his
guitar
twice
a
night
and three times on Saturday
for the Chicken-Kiev-in-a-basket brigade.

So it was with sadness that we set out to create a Paisley Strat,
to add our own tribute to the King of the Fuzz
to a world already teeming with them
in the shape of a guitar with a Strat body, PRS pickup, Suhr shaped headstock
and a Jooky built-in Sophie's Filthy Boots fuzz thing.

It was with a tear that we tracked down the coolest and grooviest design and
finished it with true psychedelic love.

We did it for Jimi,
and we did it for you
just you
to give you a piece of Jimi
to let you say you have
his guitar
because you are special
and we're not
at all
cynical
we love Jimi
and you
especially
you.

And we feel Jimi
would have wanted it
would have wanted you to have
The Paisley One,
to own his guitar.

Be him.

And one lucky person can now be Jimi,
can own his guitar,
can be
The Paisley One.

But there can only ever be one Jimi Hendrix
can only be one owner of The Paisley One
can only be one Paisley One
Will it be you?


To be clear, The Paisley One is an utterly unique instrument, and there will never, ever, be another made.
It is signed and numbered, and was entirely handmade by somebody who was at least born as a product of the Summer of Love, even if you weren't.

We're Sorry to say that you can't buy this guitar, as it has now been Sold.

Technical Stuff:
Type: Custom Guitar
Output: Single PRS P90 Bridge Pickup
Guitar Type: Based on a Fender Stratocaster shaped guitar with a Gibson-rip-off-style-headstock
Construction: Cloth over wood
Power: 9V Battery for the Fuzz effect
Output: ¼” Guitar Lead
Modes: Standard Bridge P90 and Sophie's Filthy Boots Fuzz, selected via a Slide Switch
Controls: Volume and Tone. Tone provides a fuzz level control when in Sophie's Filthy Boots Mode
Special Stuff: Certificate of Authenticity, Builder Signed and Numbered, All Wrapped with our Trademark Jooky Wrapping.
Serial Number: JGE#6
RSP: £SOLD

Finally, Really Finished, Honest

Well, I thought it would never end, never mind you, but I am oh-so-gloriously-happy to be able to say that I have finally finished The Paisley One. Or JGE#6 as it will be forever known.

For the record - it is based upon a second hand Strat type body and I believe a Squier neck of some kind, although cut into the shape of a Suhr.

Though, I might struggle to pass this off as that.

The body is covered in a beautifully colour-rich fulsomeness of paisley fabric, which has been glossed to a sheen and sort of polished a bit here and there. Which makes taking fotos a bit tricky, but there we are.

The scratchplate is a second hand, left-handed one I flipped over and covered with the same cloth.

The pickup is a single P90 that came off a PRS SE One, that sounds excellent and sustains for a week at least.

The Volume pot is just that, but the Tone pot is really a Fuzz control knob thing, for the cunningly hidden-under-the-hood Sophie's Filthy Boots Fuzzy thing, that is switched on with a little sliding switch on the scratchplate.

Other than that, I've put a nice ashtray bridge cover on which serves no practical purpose and doesn't quite fit right despite the gentle persuasion of my lump hammer. It looks good though, and that'll do for now.

All in all though, it sounds amazing and is all made from lots and lots of boney old scrag end...which is of course what my Jooky little adventure is about..

I'll try and record a video or something later on so you can hear The Paisley One in action


Cool as

Finally, Nearly...OK, I Still Haven't Finished

I'll admit it, despite spending a whole 37 minutes on it earlier today, The Paisley One lies uncomplete on the kitchen table, and I've resorted to beer.

Now, don't get me wrong, I did actually do something. I foiled the cavities - if that doesn't sound like something they are introducing in Manchester Airport - and I sorted all the knobs and pots and jacks and little match box with the Sophie's Filthiness inside it, and I even put a string on to see whether it sort of worked.

And I'm pleased to say that it sort of worked,
better even when I flipped the pots over and
put the wires
in
the
right
places.

But it isn't finished, and is all a tad noisy-in-a-bad-way for my liking.
So I need to do more
but not tonight
with beer to drink.

La la & a la.

Filthy Stuff, no strings attached

Well, in yet another last minute change-of-mind, for which I'm becoming somewhat known and in-fame, when I came to wire up The Paisley One, I decided that rather than go with the previous forty-seven ideas, what I really wanted was one of our Sophie's Filthy Boots Fuzzy things available on-tap.

And so that is what is happening,
I've changed the switch to a different type,
Sophie is in her little England Glory matchbox, and
the tone knob is now going to be a control for the fuzz -
so it won't mean a thing when the switch ain't got that swing -
doowap, doowap dooo-wap.

As for actually finishing this guitar that has become a bit of an odyssey or perhaps an Iliad,
that should be done today.
Wired-up and ready to go.

Just one problem
I've realised
I forgot
to buy
any
strings
so I
might
have to
pop-on
and out.

la la la

p.s. The Foto of Sophie Ellis Bextor has nothing to do with the Sophie of the Filthy Boots, clearly. I just thought it made a change to see a model with some flesh on her. She is my new heroine.

Limping toward the retreating line

Well, the Paisley One is so close now, but still I can't seem to kill it off.
It's starting to annoy me now, to be honest, but so many other things seem to get in the way.
Bleurghh.

Yesterday, however, I did manage to assemble everything minus the electronic bobbins, and it now stands proud with a neck, tremolo/bridge and block thing with springs in between.

It also has a backplate - black which looks boring and might have to be covered - and at the top of the shop the chrome tuners and string trees that came with the neck in the first place.

So basically, the electronics I still haven't sorted out are becoming a 'must'.

But I can't do them until tomorrow afternoon
which bugs me
lots.

On a more cheery note, it looks like there is to be a £100 guitar build challenge again this year,  over on the Music Radar forums. The idea of this is that you basically build a guitar - or update one - for a ton or less.

All the parts and everything apart from labour and postage to be counted or estimated.

Which sounds like fun and as it has to be completed within a month - assuming that the rules are the same as last time - it might put a rocket up me to get going and finish everything else first.

The trouble is, I'm off thinking about that now,
not the Paisley One,
Sophie's Filthy Boots,
or my dearies,
Cheryl and
Amy.

Despite all my promises of focus and dedication
to the cores.

*sigh*

No Logo

I was wondering, the other day, why I never get comments on this blog, but do get emails from people. Then I realised I hadn't switched the comments on, so sorry about that. I would love to hear what people think about all of this bobbins, good, bad or WTF. So let me know if there is anything on your mind, as it were.

What reminded me of this, is that I got an email yesterday from Christ in New York, asking why I don't have a neato logo on everything, as it would help with the branding, which you have to say is a fair point. And as it happens, I've, in the past, spent many a long boring meeting on logos and brand values, trying to enhance offerings and generally milk them babies.

And I  have even tried my best to create such a thing with a little company I loved and lost once-upon-a-time. So brands, I am aware of, and I guess by calling this 'The Jooky Guitar Emporium' and not just 'Stuff I make' I am in a way trying to give it an identity, which is like a brand really. A name.

But logos? Well, to be honest that isn't what this is all about. And marketing spin? Not my cuppa tea this time around either.

And will I be sending Guitarist magazine review 'copies?'

I doubt it somehow, as even if I did and they reviewed it and liked it and wrote nice things, and loads of guitarists all over the place thought

'I know, I'd like a Jooky little amplifier or a pair of Sophie's Dirty Boots'

and showed-up looking to buy such delights from this Emporium.
Even if they did that, they would all just end-up shrugging shoulders and wondering where all the products are. They would never get to do that guitarist forum thing where somebody says

'I got a Jooky pedal, it's soooo very coooool'
and somebody else would say

'Oh, I was going to get one of those'
and then somebody else would say

'Oh, the other guitarist in my band got one, but he thought it was a one-trick-pony',
and then maybe someone else - you know the guy, the self-appointed expert - well, this someone else guy would say

'But isn't that like the pedal Chapman made as a prototype before he concentrated on his stick, and buried in his garden unheard by any living person as he was embarrassed as he couldn't get it to work but not before sketching out a schematic on the back of a fag packet which he left lay around and I saw on display in a glass cabinet guarded by elves in the cellar of the music shop around the back of my school in Abersychan. Jooky just nicked it from there.'
and then somebody else would say

'Yeah, I heard that'
and then everybody would join in and it would be,
like,
hell.

And basically, I don't want that sort of hassle.

So the way I see it is that I'll make things that I like.
One at a time and all just because I like them or the idea.

Once I've made them, I'll write on them, in me bestest paw
so you can tell where they came from
with a number and
everything.

I generally will use a marker pen, like a Sharpie or something.
Or like on the Paisley One here, I might burn it on.
Depends how I feel, really.
I'm just along for the ride
like a leaf in a stream.

Think I need more sleep.

p.s. I meant to mention, that if you are rather attached to logos on your guitars - and looking around eBay you can spend a lot of money buying one - HERE is a nice way to do it on the cheap, if you are looking for a Fender logo anyway. I tried water slide decals on my guitar build, and they are dead easy to use.

p.p.s. If you arrived at this page by searching for milk them babies you are at the wrong web site and probably need help.

Decisions, decisionless

Well, the little Paisley One is pretty much there body-wise now, and it has come down to a couple of decisions before I put it all together. Starting with the trivial, it is a case of whether I go for a cream coloured pickup cover, or a black one. I've got both, just can't make my mind up...

The second little problem, which to be honest will dictate the pickup cover vexedness, is whether to go for a plain black pickguard instead of the paisley one. Again, I guess it doesn't really matter too much, but I can't get my head around whether the one-hundred-per-cent-paisley approach is a bit much, and a little less could be a lot more effective.

On a more interesting level, I'm finally about to sort out the leccyness, and thinking that perhaps the sustainer idea is one for another day, as I'd rather get this working without six months R&D. So, the plan is to utilise the cunning teeny sliding switch I've put onto the scratchplate, and offer a choice of the basic P90 or the mayhem of an octaving fuzz thing. Whether that will be my own variation, or for easiness/laziness I use the Tonepad Green Ringer one, I'm not sure. Mine sounds a bit brighter, but the other sustains a little better, so I'm not clear which I prefer..

One other thing, is the tone knob. I wasn't going to bother with one, but I've cut the hole now so I might as well. I'm thinking this will either be a variatone idea or maybe I'll have it as a blend and include a piezo pickup under the hood... unless I go for a boringly normal tone knob.

Decisions, decisionless.

The fotos are a chuck together, by the way, to see how it looks before I really nail it good and proper-like.

It's In My Brain

Well, managed to do a bit more cutting and pasting, and The Paisley One - to give it it's formal title - is looking a bit more likely to succeed.

Hopefully, you'll be able to see in the fotos that all of the creamy colour has now been paisley-fied, apart from the cavities, and generally it is starting to look the part.

There is still a wee bit of work to be done, as it is a bit untidy here and over there, and we've got to get into the sanding and clear coating cycle for a while, but generally it is rough enough for my tastes yet looking solid enough to survive.

The neck too, mustn't forget that. I've resisted the urge to go Bisto-like, and so it has ended-up nicely honeyed rather than daytime-telly. I also had some gold tuners, which are on in the foto, but as all of the rest of the hardware is chrome, may not be for long.

Going forward, I'm going to wire it basically and fit it together once a few bits show up, and then decide what to do about the electronics for real.

That is the interesting part, of course. I'm kind of torn between using the octaver/fuzz I've been playing with, putting a Sophie's Fuzz in or trying to build a little sustainer, like the Fernandes or Sustainiac ones.

One step at a time though, getting it to play in tune will no doubt be the first step...