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.
