Sold: The Seaside One

The Seaside One is clearly based on Fender’s Classic Jazzmaster, but with a couple of Jookified twists along the way.

The body is carved from Alder, which has been hand stained a Yellow/Red colour before being finished 23 Karat Gold leaf and then hard wax oil, for a well abused look and a thin but hard finish. This really is a stunning look – the fotos don’t do it justice.

Under the hood we have two of Mojo Pickups groovtastic Jazzmaster pickups. These were wound especially for this guitar by Marc Ransley, who also came up with a top quality wiring loom for many years of eventless and glorious strumming.

A mustang bridge, classic Kluson tuners and a Fender Jazzmaster tremolo complete the picture for what is a stunning looking and sounding guitar.


*


To be clear, The Seaside 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 slo-mo run across the pebbled beach at Portishead. 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: Marilyn's Golden Guitar

Electrics: Mojo Jazzmaster pickups and full Jazzmaster wiring loom

Guitar Type: Fender Jazzmaster

Construction: Alder body, Maple/Rosewood neck

Strings: 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Volume, Tone, 3-way-switch

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

Serial Number: JGE#69

RSP: £999

Introducing: The Seaside One

Well, err, slight mistake yesterday, as it seems I had screws for the pickups of The Seaside One all along, and a sneaky set of strings right in front of me too, so err, there we are then. It is dusted yet done.

So let me introduce you to the latest in an ever unconscionable array of Jooky Talent, fresh from the bench if not the beach, The Seaside One, a seriously cool Jazzmaster with stars in it's mincers.

From the top it boasts an alder body, stained yellow (which to the naked eye looks vaguely red) and then gold leafed using some 23 karat gold. Shiny McGlitzy, that's me.

This has been scuffed and scarified and generally introduced to the darker side of life, and then hard wax oiled, and verily nice it looks too.

I've totally dithered between a Tortie 'plate and  an off white one, but went with the red in the end, though I really couldn't tell you why. Maybe it matched my eyes.

Other than that, a rather lovely though non-trad neck -  9.5@ radius, medium frets and 22 of them), with a Mustang bridge, Kluson tuners, and a Fender branded American Tremolo. I even remembered a couple of Strap Pins for the modern chap about town.

As ever Marc Ransley at Mojo Pickups has excelled himself with a stunningly cool Jazzmaster loom and a pair of his handwound and scattered pickups. And Christ they sound good.

And side by side with my MIJ Jazzmaster, again the Jooky has it. I guess it is the lightness of covering, but it really does sing it's little heart out. Adel Weiss, three times an hour. But maybe that is just me.

So there we are, my newest baby, golden and noisy, like a proper Jooky should bey.

La la laaaaa

The Elves and the Jookmaker or WIP: The Seaside One

Well, pukey bugs mean that there is still not a lot happening in Jookyland, but luckily the accompanying insomnia meant that I nailed The Seaside One together in the early hours, in-between...

Actually, you don't want to know what it came in-between.

Anyway, with the odd exceptions - I only had long P90 screws rather than the shorter Jazzmaster pickup ones to hand, so that looks a little strange, and I have somehow run out of strings, which is slightly frustrating - the guitar is actually done and dusted with faerie sparkle glitter dust.

And verily fine it looks too. I'm really pleased with the shade of the gold - the staining below worked a treat, and it is suitably aged and bedraggled too, which is distressing, but then it is meant to be.

So - big question, I seem to have hour long escape windows, so do I play safe and order strings on-line (the screws are already on their way) or do I risk it all and drive to the nearest guitar shop and hope I can get there and back in less than an hour and save internally redecorating the Jookymobile. (OK, it's an eleven year old Astra, but it is definitely Jookified and more to the point it is paid for and vaguely fragrant-in-a-good-way on the inside at the moment. Magic trees, can't beat them.)

So Stick or Twist?

What to do?

The Seaside One, nearly possibly somewhere close.

Think I'm going to bed now.

La la bleuurrghh

WIP: The Seaside One

Pout Baby Sunshine

Well, what mayhem Christmas brings... Whiffy too around here, but that's kids for you.

Obviously, not too much of a Jooky nature has been going on, but I would like to introduce you to a plonked together WIP of the gloriously golden The Seaside One.

Clearly, the gold leaf is all of a twinkle, and has been roughed and worn and all those other things you do to gold leaf.

And the lovely Fender trem fits perfectly, and the Mustang bridge will do nicely too in the no-string-popping-outness that just plain is.

And the neck fits - huzzah! - and whilst I still can't decide between the red tortie plate and a plain minty old white one, the red is edging it at the moment.

Anyway, pickups and loom will arrive from the independent state of Mojo soon enough and we shall see what we, shall indeed see.

Can't wait.

As for other things, well, I really can't remember right now. Put it down to the sunshine, the moonlight, but never, ever, the jumpy up-and-down-punk-dancing.

La la laaa

Just Feel It

Treat 'Em Rough

And The Frou Frou Fox One
Gets in on the act too

Have A Jookilicious Crimbulmus

Well, it has been a long and arduous year in Jookyland, and I don't have to read all this drivel, but I wanted to say Taverymuch to a few peeps who have made it somewhat triffic, innit?

Firstly, Jools and all the chaps that are still seeing The Tickled Pink One around the country. I've stayed out of it more than I probably should have, but at last count it was in Middlesex somewhere, and the dosh is still trickling in. So cheers chaps..

Secondly, Marc at Mojo Pickups has been a complete star. I'm using his looms on nearly all the guitars which are a big improvement on my own efforts, and he is making the best pickups I've ever played, so this former pickup whore is definitely monogamous these days. He's going to be making plenty more for the Jookies in the new year and I can't wait to see what he comes up with. Cheers m'dears.

Other than that, obviously all the peeps who have bought a guitar. I don't do this for profit, so selling one means I can make another, which is a trip and it keeps it fun (couriers apart), so again, cheers m'dears, you are making an old raspberry ripple very happy. Think of it as care in the community.

And that is about it. I'll no doubt talk about next year soon enough, promise to make one guitar at a time and reduce the numbers, but we all know it will just be talk.

Hope you and yours have a fine Crimbulmus, and I look forward to boring/confusing/annoying you in the near futuredom.

Oh, and I snuck in the gold leafing of the The Seaside One, which looks vaguely appropriate if more of a yellowy gold in-the-wood.

La la laaaa

Sleigh Bells Ring

Well, not a lot happening in the little land of the fat white Jook, but in-between awaiting non-existent couriers yesterday, I did make a start on the gilding of The Seaside One, which already looks seasonally tacky and golden like a pantomime egg.

I always hate this part as it looks terrible, even though I know it will improve once it is lacquered.

Other than that, The Frou Frou Fox One finally dried in all it's awesome abstract expressionist glory, and with the exception of some tuners (which may even arrive today) I have all the bits 'n' bobs, and given a few hours quality time with my screwdriver, I could actually finish it.

I know, big conditional Santa clause there.

Ho ho and ho.

So there we are.

Nothing finished in the final furlong, but up to my neck in gold at the year's end. Lovely.

La la laaaa

I Do Like 2B

Yellow Stained The Seaside One
Next for the Man With The Golden Leafa
and Fag Tar yellow hands

Well, woke up this morning I was feeling fine, but there's something special on my mind...but no, The Frou Frou Fox One is still drying, so I won't be getting any further with that baby today, though it looks rather nice has to be said.

Well, if you spent part of your formative years sucking on postage stamps, I guess..

Instead then, I've got some sanding and staining to do with The Seaside One in preparation for a good old fashioned gilding. Hopefully the neck will also arrive today for that one and some of the other parts too.

Thinking about it. I'm not actually expecting to finish anything new this week after all, as I ladled on the acrylic on The Frou x 2, but be nice to be set-up for the new year, ready to go.

Jezz sending the fotos of the Mando-bodied The Shonky One the other day set me thinking about how I should finish it and the think I'm thinking is that it would look rather swish with a golden top too, especially as I have snaffled a nice old nickel Gretsch tailpiece and Marc at Mojo Pickups can make me some Harmony inspired pickups to match. All for the new year of course, but nice to dream about..

Other than that, I now seem to be the owner of a U.S Strat for the first time in my life. It is white (as all good Strats are), and after hitting a member of the crowd, and breaking it in the process, a previous owner had a replacement Allparts neck put on which feels rather lovely. Not that you'd know it, whoever did it did it good.

What else, well it's got those funny locking tuners with knobs on the back, which I guess is a good thing, has had Callaham saddles added, has pickups wound by Ash at Oil City Pickups which I'm looking forward to trying as I've never tried his 'wares before, and an odd little switch on the jack plate which apparently gives a passive boost.

So all in all I think you could say it is a players guitar rather than a trophy.

I don't really like Strats much, soundwise, which is why they normally end-up with either a single 'bucker or P90 instead, but I'm going to give it a go and see how it sounds/whether I get used to it. Funny place for a pickup, right where I'm strumming though, most odd.

Anyway, I'm off to stain The Seaside One's body yellow before I ladle some gold onto it.

La la laaaa

I Do Like To Be...

Well, with a smatter of luck, some parts will arrive today so that I can finish The Floored Genius One, assuming I can stop playing Pearl for long enough to open the post. I nicked a strap pin in the end from something else, as teardrops are definitely a bit tricky to play sitting down unless you go cross legged and play it with the neck high in the air like a sitar. Still, I am loving it big style and the sound is just crazy cool.

Speaking of sitars, really sad to see that Ravi Shankar died - though at 92 I guess he didn't have a bad run at it. Maybe I should get a sitar bridge for the Frou Frou...maybe.

As for other things, well I mentioned I'd fallen in love with the new Fender Jazzmaster re-issues, mainly the one in Shoreline Gold, and as it is unlikely that I'll have £1400 spare anytime soon, I thought I'd make a gold Jazzmaster to scratch the itch, as it were.

Obviously, it won't be gold paint I'll be using, so instead I'm going to go forward to the past and dig out some gold leaf and get busy with it. I'm thinking the 24 karat gold leaf I used for The Golden Shower One, or perhaps it was  The Old Burny One, I forget, and as I want it to look a wee bit on the old side, I might finish it with nitro and see if I can get some of that there fancy crazing bobbins going on. Be fun at least.

I always liked this foto of a JM Patti Smith gave Thurston Moore, nice.

As for the rest, well I keep looking for a good excuse to try one of Marc at Mojo pickups' Jazzmaster sized Wide Range Humbuckers, so perhaps one of those at the bridge and a normal JM one at the neck. All of which will happen in the New Year sometime, so don't get too excited about The Seaside One.

La la laaa