Introducing: The Lulu One

Well, I'm pleased to be finally able to introduce you to The Lulu One, finished, playing like strawberries and clotted cream and sounding awesome.

For those of you that have followed the saga, this has being going to have many forms since I picked up the Pine Tele body all that time ago, but it really was worth the wait, even if there was a last minute twist, just to keep it interesting.

From the top it is a Tele, Pine bodied, maple necked. Wilkinson split Kluson tuners - which I love. A proper old school Tele Ash tray bridge complete with a proper Ash tray cover.

Speaking of hanging around  at the bridge, there is a quite exceptionally cool sounding Bare Knuckle Brown Sugar pickup nestling beneath the chrome.

Oh, and it was always going to be an Esquire so it has an Esquire plain black scratchplate.


As for the finish, well I've talked about it plenty, but the body was covered in a lush gold and green paisley. This is on the sides and back and really is one of the nicest I've used so far. As for the top, well the paisley there has been covered with copper leaf, which in turn has been attacked with various acids and the copper has been eaten away in parts and generally tortured so that the paisley is exposed and is coquettishly peeking thru. There are also some lovely blue traces of copper sulphate (I believe, and if my recollections of chemistry sets in the late '70s is any way a guide) which set the damage off proper-like.

This mixture of fabric and corroded metal leaf is a first for me in so many ways, and it is something I'll be revisiting in the near future as it is very effective.

As for the sounds - I was really looking forward to having a play with the different variations of the Esquire wiring - over the years there have been many kinds of 'mods' to get more from a single pickup - but in the end was a bit frustrated by it as basically it didn't seem to add a great deal to get excited about.

I know, you wait for ever and then your Xmas pressies are shonky. But instead of moping I decided to get stealthy and hide a lovely P90 soapbar, out of a PRS SE One beneath the scratchplate.

Now, I didn't really know what this would sound like - I'd asked around and the general feeling was that it would be too far from the strings to work proper-like, so in truth I was expecting to be trying a variety of higher powered 'buckers and the like until something cut thru nicely, but lowly and beholden, I'm really rather chuffed to say that it sounds great.

Better still the middle position gives a phasey/half-cocked-wah type of sound which is just gah. (Which was the only Esquire 'mod' that had impressed me, as it happens.)

So there we are. I need to get it set-up proper-like as the action is a touch low, but it plays great, sounds brilliant and just looks the pooch's peanuts.

Lulu, we love you, and like the best of divas, you were well worth the wait.

For the record then:

Pine Body
Maple Neck
Wilkinson 'Split Kluson' tuners
Wilkinson "Ash Tray" Tele Bridge with Compensated Brass Saddles
Bare Knuckle  'Brown Sugar' Bridge Pickup
PRS SE One P90 Soapbar, Stealthily Hidden Neck Pickup
Esquire Pickguard
Paisley Finish
Corroded Copper Leaf Top

Makes Me Want To Shout

Well, there will be fotos and blurb tomorrow, and a formal introduction no doubt, but I'm really chuffed to have finitoed The Lulu One today, and in so many ways it is a real leap forward.

The 'mixed media' approach of the corroded leaf on top of the fabric finish looks far better than I hoped (to my eyes anyway) and all together it feels like a proper old guitar. Not in a foney relic way, just the choice of old school Tele parts - the bridge and maple neck.

I changed direction slightly in the end as far as the 'sounds' go, which was one of those inspirational things that actually come off in a really cool way and I have to say I can't keep my hands off the old girl.

It makes me want to shout, what more can I say?

As for non-Tele bobbins, well other than starting the Nitro spraying of The Crowley One, Lulu took over, but was worth the time spent.

Tomorrow though, I'm going to have a change of direction and have a go at gluing the neck on the Busted Epi. I've had a few practises sans glue, and everything seems to go into place quite nicely so it is loin-girding time and with a dollop of good fortune, hopefully it will be a painless experience.

Well, fingers-crossed.

As to what happens to it, assuming the neck ends-up straight, I can't really allow myself to think about it too much in case I jinx things, but I am half-tempted to do something splodgy with paint, a la Stone Roses, but then that's been done too many times before. Or I could be radical and keep it stock and just play it, that would make a change.

Heh ho for the open road...

Double Vegetation

Just needing Wire & Strings....Lulu Baby

Well, things have started well this week for once, apart from the broken Lulu neck of course. Luckily, a replacement had appeared from the keeper of the Post Office flame only minutes before, so a ready alternative/life-saver was to hand.

It proved to be inspiring anyway, as feeling a bit miffed about the whole episode I put the guitar together with the exception of soldering the pickup and output jack thing in. It looks wicked, I'm pleased to say and the new neck feels all dreamy. So maybe 'It was meant to be' as me gran used to say.

That was yesterday anyway, and today, hopefully I will finally wire up The Blue Moon One and The Lulu One too, so there we are.

As for the Crowley One, well that is drying and will then be fine sanded (I don't actually know if that is what you call it, but it sounds like I do so we'll keep it) and then given a good dose of protective lacquer. I'm going to use nitro on this as I want it to age nicely, being as it has had such a good start.

Other than that, the search is back on for a neck for The One One, as I have everything else I need (not sure on the finish yet, but will be soonish, I expect.) but not a 22 fret maple neck after the one I ordered turned out to be a fret short of a solution.

Oh one thing as far as The Pink Panther One's departure went, I got a part-ex which is a 1978-1980 Shergold Neomarauder (or something). This is a lovely old British guitar, and only 40 of them were made, so that is going to be cool. It has already been modded, so there is no instrinsic historical value to consider, so it should be fun, fun, fun.

Julian Cope plays Shergolds, which is cool. I like Julian Cope...



Anyway, the day is young and I'd better get me iron hot and pokey.

Lulu With a Broken Neck

Enhanced Cornering Ability

Hmm, this isn't meant to be a twitter account, but breaking news in Jookidom is that I managed to trip over.

Not an amazing insight into my life, it has to be said.

And the fact I was carrying a guitar neck at the time, well that  too isn't unusual.

However, I landed (guitar) neck first onto the stairs somehow and then amazingly didn't get impaled on that lovely piece of maple when the headstock broke off - the headstock connected to the neck that I was about to put onto The Lulu One.

I guess blood would have been impressive as a finish, but somehow I don't see me fixing this headstock back on somehow...even when my tube of Titebond arrives

Anyway, it would make more sense to bleed over the Crowley One really, I guess.

Ho hum

WIP: The Crowley One

Well, this has got to have taken longer than any of our guitars to get this far, but I'm finally getting pleased with the finish on our lovely dark satanic Explorer-type-of-thing, The Crowley One.

As you can see, me and the boy have applied the variegated finish, and then using all sorts of weird and wonderfilled gubbins, artificially aged it even more - for a sepia tint - and then cracked the lacquer.



Don't get me wrong it isn't a swimming-pool-tile kind of 'crazing' but it looks like weathered stone, which is quite lovely, and will apparently continue to age for a while yet to come. It still needs a final lacquer as it is all quite delicate right now, but it looks excellent. I'm well pleased we spent the time.

As far as the rest of the guitar goes, I've got the pickups wired up (a first) and I'm thinking I will put some platinum leaf on the scratchplate to match the pickup covers. I think it needs black hardware though, I'll have to see what I can do. Gold would just be too blingy and chrome or nickel wouldn't really match, I don't think.

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.

Broken Neck? I ask yer...

Well, after handing over design responsibilities to my art director (he is the grand old age of 8 going on Picasso), we, err, he has decided that The Crowley One would look better completely covered in our molten iron leaf, and he is probably right.

Action a bit high? Wonder why that is...?

So that is what we have started to do, and stunning it looks already - I'll put some fotos up later on.

In addition to this, we are going to complete the effect with a cracked lacquer finish, which is a first and one I've been wanting to try for ages but never gotten around to.

OK, he has got more bottle than I have, and doesn't accept excuses.
I have no cojones, it is true.

All in all, it is proving to be quite a stunning guitar - whether I will be able to get the thing out of his grasp once it is finished, who can say, but then I probably shouldn't try should I?

Today though has seen a bit of a trip to pickup an old Epiphone Dot which is in need of a little bit of Jooky love or at least some love full-stop.

It is a Korean one, and lovely neck-wise. I had one of these years ago and it was a grand guitar, and I'm really keen to see how this one goes. That one was in perfect BB King 'nick', whereas this one has a broken neck.

Now, a broken neck on a guitar, I must admit, I would understand if it sounded a bit on the 'terminal' side of things, and generally I would have to agree with you, if that is indeed what you are thinking and maybe even if you aren't.

And it is very true - fixing a guitar with a broken neck - and quite spectacularly, very much broken it is too - this is not something I've ever tackled before, but I fancied having a go to see how hard it is to do. So there we are.

Ah, that would be doing it...

And in my defence, I've had some good advice already, involving glue and clamps and lets face it - how wrong can it in fact go?

Well, looking at it in 3D, I must admit I'm not sure that I know the answer to that one and am a little worried that I might well be finding out.

Maybe the guy that fixes them down in Bristol might be a better bet after all.





Or should I get my son to do it, he wouldn't (search desperately for a) waiver in the face of such things.
 
And sellotape is a seldom used guitar finish after all, it may well catch on.

Anyway, whatever happens I'll show you how it goes as I go along, and there we are.

Lovely looking guitar though, your Epi 'Dot'.

Busy Doing Nowt, In Truth.

Well, day one of my newly forged freedom-to-create and I achieved precisely nothing. The Explorer body is however ready to go - can I claim I delegated?

The Funky One - Never To Be Forgotten *sniff*

Or am I in danger of being accused of sweatshop/child labour exploitation?

I did pay my lad in Jaffa Cakes, but will that swing it?

Anyway, one thing I did do was get the neck ready and decide on the body coverage.

As I said before The Crowley One will have a Molten Metal Leaf top, but this will now be accompanied by a low key paisley back and sides, which I think will look pretty cool, it has to be said...

Although I have got some  Platinum Leaf, which might be nice on the back, or perhaps on the scratchplate if I put that back on. Decisions, why can't I make them?

What else? Well, I was going to solder The Blue Moon One's lipstick pickups in, but shaky-hand-syndrome meant it wasn't really a runner, so there we are. Better luck tomorrow I guess.

Oh, I did acquire a Tele custom body that has been routed for either P90 soapbars or humbuckers, that should arrive soonish, which is cool. I love the look of them, and The Funky One - which had a rather hot pickup selection - was one of my fave of the Jooky guitars. Utter lunacy but cool as cool can be once you tamed the savage 'Slag. Pity I got rid of all my P90s, have to find some more I guess.

Ho hum.

Finishing and Starting

Well, no more school holidays for a few weeks, so I'm figuring that it is about time I got my finger out and got some guitars dusted and done. OK, I always say that, don't I?

Anyway, this week I will be finishing The Blue Moon One and will probably be finishing The lulu One as well. Now, there's ambition for you.

Other than that, my lad has been earning his pocket money and sanding back the Explorer that I stripped the skulls and roses off last week, and it is ready to go for a bit of molten iron. And that is what it is going to have, some beautifully aged iron leaf on top that looks like it is burning away to show hell below. Can only be The Crowley One then, I guess. As I said before this is going to 'feature' a couple of Alnico Gibson Humbuckers with quite pretty Platinum tops on them, and basically I want it to be Classic Rock without dipping into Metal. So no cruciforms or pentacles, although if you play your scales backward you might find a hidden message. maybe.

That should be fun - and I'm still deciding what to do with the sides and backs, it has to be said. It is a lovely piece of mahogany, so I might just leave it exposed, but then I have some 1950s Popeye and Olive Oil fabric, which might just...OK, maybe not.

I can decide tomorrow I guess, no panic.

Buy My Guitars? Just Don't Feel You Have To Rush....

The Pink Panther One - Funky as a Funkster in Platforms

It's funny making all these Jooky guitars, because every time I do one it is because I want to play it - I make them to my taste, if you see what I mean, and then due to 'the rules of Jookydom' I have to move them on.

You could, of course, ask

"Why do you have to move them on?"

and I would have to reply...

"Well, I decided when I started that I couldn't really carry on making guitars and have them pile up for ever more, instead then I promised that I would sell any I made. The good part is that other people seem to want them too, and the money I get from flogging them pays for the parts for the next one I make etc."

Which is the truth, even if it sounds like an arty excuse for commerce, but there we are.

Whatever the truth of it all and whether I'm trying to convince myself more than anyone else - The downside is that I seem to have this constant generation game conveyor belt of guitars I really, really love, slowly moving out of reach.

In fact apart from an old acoustic, I don't actually own a guitar anymore - I just play them between the times when I make them and when they go out the door to pastures new and no doubt owners that can play them a lot better than I can anyway.

I do keep promising myself that I'll buy myself a guitar to play, but they are never quite what I want, if you see what I mean, as really what I want is a Jooky guitar and that is the only sort I can't have.

The Lulu One - All Corroded Copper and Paisley Teledom

The point of this rambling?

Well, I have fancied a Les Paul for ages, but none of the ones I ever try really hit the spot.
Although The Golden Shower One suits me perfectly.

Also, I'd like another Jazzmaster, but would it be better than the ones I've made myself - The Blue Moon One is gorgeous and The Pink Panther One is a funky as F&*k. And don't even get me started on The Psychedelic Surf One.? 

But would I find one to match up to my own made-to-my-taste creations?

Not to my mind as I made them all 'just' how I want them and you can't really improve on that.

So do I break the rules and keep one, or should I just go and buy something and mod it, but not tell anybody it is a Jooky one.

Can I even do that?
I dunno.

Saying all that, I've seen a couple of Yamaha SGs I quite like the look of...and there is always the Old Burny One, and there is a Tokai Lemon Drop I like the look of in a local shop, and maybe, maybe I should just save my pennies and get Wez Venables to make one for me...who knows. I also saw a Vox Teardrop the other day too, and I have wanted one of them for eons, and then of course...

So in summary - I'm loving The Golden Shower One and The Pink Panther One at the moment.
They both are exactly what i want in guitars.
They are both for sale, and no doubt one of these days, they will move on to pastures new, I know that.
Just don't feel you have to buy them just yet, eh?
Give a bloke a bit of fun first eh?
Tis only fair...

And Then There Were Two

Well, The Twangy One was sold earlier on, so we're back to the more common situation where this Emporium of ours has a measly two guitars being available to buy...

They are of course...

1. The Golden Shower One:

With it's 23 Karat Gold Leaf top, P90 pickups and everything else...

You can find out more HERE, of course...

And....



2. The Pink Panther One:

With it's equally 23 Karat Gold Leaf Scratchplate and perfect pinky purple paisley

(I'm impressed I can say that on a Saturday night too.)

 All the info about this baby is HERE of course too.


As ever, I'm open to part-exs, trades and brown envelopes full of filthy lucre. PayPal is OK too...

Other than that, not a lot has happened, though a rather bizarre Telecaster Body arrived earlier on that has been covered with what looks like Parquet flooring...

Not quite sure what will happen with it yet, but there we go...I'm sure I'll think of something...

Oh and West Brom beat Aston Villa for the first time since the Royal Wedding (actually the first time since Chas & Di got spliced, but there we are).

Blatant Ebay Plug and a Lot of Filler

I forgot to say yesterday that The Twangy One is up on Ebay as an auction at the moment - it ends on Saturday if I remember even something like accurately. And looks to be going dead cheap...so if anybody fancies a bit of double Fil'tron sounding Jookiness, this is a good place to go look, come see and all that.

Well, it's the only place, and last chance, lets face it.

OK, sad plug over - it has already gone...

Other than that,  I must admit I have been all-a-buzz since I got The Pink Panther One finished yesterday, and to be totally honest, I can't keep me dirty donnies off the lass. I just wish I had a flanger to join up with my Big Muff for extreme noisnik-ness. (I have got an old Zoom 2020 multi-fx thing, but I can't raise the enthusiasm to wade thru the multi-lingual instructions and get my head around all the modes and banking it seems to require. Always been a bit analogue on the sly, me, which is a bit limiting for a Computer Programmer, err, Information Architect).

Still, all good fun and I just love offset guitars, which I guess makes it odder still that this is only the second ever.

But there we are, old news am we.

I do want to get on and finish the Lulu and Blue Moon Ones, but that will probably be next week now as guess what, yep skools out again and my proclivity toward productivity is greatly diminished.

I have just remembered that I popped the dirty stinking Floyd Rose equipped Nuno-esque Poodly type of guitar I acquired a while back, into our local guitar tech and have heard no more about it.

That was in January, hmmm...

I know they were busy, but..

Still, no panic, I might give them a ring about it. I can't even remember why they have it now, though Floyd Roses and locking nuts are voodoo as far as I'm concerned, so it probably had something to do with one of them...maybe.

Sold: The Pink Panther One

About The Pink Panther One

I was going to write a little story about Citroen DS cars, Inspector Clouseau, Monet, Perrier bubbles going ‘Ooh’, Thierry Henry, The Eiffel Tower, Doctor Who with a twist in there about Grace Kelly getting lost en-route from Monte Carlo.

It was going to be an exceptional little tale, that would have peaked with all the gossamer strands being pulled into a single thread of a blue-ribbon wrapped around this beautiful guitar.

But when I thought more about it, I figured that a picture in this case is really worth all those words, and so I introduce the latest Jooky guitar – The Pink Panther One, with these thoughts:

Fender Jazzmasters are the coolest guitars ever.

Fender Jaguars are pretty close.

Fender’s Pink Paisley Tele is probably third.

Fender Custom pickups are awesome.

23 Karat Gold Leaf scratchplates are beyond the pale.

The Pink Panther One is a Gallic nod towards American cool, with a twist of Parisian Chic just for good measure.

The Pink Panther One is a gem.

End of Story.

*


To be clear, The Pink Panther 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 pleasant evening stuck between floors in the Eiffel Tower lift. There will genuinely never be another guitar like this and past experience suggests that it won’t be around for long.

Technical Stuff:

Type: Leona’s Groovy Guitar

Electrics: Fender Strat Pickups

Guitar Type: Fender Jazzmaster/Jaguar Style

Construction: Cloth over wood. Yamaha Tuners

Strings: Nickel 10s

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Single Volume, Single Tone, Five-way Switch

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

Serial Number: JGE#24

RSP: £399

*** Sold - Sorry about that :( ***

Introducing The Pink Panther One

Well, the plan was to finish The Blue Moon One, but a lack of time due to forgotten appointments, and the fact that this little dah-lin' caught my eye, it just had to be the Pinky that I made today instead.

I have no shame

But here she is, and man she plays beautifully.

Anyway, proper details later, I'm sure, but for the record...

A handmade, ash offset body - Jaguar/Jazzmaster-inspired, take your pick...

A lovely maple and rosewood neck - sooper-low action (by my standards anyway) all buzz-free and super quick.

A truly oh-my-god paisley finish - which is very, very un-runkled around the edges.

Not quite sure how that happened, but I guess I wanted to 'keep the lines true', as it were.

The scratchplate is of course gilded with the finest 23 Karat gold leaf, and suitably worn and generally aged.

It looks stunning in 'real life' without being gaudy somehow.

Actually, I'm not really sure what happened with this guitar it is quite neat for some reason.

Pickups are some Fender ones - I'll have to try and
remember what they are, but I think they are Custom '69 Strat ones...

And there we are. Stunningly cool.

I'm off to play a bit...

End of the Holibobs

Tomorrow...Only a Day Away...

Well, my Signature guitar idea seems popular (I've never had so many emails - tis soooo very bizarre immediate popularity). so that I will need to sort out in the very nearest of futureness.

Last day of the school holibobs today mind, so I'm thinking more about finishing a guitar tomorrow.

Which to choose..hmmm?

I think it will have to be The Blue Moon One, as basically that just needs some soldering and I should be able to get that done before the brats get more holiday for a wedding of all things. It was bad enough that they got a fortnight off because some geezer got crucified, but a wedding - sheesh.

It'll never last anyway.

Still, the Blue Moon One -  Lippy pups and all, that would be nice.


Today though, I am mainly 'visualising' what I'm going to do to my Old Burny One, as I've finally got to the bottom of the finish. Basically, it is going to have a 24 karat gold top to it, but it will be an aged and crackled visage if it works out as planned. I decided not to do the lacquer with nitro, leave a year, attack with a hair dryer plan, but instead am taking my lead from some well known fakirs of antiques and using some special chemicals I'm hoping I can get the effect I want a bit quicker.

(I found a great web site on 'faux' middle eastern antiquities and followed on from there, and man some of the things people use to artificially age bits of plate you really wouldn't believe. I thought I was doing well with a wet tea bag and  a paint by numbers Monet.)

Anyway, once the chemical lorry arrives and I don my NASA suit, I'll try it on my well goldified Strat body and see how it looks. If it is anyway close to what I want I'll go ferrit on the Burny.

As for the Burny, I'm really not sure what to do with the headstock. As it stands it has an awful attempt at a Gibson logo, which looking closer seems to be stuck with super glue over the original Burny one (Why would you do that - crazy?). So do I try and restore it as a Burny, or do I Jookify it proper-like? I think the latter, but I always wanted a Burny, so maybe, maybe..

Nah, Jookification, tis the only way.

I have to say I am looking forward to doing it though - bit of Love's labours about it - fifties wiring, Bare Knuckle Mules, proper gold top, '70s or '80s guitar (actually I could probably age it if I dug out the Burny logo from beneath the Gibbo one, thinking about it).

But circles, go around and around and around again.
Be nice to start doing things again.
Finally.

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.

In truth, very little

Well, it's been a quiet few days in terms of guitars in Jookyland, though in other ways more bedlam-like. Typical school holibobs really.

I have done very little in truth, though I did decide to get my head together as far as the Skull & Roses covered Explorer is yet to go, and have stripped it back to the wood - or at least the varnish on top of the wood, and know what I'm going to do with it.

As I said before, I'd got a couple of platinum covered Gibson pickups for it which should be suitably raunchy (a word I never thought I'd find myself writing seriously, if I am, of course) and I've decided on the finish too for good measure.

I haven't got it yet but I'm looking at Molten Iron for the top, and wood back and sides at the moment. Whether this ends up as rusty metal or something more spectacular - well, there is a bit of work to be done until I find out.

As for the lonely three waiting for their measure of solder, nothing has changed though I'll hopefully turn my gaze in their direction next week on one of the two days the brats are back learning something. We'll see I guess.

Ho diddy hum. Have a fine Easter...

Everything is broken

OK - in the school holibobs, as I may have mentioned once or twice, things can take a turn for the disorderly, even by my own standards. Time to do 'stuff' is at a premium and usually grabbed in between teeny and weeny chunks, and generally it is often a case of doing something rather than following thru in an orderly manner.

Not that I do that normally, but I always think i will do sometime.

So, I thought I'd do meself a wee check list so that I can see where I stand...

1. The Pink Panther One - This has been paisleyified, and has also now been lacquered, in an off-and-on manner. It looks good, so far. Other than that, the scratchplate has been gilded and lacquered, and I have wired up the pickups. As for the neck, I've got one now which is lovely, and it even has the name of the headstock - just not burned in yet  In summary, in the pink. (Tee & hee) Rather typically then, the last one I started is closest to being finished.

2. The Blue Moon One - All done apart from the wiring, which I've started but not yet finished. Looking awesome, it has to be said and I just want to play the thing now

3. The Lulu One, body is complete, neck needs some work and I need to wire it up. Cool, but not yet killer. The finish though is awesome, I can't help but keep looking at it.

So as far as those three go, it is soldering time I need, which is the hardest thing of all to get right now.

Other than that, I've had a bit of a change of heart on something else. A while back I mentioned that I'd got an Explorer-esque shape guitar - lovely bit of mahogany and everything else. Anyway, at the time I was thinking of doing something more high-voltage, than is normally my want, and so had got a couple of PRS Tremonti pickups, and then some Super Distortion/PAF Di Marzios. I even covered it with a lovely roses and skulls finish and then, basically, well nothing happened.

In time I flogged on the pickups, and the body has sat there half finished for ages now. I could say I don't know why, but I guess i do really as it had never totally grabbed me for some reason, and so I've done other things that have interested me more.

Today then I decided that I would rather start again with it. It'll make a wonderful guitar, and I've just snaffled some other ones for the bridge with numbers i e of the other ones for the bridge with numbers i can't recollect as I sit typing this.

So the plan now is to give it a completely different look, remove the skull and roses and make it more of a classic rocker, than a fizzy heavy metal 'axe'. I'm excited about it again now and am a plotting and a planning, which is a good sign. It'll probably get finished that way and on current form it will just be waiting to be soldered along with everything else. Such is life in Jookyland.
Other than that, I grabbed a few yards of paisley fabric. I've come to the conclusion that I like the idea of mixing things up, but I am still a sucker for a fat quarter.

Blah blah blah.Everything is

Candid Creep - Live at Last

Well, I never made it there - but I was really chuffed to see the fotos of Candid Creep's first gig, not least because they feature Kyle playing The Fat Pussy One....



Along with Craig on the Bass and Scott on the tubs at the back, I think it could well be one of those events that hundreds of thousands of people will be claiming to have attended in later years...

You can find out a lot more about them on their Facebook page thing HERE and they Tweet too, over HERE.

Whatever that means.

Tis all cool...so tell your friends to tell their friends to tell some people they know but, you know, maybe aren't really that close to.

Debut EP on it's way too in the very near..

Obviously, Craig is slumming it with a Fender Bass, but we can't have everything.

Cool