Something Old Yet Something New

Well, I said just the other day that whilst I couldn't afford the '50s Gibson Les Paul Jr (shhhaaammmeee) I had taken a punt on an old Rosetti guitar.

And it was fun as I bought it totally blind, deliberately didn't go for fotos or ask any questions and really didn't know what I was going to be getting. So when it arrived, I was really rather pleased.

And now that I have scraped the grime off it, tweaked the leccy bits and put the wrong knobs on (until I can find some old creamy plastic ones), here it be.

Doing a bit of research I was quite pleased to find on the rather superb Guitar Blog that it is a re-badged Egmond, and even more surprised that the groovy finish was original Here and Here will show you what I mean) as I must admit I was assuming somebody had used Fablon in the '80s. Most of my school books looked like this guitar.

As for sounds, well they have proven to be surprisingly rich - the variotone also acts as a pickup selector and I haven't really worked out what the mini switch does - it does something, but exactly what....who can say.

So in summary, it is definitely fun, the neck is very playable and other than the tuners, which need replacing/some love, it is a little treasure.

And all for £50, can't be bad. Next time we'll be moving on to Pierre Cardin Trackies from the rag market.

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Old Cherry Blossom

Well, I'm a bit bored at the mo' with one thing and t'other, but hopefully things will be  back to normal next week and I can get something sorted.

Top of the list is the weirdo that The 668 One has turned into, with all thought of Wilko tributes flying out the window of sanity, as instead it will be:

1. A Tele body with a gloriously mad silly red sparkly finish

2. A Wilkinson Strat tremolo with zingy metal block

3. A single Mojo take on the classic Kay Speedbump pickup

4. An Esquire wiring loom

5. A black esquire 'plate

6. A beautifully flamed maple/rosewood neck

7. Split Kluson tuners

OK, I'm trying to remind myself here, so bear with me.

And to finish it off, I'm going for the ersatz baritone stringing of 13-65 strings, tuned down to A-A.

Which after my dabble with the Bronco, I'm really looking forward to checking out. I'm not much of a guitar player, but love playing 'Riffs' and they sound brilliant at such depths.

After that comes my lovely Lake Placid Blue Jaguar. I'm kind of dithering between going for trad Jaguar pickups (it is my first  Jooky Jag so it feels like I should in some ways) or maybe instead go for a pair of the Mojo Vintage Danelectro style lipstick pickups. Which would be pretty darn cool too, of course.

Decisions, not my thing really.

In other news I can't remember if I mentioned that in a non-Jooky way, I picked up an old battered Gretsch Electromatic Jet style thing from the good Doctor Robert. It is genuinely battered and abused and missing pickups and a lot of love. Anyway, I've got the missing bits to fix up the Bigsby (it was armless tee & hee) and will have to sort out some pickups for that too.

I'm in a Neil Young mood recently, so despite not being a Les Paul, having the wrong Bigsby and well, generally being nothing like, I quite like having an impression of Old Black to bash around. So Old Cherry Blossom will also pop up in the near future.

OK, I'm bored, I admit it.

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Of Rilke And Things

Well, not much-a-going-on at the moment, but I am a tad excitable  in the coming-soon department, as I have a little trifle coming in the shape of Olde Vox Teardropness.

Now I've done the odd teardrop before, and have always loved them so, but this is more trad and comes in the shape of the real deal and best of all has been made in the UK by a top notch luthier chap called Graham.

Serious quality, say no more.

So I'm thinking lipstick pickups, super cool finish and there we are.

So that will be The Rilkean One, coming one day soonish probably maybe.

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Dropping An E One The 'Bay

Well, it doesn't happen too often, oddly, but I noticed that one of the old Jookies is up for grabs on ebay earlier, and it is definitely one that brings a smile to me mush.

I don't know if you remember The Old E One, but it was one of my favourite single 'bucker Strats, with a nice Gretsch filter'ron being the bucker in question.

I thought at the time that this was one of the nicest rusted iron finishes I'd done, and I haven't change my mind looking again.

Have a look for yourself HERE, it has a silly daft starting price of £150, which let's face it is a bit of a barg...

The original spec is there

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Imagine a '56/'58 Les Paul Jr For a Grand

Well, it is nowt to do with me, but I have to say Les Paul Jrs are cool. I'd love a replica by a top luthier - JXG I've mentioned before - but the thought of owning a real, genuine old 'un is frankly beyond me.

I mean, there is something special about those guitars.

And then when you see one for £1000 and you haven't got the snaffle, it is slightly heartbreaking.

OK, it is one of the 3/4 scale ones they made between '56 and '58 - but like that matters - but a grand. Painful.

So as I have seen such a mythical beast, I thought I'd point it out in case it is of interest to the group. It is for sale at the moment on The Fretboard by a nice guy called Dave (I'm buying his '50s Rosetti which is more in my price range of, err, £50) Here or if you want to email me I can pass you on to him.

Here is his description anyway, excuse me while I gently weep.

Gibson Les Paul Junior 56/58. Now here's an interesting one. Firstly it's short scale. Don't let that put you off too much. I'm over six foot and am quite at home on a sixties Precision. It had a refinish in the seventies, which has aged nicely and a new logo (traces of the old one can be seen underneath). It had a refret late last year as there was not much left of the originals. The pickup is really amazing. Very hot, about the same as a TVJones Powertron. Obviously the scale length will put a lot of you off, but then you'd be missing out on a very light weight resonant vintage guitar that you can actually take to gigs. Come and give it a try. My tea is shite, but I make a hell of a coffee. £1000 uberfirm!

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My Hun, My Bun

Well, I finally got to play with the body of The Liberian One, and am jolly pleased with how it turned out. As I said (ahem) I wanted the lovely one-piece swamp ash body to look natural and 'time stained', and for once I remembered and did just that.

When I do the time stained thing, the idea is to make the bodies look like old wood, and as I have no imagination I tend to find such a piece of aged timber and basically try to recreate it. I suppose I should go the relic route and try and make them look like road-worn-guitars (TM), but then there are plenty of people who already do that with mystical ability so nobody needs me.

So in the case of The Liberian One, I wanted a natural wood look, that has been dinged and scraped over time and generally mellowed and yellowed. (We know a song about that don't we kiddies?). This is based on a kitchen I saw once in an old house, that oddly was made of ash. The kitchen, not the whole house, that would have been silly, mainly as it was in Coventry and it would never have survived the Blitz.

But anyway, such is life.

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Liberian, Lion, Zion, Free Beerian

Well, not a lot happening all over again at the moment, but I have had a rethink on The Liberian One.

If you remember, this was going to be an ersatz baritone Jazzmaster, but then I decided to change The 668 One into a flashy Tele with Strat and baritonal-esque accoutrements, and so well, there we are then. All change at Jooky central.

But what to do with the lovely single piece swamp ash Jazzmaster body? Well, after many a thought, I've come to the conclusion that it is going to get itself a simple time stained finish. I'm thinking nice and light and generally groovy.

As for the neck, I am please to report that it will indeed have one. AVRI tremolo, Staytrem bridge, Sperzels, etc. All good things, and for the pickups, I'm going to play mix and match again and put a Mojo Mosrite at the bridge and a normal Mojo Jazzmaster pickup at the neck. For me, I think this could be the perfect combination.

At least this week.

As for other things, amazingly the legend that is The Babylon Blue One is actually coming together. I know, I'm stunned too - at this rate Fed-Ex may return The Travellin' Man One and my long-term inactivity list could be totally refreshed.

But anyway, what do I know?

Lala laaa

p.s. Hope you don't mind me nicking your foto Tim ;)

Sold: The Whipped One

The Whipped One is a complete one-off, even in the world of the unique eunuch. It boasts a beautiful walnut body and that has been given a gorgeous wax and stain finish to the back and sides, with the top getting the glory that is a Mother of Jooky Moondance finish.

As for the hardware, the bridge is classic hardtail which is zingy yet twangy and of course works perfectly. The tuners are Sperzel’s Trim Loks, for many miles of tuning-issue-free running and as for the pickup – well, wow.

The Whipped One is a bit special, so we have gone for a complete one-off, overwound and high of output, Mojo Pickups Mojotron. This boasts a couple of blades and despite being wowzer hot, still has a beautiful tone to it. I don’t know how the boy Ransley does it, but he does. Consistently.

To keep it all on the narrow and straight, Mojo have also done their usual top notch wiring loom, for ceaseless worry-free motoring.

As for the neck, well, this really is a bit special. For a start it is a Warmoth pro model, featuring a beautiful maple stick and side accessible truss rod. Which is handy as getting this baby flat is a bit of a must as the fretboard is more of a ‘board’ in truth as this is a fretless.

The ‘board is a lovely dark ebony, which has been helpfully scored to show where the frets would have been, which when you come to play it you will no doubt appreciate it as much as I have, although they are too shallow to be noticeable feel-wise.

And if you have never played a fretless you are in for a world of discovery. For a start you play on the ‘fret’ lines rather than between them, and bends are a bit of a no-no. The high output pickup comes into it’s own as without the metal bits, sustain is lower than normal, but there is a quite beautiful buzz about the whole thing, which as you get used to sliding into notes sounds stunning.

*

To be clear, The Whipped 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: Jooky Classic

Electrics: Mojo High Output Mojotron, Mojo Wiring loom

Guitar Type: Telecaster La Cabronita Fretless

Construction: Maple/Ebony Neck, Walnut Body

Strings:     11s Flatwound

Output: ¼” Guitar Lead

Controls: Volume, Tone

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

Serial Number: JL#7
RSP: £1249

I Started Something... WIP Barry Island 668 Stylee

Well, I completely changed my mind as far as The 668 One goes, so it is no longer a black Strat, instead it is a sparkly pearly red Tele with a Strat tremolo. I'm not quite sure how I justify this as a Wilko Johnson tribute, but I'm sure I'll work it out.

So anyway, I've been doing a few layers of paint and glittery stuff and it looks rather like an ice cream has melted on it, which I like if nobody else does.

Of course (apart from the odd bit of paisley) this is the first proper bright red guitar I've done, mainly because they have an unfortunate way of reminding me of Bontempi toy guitars. Red Strats yeurrch.But this is different (you can't see the proper sparkly-ness in the foto, but baby the stars shine bright.

From here it will have a zingy Wilko tremolo, the I-can't-wait-to-hear-it Mojo Kay Speedbump pickup, Mojo Esquire wiring, a quite gorgeous maple/rosewood CBS style Strat neck, cool Esquire 'plate, ye olde Klusons and there we are.

All a bit boring, I guess, but as I have had a switch of decision making and the decision I have decided is that instead of the Jazzmaster Baritone, The 668 One is going to be my Barry Island in the stream.

And so, I think I can safely say that if the legend that is Mr Wilko Johnson had decided that he quite fancied a Jookified Baritone Tele with an old fashioned dirt buster of a pickup, and a wang bar to err, play  in Las Vegas, well, this might just have been it.

Unlikely, I know, but there we are.

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Whip Me baaby

Well, I'll do a proper introduction in the morning light where fotos are brighter, more energetic and so much more lovely, but I'm pleased to say I finally finished the fettle of The Whipped One this evening and rather cool it is indeed.

For those who's memory is similar to my own, I'll remind you that it be:

1. A La Cabronita style Tele

2. Has a quite beautiful walnut body

3. The back has been stained, err, walnut and then hard waxed and has some reet pretty flame going on.

4. The top is an exceptionally groovy Mother of Jooky Opalescent finish

5. There may be gold in them there hills

6. The neck is a Warmoth maple/ebony fretless one, a nice soft V in shape and 12" flat in flatness

7. A single Mojotron pickup wound especially for this guitar a lot hotter than normal adorns the bridge position.

8. Wood is all that is to show for the neck pickup spot

9. An excellent Mojo wiring loom brings it all together

10. A hard tail bridge

11. Sperzel trim-lok tuners keep it all stable

And there we are.

As for how it plays, well the action is low, you fret it where the frets should be, and it has a gorgeous, almost, synth sound as you play, and the Mojo pickup was well worth doing as it adds the sustain you would normally expect to lose with a  defrettled guitar.

And to be honest, I can't leave the little mucker alone, well good fun.

But like I say, more anon...

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Pasta Blasta: Chance To Grab The Siren Song One

Well, a while ago, there was a guitar called The Siren Song One - a Jookified Esquire beyond compare.

I loved it lots and then lost, and it went to a new home.

I may have cried.

Now however, Mark, the owner of said guitar, is flogging it on for what is a quite daft cheap price considering the spec and uber beauty  of the wood.

So for a daft £300 you can do something I'm not allowed to do and buy yourself a piece of class...

As you can see Mark replaced the neck with a rosewood one, but will include the original maple jobby too - so you can dress to suit your mood. The original may need a fettle, which I will do free of charge, btw.

So if you want it, drop me an email at info@jooky.co.uk and I'll pass you over to Mark. He is a cool geezer, so you'll have no bother there. Don't worry about the fashion sense.

Here is the original blurb

The Siren Song One *sigh*

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Thursday Plonk-Together

Well, as we are all very vapour-ware at the moment, I thought I'd at least plonk The Bacchylides One together and see how things look.

And very pretty it is too - nice nitro Lake Placid Blue finish - not aged for once - and lots of shiny chrome is always cool, but what I really can't decide is whether to go for a minty white pickguard or instead nail on the red tortie...

I was thinking the white, but that there tortie, well it does look good.

*sigh *

All verily annoying.

In other news, The Travellin' Man One has apparently finally been released by U.S Customs and will be deported today, so hopefully it will be in one piece and we can try again next week.

Life is never simple.

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Bit of a Re-re-re-think

Well, I have this theory that other than odd things happening, if something stays on my 'Coming Soon' list for an age, it means I am not entirely happy about something, and The 668 One is kinds feeling like that.

You probably don't remember, but the idea was to do a Wiko influenced Strat - single Mojo take on the legendary Kay Speedbump, and there we are.

But it hasn't happened, so I've played Michael Finnigan, and changed things around.

It's good.

So instead it will now be a Tele but with a Strat tremolo, still have the red pearl and black combo for a nod in the geezer's direction, and it will of course have the Speedbump in pride of place.

Why? Well, no good reason, just if it don't feel right, it don't happen..

Blah blah, bored now

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To Liberia, With Love

Well, still not a great deal going on around here due to dodgy mincers, but I have enjoyed playing my wee Musicmasterish Bronco-esque Baritone, which as experiments go has turned out quite well, I must admit.

So I've gotten to be thinking that next I should make a real one, and as I have a rather dishy one-piece swamp ash Jazzmaster body going begging, that looks like a good place to start.

I mean, I know a Jaguar/Bass VI is more traditional, but there is no point being awkward if you aren't going to show it, now is there?

So the plan is that the body will get a nifty finish (I'm hedging as I haven't decided what yet), a big long  neck, some tuners, a tremolo and probably some pickups. It is that level of for-thought and planning without which nothing would get done around here at all, of course.

In fact I want this to be quite a low down dirty thing, so some of Marc Mojo's Mosrite specials will definitely get used I think.

And that will henceforth and forthwith be known as The Liberian One, coming one day, soon and probably whenever.

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RayGun Relics

Well, I know I don't do relics here in Jookyland, and that is for lots of reasons, but I must admit I do like some of them.

Not all, not the belt-sander brigade, but the ones where things are made to feel old rather than to look like road kill, I get that.

And then there are the ones that go so  far over the top that it can become an artform. I think the closest I got to that myself was with some rust and rosewood veneer, but I do have a high regard for the peeps that pull something quite so OTT off.

The reason I mention this is because I got Graham over at Ray Gun Relics to do me a tastfilled aged guitar (more on that another day) which has severely exceeded my expectations, and having seen some of his other work, I am definitely putting him in the artist category.

This is a 'Seaworn' one, which is superbly cool...think I'm in lust

Well, apart from the fact that his guitars are so crazy cheap.

For now.

So I am thinking I might have to treat myself to one of his exaggerated heavy relics as, as it were, a Tele  I think, I just can't decide which one.

Hope he doesn't mind my nicking his pix, but gord knows I like to share with the group...

You can find Ray Gun Relics on Ebay HERE

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Baritonal Blues In A - I Need More Sleep

Well, anyway, my eyes are a bit ropey at the moment, which is my only excuse, but this evening I thought I'd sidetrack meself with a bit of baratoning of the Bronco.

So I got my impressive set of heavyweight strings - nowt drastic just 13 - 65 - and set about putting them on.

Now I know Boncoish has a normal rather than meaty big scale in the neck department, so I was expecting things to get a bit floppy if I tried to tune it down to A-A, but as the heavy A, D and G strings went on OK, I got more hopeful. perhaps even cocky. Not something I like to admit, but I could have been running before I could crawl, if you see what I mean.

Anyway, all the strings were on, I had tweaked the truss rod,  re-cut the nut, all that bobbins and we were looking good.

Then I tried to tune it, and do you think I could get anywhere near? No problem on the heavy 'uns, they went like a dream but the three lightest strings, more chance of the Pope swearing at mass or more to the point, when I did they were either hyper-tight or flippy-flappy-flopping around.

So I spent an hour convinced that I was missing something blindingly obvious and re-doing everything over and over (and yes, expecting a different result), until finally the penny dropped and I noticed that I had put the strings on in the wrong order. Five minutes later I'd swapped them around (thanking somebody else's god for split Klusons) and it sounds brilliant, and no floppiness apparent at all.

So yes, I need more sleep, schoolboy errors a-go-and-go-again.

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Broncotone

Well, I picked up this weird sort of Bronco meets Musicmaster body a while back, know nothing about it, but it is a bit of an oddity and let's face it, that always appeals.

Weirdly (or maybe not as I'm no expert) it is normal Fender scale, like a Strat or Tele, I mean, rather than the shorter scale I at first imagined.

So I nailed on an old Strat neck and it plays fine - the pickup is a horrid cheapo bar magnet thing, but surprisingly it sounds pretty good 'n' grungy and I have to admit I really rather like it.

But I can't really make up my mind what to do with it. Back in the sepia days of Jooky I would have covered it in paisley and had some fun, but I don't want to do that as it is a bit shonky in truth, so instead I thought I'd have a play at turning it into a Baritone.

The obvious way to do it is get a Warmoth or Allparts neck, but slack Alice strings apart, scale-wise, I read a suggestion a while back that simply changing it to heavier strings - 13-65 - would give a good approximation, so I'm going to try that first.

Obviously there will be a bit of tweaking involved (but it already needed a chunk of that, so no problem there) and I will no doubt put a better pickup in, but as a little fun-to-do, well, it seems fun to well, do. So I will.

I've got some chunky strings coming and if that doesn't work out will get a proper conversion neck.

So a plan of sorts, which let's face it is no plan at all.

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Something A Little Different, Like

Well, I've done a lot of Jazzmasters, hate to think how many Teles and Strats, loved the one Mustang I did (and really must make another) but I've never made a Jaguar. So perhaps it is time to put that right.

As it happens I have a few Jooky Customs on the list that I haven't divulged, but all need custom bodies or other bobbins, so I've been waiting to unveil them once there is something to take a piccy of. They do include what will be one hot mamma of a Jag, a couple of Jazzmasters, a Tele and  another Jazzmaster, but I'll get to them soon enough.

Which brings me back to my initial point - I haven't made a Jaguar.

So that is the plan.

I am going to make one.

It will be a nice alder body, have a Lake Placid Blue Finish, feature a neck - oiled and waxed, have pickups, Staytrem bridge, Fender AVRI tremolo and Sperzel Trim-lok tuners, and no doubt something groovy in the pickup and wiring dept. from Mojo Pickups.

All in all it will be cool and impressive, you'll say 'Wow' and I'll promise to keep it forever and then somebody will buy it, before a courier does an impression of Micheal Flatley and we are back to making jigsaws.

Or I could send it to the U.S for Customs to hide it for three months and then send it back here so I can send it back and give the courier another shot at it. Either works well.

So that will be The Bacchylides One, and Jesus will want me to tap dance on the beard of  Barbara Cartland
 with my size 9 ToeTectors.


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Introducing: The Starry Night One

Well, I'm pleased to introduce to you, the first (and maybe only) Jookulele to wash up on the shores of Jookyland.

But this is not just your usual 4 stringer, no by-jiminy, this is a soprano guitar with six string and tuned to EADGBE (though drop D makes life a whole lot easier, I must admit).

Feauring a beautiful Van Gogh inspired top, this is The Starry Night One and sure puts a jingle in your jangle.

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