Stockholm 10's 2008 Memories...or not

The end of July and once again time for the Stockholm 10's with the South Pacific Masters....although this year there would be a twist as I headed off to Scotland on the thursday to catch some live favorites playing on stage at the liquid rooms, aka Music box in Edinburgh.
To my distain the gig was cancelled as the MetroPigs in derbyshire had decided to cancel an R&B / Bike festival the same weekend which kept the bands all the way from the Southern states of the US, at home.
I headed over anyway to meet and greet. Things were going spendid and on the friday I met up with my "så kallad" cousin in a seedy bar down Leith Walk.
I laughed as I walked from the rather stuck up centre of Edinburgh to what the Proclaimers signed off as " Sunshine over Leith"...very apt (even though they actually lived as neighbours in Marchmont when I lived there) and as I walked I noticed the props for "trainspotting" hadn't changed very much, nor the extra's for that film..
The dive..or shall I call it, Pub, was like the pub scene from the original "Star Wars" whith every new creature coming through the door creating a bewildered stare..
"where do these people crawl from" was muttered under the breath...
...a few hours in and I had to take a leek..as I walked up to the bar having taken a leek I heard the barman say to a stool of 4,
"mate, you've dropped a £20....."
As walked back to the gang with an armful of Stella draught I searched through my pockets to discover I'd dropped my cash....£80 to be exact...or maybe £100 all in..
I started sweating bullets and emptied all my pockets...nada...empty...over 1000 kronor....I took the plunge and went up to the 4 at the £20 table and asked,
"have you just found a large wad of cash by any chance?"...
..despite the look of the 4 and the general surroundings, it came as a pleasant surprise that indeed they had been handed all of £79 and £1 which had been picked up in the toilets...they handed it back and asked for nowt apart from that I'd buy a drink for the person responsible for picking up the money...he wasn't at the same table...strange indeed. I was introduced and he declined a beer.."so buy the barman a drink, he's a good lad"...fine by me..
£80 up and relieved, my kids Godfather and I shared a kebab and taxi back to his. The Stella had done it's job, Inter Stella style...and I lost my brand new mobile...FUCK!..

...I hadn't mentioned the rest of the plan...which was to fly back from Glasgow to Stockholm Skavsta on the night flight to arrive at 12.00 and then meet up with ma girl in town at 01.30 in the centre of Stockholm...so I looked up her name on eniro.se and phoned her 08 ,saturday morning to tell her there would be no sms or calls and to meet up at 01,30..
Flight went well...I got on the Expressbus which didn't go to the meeting place we had agreed so I asked a girl on the bus if I could sms her the changed plans...she was kind enough to let me use her mobile...then it came like a twist with lemon,
"where are you? Where are you staying?where have you been?Why haven't you answered my sms or answered the phone..?" etc...
..suffice to say from the time I had made the 08 breakfast call to now, she had tackled an Elefant in the first day of competition and landed backwards on her head incurring a severe concussion..so everything was lost to the matrix , even the fact that my mobile had gone and that I was coming back from Scotland to meet up...
I took a taxi to the hotel where the teams were staying..I managed to get room 604..
The door of 604 opened to an unknown face..strange as I knew every member of the squad...set watched to 01.40..popular as a donkey punch if I misheard which room....
"..is sara staying here?"
"..there's no sara staying here...my names Sara though(?????)...who r you?...how old is she?"
"is there anyone with a concussion staying here?"
"no...wait...there was someone who had been to the hospital..."
I was ushered in...and there , with a towel wrapped around her head and sitting up in bed..was the headcase...
whispering , knowing to be wary on the wakeup side of things, I poked and said "hi U"..
which was greeted with the mightiest "SAW 3" Sceam which woke up the entire floor....
Sara 2 apoligized at letting me in and started ushering me out as if I was a prevert....
Fortunatly the headbanger remembered that I wasn't the ghool from under the bed...
"ok, just keep waking her up every two hours to make sure she doesn't fall into a coma.."

So, about 2 hours sleep, a long trip and a coma victim..
The South Pacific Masters were happy to see me turn up and we went out to win for a third year running...

echo echo echo....

Its analog...its Organic..and it's on its way....

In all it's reconstructed Black Beauty....Project Blacky

features: rescued 71 Gibson project body and neck

Original Dirty Fingers bridge pup 16,9 ohms

One off 59 classic paf reiisue, stripped, rewound and unpotted 9ohms

63 gibson tailpeice with original studs

61 abr-1 bridge with stellagraph saddles with original wheels and studs

59/60 Grover tuners with the engraving on them

73 original Les Paul Custom Pickguard

Electrics are Vos spec Historic reissue with reissue bumble bee caps, vintage wiring harness

tone/volume knobs are original 70's

Its a mish and mash, weighs a classic ton and has sustain till next week.She aint no choker and the resulting sound is hard to describe. The value lies in the sound.

Fat for Slim, Making the Melody Maker a DD

So you've already probably realised that I just can't keep things standard ( unless it was a 59 les paul std...) , so upon aquiring the 5 digit 61 I immediatly started looking around at info regarding the pups on the std wood....As I've got the E johnson pups on Sami Mk1 and the P90's on the Townsend Signature, I decided I wanted something else...and lo and behold and lorks a lordy there is another custom man in the USA who also plays around and who makes this loaded kit to drop into old bits of firewood.
....he's also convinced that these old bodies are better than their SG equivalent if the right equipment is dropped in...mostly due to the neck to body config...so he has squeezed in two mini humbuckers into a 3 ply pickguard with orange caps and CTS 500 pots...the result is meant to ensure that you never want to play your les Paul again...we'll have to wait and c...
To tie the wires together is a badass finetuner wraparound bridge and top end tuners...
can't wait...

Gibson melody maker D 1961 project

...its probably on its way over the pond as I script this up...looks like a relic cos it is...but old wood is the best kinda wood and this little peice of history is a 5 digit 61 model...gutted and sad and ready to be heard loud n proud over the concrete and wooden infested hills of göte...

..close on 20 past the witching hour with BB live at san Quentin and I can't wait to hot rod this lightweight mahogny cheap n cheerful in 61..from the corners of the world police is also coming a genuine made in the us of a BADASS fully tuneable bridge as well as a loaded pickguard which hasn't got the usual single twangthang pups but a specially loaded pickguard with gibson mini humbuckers from the 70's which will turn this once surf twang into a wangotango sweet poontang monster.....73 grover tuners already await in the grey corners of the flat which should have this one singing the same day everything arrives.....

..I see a pearloid has dropped out in the 19th fret but otherwise I'm hoping this one will be sorted out...

One thing which is of interest is the fact that these beautys were built the same as the 50's late pauls when it came to the one peice body and neck so I'm hoping for great things.

I'll let you know once the tubes are warmed up in the davoli baby and its lock and loaded..