Travelling requires assistance...

So by all accounts I will be travelling quite a bit and to be honest I really missed playing. Coming back I'd actually forgotten where I was in my learning process.

So, here is an Erlewine Lazer and unfortunatly its beyond my budget at the moment, running a tab of around 3000 dollars and hard as to find second hand.

Johnny Winter puts one to good use.

So, moving down the scale I missed a Hondo copy of the Lazer which would have been great, but that went.

Not really in the hunt for a Steinberger Spirit, the Hohner GT3 would be a better option.

However, there is a rather odd looking Washburn, called the Bantam, made in japan in 85 and quite rare which I have my eyes on. The positives are that you do not require double ended ball strings if something goes wrong, so maybe tomorrow I'll have the guitar.

Looks like it would survive the bus trips with the rugby team as well as the trips that are on the way.

or...a 61 fender...

..for a mere $39,995....4 times the price of the one I was offered a month ago...

check out the prices....

so, who wouldn't want an original '53 and '54..
$58995 .....$46995....seriously....

When ur goin to San Fransisco...

So a few days in San Fransisco is nearly over and its been an interesting time to say the least.
I say interesting as there are so many homeless people and down and outs, male couples and complete lunatics screaming at every street corner, you kinda wonder just how much lsd and acid was dropped in the summer of 67,8,9 etc..

Due to budget restraints I booked a hotel in an area I had no idea about, only that it was close to the centre and the conference. SAMO is indeed the edge of sanity between rich, poor and insane and the blend is an eye opener.It actually becomes quite amusing ( in an sad way) to see the SUVs, Hummers, Porches driving past the homeless sleeping on the pavement or screaming to an invisible friend now and again behind their own style campervan which is of course a shopping trolley filled with items of their life story.

As I walked past people in the street, norms, I'd mumble loudly that this was indeed a good example of the american dream of opportunities...

So far it hasn't got scarey, but then again I don't hit the night life...

I found the oldest guitar shop in SF, called Real Guitars.I asked in Haight Ashbury Music.
All the guitars of interest were outta reach costs but nice, 69 Gibson les paul custom with 3 gold pickups, a couple of 63 fender strats...and of course a host of old cabinets. However, the kr aint worth jack so don't expect any super deals. A '77 les paul standard for $3000..
I did however pickup a pedal which I had too, another Ibanez SM9 metal distortion pedal which nobody really seemed to care about. Price was right anyway.
Nice to know I now have a back up of my favorite distortion pedal. I'll probably let it go once I return.

Road trip...

Birthday today.Work anyway as tomorrow I head off at some god awful time to the airport to catch the plane to San Fransisco for a few days, then off to Denver.
Conferences and hopefully a look at some nice instruments whilst I'm over there.

Been a while since I've been to the States, last time was '93 and ended with a week at daytona beach.

I'll be online and scippling if anything outside the work load happens.

Pretty cool Youtube posting.

Read the story and whose playing the music and watch, it seems like so many years ago which, of course, it is.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqqaw9iN0Js&feature=related

following on from Jimbo comment..

www.srvjimbo.com

Thanks IFLEE for the story on the comment. Funny enough here is a pic of my own built up telecaster which is a bitsa but similar in a way...or not...the neck is a cracker and worn down, and she has hand wound pups.

If I had 19,500 dollars .......

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Les-Paul-Jimmy-Page-66-Murphy-Aged-59-1959_W0QQitemZ150331406338QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item150331406338&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1729%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

..and again, JP with a tele

..in keeping with asymmetrical player and guitar.

Today's surprise picture that I found was Jimmy H playing a Gibson les Paul Custom. So here we go again, getting away from the stereotype SRV Number 1 , here is the master with ..??

I have to say that everytime I watch SRV he blows me away with the feeling, passion and sheer MASSIVE ability. I'm not sure if the original SRV fender is a 12" radius neck? Not sure they made them that big back then, vintage are running 7,5 and more moderns are 9,5 apparently.

I suppose it does help both Jimbo and Stevie that they had hands like shovels when it comes to getting those chord variations they pull off. Necks really make a huge difference which is why I enjoy having different variations.

Going from my Sami mk1 with the SRV signature neck to the 61 gibson melody maker neck is actually very interesting. In fact everything is interesting when your landscaping with chord progressions and moving from neck to neck, string height highs and lows, baseball bat, shallow c, d and all the rest. I have to say the neck which fits me the best is a split decision between The heritage rosewood neck or the fender telecaster (with a neck from Springsteens Luthier apparently?).

next up? who knows, but there are some rather interesting objects on ebay at the moment so maybe that SRV neck may be moved aside for a 69 neck..

I'll have to look into that..

Joe Bonamassa on tour

So, following on from some great guitarists and the good news is that Joe Bonamassa will be appearing in Europe soon and indeed is playing the local kindergarden disco here in Gothenburg.Tickets are purchased.
He's been around a long time and played with just about all the greats from a young age.Once again he's a mixer of styles from legato to jazz to classic but subtle blues.
What I like is his switching between fingers and pick (usually thumb apparently) and also his tone is fantastic.
Apparently he was a fender man but just heard time and time again that he was a poor mans SRV which once again seemed very unfair.I can't say, I only listened to him recently and he impressed. Should be interesting.

Not good enough to play legato..........

...or in his own words, " I don't play fast as I'm not good enough to play fast"...

and who cares...amazing sound.

JH, The man

Being a huge fan of SRV and inline with SRV being a huge fan of Jimbo it was only natural that the jazz chords that hendrix was familair with would bounce here and there into the rythm of his blues..

If you haven't looked at a decent official hendrix tab I suggest you do. So technical and features everything bar the kitchen sink, including effects and of course you have to use your thumb on more than one chord...

As I'm a newbie in the game and I firmly believe in improvisation (due to my lack of talent..as yet) I find its great to borrow some of these chords and throw them in to some simpler foundations. One thing I found, especially on Sami (SRV neck , 12" radius) is always keep the tuning one semi down (d#) and maybe not use the favorite jazz III small pick, hendrix used a jumbo pick and it does effect the sound.Obvioulsy Marshall and Fender without too much gain.

Don't get me wrong, I'm as close to Jimbo as Nasa are at putting a chimp on pluto, but the more I investigate his jazz chords and mix it with some simple blues it really works to fill void...

But respect with a capital R, the man in my opinion hasn't been surpassed..

To relic or not to relic...that is the question

Reading the most recent Guitar Techniques magazine and there seems to be a major issue with the question if reliced guitars are worth the money asked. By all accounts the masterbuilt custom shop relics are amazing. Even the pick ups are hand wound by the same guy who wound them in the 50's...that would make him a pensioner by all accounts..anyway, I don't have the budget for one of these guitars.The most recent Malsteen custom shop is a cool $12,300...

The whole aging process is amazing, with secrets galore and machines that bodies are strapped on which then vibrate them into yesteryear for that authentic look.

Regardless if you like the idea or not, there's nothing better than a guitar that looks like its been around the block.

I found this website which gives some great tips and tricks on relicing, so if you have a spare G maybe you want a go?

Sami mk 1, my first build fender strat is probably changing again...you see, I've found a John Cruz rosewood neck up for grabs and I'm tempted on changing my SRV signature neck for it...

The pup covers, control knobs and tips are gonna be changed from bakelite copies to more 60's reliced types. The EJ body is amazing and remains, based on a 57 and two tone, I'm gonna give it the hot and cold treatment perhaps, although the body already is looking used and abused...

here we go, enjoy!

http://relicdeluxe.com/

Otherwise, if you want some really good prices on aged parts, from hardwear to necks and bodies including leftys, look here:

http://www.grguitars.com/

project "Hedgehog"..61 rosewood neck amazing!

Time to thin the collection..?

Ibanez SM9 on the web..buy buy buy

Okay, so yes, there is a crisis and credit crunch, thats the bad news.

The good news is that there are currently 3 Ibanez SM9 distortion pedals for sale on ebay at what I would say is a reasonable cost.

Amazing pedal, you will not be disappointed! Obviously at the extreme other end of the scale of a tubescreamer, but for a medal sound just can't be beat!



Here is a great website where all pedals are sourced and you get the chance to buy those elusive hard to gets...





http://filters.muziq.be/model/ibanez/9/sm9

James Walsh finally on myspace/music

http://www.myspace.com/scottishjimmywalsh

Jimmy was the owner of the fender telecaster which has become one of my favs.
He is an incredible guitar player and has finally managed to put some of his music to demo which you can find at the link above.

P90 Gibson would be nice to find ....

Gibson Pete Townshend Signature

Only built for 2 years, great build, awesome sound from the p90s.

If there was one thing that this guitar can be faulted for, its the fact that the neck tends to want to tip down due to the weight of the Grovers.

My 61 melody maker doesn't have the problem.

A legendary Goldtop.....

Neil Young, take a bow.

Reading an interview with the man, he said the most important thing about playing guitar is enjoying yourself and having the ability to jam and not simply focus on mastering technique.

Well, listen to him live and the man certainly knows how to jam, and use a whole ton of one of effects that really drive his sound. I was actually surprised at how much he relies on his equipment.

His most famous guitar started life as a Gibson Gold top which ended up with a black tarnish.

Then a bigsby was added as well as some metal parts including the pickguard which somehow seems to add up to the feedback monster and microphonic firebird pickup that stuck in the tail.

No idea what the plate in the back is for, probably stash and left behind from the early days...

Regardless, I think you'll agree, it looks the business..

..the '59 grover PAT PENDING USA's

Currently stringing up the Les Paul Custom

Wee, sleekit, cow`rin, tim`rous beastie.........

If you have been looking at some of the guitar pics that I've posted on the blog over the past year, you will have noticed a rather interesting telecaster usually hiding in the background of the pics.

I haven't ever reviewed this Telecaster as until now it hasn't actually been mine to review..until the offer came in from the owner today to purchase this guitar.

Shes an amazing guitar to play. What she is though is another matter.
A workhorse, thats a fact.I will post better pics asap.
Facts are facts though, this G has been modified as a player and to hoots with originality.
By all accounts the body is a 69 apparently, modified to take an extra pup in the middle position. The neck is a whole different story and amazing to play.
..true or false , but the story goes that the person who made this neck also makes the necks for Bruce Springsteens' telecasters. I have no idea, just to say its an amazing neck with jumbo frets by all accounts and no reg number.I haven't removed from body and probably wont either.
The pick ups have been chopped and changed, with a rio grande in the tail and no idea what the other two are.Just a great sound , very country. The body could have been refinished by all accounts.

But this telecaster is a player and has an interesting history. But more importantly the sound is frikken awesome and nothing will be changed or chopped.
By all accounts it could be an early japanese telecaster and I wouldn't care!

Gibson Pete Signature and of course, LPC

Things weren't easy with a badly ruptured left wrist and of course the titanium screw in the right scafoid..

The Paul.The Workhorse.

1978 Gibson the Paul,

not the firebrand, the paul. The pups are original Gibson dirty fingers and in a walnut body with fixed mahogany neck with ebony fretboard sound awesome. The crunch has to be believed.

This guitar is one of my favorites to play. Its one of those guitars that isn't the bling bling but produces the goods and just fits so well into you.

From the sublime to...

The Univox hi-flyer was the first object that I modified due to the costs difference between Mosrite and Univox. I didnt modify anything to fit the reissue dimarzio and she sounded like a ramone guitar.However, the neck to body was so thin you could use the neck as a tremelo.
I understand why people enjoy these guitars, however I was starting to look into some better quality.She now resides in Brazil.

The first initial purchase, the Gibson Les paul Jimmy page first issue signature.

beautiful example, awesome flame, just didn't have the sound I was looking for.

The t490 and t500 pups were disappointing...the burstbuckers that were released for the Custom authentic JP signature with 4 conducter wiring would have been nice to have...However the cost difference is double.

The fact that this wasn't even a long tenon and not very light weight either made me sell it and move towards older wood and relics, and of course the search for different tones and sustains.

just outta interest..

the most famous artist to have really enjoyed and used DMs SDS dp111,s , Jerry Garcia.

An unbalance in the force...

So, as soon as the fs 1 turned up I quickly removed the strings and scratchplate off the 77 hardtail and started soldering..
Removed the wonderful alnico 3 and 5 Eric Johnson pups and stuck the dimarzio sds from 78 in the neck and middle positions and the fs in the bridge. The fs an alnico 5 magnet with the sds using huge ceramic magnets.

First off and the bridge wouldn't juice up.Upon investigation I noticed a very strange wiring set up.As far as Im aware the fs is a 2 conductor wire.This has a bare wire, green wire, white wire and black wire...no red, so not even 4 conductor..perhaps somebody has fixed the original..I didn't buy it as a rewound however...Desperate to get the juice up I simply grounded the black, green and bare and soldered the white to the 5 switch.

She kicked in but was completely out of depth compared to the sd's. These sound fantastic, even in the neck and middle. Playing thru a clean channel they give a truly awesome tone, running wide open tone controls (otherwise they do get very dark) but still have an incredible sound, p90 meets humbucker but still retaining single coilness sound..

The two I bought were a bridge and a neck.I have one more original 78 which is being donated and unless I can sort out the fs (removing tomorrow for another scan) and the fact that the fs doesn't have f-spacing so the E isn't over the pole, I think I'll drop in the cream covered 78 and run the whole shooting match with these pups.

Pictures to follow once the surgery is over.

The surgery is over and the difference is tremendous.
First job was to solder all the grounds together into one and lengthen the cables to ensure the pup would fit in the middle pocket.
Once soldered and dropped in and with the sd 1 in the bridge, the set up really balances out the tone and there is no significant drop when switching between bridge and neck.
The bridge is not f-spaced which is a shame, but I'll keep it that way.
The wiring set up is standard so there is no tone pot on the bridge pot either.

Although Malsteen never used his middle pup, preffering bridge and neck , I do and I'm really happy with the mix between alnico and ceramic, fs dp110 and sd dp111.

Picks to follow, dimarzio cream on black for the moment..

so, questions questions

There are so many good companys out there nowadays making relic, revibe plastics.

The best and most expensive revibe/relic parts come from Asia and you pay for the quality and detail. Some would ask of course, why bother, let the guitar go through normal wear and tear through playing it.

The 77 which is on its way is of course no way near a top level under the bed collectors item.
However, she is nearly complete , with original black pickguard, 5 way switch, neckplate, knobs and pots . Not sure if the bridge is original though. Looking at the pics I'm still surprised this was a sunburst that was stripped. I'm not too bothered though, I may even consider a refinish in nitro..
Now that the cream covered "elasterplaster" dimarzios have arrived I've gotta make some decisions on how I want the guitar to look. I could of course get some tall Dimarzio pup covers and drop them in. But I'm not convinced I actually want all black on natural..

A 77 should reek of the times...faux tortoise shell pickguard with DM creams and cream knobs..?
Or maybe gross out with a 64 mint green pickguard re-issue with cream plastics...
tough call...
The good news is by all accounts the Dimarzio fs is an original and not a more recent .

Dimarzio Dimarzio Dimarzio

So now, having looked around the Internet long enough, I managed to find a second hand Dimarzio fs-1 with believe it or not, a cream cover.

With a set of Eric Johnson customs in one corner and a set of Dimarzio sd 1s for middle and neck with the fs in the bridge, the only thing I'm waiting for is the body, neck and plate with pots and switch.

effects- No REIssues allowed

All origanal issues, from 79 upwards.
Some are apparently as rare as rocking horse shit to find. I was lucky.

1981 Ibanez ST-9 tube screamer with the two chips, european release only
1984 Ibanez SM-9 metal distortion pedal...simply amazing
1979? Ibanez ad80 delay pedal, 18V analog.
1979(?)Ibanez flanger FL-901 18V analog
1991 Boss Distortion ds-1
1991 Morley wah-wah with volume sweep

The dates are approx.
Basically analog pedals just give a more organic sound, the SM-9 is an amazing pedal as is the ST-9.
I don't rely on pedals but they do assist when playing an 81 marshall 35 watt solid state.

The Heritage CMV 140

As most of the pics come from a phone camera, the end result can be poor.

However, this project, which started out as a Body neck of a 1988 heritage CM140V which had predrilled microswitch holes (3) and an uncut nut which other undrilled holes, has ended up a fantastic guitar with some twists.

The quality of the build is outstanding, as you would expect from the same luthiers that Gibson left behind at kalamazoo when moving to nashville.

Pups started out to be zebra gibson dirty fingers, but as I had some GDFs already in the Paul I decided to get some Zakk Wylde EMGs and add the Boost trim pot (as used by Kerry King of Slayer, an adjustable +/- 20dbs trimpot) and a phase microswitch which of course puts the pups outta phase.

The carve is amazing and Gibson cream pup rings hold the EMG 85/81 in place.

The tailpeice and saddle bridge are Tone Pros.

Rosewood fretboard , mahogany body neck..just an awesome guitar which is very very loud when required.

The third microswitch is a dummy as I just don't have a need for anything else.

All electrics are of course EMG , slight twist is that I added another 9v battery as I read the boost switch can be used as a distortion on the max +20db, but sucks juice. So the active pups now have 18V's available and all tucked up in the back without any other rerouting required.

77 strat

Here is an original 77 strat , natural with tremelo..

add some mojo (see previous pics..) and a hardtail bridge and your looking at pretty much what the next project will resemble without the glare...

MIM 7k rewound middle at $20 is the answer...??

The Coupling...

Two vintage sd-1's running at 8,52 and 8,9 will require 1 more pickup to finish the coupling.
The question is how much 60 cycle hum will come off these pups...and who cares? Not I, for one.
Just roll down the volume to 8 or similar.The real question is what to use in the middle.
The only pickup I have sitting around is an alnico 3 Eric Johnson, probably running around 6,5 at a guess.Possibly lower. So perhaps the hunt must begin for a more balanced single coil to sit inbetween these sds, or perhaps a complete overload of ceramic and overboard winding with a dimarzio dp110 in the bridge and the sd's running middle and neck. This would be very hot across the board and of course with the fs-1 running at 13,xx it would be around 25% hotter than your averable single coil.

I only wish I hadn't off loaded that pup to Brazil.
We shall see.
basically the body, scratchplate, pups (2 of 3), neck and machine heads, pots and various knobs including a 78 5 way switch are all awaiting the rebuild.Before I even start though I feel the top 4 frets will require redressing.
Perhaps even a refinish to black nitro....voted most wanted and best guitar of the last century, the black fender strat with maple neck...as I don't have a blackie, perhaps I should look into it..

Now theres a bit of luck....

stop! what goes there...

Advertised as two vintage dimarzio paf pickups...

By all accounts these are by the looks of things, two vintage dimarzio super distortion 1's...

With outputs of 8,5 and 8,9 they are indeed hot.One is a bridge and the other a neck, we shall see. They are very high pups due to the rather large magnet stuck on the base..

I reckon these will suit the heavy solid alder body of the hardtail and definitly remove some of the brightness of the maple neck.

With the tele with handwound scatterwounds and the ej/srv sami special I reckon its time to build a hot rodded 70's classic.

With a black scratchguard I'll probably use the cream covers anyway with cream knobs I sourced from another project.

Dimarzio,seymour duncan..all in the wood..

so now with a new project for 2009 around the corner and the real fun starts..

There are literally hundreds af different strat combination pups on the market...

I've already got a set of custom shop eric johnsons which are nice, but were replaced by hand scatterwounds..but the ejs wouldn't cut the mustard of the latest creation...and thats were you have to do your research and know what sound your after...

a 6,5 lb lump of hardtail alder, one peice running a maple neck and your talking bright before you plug the power in...

the reason the 70s pups by dimarzio et al started to become horrendously overwound was that people didn't have the same crunch gains in the amps and the pups were too weak...

original ear splitting 50's pups are fine, but in my 70's beast I want a fatter punch .

Enter two pups immediatly..the DM Dp110 fs-1 (fs stands for fat strat)..used by greats like Gilmour, knopfler, Ramone and even The edge, the history of this pup is greatly missed by the masses.Introduced in 74 it became used as either a bridge (J ramone, Gilmour) or the neck (MK), not sure where the edge had his...

I actually had one in my univox mosrite copy and it was awesome..but sold it with the pup to Brazil..haven't heard anything since then..

So, thats on the shopping list...then, I think another vintage classic...the Dimarzio SDS 1 super distortion pup , also from the 70s

These aren't pushing out as much juice and they are a lot taller to fit in, so its a bit of a gamble..

but I reckon an sds and an fs 1 with possibly a standard 75 in the middle, this would give around 13 in the tail, 7 in the middle and 9 in the neck..

just have to get out and find them, but thats the charm of building the guitars from every nut n bolt...

I wish.....

20 years ago, about 20 years, maybe not even that long, 16 years ago I had a friend who worked in a guitar shop in Inverness. A guy walked in one day and sold him a matching numbers 62 fiesta red strat...I brought that same guitar over to Sweden to try and get around 1500 quid for it...nobody wanted it...it was 100% original with a slight salmon pinking after all the years...
My mate sold it on for under that...you know how it is..

So, the other day I'm in ebay and I come across a perfect 62 fiesta red strat...price? £57,000
Okay, this was a museum piece and in perfect nick...but anyway...
Then, I found this one...a refinish..a 62...and I'm tempted...the price is high, higher than I've ever paid for a G, but I still remember the last one I held...

x-mas round the corner..however...project 77 starts

well, I was looking at some rather expensive fender projects and then I found the fender hardtail that had been stripped from being a sunburst (thank god, looking at some of the 77's..)
What I was looking for was a heavy solid bodied fender hardtail and at 6lbs 5 this was the answer.
The decision making process of rosewood versus maple neck started straight away and despite nearly buying a rosewood (79 modified) the owner of the body mentioned he still had the neck.
I'm a bit strange here, as I'd rather a neck that was well worn in and played than lets say a fresh sprayed Eric Johnson finished neck (although they are nice but feel sticky)..So that was that...
As usual the question of originality comes to play, but for me its the playing of the guitars, not simply locking them away as an investment..By all accounts I will fit a set of Sliders scatterwounds alnico 2's...however, I'm also tempted to refit one of my favourite pups, the dimarzio fs-1. This was introduced in 74 and used by all types of players, from Johnny Ramone to Mark Knofler and Gilmour..Its a beast of a pup sticking out 13,4 dc resistence.
With a maple neck and that much weight it ay be the very thing to add some fatness...perhaps the eric johnson neck pup from the custom shop and finish off with a 71 in the middle...5 switch from a 78 telecaster and some new pots will do, the matching numbers thing doesn't phase me, as long as they work...
The natural finish may...may be refinned to a blackie...we shall see...can't wait though to see what can be found and of course to eventually plug n play...I reckon that neck may need a dressing though....

solid alder