83 MIJ JVSQ ..the gutz..

...of Project Rat. Well, malsteen calls his the Duck, so in chinese traditional ways I'll keep with the animals and call it a rat.
I don't usually get stuck into MIJ stuff, but the Golden years when Fender were at Fullerton and moving to Corona and you get the idea that the quality was better than in the states..so I took the gamble and bought a relativly cheap body of sen ash, apparently,not sure if its basswood but its light, but not too light.I reckon around the 4LBs area.
Its a poly finish which doesnt really bother me, although the music media is really stuffing the concept of nitro C being the dogs bollox and nothing else matters.
To be honest I dont think i'd know the difference...
Anyway, everything is currently packed and being shipped, so everyday is x-mas.
The neck should turn up at anytime and once that has arrived I will deem if its gonna be me or a luthier turning the #3 bolt to a #4.
Once again you read a lot about plus and minuses of the warmoth pro necks with a truss adjuster on the side.Once again I'm confinced it will do the job.beautiful neck as can be seen in the pics.
The aged look of the body and trem block ensured I could keep the aged look, so we're talking aged guard, knobs, tips,bolts,screws,backplate.
And thats it..basically, except for the details which makes the full picture..
I'll have to modify the pup cover for the fs-1 as its dimarzio..but thats the pup in the bridge, the Edge,Knopfler and Johnny Ramone also used the fs-1 and since its beginnings its still a popular pup, that was back in 74..The mid pup is gonna be the seymour duncan alnico II pro with staggered poles and up in the neck, an old friend returns which Ive previously had but sold as a set, an Eric Johnson alnico III from the custom shop.Great sounding pickup! So its gonna be interesting how they match up, the fs-1 is 25% stronger than a standard pup and alnico 5 rods, so its 5/2/3 with a counter wound in the middle.Both middle and neck have similar outputs and offer more of a spongy bass sound..I'm hoping the guitar will be round 7LBs, we shall see!

Nice angled pic of an SRV neck

alnico 5, 2 and 3?

project RAT
white body
ivory aged pickguard and covers
JV trem
Warmoth neck

electrics a mix n match from the used and offer box, 5 way cts switch and 3 pots

So, pups.Given slider a mail but went ahead and bought a rw middle pup in alnico 2, gonna use an original fs-1 in the tail which is alnico 5 and finally possibly go for an ej alnico 3 in the neck..we shall see..

musical chairs...

So now the projects are set up for the up and coming grey skys.

The 78 telecaster is currently carrying a set of Rio Grande Vintage Tallboys which as advertised are the ultimate chicky chick chick.
However, I may set in the Sliders hand scatterwound set that I have currently split up, with the Alnico 5 sitting unused.The bridge Rio Grande will make its way back in to the oddball telecaster from whence it came.Still undecided, but it has to be said the Sliders scatterwound are recommended.

The 77 strat is currently carrying 2 vintage Dimarzio sd1's and an FS-1, also vintage.I have another sd1, but I may instead look to try and get a set of 77 fender originals to make her 100% original.That leaves me with 3 Dimarzio sd1s and an fs 1 which may end up in the telecaster mentioned above which has 2 strat pups and a tele bridge.

That leaves me with 5 vintage dirty fingers , 2 of which have split coil options.
Maybe stick a set in The Paul from 78.

In the bag o bits I also have knobs, covers and a bunch a stuff including screws, aged or otherwise which I can use to build up the latest project.And thats the one that will be the most challenging and rewarding.

The JVSQ body is light and hopefully sen ash as opposed to basswood.Its a poly coat but its a keeper.Next step is to get the 4 bolt warmoth rosewood neck to fit onto the 3 bolt configuration.Haven't decided yet if I will leave this to a luthier or not.One thing for sure is that I wont ruin the neck bolt config.
Next will be an ivory green fatboys pickguard, 62ri.And then the question is whether to reuse the bakelite covers and knobs on sami mk1 and borrow the relic covers and knobs from there or simply get another set.
The pickups and electronics are of course another question mark, although I do have 2tone pots that I can use as well as a 5 way switch.All CTS.
Vintage wiring of course.

Right, next move for here will be pics of whats already done.Just have to get the pics snapped.

The Real McCoy...

For a mere $69 000 you can go out and buy yourself an original 1960's Olympic white strat..Or, get a project going to build something that you'll probably enjoy as much..ok, so it will never be as good but on the other hand you save 68,400 dollars..

WARMOTH STANDARD THIN C - NECK PROFILE

WARMOTH RADIUS = 10-16 COMPOUND RADIUS for super low action.

WARMOTH PRO SIDE TRUSS ROD ADJUSTER

NUT WIDTH IS 1- 5/8ths

22 JUMBO NICKEL FRETS

plus ca change

So, the day the 78 telecaster was put together and plugged in, the 83 fender japan sqjv body arrived.Olympic white and very lightweight, I started looking for a neck.

Initially I tried to fit the 77 fender neck but that wouldnt line up.
So, after looking, reading, investigating at just about every neck available, I finally found a warmoth that I felt would do the trick with the right size dimensions.
Birdseye maple AAA and Brazilian Rosewood fretboard with a thinner neck than the SRV neck, I'll have to get the JVSQ body routed for a four bolt which I feel is much better.
Plan is to get an ivory green reliced pickguard and another set of sliders pickups.

Can't wait!
pics of the 78 telecaster will be posted.

nice flame!

the "DUCK"....

a 73 to base it on...

3 bolt 70s Project

So I have a 77 natural finish (once a sunburst) and rather strat sitting in a guitar case which I wanted to change the body on. For a start I felt the weight, despite a great tone, was going the other way to where I wanted to go.
Looking at prices versus quality , I decided early days that I would look at some MIJ strat bodies.
At this point I started reading about the differences between the models, the history of Fender Japan and the whys and why nots of the 82,83,84 models.
The woods vary, but by all accounts the early squiers and fenders use sen ash which seems to be a very good wood and very light.Slightly heavier than alder but an improvement on basswood..
Whilst all this was going on I actually found a 74 damaged body which I thought of buying but lost the auction when my internet went down just as I was about to bid..and to make matters better or worst, depends on how you see these things...I managed to purchase a fender JV tremelo block plus all the trimmings..
So, I had everything except a body.
Then an '83 Olympic White JV 3 bolt appeared from the same seller as the Trem gear.
The 3 bolt set up isn't the same as USA fenders as it uses 3 wood bolts and no micro tilt, so at the moment its a gamble I suppose...(maybe make her a 4 bolt like Malsteen does,,)but the idea is to stick the parts that I have left over, lying around or on another G to build up a maple necked Olympic White.
As I have some bakelite covers, control knows and a switch...I'm thinking of sticking them on sami mk1 and using the fatboy relic gear on this project.
I'll obviously keep everything from the 77 as shes complete except pups which I'm not really interested in.
I have three Dimarzio SD1's which I could use or go for anotehr set of sliders 69 specials.
Body weighs in under 4...

Moving forwards....

Right then, the Telecaster body matched up perfectly with the same year '78 telecaster neck.Once this had been removed from its former body which was a mess to be honest, I noticed that non of the parts from the original project guitar would fit the genuine fender body.
Looking around at the options and prices decided to try and keep the guitar as original as possible (78 that is) with the exception of a rather cheap Mint Green telecaster pickguard which I thought may look the bizz on the black reliced body.
We shall see.
Despite the calls for a three brass saddle bridge on all telecasters I decided to use a genuine fender 6 saddle bridge ala '78.with everything else from 78 the main difference will be the pups which will be rio grande tallboys in neck and bridge position.
I'll get some pics up once the parts arrive and its plug n play time. I have to say it has one of my fav necks on the guitar.

New old body

Finally one of my projects which ended up a mess will recieve what it deserves.
The 78 telecaster neck which I purchased and which is an awesome neck will now be blessed with a 7Lb 78 original 78 Fender telecaster body.

Its gonna be a blackie..pics will follow.Pups most likely will be RIO Grande tallboys..

Les Paul dies aged 94

Okay, I wont lie and say I'm the biggest fan ever of Les Paul.
I haven't listened to very much and I suppose I'm not ready yet to listen , otherwise I would have.
A friend showed me some youtube today and it was very impressive, although not really the music I'd rush out and buy.So, as I said I'm probably not there yet and wont pretend to be.
But the guys inventions and designs are of course legendary.

Rest in Peace

marshall silver jubilee 2553

Hopefully by this time next week this 2553 50watt will be in my kitchen.
Sure, I'd love the RR 100 watter and the price is good for what you'd normally pay for a full stack,and then the '73 50 watt tremelo in the local music shop is also a nice peice of kit but..
The silver jubilee has a bit of a reputation as being one of Jims best.His favorite amp by choice as it happens. Only built in 1987.
The 50 has the same as the 100watt but is smaller in size and made for a smaller 2 x 12 as shown.Apparently gives out a warmer sound than the 100.
To be honest the 100's would be okay if I was out and about on a regular basis and trying to cut through a mix, but I'm not, so to push the 50 (which is only 20% less loud as the 100) is enough.
As you can push two cabs out the back maybe a mesa added to boost the bass may be eventual.

Now I just have to hope the guy reads his mail and I can collect.

Tempting..

With the Marshall 30watt solid state you get enough sound , no worries..

But now I've been offered a great deal on a Randy Rhoads Signature full stack ...must have..

been a long time since,,,etc...

plus ca change...or not as the case may be.

Heat wave in Sweden is great at the moment, shame then that I've had to lock the door and hide in the shade due to some chernoybl influensa thats knocked me out for the past three days..
Even playing the guitars is a struggle..
Boyz are down for the summer, with one out sailing for a week and the other sharing his time between pc and guitar..hes come on great and managed to get purple haze nailed from tab on the strat..now hes moved on to the burning lamp and morley wah wah and tubescreamer..

they'll be no more guitars for a while.Now I'm looking at getting a 05 gasgas 450 fse to use the motor as a donater for the blown supermotard 450. Should be an interesting mix n match with the 05 engine with improved updates.Can't wait to get back on the road.

Then there was AC/DC at Ullevi. Sold out in around 30 minutes and they kinda went through the motions of expectation.Impresive for their age and the sound was as expected.
The fact that they flew in from copenhagen and out straight away kinda shows their status.
Worth watching of course, but you kinda miss the smaller venues from the 80s when sold out was 3500 people.

Friday night and its BBking at the local kids disco. Same place that Bonamassa played and who was simply awesome. I'll update once I've been down and watched one of the last King of the Blues.

theres a bita luck.......

........now that the 69 pups are in the Les Paul Custom I have to say she sounds awesome!

I didn't actually think the Dirty Fingers could be bettered but I was wrong.

As the guitar is an early early 70s fretless wonder I started worrying about the frets and if I ever needed to get a refret. They don't make these frets anymore and I don't mind the fretless wonders, so I had a look around and to my astonishment I found an ad on craigslist from plainsville, OHIO, that somebody was selling Gibson fretless wonder new oldstock, 6 feets worth.

Suffice to say they're on the way to be put in the cupboard for the day she needs a wee bit help!

Miss pearly gates...

Now I'm going through a ZZ top phase I just had to find a pic of Billy Gibbons infamous 59 Gibson les paul. And what a great guitar this is!

On their way....

Vintage 1960's-70's Gibson "T-Top" PAT Number Humbuckers.
My early 70s Gibson les Paul Custom is about to recieve a change in pups.
The dirty fingers has done great work in the tail and the one off in the neck is also an awesome pup which is a rewired gibson 57 classic which has been turned into a 4 conductor and puts out 8,5.
However, when these pups came up for sale with worn off gold etcc. I simply had to get them and make her original again.
Pics will be posted once they're in.

Heres a Find from Oz

Rightiho, when I was looking around the Web for any info at all about the headless Bantam I came across a forum where somebody was asking questions for more info about the guitar.

followed this up and here is a pic of Songirls White Washburn Bantam which was previously owned by the lead singer of Simple Minds and sold off locally after a tour collapsed.

Danny Gatton

Ok, you've probably already heard of DG and I'm the last on the block to have heard him.
Well, the telemaster certainly deserved his name.
The way I found out about this guy was through the telecaster that I have now aquired which is basically brought that name up.
Listen to this guy play, watch him showing finger picking and admire his ability to fuse country, jazz and blues altogether.

Unfortunatly Danny took his life at the age of 49 years old despite his breakthrough at 45 years old.

So she arrived...

...the washburn bantam that is.
Now then, I did have high expectations on this guitar and I have to say I'm not let down whatsoever! What a great piece of kit, great weight and finish and a fantastic neck with medium jumbo frets.
Even the pups are impressive.I've never had a Washburn.Great stuff! I haven't removed the back cover as yet but I believe these are passive pups and not active as I've read previously.
New DR strings are now installed (11's) and the fretboard was cleaned up and nut glued firmly into place.
I'll post some pics asap.

5 oclock alarm call

One of the problems with ebay is having to set the alarm to get up for the last minute of bidding.
Having lost a Hondo Lazer last week once the price went past $605 I decided to make sure I wouldn't lose this Washburn bantam.
This time I'd done my homework.
Now, back in the early 80s, a Hondo Lazer would set you back $399.
This Washburn would have set you back $999 ! Solid Alder body with a maple neck may be the answer, as well as active pickups and an altogether better made guitar I fancy! Three times the price, well there must be something in it. Of course, made in japan is always better than made in Korea, as the Hondo was.
I'm really happy I won the auction with a price that was under half of what I was bidding on the Hondo.
I mean to say, a brand new Hohner GT3 will set you back $699, and you can forget about the Steinberger Spirit which the Hohner out classes.
Not much written about these guitars on the net, I did find a price list from 84 and some information at a website.
I can't wait now, by all accounts this little beauty is gonna sing!

Project Heritage is finished

The Heritage has gone through some different stages and at the end I decided the best way to fit the empty shell of the HCM140 was to add some new Zakk Wylde EMG Active pickups and a booster switch (from Kerry Kings (slayer fame) setup adding 20dbs boost) and a coilsplit.The micro switches dont look so bad .
The flame on this solid mahogany and maple top is stunning and actually changes when looked at from different angles.words and even pictures cannot describe how nice the finish is.
The pickup covers are Gibson Historic as are the tone and volume dials.The tuners are spezials I think and are smaller than grovers which I think looks nicer than the std Heritages.
Pearl markers in a rosewood neck with medium frets and all this from an unused 88 body.
Behind the rear cover are 2 15V batteries to charge the active pups plus the booster switch.Enough wiring to light up Blackpool but it works.
The carve on the maple top is amazing.These guitars are so under rated.
Only one part missing and thats a trussrod cover.
Neck is so fast and is a medium size.
Great guitar.

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..?