Led Zepp -Celebration day

Postman dropped off my Amazon.co.uk purchase of the DVD/CD reunion gig by Zepplin back in 2007 at the O2.
So the first thing you have to realise is that you are going to be watching a band with an average age of 60..before you start setting judgements..You can't compare it to the '73 16mm classic or you may be disappointed. However, if you take it for what it is, you'll be as fucking amazed as I was at just how hard these guys can still rock!!
Looking around the web and you read on forums that Page was looking old and tired and that Plants voice wasn't up to it...like I said...these guys are on the otherside of 55...and at the same time, with people passing comments like that, I almost understand why the band had second thoughts about ever getting back together...as they would always be compared to their heydays..
hardcore Zepplin fans will get it and should have a copy as it's like the Gods are leaving the rest one last statement after all these years...and they do it with class.

With regards Tone, I had a look around for more info about what JP was using. Everybody is writing their opinions about what guitars he "should" have used and so on and so forth..load a bollox...but anyway, he did get given a Marshall setup by JM:

.....which apparently he never used as it was too late to set up into the rig. This was based on the hand wired Jimi Hendrix signature rig.
Beside his freebie, he ran his old Petersburg 100's from Russia, Orange 30W amp and a couple of Engl 4x12s.
For more info on the Rig;
http://www.midasconsoles.com/pressreleases/2007/12.07/led-zeppelin.html
and more interesting:
http://www.fohonline.com/home/24-foh-interview/1286-big-mick-hughes-gives-zeppelin-the-full-roar-treatment.html

Some say that there is ALWAYS an AC30 around the man...no mention though...and that the Orange was the main amp...tehn again, some are pissing and moaning about the muddy tone..to assist the tone is of course the usual Pete Cornish pedal board:-

At the end of the day, it's all from the fingers....

I'm happy to have had the opportunity to watch this gig which was sold out in milliseconds...damn shame they never did a world tour to follow up, so this is as good as it gets.

I find it quite touching that Jason Bohnam wrote that after the last song he went to the dressing room and burst into tears as , not only had his dream of playing with his dads mates come true, but also the fact that this would probably be the last time it would ever happen..
-and that is sad

Right then...

Now that the Greco got the Burstbucker out of the tail of the G&L, it's time to start looking at stage 2 of keeping this fantastic sounding /feeling/ playing guitar wreck alive.
As previously mentioned, somebody got carried away with an electric drill and ripped out loads under the home made pickguard. The body is beyond salvaging and it was a close call that I picked up a replacement..If one comes along ..who knows..however, anybody familiar with the original F-100 will know that they looked very different across the board.
With it sounding so good with a humbucker in the tail, I'm thinking of keeping the same set-up but adding a couple of blade pickups in the middle and neck position. With the amount of routing under the guard, the next plan is to wire up a preamp and some other switches/pots to see if I can get a similar set up to frank Zappas much neater yellow strat. This really is a wonderful player and the G&L bridge is brilliant. I'd better start looking at wiring schematics...

Greco EG600J

Been waiting a while for this to arrive. Basically been interested in a '54 style paul with or without humbuckers for a while, but the Gibson custom shop prices are high and these are quite hard to find.
So I did some research on the Greko's and went fishing. Found one in Germany on fleabay.

I had a look around the web and to my surprise found the same guitar in a forum which had a question from a guy in sweden asking if people felt it was priced right. The serial matched as did the general condition.

I asked the fella in Germany if he could wait a few weeks for the money and when he agreed, I offered a price and the rest is history.

Whilst waiting for the guitar I had a look around the www to see if I could find more pics and reviews etc...there wasn't much out there that I could find..probably more a case that I wasn't looking in the correct forums!
I did read that some were hollow back then...for some reason that bothered me...I didn't want a balsam wood Greko that was hollow...
I'd asked the seller on the weight..which sounded very light to me...more worry...

Once it arrived and I picked it up, all the worried disappeared..great weight and more than I had been informed. Not too heavy, but heavy enough to punch a sustain!

I'd already decided that the Burstbucker #3 and #2 that I had removed from 2002 r9 would be the pickups of choice which, ironically, was also the Gibson Custom shops choice for their jeff beck signature. I gave the guitar a dry run with the pickups that came with her and was impressed by the neck pickup.The Dimarzio SD didn't impress which actually surprises me. I've never owned one but my expectations were higher. That will end up in another project..so time will tell...

Out came the soldering iron and out came one set of buckers and in with another. Obviously nothing is ever that simple...I needed to source a set of height screws that would match the non metric burstbuckers...the heritage EMG's are now requiring a set which are on order...whilst the G&L F100 is also without the Burstbucker #3 which I had in it's tail...I'd also removed the Historic lightweight wraparound tail from the '61 Melody Maker to see if it would fit...but it wouldn't.I had already sourced a MIJ 70's item from Texas that had arrived yesterday at the same time as the guitar.So basically, 3 guitars lay around the workshop (see kitchen) whilst I got on with switching the 3-way  switch tip. There are a few things that need sorted if one joins the "anal" gang of correctness..the rear bucker ring is a different shade of cream from the neck, probably original Dimarzio.All part of the character and charm!

The burstbuckers are aged..not sure how or when that happened as as far as I know the Historic series didn't have that as an option..they fit right in though with the appearence of this '78 model.

Once everything was soldered and tested , a new set of strings was fitted and off I went to do some testing.

Road tests is where it's at with guitars imo.. you can fit all the best/ worst parts, but if you don't like the tone its not happy clappy! With the Greco I had read something about the fact that the neck was different . I have to say, it's not the same at all to what I'm used to. It's like a very wide, shallow 12 radius set-up. I can imagine that many a person could easily dislike this neck shape. I like all neck shapes so it's just a case of turn key!

Due to the operation going into the late hours, the first time I could really get a listen was on my vintage Roland cube (beige). Sound was really clear, which , considering the height between strings and pickups, surprised me a tad. An awesome bass tone from the neck and the old school sound from the treble(bridge) pickup...the whole package gives a great tone...think its the mix of the pickups to wraparound (steel alloy).. it's almost "hollowish"..ghostly...clear..
This morning I plugged it into the Marshall and suddenly that Burstbucker #3 showed once again why it's used in the custom shop guitars! sounds awesome and the guitar took on a new life! can't wait to play it more!

So, first japanese guitar in the collection and I feel happy that it's a full bodied 78 with the bits, so to speak. Even vintage cloth wire. I was considering changing the pots and caps, but for now they are doing the job well enough, so that can wait..this guitar wants to be played!

The OW is muckle as *uck!

 

The Radiator is now fitted and looking awesome! The OW is muckle in everyway! That frame is one huge chunk of quality alloy!!

From the rear you can see the YEC frame strengtheners...can't imagine what they were thinking when they felt they needed to beef up the frame even more!!

The more I think about it and look at the bike bare..the more I fancy fitting a different tail on the beast and putting a set of superbike bars on it...leaving her bare and fitting a single ehadlight..it's almost a shame to cover up such quality parts!

fiberglass trial...

Radiator fitment

 

 

Weekend came and went with my rugby team taking the Swedish Championship Gold for the third time. And then of course it was also important to get the brackets that finally arrived from a mate, fitted to the bike to see how the radiator fitment would work as this was initially built with fitments for the later YZF750. Everything worked out and I fitted the full race fairing to ensure it was fitting right.

Two bottom brackets to be made to fit the unit to the block and then it's time to see if she will fire up.

 

 



1988 YZF team Roberts

The 1988 YZF 750 of Team Roberts that was the start of the Ow01 project that would hit the streets the following year.

Fitting the Rad

..had a second look at the radiator which arrived from Tokyo.

It's obviously set up for a YZF and not an OW, so it's gonna require some work to make it fit. Initially I thought about getting some new brackets welded on top of the rad, but maybe leave the original in place and use spacers and brackets.Just gotta make sure they hold the rad once its full as I can imagine it will weigh a bit!

sounds of the past...

Check this Ow01 rebuild out

Looking around the web I came across some great photographs from the workshops of Peter Day, the gandalf of Yamaha Ow01s! If you need to know anything or are looking for parts then Peter is the guy you want to ask.

Obviously my rebuild is much more in the basement bargain dept. than the one pictured. I'm also keeping mine a lot more to it's '89 issue components as opposed to moving up to Öhlins upfront.
Basically my budget isn't on the same level.

But it's great that owners put up these albums for the rest of us to admire!

Check them out:-

http://fabernet.jalbum.net/
http://jalbum.net/en/browse/user/album/733276
http://jalbum.net/en/browse/user/album/819891

Poached from Tokyo

 

 

 

1994 Bol D'OR winning YZF 750

raunch!

Be advised Nasa..countdown to fireup has begun..

With Hitachi style block connectors in hand and a bunch of wire and relays, the OW01's wiring set-up is almost at a close.As always you have to be aware just how much work is involved when dealing with a pure out and out road racer which you want to convert back to semi-standard.
Doesn't make it any easier that you start with an OW...

So basically the PRK wiring look is in , the relays are attached and all the required wiring is hooked up. On the list to do, we have a front instrument panel and idiot lights , but on the other hand I may not bother with them and simply add a zxr speedo. Still work in progress..
Then we have the fact that the bike came with a zxr 750 radiator..and no fan.. As I have a ZXRrr I know the importance of the fan..as these bikes run hot..
initially the idea was to keep the rad and add a zx10 fan which i would mount to the left side....there would have to be a thermo switch added of course...currently I simply added a block connector which has the temp switch plugged into the system...
As I was really wanting to make a replica of the Suzuka 8 hour bike that Roberts put out Rainey on, I thought it would be good to have a look around at other larger rads..suddenly, out of the blue came the unicorn crap..

This is the same as set up that the S8 hour had... don't reckon I'll bother with fans.....I believe this is a factory YEC... so one step closer anyway...

So far, I haven't even managed to turn the engine over after the rebuild of the OW engine. With the Ignition lock arriving yesterday, the idea is to plug in and get her turned over to see if there are any unwanted issues...

 

 

Alloy tank is obviously not stock and is apparently an endurance tank size...has the pump in the bottom. You can see the YEC frame strengtheners make this like the forth road bridge..

Relay"ing the message"...

God I hate waiting for parts that I've sourced...part of the rebuild process I know, but tremendously boring anyway!

having got a list of relays the search begun in earnest for the revelant black boxes...some of them now obsolete, so if your lucky enough to find one on the fleabay it's a case of buy it now..as in yesterday!

It would have have been "oh so much easier" to leave the sprint harness on the bike..but that would have restricted play time and as the bike was setup for a total loss battery system, been impossible to use without jump starts..

I've managed to find 3 of the main relays and now it's simply a case of waiting.
The replica right switch arrived from Japan and to my dismay had a different set of block and bullet connectors fitted...it's only a matter of time and effort to change the connectors to one 9 pin block connector..but once again it's a question of waiting for the parts to arrive.Such a shame the previous owner gutted the original switch and used it simply as a kill switch..however, c'est la vie.

There are a few items on the list like a condenser and resistor (used for the fuel reserve?) which can wait for a while..I will have to fix a few block connectors for the switch and the fuel pump which has also had it's connector removed and changed to two bullet connectors as opposed to the three pin connector.

One more headache was solved today.
This time it was the speedometer issue. The bike also has a tach and temp guage left from it's original cluster...and as the bike isn't going to be 100% original I thought of sourcing a seperate speedo casing which I could then fit a brand new speedo innard that I bought a while back which is a black faced 300km/h speedo face. I sourced a Kawasaki 89 H2 speedo on the bay which was complete. So I'll rip the innards out and replace with the one I have stored. Obviously that will also require a swap of the front dymag for the original front wheel which came with the bike.
Not sure about the backlights on the speedo , but don't think this will be too difficult.

Another wee headache I had was the fact that the top yoke has no place for an ignition switch. However, solution solved by using a steering damper plate to hold the switch (which isn't as yet purchased..)....should be a neat solution despite losing the locking ability.

Right then, busy busy...at the weekend the team I coach won the swedish 7's championship with a 58-0 win in the final...

Somewhere in a grotto....

where are we with the OW01?

Right then, the ow01 project is moving forwards, slowly but surely.
Received a mail from Tokyo this morning informing me that the headlight wiring and lamps went through and will be in the post soon. That was a massive bonus...and basically removing the sprint harness for the road harness is where we are in the project.
On the way from WEBIKE, Japan, is a right hand switch as the original had been butchered into a kill switch from the previous owner with it's innards guttered...shame..but good that he left the left hand switch in the left-overs box..
So now it's been a case of relay hunting and working out what I need to complete the harness which I found on fleabay for a token 45 quid...I've managed to find a complete list of electric parts that I need to source and on top of that will be getting a rear mudguard and bracket that will assist in fitting the rear light gear.
Up front and I will use a race fairing bracket.
Haven't as yet decided which way to go with regards fairing. I have sourced a couple of originals, but it may be easier to buy a replica as opposed to paying for the real thing.

Took a bit of work..but...worth the result...

One of the major issues of buying rare bikes in "not" perfect 100% mint condition is getting into a condition so you can use them on the road without having them turn out too bad..

So far the search for OW01 parts has been interesting. There are not many spares around and even the guys who have a stock are finding their stock shrinking..

Recently I was fortunate enough to find a guy selling an original ow01 wiring harness on Ebay , as an FZR1000 wiring harness..well, lets just say it shared the 3PK harness s/n number..

Now that I've removed the total loss sprint harness, I've fitted the original and I'm in the process of sourcing the correct relays and bits and bobs..despite having the original headlights, I didn't have the front wiring harness and this is a "Unicorn syndrome" part to find.. 

So a few nights ago I googled the WWW and there it was..a complete front headlight setup with harness on Yahoo Japan Auctions...

These auctions are amazing..you can find some really cool stuff ..

The seller had "local shipping" only and the broker to buy anything off the site wanted me to pre-deposit money, pay x amount extra and percentages of shipping and all the rest..I wasn't too excited at the prospect..

..so I contacted a business that we used at work, based in Tokyo and asked if someone could help....

Cut a long story short, it's mine and should be on the way soon...

Alien Twin

This is what the end product of my original designed and built racing frame turned into once it reached the States.
Apparently the price tag was extreme, but so was the amount of work on the engine and plastics.

Obviously when I worked the project from base camp we didn't have more than TZ replica fairings and seats...
All in all a very mean looking motorcycle.

ZXR750R

The ZXRR after I refitted the original exhaust and replaced the dented tank from the crash a few years back. Lots of improvements since the original purchase and a fine looking machine.

Butchered G&L G000543

It's a pass me down with a very low S/N number...one of the early Leo and George guitars , an F-100 series II with a 12" radius neck which somebody decided to butcher....It came with a pickguard carrying a humbucker and two single coils and with the bridge blocked off.
It's obviously too butchered to return to former glory as the F-100 didn't have more than a pickguard over the volume tone/pots and had passive pickups..
Plan is to look at getting another pickguard custom made and based on the one that it came with that covers up the deepest of scars...and put in a claw and springs in the back.
The pickups removed were all cheap and cheerfuls...on first using the guitar I liked the bridge humbucker..but then I noticed it broke up too early on the gain and sounded poor...I have a few humbuckers I could use, as well as two mini-humbuckers sitting on the shelf..maybe a humbucker in the tail and mini in the neck, for something different...

updates to follow..