Banjo cover of Take on Me by A-ha

The Stag-ocaster now on ebay

Here's the listing:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-modifed-encore-guitar-les-paul-junior-style-with-custom-graphics-and-P90-/221557973943?

And here's the youtube video to give an idea of how it sounds:

Painting with humbrol enamel paints on a guitar.. what are you? some kind of idiot?

Good day all,

A little update on the continuing saga of the cabin-caster or, as it's slowly becoming, the stag-ocaster (not to be confused with guitars from Stagg though).

So there are a number of forums of how you re spray guitars, give them swirl effects and all manner of things similar. There are also some forums that contradict each other when it comes to and-painting graphics on a guitar. the best stuff to use, apparently is one-shot sign writing paints (which is what pinstripers use on hotrods and the like)Here's some pics from google

They certainly give a good smooth effect but, at the same time, some of the most famous painted guitars were done with paint as inappropriate as nail polish- like Hendrix's flying V
Oil based enamel was used for Clapton's Fool Guitar

Here's how my guitar's looking: The humbucker's out and the start of my stag's head design is down. The humbrol paints haven't gone down quite as smooth as I'd like but when the design is all finished I plan to wet sand it to a smooth finish.

There's another two colours to lay down and I will keep you posted.


Has anyone tried this sort of thing before? Any suggestions are welcome.

say hello, wav goodbye

So, with Mrs Lamy, I've been busy staying awake and generally keeping the teething Felix as happy as possible under the current conditions.

I had intended to do some extensive testing of the cheapo stock humbucker through a nice tube amp at a suitable volume. I'd do it straight and then with a bit of reverb and then with distortion; using a warm valve mic and filmed with a high quality camera.

This has not been possible but I did manage a quick play through my 20w solid state orange practise amp on clean with EQ all at twelve o clock. Here are the results:

Just a bit of random playing- some examples with a bit of distortion hopefully to come. 

That's if life doesn't get in the way...

So little update, here's the distorted version.
Hopefully it will give you all a taste of the sound of the cabin caster before the installation of the hbp90.

N.E.W guitars or "Never Ending Wood"...

Even a man who is pure at heart and says his prayers at night can fall victim to the Cabin-Caster.

 

So what have I done so far? 

The Ted McCarty bridge (I believe he designed it on the set of Tucker's Luck) was lowered all the way down and the intonation and action was nice although there was choking at the 17th fret on both E strings. Rather than mess about with the truss rod or trying to level frets, I simply raised the bridge up slightly until the choking was no longer a problem. With finger on 1st and last fret, there was just a little gap between string and fret up the neck as you would like.

 

Silver star speed dials and Humbucker sized P90, both from Warman Guitars, have arrived.  The two stars are now on and the P90 sits, biding its time. The cheap humbucker has no adjustable pole screws so the previous owner looks to have raised the pickup surround to get the most volume out of the pickup. I have screwed the surround down to make my picking technique a little easier and having the pickup a little further back allows for more dynamics and expression from the picking hand. Still haven't had a chance to record the sounds as busy being a daddy...

Here's the pick up and a link to the warman guitars website.

As an Encore, this was obviously intended to be a guitar for a beginner to intermediate type player. I don't find it too bad, however; especially compared to the terrible cheap guitars of my youth (although I suspect a good setup and the replacing of cheap parts would have probably solved a lot of those problems too). 

The question that interests me is whether a player would always need to upgrade to a new instrument from a lower end guitar. The Les Paul Junior (that this Encore emulates) was designed as an entry level guitar. they are  still used by Keith Richards, Billy Joe Armstrong and Leslie West. Now they sell for a lot of money: here's a 2nd hand 50s junior.

Joan Jett played the humble Melody Maker and Kurt Cobain played a Fender Mustang. People rave about MIJ (Made in Japan) guitars of the 90s.

It is true that most guitarists (myself included) have what is commonly referred to as GAS (Gear Acquisition  Syndrome) or the basic greedy desire for new stuff. The idea being that another guitar will make you a better guitar player or sexier or maybe just happier. If, as guitar magazines heavily imply, all guitarists are male- we could refer to this as NEW guitar desire (Never Ending Wood).

And there are constantly new guitars appearing- new products at NAMM usually aimed at getting that "classic" sound and relic-ed to look like they've been around for decades.

Yet there must be enough guitars on the planet by now. And the wood will end sooner or later- the fancy bubingas and swamp ash, maple and mahogany are only finite after all. This is an argument that is a hot topic at the moment with various threads and discussions on forums for and against cheap guitars and modding existing axes.

So call this upcycling if you will, but hopefully this will help the top guitar manufacturers relax the production lines slightly.

Little Dicky or the Cabin-Caster

/////So after a little break, for the obvious reasons, I've decided to start the old blog once again. Thank you all for bearing with me.

This is a guitar I have recently purchased from The Ebay; currently going by the name of "Little Dicky" or "The Cabin-Caster".

It is a Korean made Encore (solidly built) in a double cut Les Paul Junior sorta style. It does have some contouring so maybe best to think of it as a cross between a junior and a strat. Not sure of when it was built but obviously a well made beginners guitar. It has one cheap humbucker, a volume and tone pot and a Ted McCarty wraparound bar bridge. I will record some of the sounds this guitar makes in a little while.

In the meantime if anyone has any suggestions as to the sorta make over I should give the Cabin-Caster; please share...

Progress...

S

o another month goes by, another year, another little Lamy expected and. as a result, another TaTa for Now farewell gig from those Lamy Brothers.


This time we're due to play The White Lionin Streatham on Friday 14th June. We might even be on a little earlier than we normally are but I'll confirm that. Those of you who normally shun our late night antics might be able to see us at a more reasonable hour.


That's probably good for us too because we're getting on now and have been playing in various guises in London for over 10 years. From the Kingston University days of Not Betty Edwards and Callin' the Dog through to The Lamy Brothers and Richard Lamy's a Disgrace. It is still possible to find some Not Betty Edwards recordings (if you look round my house hard enough).


But things continue in one form or another and, having finished my bit of recording for Harry Pye (not sure what will happen with that but I'll keep you posted), I am ready to focus on my own recording endeavours again. My intention is to have my project, provisionally titled "Childish Behaviour", ready by the end of the year. Hopefully free to download (with artwork etc) with hard copies on request but I will have to see about cost.


So the future looks exciting in many respects- particularly with our forthcoming arrival. I will keep you all updated to be sure. Meanwhile here's a few pics of our gig at the Railway Tavern at Tulse Hill which had a bit of everything- Matt on the tables, a noise limiter that didn't like us and a moment when I produce not only the spray of glitter from my pocket but also a used hankerchief.