NZGuitars.com

New Pickups, Amp and Ukulele day!
Pt 1: Pickups
After getting held up by the Spanish postal service's long shutdown over christmas, the Jess Loureiro pickups I ordered last year finally arrived!

Jess Loureiro is a Spanish pickup maker who has a pretty good rep amongst is (albeit small) clientele. He makes some really great looking pickups and seems to have a fairly authentic approach without being too wanky or expensive.
http://www.jlguitars.com

Tele Custom set (Widerange Humbucker and matched tele bridge pickup) to replace the pickups in my Radian tele. The look of the neck pickup has always bugged me, and I really dig the sound of the genuine WRHBs that I've played (not the reissues- those suck) so I thought I'd take a punt on one from this chap since it was relatively cheap (half the price of a Lollar one) and reputedly is period correct construction apart from the magnets (no-one uses CuNiFe magnets as far as I can tell). I opted for slightly aged so they don't look too shiny.


And while I was at it, I thought a pair of WRHBs for my Jazzmaster would be a handy thing to have now that I have a quick swap system sorted. At worst they'll sound like standard hum buckers which will give me one HB option in my arsenal. At best they'll sound legit and will likely stay in it for good.

Again, I went for aged looking ones as I didn't want shiny, new looking pickups on my Jazzmaster. Even the brand new Mastery hardware on it is matte so as not to look too virginal.

The construction is top notch on both sets and I really liked his Jaguar pickups that Strummers had for a while so I'm cautiously optimistic that they'll be good. Will report back when I eventually get a chance to put them in.

Pt2: Amp!

Awwww yeah:



I traded with Sizzlingbadger for my Fender Coronado, which I had been thinking about selling since it wasn't getting any play time between my Gretsches and Jazzmaster. Been playing this in my lounge this morning and a bit at work during the week and it's really cool. I think I actually prefer it to my Bandmaster. I now have 3 really great amps so might have to flick one before too long. The only thing I don't like about this amp is that it's not a combo...

And last but faaaaaaaaar from least...

Pt3: Ukulele!

Bit of a saga behind this, but I finally collected this when I was in Wellington last weekend:




It's Tony Francis Weissenbourne Style 10 Tenor Ukulele- all solid Koa. I know that a ukulele isn't going to light everyone's fires but it's fucking stunning. It sounds monstrous and has that special something that means you just can't put it down. I've already wasted half the morning playing it when I should have been working. It was definitely worth the wait and the angst. I'm just bummed I didn't get to use it on the previous series of The Moe Show (which is what I commissioned it for). I had originally commissioned a really plain one, but he upgraded the fretboard to that outrageously flamey Koa to make up for the delay. I absolutely love it.

Along with a mate's experience with a custom made amp, it's taught me a valuable lesson when it comes to custom instruments- make a contract with the builder with a realistic timeframe included and either a full out clause or some kind of penalty if they don't meet the deadline. I basically had no come-back with this when it went waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay outside the promised timeframe and just had to wait it out. As it turns out, that worked out OK for me anyway as it's just in time for a new season of The Moe Show and a friend's wedding that they want me to play ukulele at.

Good to hear Ben that you finally received the goods. Looks very cool too. Did he offer any explanation for that outrageous delay?

jvpp wrote:Good to hear Ben that you finally received the goods. Looks very cool too. Did he offer any explanation for that outrageous delay?

No, but I don't really care about the why. It seemed pretty clear that he is permanently busy. He's making Weissenborns for famous people.

Epic new things post! And so glad you FINALLY got the uke!!!!!!

bender wrote:The only thing I don't like about this amp is that it's not a combo...

Just nail them together.

I had a Tele bass pickup from Jess Loureiro. It was absolutely stunning. Only got replaced by a lollar which as you mentioned, was a few times the price. I've got flats on my bass now, which I reckon wouldn't be too fussed if it was lollars or not!

Frey wrote:Those jazzmaster pickups look cool.

I'm itching to try them, but it's looking like the long weekend is going to get away on me which will mean a long wait...

Used the amp for a recording session today. It's fucking excellent. I'd love to try a bunch of their others now. Especially the Ventura.

bender wrote:Used the amp for a recording session today. It's fucking excellent. I'd love to try a bunch of their others now. Especially the Ventura.

Slight pang of regret here, but I'm glad it's actually getting played. Hope it serves well; such a cool amp.