Joe Barden lives on...

...In the work of Harry Häussel (www.ugroove.biz/haeussel.html), who has resuscitated the lost art of building blade pickups.
They look "almost" the same as the original Joe Barden pickups, but of course are differently executed, s nobody really knows how Joe did it.
The regular version pickup has a DC resistance of 4.04KOhm (!) yet is powerful enough for hard rock and maintains a lot of clarity and control, without sounding brittle or thin.
There is a hotter model which sports a whopping 15KOhm DC resistance...of course the 2 sets can be mixed and matched - say a HOT bridge with a regular mid and neck.
These pickups have such great dynamics that they can be played with the volume at "1" allowing you to gig with a simple one-channel amp and to dial all your tones exclusively with the p.up selector and the vol /tone controls.

Rock on
!-)

Kudos to....

Bob Willcutt (www.willcutt.com) - for some awesome awesome Nik Huber Guitars. Dude, you rock!
Joe Driskill (www.driskillguitars.com) - for being willing an'able to try out the Häussel pickups I sent him... I wanna hear that plank wail, man :-)
David Myka (www.mykaguitars.com) - Dave is such a nice fellow, unbelievable.... Some his stuff is really innovative and refreshing (check out his "Stargazer" guitar). David will be getting some Häussels very shortly.
Last but not least
.
.
.
.
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Saul Koll (www.kollguitars.com). Yet another awesome builder and such a kind person. He's the only builder who has tempted me for so long and for whose guitars I couldn't pull the trigger. Why? They're all so damn Gorgeous! And even when I did finally make my mind up, many moons ago, I kept agonizing on the color and the pickup combination.
I did finally decide last night: I'm getting a Superior, standard configuration with the electroflux p.up in the bridge and a Häussel P90 in the neck. It'll be (probably) a daphne-blue kinda job which he calls "rafito blue".
Oh yes... he too is gonna get some Häussels to play around with.

Praying for positive responses from all these iconic builders......

Something Very Expensive will stay where it is

So, after having spoken to the man I waited and waited.
I must say that he was sort of reluctant to sell.
His market in the US is absolutely roaring - fair enough - also thanks to the promo efforts of his henchman, Matte Henderson - an outspoken, cynical, sneering, super-guitaristo of swedish origin.
So Johan Gustavsson doesn't really see the point of having to sell outside the US where his guitfiddles sell at 5.5-6k a pop.

So it isn't a surprise that Matte sends me a terse message some days later

Hi Paul,
Matte Henderson here. Johan asked me to email you regarding your order. The price of your guitar(excluding shipping, customs fees, etc.)is 5,000 Euros. A 50% is required to start the order. I can email you with all pertinent wiring transfer info at your convenience.

Best,

Matte


Guess what.
The same guy quoted me back on July 1st 2005 for the same guitar at 4.400 euro and never got back to me when I asked for more info re. deposits etc.
There's absolutely NO WAY I'll pay up 13% more, just because on dollar terms the 5.5k dollar guitar has gotten more expnsive (remember - it's built in Europe).
So I guess that my hard earned money stays where it is.
So I also guess that the Häussel pickups I sent to Mr. Johan Gustavsson to try out will never find their way back home.

Disappointment runs a dime a dozen, lately. Poor lame world.

Pulled the trigger on Something Very Expensive

Called today.
Spoke top the man.
Sent him an e-mail.
I'm in for a Johan Gustavsson '59 Classic.
Take your most beautiful '59 Gibson Les Paul, with it's gorgeous flamed maple top, morph it slightly into a telecaster shape and voilà...you have a Gustavsson.
Will have real old-growth honduran mahogany back and neck, btw.
And - of course - Harry Häussel pickups ;-)

Wanna see some?

Go to www.jgguitars.com
You're warned... Like the Nik Huber guitars, these are equally as addictive.

Six String Shakira!

Did you see her latest vid? She's rocking on a pink Hamer Special...!!
Kudos to her for having the balls to avoid the usual G*bson - F*nder cliche' and for being so indipendent as to being able to make her own free choices.
(Having said this, I really don't dig the tone of her voice on this song, unfortunately)

Mo' Bettah' Vintage

Mo' Bettah' Vintage
Originally uploaded by Uncle GroOve.

A brief word of praise to Steve Carr for building the Carr Rambler amplifier (www.carramps.com).
I purchased this baby for home use, but at 28 watts (pentode) it's still waaaay too loud, LOL...
I'll never get it to crunch (ok, I could plug it in my Weber MASS attenuator).
Despite the fact that I can't bring it to grind I can get some of the most luscious clean tones out there, from jazzy to fonky...and if I plug in my Fulltone Fulldrive II things turn real real nasty.
Oh, BTW...the Fender Telecaster Deluxe is the real thing, not a reissue.
Capito?
;-)