Searcy String Works newest endorsee

I would like to take a moment to introduce you all to the newest Searcy String Works endorsee. Jessica is the 15 year old daughter of my friend and luthier Mike Dotson. Mike makes some of the most classy reso-phonic slide guitars you have ever seen. A few years ago he asked about a P-90 pickup for his 'PlastiFerri' electric he built from some parts he scrounged up. What I sent him were some of the S-90s I was pushing at the time. They use 6 neodymium magnets and six steel pole screws and have a lot more bright tone than a standard P-90.

Get this.... Jessica has only been really trying to play guitar for a little over a month!! She has a fantastic singing voice to be sure and her playing is FAR better then mine was after a month.




Also, Pipes and PT over at Six String Bliss did an interview with Jeffrey Jones with some production help from Alicia in their 119 show last week. Down load the podcast HERE and find out more about Jeffrey Jones and the mind that brings us such amazing work.

Another old Fender Stratocaster Rewind

This week I'm going to be spending some quality time with this fantastic old Fender Stratocaster bridge pickup. It's dead and needs a rewind. The guy who owns it believes it's a 1959. I'm not so sure. I'll be taking lots of notes and measurements from this one for my files.

W. Jeffrey Jones Guitars (From the dark mind of the Master!)

Do you remember me telling you about W. Jeffrey Jones Guitars? They are the masterful works of professional sculptor turned luthier W.Jeffrey Jones. He has sculpted everything from Santa to Spawn . His Dragon Wing art guitar is undoubtedly one of the most outrageous guitars I have ever had he pleasure of putting pickups in and his Nocturne Guitar is shaping up to top even that one.

So that's W.Jeffrey Jones and the other day he was passing through Nashville where he and I and Alicia got a chance to meet at the Baja Burrito . We ate some of the best burritos in Nashville and talked about guitars and Nashville and guitar pickups and finally I got a chance to see one of W. Jeffrey Jones' famous fretless guitars in the flesh. Click here and listen to what one of these sounds like. The guitar is called the Special K and I can tell you that the workmanship this guy puts into his instruments is unreal. See those black lines? That's not ink or paint. It's ebony wood dust. The thin and light finish is a polymerized linseed oil and it settles into the grain just enough to let you know you are feeling wood. I wish I had brought my PigNose so I could have played it a little louder.

I can already tell that I will be doing a lot of work with W. Jeffrey Jones Guitars and I can't wait to see what sort of crazy art guitars he makes next.

It's Alive!!! (Monster Pickup #5)

Alright!! After a few delays brought on by everything from defective materials to hospital stays to car crashes the 12 string bass monster is finally done!!

Wow!! What a Drama

I'm sure Tim will be happy to see it finally show up in his hands. The pickup is really two pickups under one cover. The bass side covers only the 5 top strings while the treble side covers the lower 7 strings. Each side houses a variation on my NeoJazz bass single coil with blade style steel and neodymium poles .

I can't wait to see the finished bass!!

"12" The Number of the Beast! (Monster Pickup Part 4)

The week has ended better than it started. I got all the crap for the truck done. Paper work filed and parts are on order. I'll put it back together myself.

I got to meet W Jeffery Jones this week. What a treat that was but I'll talk more about that later.

I got the cover for the 12 string bass pickup almost done. I still need to do a little more sanding and fill a few voids and round the edges over but then it's time to stuff it full of coils and magnets and let it roll.

Just 16, Pickup truck, Out of money, Out of luck...

Have you ever noticed that just when you think you have things rolling right along and the world has returned to normal fate likes to kick you square in the ass...?

Well, things are no different around here. I still have some back orders in the shop. I have some pending new orders and one repair to do. I have some business meetings later this week with former and future clients and I'm pressed for time. So it's only right that while I'm running some shop errands a redneck, moron, jack ass from hell would decide he needed my lane more than I did and smashed the Searcy String Works Pickup Truck like a beer can... The whole driver side is waded up. The door won't open, mirror is gone, lights are no more, AC stopped working...

Lot's of phone calls to insurance companies, waiting for police reports, waiting around for adjusters, more phone calls to make... I really don't have time for this crap...

Six String Bliss!!

Have I ever told you guys that I have done a lot of work with Six String Bliss ,the longest running guitar podcast on Earth? Well, I have now. My first dealing with co-hosts Pipes and P.T. was a few years back when I did an interview with them for episode 20 . Later I did a short segment for them in episode 57 . When they reached show 100 Alicia and I both talked to them about how crazy a trip it's been so far and we talked about bands we thought were over rated.
Recently I helped them produce a show with Vintage Guitar expert George Gruhn and as soon as I get all my back orders out the door I may work on another show for them.

If you're looking for something laid back and guitar related to crank in your i-Pod then tune in every Monday for a blast of Guitar News, Guitarist Of the Week, The Center Song, Gear Reviews, Interviews, Guitar Stories and more with your most excellent hosts Pipes and P.T.