oh... oh... it's like finding a piece of wood that was lost behind a shelf, hundreds of years ago,
in a museum dedicated to a master violin maker... and friendly staff let you take it for your own build.
When I first bought pickups from DiMarzio they only made three different models,
a P.A.F. Humbucker, a 1957-'58 Gibson copy, a Super Distortion, an original humbucker and a Fat Strat.
The Fat Strat was identical to Fender single coils, except it was louder to blend with a humbucker.
DiMarzio was the first to use machines to wind pickups so they were identical,
and became the biggest pickup supplier for guitar manufacturers.
When I made a left-handed body I made an experimental pickguard.
It had two Fat Strats, middle and bridge like a Fender, with a neck humbucker, the P.A.F.,
and the Super Distortion was between the bridge and middle Fat Strats.
I wired it so it worked like a Stratocaster or a Les Paul or any combination.
After a while I stopped using the Super Distortion,
and a humbucker by the neck with two single coils for middle and bridge became my configuration.
Let me explain why I have the humbucker by the neck, when putting it at the bridge is so ordinary now.
When Mr. George Benson took me backstage to help me decide about playing left-handed,
we were trading his 1955 Gibson L5 back and forth, and I talked about my dream guitar.
That was having a humbucker for lead guitar and single coils for rhythm.
Mr. George Benson said that the best place for a pickup would be the middle of the neck,
where the strings have their widest vibration and you can get the most pick and finger action.
Since you can't do that, having one at the end of the neck is the best.
Ever since, I've only found that to be true, as was the rest of all of his advice.
When I made my experimental pickguard, I bought cream-coloured humbuckers.
I had black covers for the single coils, that blended with the black plastic pickguard,
and I thought seeing the two humbuckers made it look more like a two pickup guitar,
not wanting to look all jammed up with electronics, even if I was.
I had two volumes, two tones, two mini-switches, and eventually, a 9-volt pre-amp.
Hey! I've got a photo of that guitar here in the library. I'll dig that out.
When you see the cream coloured pickup in this scan,
you'll see how it's worn away around the edges on both sides,
and that includes using clear epoxy to keep them built up so I don't expose the coils.
This is my ideal pickup to use for my semi-solid-body guitar, my instrument.
It's made to be magnetically weakened, back in 1977, and it's what I've used ever since.
I've got the same Fat Strat pickups I bought at the same time, and they're all I've ever used.
You can imagine that these pickups, using them to build up my amp system and effects,
aren't something I want to change, having everything I want already, including every confidence.
But my semi-solid-body has such wonderful wood, without a pickguard and hardly any electronics,
I can't put this worn-down and cream-coloured pickup on this new guitar,
and it doesn't match the black single coils, black bridge pieces, and other black hardware.
I phoned DiMarzio and talked with the tech who mailed me two letters, all those years ago.
He endorsed my semi-solid-body, and when I phoned to ask about another P.A.F. humbucker,
he said they didn't make that model any more and recommended the Anniversary model,
saying it was a modern remake of that pickup.
Do you think I've been able to find one, for over ten years?
And don't think I can afford to just order one, when it could cost over $150 plus shipping.
The second pickup, the black one, is a DP 103, the Anniversary humbucker.
I found a guitar on the side of the road and saw the pick-guard had been, uh, customized,
and when I took it apart look what DiMarzio pickup was there, a DP 103.
I tried various settings in my scanner, but this is the best it can do.
When everyone in the store started to gather around as I got into some upside-down guitar playing,
working an Am chord variation with a driving bass and moving melodic elements,
Steve, the owner of Steves' Music, came down from his office and asked to try the guitar himself.
Afterwards, when I talked about building a new lefty, he offered me any pickup at 50% off.
I chose that years' special model, a retro pickup, the closest he had to an original P.A.F.
Now I can use that for my second semi-solid-body. Everything I need is here, for the first time.
That includes replacing all my guitar building tools that were stolen.
When I plugged in and started to play the red Strat, the volume was cutting in and out,
I was hitting the cord so much. When I first played a Stratocaster upside-down,
I used an L-shaped jack so it wasn't in the way so much, but this time,
I decided to go all the way and carve the input into the side with the slanted curves.
And here's a couple photos of the studio, now that it's starting to work for me.
If you were sitting beside me, and I started to talk about building some new guitars,
I could be saying this is just some free old man talk, and not have this much to say.
If I thought I heard the conductors' sticks of Frederik Magle tapping away in the distance,
looking at me like I'm riffing away too much... I'd edit myself a little... yeah...
So much of my musical self has been redefined, re-invented, newed with my favorite parts.
Now I just have to make them look the best they have ever been.
I wannabe an onstage earitant.