Joe Strummer Partscaster Build

[fadingcaptain]

Great project idea. I saw Joe's original at the R&R Hall of Fame in Cleveland - just gave off this incredible vibe. Good luck on the build.

[bossaholic]

Is his guitar still on display?

[Myeek]

Groovey, you nailed it. That's what I am after. Love 2:35 to 2:36 for details, and the neck reference. Man Joe's voice is amazing huh?

Where I am at.

I ordered stencils that were close, but not exact. They are going to need trimmed. I traced the body, and took an undersized reference pic to Kinko's and with a little math blew it up to actual size, or close enough. When I get time I'll take my stencils and overlay for positioning and trim them accordingly.



Also, feel like I am coming down with something so I raced off to the hobby shop to pick up paints for the Rasta stripes.



Red for the blood that flowed
Yellow for the gold that they stole
Green for the land - Africa

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by bossaholic

Is his guitar still on display?

I hear it's still on display in OH.

[Groovey Records]

If you can see those 2 seconds you have Clark Kent's eyes LOL

Blow ups look great

Where can I see some of your prop work (is that the right term?) I'd like to get a look

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by Groovey Records

If you can see those 2 seconds you have Clark Kent's eyes LOL

Blow ups look great

Where can I see some of your prop work (is that the right term?) I'd like to get a look

Regarding, 2 secs "pause" is my friend, and so are you for thinking about me. Thanks man.

Tonight we lost our princess leia belt 20 mins before trick or treating. So dad's belt, auto primer, chrome plate and some foil tape and we were back in business. Not real accurate, but she's happy.







I'll grab some pics of my props for later.

-Mike

[Groovey Records]

If I Didn't know better I'd say she was ready for hyper space

What a set of Dimples

[Myeek]

This test proves nothing. I have a photo that's not color balanced, and my photo is not color balanced. Two wrongs...

At any rate I am taking a guess that Joe's third color (not yellow or red) is a real dark blue/green.

I remember reading reference that the Rasta flag/colors was actually a sticker, I haven't bought into that idea, although the white at the top of the red could be a white sticker base. I am thinking, especially after seeing Paul's job on his bass, that it's paint. Someone please stop me if I am wrong.

[a wobblin]

Originally Posted by Myeek

Holy Moly A Wobblin - That's a beauty! (would love to see the top edge and back side, and to hear your story.)

Thanks Myeek, however I can't claim to have any input into making it. Altough new to guitar - had a cheap strat and then a PRS SE I saw this on ebay and could not resist. I have attached links to another couple of pics (system would not allow me to post here again) the plate on the back reads 'STRUMMER'. Headstock states Fender however very, very faintly under the gloss on the back of the neck I can make out a number which indicates the neck, at least is a squire. I am not sure about the rest of the guitar or pick-ups/pots etc as I am too muc of a novice to know/hear the diference. It is a nice replica and I would like to have know the maker - good luck with yours.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaste...er-tele-3.html

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/welcome-w...mmer-tele.html

[a wobblin]

ps- not sure if this is of any interest:

http://www.mamstore.co.uk/bin/pxisap...ge?item=422735

[Groovey Records]

Originally Posted by Myeek

This test proves nothing. I have a photo that's not color balanced, and my photo is not color balanced. Two wrongs...

At any rate I am taking a guess that Joe's third color (not yellow or red) is a real dark blue/green.

I remember reading reference that the Rasta flag/colors was actually a sticker, I haven't bought into that idea, although the white at the top of the red could be a white sticker base. I am thinking, especially after seeing Paul's job on his bass, that it's paint. Someone please stop me if I am wrong.

I e mailed the guy from Joe Strummer Guitar dot com to see if he had any first hand knowledge> I also emailed Bob Gruen to see if he has any good color close ups of this period. I run into Bob from time to time he knows who I am.

[pete42]

just a thought here and probably wrong ,but i always thought the rasta stripes were electrical tape he had just put on .

[brewwagon]

Red for the blood that flowed
Yellow for the gold that they stole
Green for the land - Africa

you forgot
black for the colour of their skin

pirate radio reggae music like marley and ska big influence back then on the early punk scene
strummer expanded punk's musical palette with his fondness for reggae and early rock & roll

super job i'm enjoying this thread

Musical equipment
Strummer's main guitar throughout his career was a 1966 Fender Telecaster that originally came in a three-color sunburst with a white pickguard. Strummer acquired the guitar in middle of 1975 while playing with 101ers. After joining the Clash, the guitar's body and pickguard were refinished in grey auto primer and then painted black. By 1979, the word NOISE was stenciled on the upper part of the body, a rasta flag sticker was placed at the horn of the pickguard, and an "Ignore Alien Orders" sticker was placed above the bridge. By the release of Give ‘Em Enough Rope the guitar was fitted with a bridge with individual saddles and the original Kluson tuners were replaced with later model tuners and a large question mark was spraypainted on its back. The guitar would remain in this configuration throughout his career with the addition of different stickers on its body. The guitar's black paint became worn down due to Strummer's playing and on many places the original sunburst finish and bare wood shines through, except for the square where Strummer taped his setlists.[22] The Fender Custom Shop has created a Joe Strummer tribute Telecaster with a reliced flat black finish.[23] Strummer is naturally left-handed, but learned to play guitar right-handed, he has attributed this as a drawback and claimed it caused him to be underdeveloped as a guitarist, although his style of playing is unique.

For amplification Strummer was known to use amplifiers such as a Roland Jazz Chorus, a Selmer Bassman while he was in the 101'ers, a Vox AC30 and various Marshall amplifiers,[24] but his main amplifier was a Music Man HD 212 150.[25] Strummer commented on his choice of amplifier with "I don't have time to search for those old Fender tube amps. The Music Man is the closest thing to that sound I've found." and that the "plastic motif on the front is repulsive

re - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Strummer

http://strummernews.websitetoolbox.c...00952&trail=45

http://strummernews.websitetoolbox.c...archid=3762088


http://www.strummerguitar.com/evolutionofalegend.html
bw

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by brewwagon

you forgot
black for the colour of their skin
bw

Thanks BW,

I am glad you mention that.

It was not forgotten, and I wanted to add it, but decided to reference stripes seen. Or at least my 40 year old eyeballs think they see. Althought the top stripe is dark, I am not sure it's black. Darn these low res color photos on "the internet". There are discussions on the Rasta colors on the interwebs, and from the consensus the Rasta colors seem to be red/gold/green.



What's cool is that the guitar being black could represent the color of their skin. So let's consider the guitar itself a fourth stripe. I think that would make Joe happy.

I like the wiki you posted. It's similar to strummerguitar.com, where I "borrowed" 90+% of my base reference. Would love to email him a thank the owner of strummerguitar.com, and ask some questions.

This is page in particular.
http://strummerguitar.com/evolutionofalegend.html


Take care & thanks,
- Mike

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by Groovey Records

I e mailed the guy from Joe Strummer Guitar dot com to see if he had any first hand knowledge> I also emailed Bob Gruen to see if he has any good color close ups of this period. I run into Bob from time to time he knows who I am.

Groovey, you are the man!
I am not worthy, I am not worthy

Let them know, I have loads of respect for their work.


Thank you,
-Mike

[brewwagon]

■In 1975, Joe married a South African woman for £100 so she could obtain British citizenship. He used the money to buy his telecaster that later became his signature instrument.

bw


listen to this song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se5_P...om=PL&index=59

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by pete42

just a thought here and probably wrong ,but i always thought the rasta stripes were electrical tape he had just put on .

Wow Pete42,
That's feasible, and completely cool of you to give me this suggestion. I have seen electrical tape in all three of those exact colors. Do you remember where you might have read or heard this?

Pros of electrical tape might be:
- thin
- color match - excellent
- can be removed, and might explain how the guitar lost it's stripes.
- wavy when stretched.

Cons of electrical tape might be:
- The mated edge of the electrical tape does not have an apparent seam to me. I'd think butting curvilinear edges might show a seam between colors, but we could beat this with overlapping tape and cutting an exacto knife!
- I think the white line across the three colors might be a pick mark (It could have been rough handling like dropped against a hard pointy surface, and not pick wear). It doesn't look like multiple abrasions in one area, but one incident. If that were pick wear, would it have been really hard to strike through electrical tape? (Now I need to do some pick wear tests.)
- When overstretching electrical tape I've seen a ribbon pasta edge like this. Which could be hard to seam or keep flat.



Man I bet there is a 1970's guitar mag from the UK with an interview and all the details are spelled out. If anyone has ideas where Joe might have been asked about his tele, I'd love to know.

I love the help guys! This is getting really good.

Thank you,
-Mike

[Groovey Records]

There are 29 pages of pictures HERE but alot of the links are dead have fun looking I didn't see any Rasta Stripes

[MatthewK]

I found a reference shot from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by brewwagon

■In 1975, Joe married a South African woman for £100 so she could obtain British citizenship. He used the money to buy his telecaster that later became his signature instrument.

bw


listen to this song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se5_P...om=PL&index=59

BW,
Steel Pulse is an excellent band, and they are definitely calling out RGB&G.

I am happy either way. Here are some interesting vids calling out R,G,G. Second one might not have appropriate content for the work place or little ones.

IDREN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEDvr9vqHss

Magaman <<might not be appropriate for the work place or little ones.>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiGq2...om=PL&index=53


Thanks again, I am learning as I go.

-Mike

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by Groovey Records

There are 29 pages of pictures HERE but alot of the links are dead have fun looking I didn't see any Rasta Stripes

Oh Man Groovey, I think you found my next Tele! That's fantastic.

Thanks for the link,
Mike

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by MatthewK

I found a reference shot from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

MatthewK,
I love the Grolsch gasket which holds the strap on. I have no clue when Joe adopted this, but even if it happened after The Clash, it's goin on.



Thanks,

-Mike

[bossaholic]

Great thread Mike!!!

[markothefish]

Originally Posted by Groovey Records

There are 29 pages of pictures HERE but alot of the links are dead have fun looking I didn't see any Rasta Stripes

What a great photo resource for joe strummer photos , thanks . I've never seen this photo before of him with an old archtop .

[allen st. john]

Fabulous thread, and I like your best-of-everything approach to a guitar that's very much a moving target.

And world-class save for a very cute Princess Leia on Halloween. I'm sure there were moments when you wondered why you do this, and this clearly provided your answer.

allen

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by allen st. john

Fabulous thread, and I like your best-of-everything approach to a guitar that's very much a moving target.

And world-class save for a very cute Princess Leia on Halloween. I'm sure there were moments when you wondered why you do this, and this clearly provided your answer.

allen

Hi Allen,
I was up late rethinking about my best of idea. At the start, I've not liked the white strat tip really. I wanted to avoid it and use the tophat. I went to see Fat Dawg at Subway Guitars in Berkeley, CA with a fat research folder, and my questions ready. I mentioned Kluson Tuners and he said "WHY?", then I mentioned Threaded saddles and he said "WHY?". I could tell that these were wise questions from a guy who knows guitars, but wanting accuracy I was a little bummed out. After a day or two, I justified a mid-stream look as they were changes made, and those changes should have been an improvement over stock hardware. The version I am really interested in really is the hot off the press version, after his first gig with some edgewear and dings so my brother can have it where Joe began.

I have a few more days to flip flop, but I am flipping back to original hardware in my mind.

Let me know guys.

Thanks,
Mike

[Myeek]

My stencils are pretty off. I had planned to trim them up a bit, but they are not working.

(originals - kinda cool as they are transparent, and would allow for easy registration.)


So last night I decided I'll have to make it by hand at this point. I've never made stencils before. So I borrowed the transparent idea, and grabbed a sheet of clear styrene I have for scratchbuilding. I roughed the surface up needed for pencil marks, and the idea is to cut it out with an exacto.



After getting this into it, I started to wonder about how accurate my enlargement was. I used the bridge width measurement for reference but second guessed my 150% enlargement at kinkos, I think partly because of the edge radius in the copy and partly because of the pixelation of the image, but I should have trusted the 150%. Last night I used my pick guard to confirm my boo-boo and also confirmed whether removing the painted pick guard would lift paint or not. (It didn't.)

Notice the gap at the front of the pickguard.


Lessons learned:
- trust math, not my eyes.
- thin layers of paint did not seal my pick guard.
- will use this stencil process for the Rasta flag.

[imsilly]

Originally Posted by Groovey Records

White Riot Musical Interlude 1978

Everytime I walk past Victoria Park I think of this clip, it is in the film "Rudeboy" I think. There is so much Clash and Strummer stuff scattered around North an West London. Just today I walked into a shop selling his (and his band the 101ers) Selmer amp. Mick Jones apparently still hangs out in the shop that is selling it. They have had that thing for sale for months, I bet it would sell in a flash in the States.

[indiobravo]

Originally Posted by imsilly

Just today I walked into a shop selling his (and his band the 101ers) Selmer amp...

that's just amazing!! they must be asking a small fortune for it

love the thread

[allen st. john]

Originally Posted by Myeek

Hi Allen,
I was up late rethinking about my best of idea. At the start, I've not liked the white strat tip really. I wanted to avoid it and use the tophat. I went to see Fat Dawg at Subway Guitars in Berkeley, CA with a fat research folder, and my questions ready. I mentioned Kluson Tuners and he said "WHY?", then I mentioned Threaded saddles and he said "WHY?". I could tell that these were wise questions from a guy who knows guitars, but wanting accuracy I was a little bummed out. After a day or two, I justified a mid-stream look as they were changes made, and those changes should have been an improvement over stock hardware. The version I am really interested in really is the hot off the press version, after his first gig with some edgewear and dings so my brother can have it where Joe began.

I have a few more days to flip flop, but I am flipping back to original hardware in my mind.

I'm a Springsteen guy and his Esquire has been through all kinds of crazy changes over 35 years. At a certain point, it makes sense to settle on a time frame--really one or a handful of contemporary pics--and work from that.
I like the idea of an earlier, less-trashed version that departs from the Fender signature model. But if you like the F-tuners better than the Klusons, or the top hat better than the strat tip (or vice versa), go for it.

It's really interesting to see how a "pro" approaches the problem of building a relic guitar.

allen

[Groovey Records]

Myeek

Cool running.

Phony Beatle Mania or True to your Vision is that your predicament?

It is your Vision, nothing you do will be wrong.

Fat Dawg, Bless his pointed head, seems to have little to do with authenticity.

More like a give the people what they want.

A Screw the companies kind of guy

His repro's seem more like a "Power to the People" kinda thing.

I can dig that, but he's looking at the big picture.

Fat Dawg is not about fine details and authenticity.

Follow your own muse Joe would say

[pete42]

mike, a lot of the punk bands i saw used electric tape on their guitars to write things,also on their clothes iggy used to wrap it round his legs!I think in those days it was was just that you used what was around . Like i say i may be wrong but i think it would be easier to have used tape rather than paint.The clash used to have rastas at their gigs playing really heavy dub before they came on which at the time was unheard of for a white punk band .God i feel old

[Myeek]

Thanks guys.

Fat Dawg is a great guy, I hope I didn't imply otherwise. I actually liked that he questioned it from a practical viewpoint. A little background. I dropped by when his store was packed with young up-n-coming hopefuls testing dream guitars. I am pretty shy when I am in a field I know little about, and it's possible I didn't articulate my vision properly. When I was leaving Fat Dawg stepped outside with me and said he would help with anything he could. He was as sincere as it gets.

I have the hardware for both versions, minus the Klusons. I'll mull the final hardware config for a day or two while I fix the stencils. I also have to clearcoat my allparts neck.

A lot of stuff to complete by 11/20.

-Mike

[pete42]

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1257181181 hope these help

[pete42]

the top two are from 76 and 77 ,thesecond one down is around the time of combat rock going by joes haircut it looks like there is just one black stripe the bottom one is from 77

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by pete42

mike, a lot of the punk bands i saw used electric tape on their guitars to write things,also on their clothes iggy used to wrap it round his legs!I think in those days it was was just that you used what was around . Like i say i may be wrong but i think it would be easier to have used tape rather than paint.The clash used to have rastas at their gigs playing really heavy dub before they came on which at the time was unheard of for a white punk band .God i feel old

Pete42,
That's a great Clash concert story. If you feel old, you've earned your stripes. I missed my single chance to see them in 1982 when I was 13.

This green is close:


I'll keep searching.

Thanks,
- Mike

[Groovey Records]

Mike

I'm sure he is a great guy and a Berkley original, meant him no dis.

Glad you two connected

Don't sweat the deadline either when its ready your brother will be ready too

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by pete42

hope these help

Pete!
That's the best color photo I've seen.

- I am not seeing any green in the third stripe in this pic. Looks like brewwagon called it.
- The lines look straight (Pete's tape theory is looking good.)
- I've seen dried out electrical tape chip/break like that.
- I can see what appears to be uniform edge which looks approximately like the gauge of electrical tape.

The red looks some what transparent, mottled and a bit orangy. Do you think it's yellow with red sharpie marker?

I will try black, yellow, yellow with red sharpie.

Another question. The sticker behind the bridge. I've not seen a good pic of it. The one I have seen which isn't washed out looks like a yin/yang sticker



Has anyone seen good reference for the sticker behind the bridge?

Edit: I just noticed Joes sweatband colors.

Thanks,
-Mike

[Myeek]

Originally Posted by Groovey Records

Don't sweat the deadline either when its ready your brother will be ready too

Thanks Groovey, that's actually freeing.

-Mike

[JimmyJam]

Looking good.
About the red-gold-green thing. I believe it to be a sticker. And yes, it would be Red-Gold-Green.. if it were black gold and red, wouldn't that be a German flag?
I would imagine you can find a few Rastafarian type stickers that would fit the bill.
My concern is that if you use electrical tape. it might curl up or become trashed too easily, unless you could cover the seams between them.

"Midnight to six man... For the first time from Jamaica"