Grateful Dead Music Forum

Hi all,

I'm contemplating having AO modify my Ibanez MC300NT into a Wolf. Besides modifying a vintage guitar, I have some questions for you all. Who of how have had that modification performed? Are you happy with it? My setup isn't setup for an OBEL, nor do I see a need for one with my setup. Is having a Jerry guitar with no OBEL blasphemous? the 1974-80 sound is my favorite, is Wolf the right choice?

I didn't have ao modify a guitar for me, he built me a Wolf. It's absolutely amazing and I'd recommend him to anyone looking for mods or a full build. His work is incredible.

If you plan to use an envelope filter (MuTronIII, TruTron, Q-tron, etc.) you will want OBEL on the guitar. They need to see the full voltage before the volume knob that the OBEL provides for optimum functionality. For the era you mention, I'd suggest going with late Wolf electronics - SDS-1 in the neck and Super2's, with the ability to split, in the middle and bridge.

Here's a pic of ao's work. I have a sound clip in a couple of other threads I could point you to if interested.

That's a beautiful guitar, congratulations! Thanks for the reply, while I had the older and new Proton EF the sound overall just wasn't a good fit for my rig at the time - I'm interested in trying other brands of EF though, as the Emma I had was great. The clarity and switching options are what I am mainly after, but if the OBEL can be integrated to my rig easily enough I don't see why not. find the tonal options of a guitar with Jerry switching to be really interesting and appealing, but I'm not intentionally chasing a Jerry type rig I guess. With my Fuchs I am hoping to get some Steve Kimock cleans as well.

I've seen some other guitars that AO has made, and he's about two hours from me. Really excellent work!

"Jerrification" can cover a lot of ground- just what do you want to add (and why)?

With the possible exception of the TruTron which has the "pre" switch to gain the signal, I'd agree that to get a satifying envelope sound you should have the OBEL (and most likely a buffer or blaster). You can work around it by running the guitar wide open and controlling volume with the amp, but that compromises tone big time since you're "strangling" the preamp/amp.

TI4-1009 wrote:"Jerrification" can cover a lot of ground- just what do you want to add (and why)?

With the possible exception of the TruTron which has the "pre" switch to gain the signal, I'd agree that to get a satifying envelope sound you should have the OBEL (and most likely a buffer or blaster). You can work around it by running the guitar wide open and controlling volume with the amp, but that compromises tone big time since you're "strangling" the preamp/amp.

Hi T14,

Thanks for the questions, I want to Jerrify the Ibanez based on the mods AO lists on his page minus maybe the OBEL with the late Wolf specs, the tones from that era is one of my favorites:

http://www.aoguitars.com/pricing-5

I appreciate your input regarding the OBEL. Seems like I may want to include that since I may always go back to using an EF and if I ever go to sell more Jerry fans would want that feature.

I am having a guitar Jerryfied by Andrew. I'll share the info when I get it back, will say I went with the Tiger architechture.

Andrew did my SG, just some "regular" mods.

His work is outstanding. As all one man shops that have a great rep, he is very busy. May take a while.

Worth it? Absolutely.

aiq wrote:I am having a guitar Jerryfied by Andrew. I'll share the info when I get it back, will say I went with the Tiger architechture.

Andrew did my SG, just some "regular" mods.

His work is outstanding. As all one man shops that have a great rep, he is very busy. May take a while.

Worth it? Absolutely.

Looking forward to it! That's understandable that it may take some time. In that case I may drive it up and back once the weather gets nicer.

If you are into Jerry's playing, technique and sound like most who frequent here, then you owe it to yourself to have at least one guitar with the OBEL/Wald buffer setup. Now whether that should be your vintage Ibanez or not is up to you--no recommendations from me on that one.

I can speak to my experience with AO Guitars as I did have Andrew Jerrify my Carvin 400 a couple of years ago. I will echo everyone's sentiments--top notch guy, top notch work and like any good one man shop, he is busy. Consequently it's probably going to take a while, so you have to be patient.

Good luck on your quest.

john in san diego

rugger wrote:If you are into Jerry's playing, technique and sound like most who frequent here, then you owe it to yourself to have at least one guitar with the OBEL/Wald buffer setup. Now whether that should be your vintage Ibanez or not is up to you--no recommendations from me on that one.

I can speak to my experience with AO Guitars as I did have Andrew Jerrify my Carvin 400 a couple of years ago. I will echo everyone's sentiments--top notch guy, top notch work and like any good one man shop, he is busy. Consequently it's probably going to take a while, so you have to be patient.

Good luck on your quest.

john in san diego

Thanks John!

I think I will go with the OBEL. No rush, waiting is kind of fun - right?! What guitar did you go with? The Ibanez would have the best wood for it, and I am not really enamored with the ceramic pickups.

Tiger. Super II's and SDS--1. He also did the ebony pickup ring, pickup selector plate and truss rod cover. The knurled ebony knobs were a third party. It's my guitar on his website.

You'll be stoked when it's finished.

john in san diego

rugger wrote:Tiger. Super II's and SDS--1. He also did the ebony pickup ring, pickup selector plate and truss rod cover. The knurled ebony knobs were a third party. It's my guitar on his website.

You'll be stoked when it's finished.

john in san diego

Very nice. I'm a noob when it comes to the pickup types in each guitar but from checking out what guitar Jer used during which year(s) and the helpful posts from you guys helps for sure! The ring sounds like a good call in case I'd like to try a 3rd Super II.

Andrew did modifications to a Strat for me and it turned out really nice. He is a great guy and does excellent work.