The SheedySonic PW2/N+1

The SheedySonic PW2/N+1 at the moment of its completion, 24 August 2026

Achtung, gleich folgt eine Tirade über Gitarren. > > > > There’s this formula for guitar ownership - N + 1 - "number of guitars you own, plus one”. It is ridiculous, because, in all fairness, I do have an instance or two of duplicating the type, and essentially, it’s only because I can. I don’t need four Stratocasters, but I have them. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to apply a new formula, (N - 2) + 1 , but It just isn’t working. Nobody is buying. I’ve given one away. I do have quite a few special guitars for particular sounds, 12 strings, baritone, bass, pedal steel , dobro, open tunings for the stage, guitar-synth and all that, so it’s not entirely over the top, and when I want to record a certain part or have a certain sound, I can generally get it. But I recently ended up with another (the one in the pictures) and it’s story is worth telling. > > > > Peter “Flash” Sheedy, my only real-life hero, is a storied gentleman. A great player, a actual legend, an innovator, a tech-nerd, magician, father, grandfather and great friend. There are many more things I could say about Flash, but it’s worth telling of the first time I ever heard of him. My brother had just finished high school and he was recounting seeing a band at the Tamworth RSL that featured this guy with a stretchy guitar strap and a lap steel that he whipped with the cable that hitched it to his amplifier. That sounded interesting enough, but I when I actually did meet Flash, about 15 years later, I was kind of scared of him. I’m not sure why, but perhaps I expected some surly and fearful showman who whipped his steel guitar. Peter, of course, turned out to be one of the loveliest and most sensitive of people, and from that time, I’ve been given the keys to his studio, gifted his knowledge, tales and shared all manner of geekery and mirth. After a cancer diagnosis in 2024, Flash’s fortunes have undulated, but right now, he’s a happy man in his bachelor pad, with his daughter, son in law and three grand kids. His guitar lab is also there. Over the last few years, he’d commenced building SheedySonic guitars for us mere mortals. > > > > When he was doing a spell in hospital last year, I went to visit him a few times and sitting beside the bed once was this parcel he’d been waiting for, a Stratocaster body made in Canada. Now, I didn’t want any guitars, much less another Strat, but once I saw the spectacularly finished plank of wood within… well…. maybe I changed my mind. It looked like a speedboat from the 1970s… not my exactly my flavour, but it was definitely calling out. It had that SheedySonic vibe. Once Flash made it out of hospital, this should be a mission. > > > > Given the body was purple, and given the Jeff Beck (RIP) signature model that I already owned and loved was was midnight purple now faded to a metallic mauve, we decided to build one as close to the same guitar within reason, but with one main difference, that being the pickup compliment should be of the stacked humbucker variety, more similar to Beck’s actual performance guitars. The neck on these have a beefy 1950s profile that astonished me when I tried one in the early 90s, but that I have now come to prefer. So, Flash ordered a neck in this vein, in roasted maple, with a rosewood fretboard, stainless steel frets and ready for the LSR roller nut, as per the signature model. The neck arrived in the right shape, but needed several tweaks to accommodate the special nut, also the 22 fret overhang on the pickguard. A few frets weren’t right, and Flash was having a bit of a downturn at the time, so that and the nut slot got seen to by my old uni mate Kieran Glasgow, of Glasgow Music who did a beautiful and precise job. I had already ordered the pickups, Lawrie Minson had the right bridge to sell me and Flash just happened to have an LSR nut. I had a set Sperzel locking tuning machines as per the early JB strat spec and things finally came together. > > > > Of particular note - this was also to be the very first SheedySonic guitar to feature a logo. One had been designed by Sydney indie music doyen, Bruce Tindale, so I began the lengthy trail and error process of transferring that little graphic onto a waterslide decal, just like the old Airfix models. It was harder than you’d imagine as there are so many variations to take into account, not least what kind of overspray might actually not destroy said transfer medium. But we got there in the end. Bruce’s design was in monochrome, but I had an idea to incorporate the actual look of the luridly sparkling body of the instrument. So a photo was masked into the logo using Photoshop and to cut a long story much shorter, that was it. If you wanna know how to do this, hit me up, as I certainly learnt - many sheets of transfer paper later and many destroyed attempts, none of which ended up on the actual working guitar. I had trialled them on an old, warped neck that was lying around the shed for decades. Flash is seen holding it in the picture below. Why is it called “PW2/N+1” ? I’ve explained the formula, but it’s the “Purple Wanger 2” since there was already a Purple Wanger 1, as it’s affectionately known, in a some circles. Plus, it’s + one. It’s beautiful looking, playing and sounding guitar. It took some work to get the project into the right place, but it’s arrived. It’s the most noise-free electric guitar I own. For those who want to know, the pickups are a set of ToneRider APEX PLUS. The treble bleed took some working out - a series 130K ohm resistor with a 1nF polyester capacitor, hitched to a Yngwie J Malmsteen signature volume pot. I realise that sounds stupid, but its a free-spinning control that lets you do volume swells and rapid cut offs with your pinky. > > > > It’s a weapon, a true stunt guitar. I had a time putting it together with the timeless and indefatigable Flash. I’ll be using it at a show really soon which is where the rubber really hits the road. > > > > Field Conditions + (N + 1) =‍ ‍Purple Haaaaazzzeeee……….

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