# Jahn fanned 8 build thread



## Hollowway (Feb 9, 2015)

Hello, I'm Hollowway, and I'm addicted to buying guitars.

Whew! Good to get that off my chest!

So I saw Julius Jahn's dealer thread about doing a fanned 7 run, and I really liked his single cut. So after some talking, his offer to do an 8 for me  and picking out the woods, he's already started! You can see the bubinga top under the neck and FB woods here, and the ash body in the other picture.


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## immortalx (Feb 10, 2015)

This is gonna be killer!
JJ is not only one of my favorites here, the man clearly has an eye for detail and has already proved he's into "less talking-more work"


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## omgitzrick (Feb 10, 2015)

Looking forward to watching this one! What kinda time-frame are you looking at?


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## TKOA-Dex (Feb 10, 2015)

B-but you just got the Doberman! Either way this is going to look amazing!

Is that a black and white ebony fretboard?


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## SilentCartographer (Feb 10, 2015)

DUDE, yet another future NGD to get my GASing for customs in gear.. Yeha wondering about that neck wood.. looks like a pale moon ebony. Fack this is a good year for you and guitars homes.


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## Hollowway (Feb 11, 2015)

SilentCartographer said:


> DUDE, yet another future NGD to get my GASing for customs in gear.. Yeha wondering about that neck wood.. looks like a pale moon ebony. Fack this is a good year for you and guitars homes.



Yep. That's what I mean - I'm going WAY overboard on spending in the past year or so. I've got 3 8 strings on order from Tom Drinkwater that I hope will be done soon. And my KxK 8 scale, which will be the most epic design known to mankind. But it's 4 years in the queue, and so I'm not holding my breath for that. Can't get a response from Rob, so I guess I'll just get it when I get it. 
And the last one was a Shad Peters build, but his workspace burned down, and took everything with it. So it'll be a while before he can get back up and running. 

I wasn't planning on getting in those run of JJ but I had already saved up some for a Vader 8. And I really dug his single cut design, so I figured the Vader can wait.


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## House74 (Feb 11, 2015)

Am I the only one who looks at those two slabs on the left and thinks push em together and.... BEWWWWWWWWBS?


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## Hollowway (Feb 11, 2015)

House74 said:


> Am I the only one who looks at those two slabs on the left and thinks push em together and.... BEWWWWWWWWBS?



Not anymore!


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## M3CHK1LLA (Feb 11, 2015)

nice...saw they had another run.


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## Renkenstein (Mar 18, 2015)

That's a really good look.


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## ForThisGift (Mar 18, 2015)

The wood combo is not really to my taste, but the body shape is very interesting. Should be a great guitar!


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## Hollowway (Mar 24, 2015)

So I was hanging out in the dealers section, as we addicts are want to do, and I came across Julius Jahn's thread. I really liked his single cut shape, and since the price was right, and I have been able to move some stuff, I pulled the trigger. It's rough right now, but it's taking shape!


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## InfinityCollision (Mar 24, 2015)

I was tripping out thinking "Wait, he's got another build going already?!?"

Then I realized that you made another thread for this build last month 

That body shape is pretty interesting.


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## DistinguishedPapyrus (Mar 24, 2015)

Liking that fretboard... is it pale moon ebony?


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## FIXXXER (Mar 24, 2015)

the fretboard...JEEZUZZZZZZZZZ!!!


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## Hollowway (Mar 24, 2015)

InfinityCollision said:


> I was tripping out thinking "Wait, he's got another build going already?!?"
> 
> Then I realized that you made another thread for this build last month
> 
> That body shape is pretty interesting.



Ah, crap, did I?  I have GAS _and_ early onset dementia!

Edit: I thank Mod, the threads have now been merged!


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## Hollowway (Mar 24, 2015)

DistinguishedPapyrus said:


> Liking that fretboard... is it pale moon ebony?



Yep! And I got to thinking, if we were to shave a suuuuper thin piece off the top of a slab of it, we'd have some rather... distinguished papyrus!

YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH

/Horatio Caine


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## Renkenstein (Mar 24, 2015)

Nice polish on that fretboard, Jahn.


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## Hollowway (Sep 12, 2015)

Whoohoo! It took a while, but Julius was able to source a guy to make the wooden bobbins.


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## CaptainD00M (Sep 13, 2015)

Semi hollow


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## M3CHK1LLA (Sep 13, 2015)

awesome....

but dude! you could feed a small country with all the guitars & builds you've got...


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## CaptainD00M (Sep 13, 2015)

M3CHK1LLA said:


> awesome....
> 
> but dude! you could feed a small country with all the guitars & builds you've got...



But would that country rock?


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## Nag (Sep 13, 2015)

That fretboard is "I'd buy her dinner first" level of tïts. Can't wait to see this finished (I also have a major case of "finally something that's not a superstrat" right now  )


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## Hollowway (Sep 13, 2015)

M3CHK1LLA said:


> awesome....
> 
> but dude! you could feed a small country with all the guitars & builds you've got...



Wife, is that you??!!



CaptainD00M said:


> But would that country rock?


 
 For those about to rock...



Nagash said:


> That fretboard is "I'd buy her dinner first" level of tïts. Can't wait to see this finished (I also have a major case of "finally something that's not a superstrat" right now  )



I know! He's got an AWESOME source for the PME, apparently. I have an OAF coming eventually, and that will have a PME board too. 

And I honestly have to slow down with these purchases. But I mean, it's my only spendy vice, and I'm not doing the $6500 mayones thing, so why not?!


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## CaptainD00M (Sep 13, 2015)

Hollowway said:


> For those about to rock...



We build 8 Strings?


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## Hollowway (Nov 7, 2015)

Update! After months and months of waiting and at least one redo, pickups from The Guitarmory are finally done. And as an aside, I would steer any of you WELL clear of ordering pups from The Guitarmory. I paid for these things in the spring, and received next to no communication, no email responses, no Facebook responses, multiple missed shipping dates, etc. Julius didn't fare much better. The first set was done and the grain didn't line up because he made the bobbins first, and then slanted them, throwing off the grain pattern. So Julius had him redo them, and this is the result: they're STILL off. And there's a gap between the two bobbins, and from the appearance of it the cut lines aren't straight. At this point I said .... it, we need to move on. Of course, no answer from him regarding what the heck happened. 
Anyway, they're at least here, so Julius can get the build finished. (He's been awesome, by the way. Excellent communication, photos whenever I want, and isn't trying to slide anything past me.)


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## jarnozz (Nov 7, 2015)

that looks so good!


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## ThePIGI King (Nov 7, 2015)

What if your fretboard was also the top? I want a PME guitar...but monies...Looks awesome though! Excited for you. Can't wait for the NGD.


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## mathloss (Nov 7, 2015)

I really like it.it's a beauty!!


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## Prophetable (Nov 7, 2015)

I know they aren't exactly how you wanted them, but they really do look good despite it.


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## Hollowway (Nov 7, 2015)

Prophetable said:


> I know they aren't exactly how you wanted them, but they really do look good despite it.



Yeah, totally. I mean, to a certain extent you can slap PME on a pup in any old way and it's going to look hot! The wax from potting them tinted them a little more yellow, so Julius is going to do a similar thing to the FB so it looks continuous. I can't wait, though. It'll be my first guitar with PME. Tom Drinkwater (Oakland Axe Factory) is making me another 8 string, and we have a PME board for that one as well.


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## mphsc (Nov 7, 2015)

I love everything about this.


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## boogie2 (Nov 9, 2015)

Gorgeous!


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## Hollowway (Feb 6, 2016)

Update! It's getting close! The rough shaping is done, and it's on to finalizing the contours and sanding. Check it, my brethren:


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## jwade (Feb 6, 2016)

Still super jealous of the fingerboard


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## Hollowway (Feb 6, 2016)

Haha, I know, I wanted one sooooo bad, and now I have this, and another build planned with Tom Drinkwater that will have them. I'm still wanting a sapwood Mexican cocobolo FB, and will get one eventually. I had one being built by Shad Peters when his shop burned down, so it'll be a while before he rebuilds it. And then I think I'll have all the fancy wood guitars I ever wanted. Hopefully no one invents a new type of tree.


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## jwade (Feb 7, 2016)




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## Hollowway (Feb 7, 2016)

Idk wtf that is, but yep, I'm gonna need a guitar made of it!


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## jwade (Feb 7, 2016)

Rainbow Eucalyptus. Dunno much about it, someone just showed me that picture. If the wood is like that, goddamn.


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## Slaeyer (Feb 7, 2016)

That gorgeous fretboard and these wooden bobbins!


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## electriceye (Feb 8, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> Yep. That's what I mean - I'm going WAY overboard on spending in the past year or so. I've got 3 8 strings on order from Tom Drinkwater that I hope will be done soon. And my KxK 8 scale, which will be the most epic design known to mankind. But it's 4 years in the queue, and so I'm not holding my breath for that. Can't get a response from Rob, so I guess I'll just get it when I get it.
> And the last one was a Shad Peters build, but his workspace burned down, and took everything with it. So it'll be a while before he can get back up and running.
> 
> I wasn't planning on getting in those run of JJ but I had already saved up some for a Vader 8. And I really dug his single cut design, so I figured the Vader can wait.



Whoa. Hold on. KxK has you on a FOUR YEAR HOLD for a custom axe? That's...f'ing absurd. Even Jackson won't make you wait that long. I sure hope you didn't give them a penny of your money for a deposit.


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## Synesthesia (Feb 8, 2016)

jwade said:


> Rainbow Eucalyptus. Dunno much about it, someone just showed me that picture. If the wood is like that, goddamn.


It actually is like that. It's beautiful wood. Unfortunately the coloring only occurs on the outer bark layer. The rest looks pretty average. Meaning it'd be pretty much impossible to make anything instrument-esque out of it.... soo sad....


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## jwade (Feb 8, 2016)

Synesthesia said:


> It actually is like that. It's beautiful wood. Unfortunately the coloring only occurs on the outer bark layer. The rest looks pretty average. Meaning it'd be pretty much impossible to make anything instrument-esque out of it.... soo sad....



Yeah thats what I was curious about, I figure it was just an outer layer situation. Maybe doing some kind of live edge guitar could work though!


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## Hollowway (Feb 9, 2016)

electriceye said:


> Whoa. Hold on. KxK has you on a FOUR YEAR HOLD for a custom axe? That's...f'ing absurd. Even Jackson won't make you wait that long. I sure hope you didn't give them a penny of your money for a deposit.



Yeah, it's definitely been a long time. It's actually been 5 years. Rob said there was no ETA for the run, but I really didn't think it would take too long. But, while I would reeeeaaaalllyyy like to see it soon, I'm primarily glad he didn't make off with my money, like has happened to me before. I've got a couple of builds in the queue with people, and for whatever reason as soon as I drop my name in the hat the build times for the group go way up. Knock on wood, I haven't been royally screwed in a few years, so I'm generally happy.


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## JuliusJahn (Feb 9, 2016)

(I obviously post this in jest. Holloway's been one of my nicest customers to date)


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## Hollowway (Feb 11, 2016)

A couple of quick coats of oil...


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## Ram150023 (Feb 12, 2016)

Damn Hollow... Can't keep pace with you 

Awesome looking 8... Excellent build JJ!!


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## Hollowway (Feb 23, 2016)

Low light, but cool progress shots!


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## jwade (Feb 23, 2016)

That's looking crazy good. One might even call it sexy. Damn.


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## CaptainD00M (Feb 24, 2016)

Guess you're playing folk rock on that thing huh 









Just Kidding, clearly you will be playing Ethiopian influenced Trance Music 

Sweet woods though and unique take on the tele


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## Hollowway (Mar 3, 2016)

Soon, hopefully! Neck is done!


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## Hollowway (Mar 15, 2016)

Almost here! A couple of quick shots. Still some finalizing work to do, but this is the general idea. I can't wait!!


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## Bigfan (Mar 15, 2016)

Is it just me, or are the lowest and highest strings way out of alignment with the pole pieces of the bridge pickup?

Beautiful build so far though.


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## Hollowway (Mar 15, 2016)

Yeah, the pickups are just sitting in there now. Presumably they'll be in line when they're wired up and screwed in.


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## downburst82 (Mar 15, 2016)

I do hope it all comes together and winds up being an awesome guitar for you but a few things definitely look off or at least a little rough....


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## JuliusJahn (Mar 15, 2016)

Bigfan said:


> Is it just me, or are the lowest and highest strings way out of alignment with the pole pieces of the bridge pickup?
> 
> Beautiful build so far though.



Any builder will tell you no build is perfect, and unfortunately for this one it's the bridge pickup. I don't know how Dale (Guitarmory) managed, but the spacing is off by 7/16 (11mm) for the bridge bobbin. I sent him the CAD of the bridge/nut/last fret and he was supposed to connect the dots but something is off. 

It's not an issue with the angle or position because all the poles follow the strings and the neck one turned out fine (all be it, also off by a few degrees of what I sent him). I'm slowly working towards a public statement about all this, since this is definitely the worst experience I've had with any "company" and can't recommend them anymore.


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## Ernesto (Mar 15, 2016)

If you measure from the string to the upper edge of the pickup holes, the pockets aren't in line with the strings. It looks like your router jig shifted before cutting the bridge pickup pocket. I don't know if I'd go blaming the pickup builder. It looks like you could route the holes out a bit, line up the pickups, and make some nice trim rings out of that pale moon ebony.

Other than the minor alignment issue, absolutely stunning build and design!


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## XxJoshxX (Mar 15, 2016)

Ernesto said:


> If you measure from the string to the upper edge of the pickup holes, the pockets aren't in line with the strings. It looks like your router jig shifted before cutting the bridge pickup pocket. I don't know if I'd go blaming the pickup builder. It looks like you could route the holes out a bit, line up the pickups, and make some nice trim rings out of that pale moon ebony.
> 
> Other than the minor alignment issue, absolutely stunning build and design!



I'm not so sure, it looks to me that the pickup is centered and at the correct angle, it just looks like the spacing is extremely short. To me, it sounds like the pickup guy has mixed up more than a few details on this, which is a shame considering how well everything else turned out. In the end it's still a great looking build and I'm sure Holloway will be satisfied.


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## JuliusJahn (Mar 15, 2016)

Yea, it might not be so obvious in the facebook photos considering you can't see 2-3 of the strings  

I took this as soon as I strung it up. As you can see on the D string, the angle is correct, the spacing is not. My only idea is that he may have put in the spacing as a horizontal line (as it'd be a normal pickup) and not along the angle (which makes it a longer line.


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## Hollowway (Mar 15, 2016)

Yeah, I'm not sure thrilled with the pickup issue. It took forever, and more than a few mistakes, and they're still wrong with the grain alignment.

Julius, is the magnetic field enough to pick up the string noise? Let me know if we need to have Dale redo them, or if they sound ok.


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## Ernesto (Mar 16, 2016)

JuliusJahn said:


> Yea, it might not be so obvious in the facebook photos considering you can't see 2-3 of the strings
> 
> I took this as soon as I strung it up. As you can see on the D string, the angle is correct, the spacing is not. My only idea is that he may have put in the spacing as a horizontal line (as it'd be a normal pickup) and not along the angle (which makes it a longer line.



That pic makes it much more clear, and you're right. I cross-eyed and missed the high E in the fb pic. Anyway, I hope it gets sorted soon because it sure is stunning!


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## Hollowway (Mar 16, 2016)

Julius is going to finish wiring it up and try it out tomorrow morning. Either way, I think I'm going to ask Dale to do the pickup again. I can have my tech swap it out when I get the new one. Even if it sounds fine, it's going to drive me absolutely batty every time I see it.


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## jwade (Mar 16, 2016)

I'm sure it's just the angle of the picture, but it kind of looks like the bridge pickup rout is a few millimeters farther to the treble side. It looks like you'd need to widen the routs a bit to be able to have pickups in there that would actually line up to the string paths.


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## downburst82 (Mar 16, 2016)

Is the route big enough to accommodate a pickup with proper spacing? Or do you think it need to be widened? Its hard to tell for sure but it appears from the pictures it might be to small (I'm assuming the route was based off the faulty spaced pickup?)


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## JuliusJahn (Mar 16, 2016)

I told Andrew that if Dale agrees to remake it [or he goes to Adam(Elysian) or Blackwater] I'll supply the CAD drawings based on the existing route and can even mill the template for his tech (Yes, it will have to be routed wire to fit a proper pickup) as well as the wood bobbins if I can get the material. I just cut a set out yesterday for Will's headless and they turned out great. 






This whole thing is really taking the fun out of building...Isn't the reason for outsourcing to make life easier?


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## Hollowway (Mar 16, 2016)

Question for all of you: I emailed Dale from The Guitarmory, who made the pickup, and he said the problem is that the bridge pickup is routed too close to the bridge, and should be moved forward 2 cm, and then the pole pieces will line up. Does that make any sense to anyone here? I can't imagine there being enough string taper to get the pole pieces to line up by that change, and that would put the pickup pretty far from the bridge anyway.


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## Hywel (Mar 16, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> Question for all of you: I emailed Dale from The Guitarmory, who made the pickup, and he said the problem is that the bridge pickup is routed too close to the bridge, and should be moved forward 2 cm, and then the pole pieces will line up. Does that make any sense to anyone here? I can't imagine there being enough string taper to get the pole pieces to line up by that change, and that would put the pickup pretty far from the bridge anyway.



There's no where near that much taper in the strings to cause that.

Sounds like bollocks to me. 

Edit - I wanted to double check so I used my old fanned 8 drawing with a very similar bridge spacing and moved the pickup route 20mm forwards. Made no difference at all. My drawings are based on a DiMarzio D-Activator 8 slanted to about 11°.


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## Grif (Mar 16, 2016)

I moved the pickup down the taper of the strings until the poles lined up; pardon the MS paint

Looks like more than two cm to me (as Hywel also pointed out)


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## JuliusJahn (Mar 16, 2016)

Andrew, let me know if I should start to laugh or cry......


I just played it for an hour. Using my phone, the F# is about 2-3 decibels quieter then the rest, and the high E is about 8-10 lower. The G and B strings also have a real boost over the rest since it practically has 2 poles under each one.... Of course, the middle and neck positions cover this up somewhat but no one buys a custom guitar for 2/3rd of the pickups to work.


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## Hollowway (Mar 16, 2016)

Thanks fellas. I'm talking with Dale over email, and trying to convince him to remake it. He says that a pickup that close to the bridge won't work correctly because the strings don't vibrate much there. Sounds like his point is that there's no point in putting a working pickup in that position since it doesn't work there anyway. I'm gonna guess he's not a fan of Meshuggah guitars.


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## JuliusJahn (Mar 16, 2016)

Strange how the last 3 sets worked at the same location, and 5 of the strings today!

Check your FB messages, I got a few alternatives lined up here. Ol' Tommy has some more scraps and Adam has the kindness to rectify this. I'd start pressing for a refund, and I'll try to see what paypal can do for us.


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## Hollowway (Mar 16, 2016)

Wow, that is so cool of him! Faith in humanity is restored!


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## Grif (Mar 16, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> Thanks fellas. I'm talking with Dale over email, and trying to convince him to remake it. He says that a pickup that close to the bridge won't work correctly because the strings don't vibrate much there. Sounds like his point is that there's no point in putting a working pickup in that position since it doesn't work there anyway. I'm gonna guess he's not a fan of Meshuggah guitars.



What I don't get is:
a) Why he is so stubborn to continue his folly argument
b) Why he's using such weak arguments; particularly acting as if he has a personal vendetta against you rather than as the face of a company
--regarding distance: 
-Why does he care where you put your pickup? His business is in the design and creation of the item, if you decided to make a weird lap steel monstrosity with the pickup at the third fret, as long as he designs it to spec I don't see why he should care about it [too much] 
-What makes him think that's a valid argument, has he never heard any bridge pickup get used before? I've heard guitars with Pickups that close before and they've sounded fine.
-Beyond that, this just makes his business look worse

/End rant/

TL;DR
This seems incredibly unprofessional.

Hopefully this gets sorted out. Visually, aside from the pickups, this looks to be a nice build. Here's hoping you can enjoy it sooner rather than later.


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## jwade (Mar 16, 2016)

Crazy that someone would choose such a childishly obstinate stance on WHERE you're placing the pickup. You'd think that he would just produce the pickup and move on with his business/life and not invest himself in the end users usage of the pickup.


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## jephjacques (Mar 16, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> Thanks fellas. I'm talking with Dale over email, and trying to convince him to remake it. He says that a pickup that close to the bridge won't work correctly because the strings don't vibrate much there. Sounds like his point is that there's no point in putting a working pickup in that position since it doesn't work there anyway. I'm gonna guess he's not a fan of Meshuggah guitars.



What a load of horse....


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## Hollowway (Mar 16, 2016)

Well, here's his response to my asking for a rebuild:

"Unfortunately Andy, I feel that at this point there is really nothing I can do here. Normally I would bend over backwards to get this squared away, because I want people to be happy with the tone that I provide. Sadly, over the last six months (during which time this issue should have and could have been addressed in a positive and constructive manner as opposed to only now) both you and Julius have publicly slandered my name on multiple occasions and in various social utilities. At this point I must sincerely and respectfully withdraw from putting any more of my time or effort into this matter."

FWIW I didn't slander his name. I pointed out in another thread that he took way beyond the ETA and was unresponsive to communication. And I pointed out that he made the first one incorrectly, and had to redo it (as per Julius). But, if he's looking for a fight, I'd be happy to explain to any potential future clients that if they have any issues with his builds that they better keep their mouth shut otherwise he will not help them.


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## GuitarBizarre (Mar 16, 2016)

Wow. That's really a ridiculous response.

If you were complaining about something that didn't affect the function, like the misaligned grain, I could kind of see his point that maybe it's being a bit over-picky of a very, very minor issue. Especially if there was any doubt about what the grain was supposed to look like, and especially if you'd been posting left right and center about how unacceptable it was.

But you haven't. You've mentioned the grain but mostly been forgiving about it and just wanted the pickup to work.

But selling a product that doesn't actually work as it's supposed to, when someone is paying you custom money for it, that's just unrealistic. Of course someone is going to rake you over hot coals if you take their money for something that doesn't actually *function*.


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## jwade (Mar 16, 2016)

So, stating a fact (product not done correctly, is being redone) is considered 'slanderous'?


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## Hollowway (Mar 17, 2016)

Yeah, I'm kind of bummed out about it. First he said the pickups would be done in short order, then went dark for months, then delivered pickups that were incorrect. Then Julius had him remake them, and the grain was still wrong (he made them parallel, then slanted them). Now he's saying that because Julius didn't string up the guitar in the past 6 months he won't fix them. And that he doesn't like me talking about the issues I've had with the company. Ugh. He seemed like a professional guy when we started this whole thing. And once again I'm screwed out of a bunch of money. And I honestly cannot figure out how he's denying that these are built incorrectly. 

I called AmEx, and they will double the warranty of a manufacturer, so they would literally pay him to correct the pickups (or maybe someone else, if he doesn't want to). But it doesn't appear that he warranties his work at all, based on the website. I emailed him to find out if he does have a warranty, but he's gone dark again, so my guess is he won't answer me back.


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## Hollowway (Mar 17, 2016)

Dale just emailed me back. I told him that my AmEx may cover a warranty issue, but I'm not sure if he has one. He apologized for seeming bitter before, and said he didn't realize the guitar was just now strung up. So hopefully he'll offer some sort of refund, or allow me to get something done with AmEx about it. Fingers crossed!


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## Grif (Mar 17, 2016)

This man just screams professionalism.

Just when I thought Hollowway would have a custom build go off without a hitch, hah! Pondman will sooner stop building


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## Mvotre (Mar 17, 2016)

holloway needs to kidnap Pondman


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## KnightroExpress (Mar 18, 2016)

Dude, that's ridiculous. I really hope you guys can work everything out. It's a killer guitar, otherwise!


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## JuliusJahn (Mar 18, 2016)

I've been emailing Dale all day while at work. Hes going to send me base plate material and Tom Dinkwater has sent me PME today that belonged to Andrew. I'll be CNC'ing the bridge AND neck bobbins as well as the baseplates for them (as well as the maple cores just to make it easier on Dale). The neck pup will have the poles removed, old wood removed and my new bobbins glued on (and I assume re-potted in parafin wax). The bridge will basically be done again from the ground up. Since I'm making the baseplate, I can already route for the new pickup while it's being made so the delay once I receive the new pickups will only be a day since all I'm doing is wiring it back into the circuit, doing a cleaning, a new photoshoot and then going to the post office.


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## JuliusJahn (Apr 7, 2016)

We're getting close guys. I can send Dale his "care package" monday once the maple cores are milled. I used the PME Tom sent me, and it was just too dark and sand-y for the rest of the build. I luckily found a chunk of bubinga in my scrap box from this guitar, and offered the idea to Holloway at 330am. 12 Hours later, they were machined and milled. Hopefully since they don't offer as much contrast, they'll make the viewer pay more attention to the great ink lines on the ebony. 

I have a photo somewhere between the new and old bridge bobbins. It looks like the old one was basically spaced for a 7 string........


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## Hollowway (Apr 8, 2016)

I can't say enough about how awesome Julius has been through this. Dale is being super cool and redoing the pickups to get them just right. And Julius did a bunch of trial fits with wood options to see what looked the best. And, Tom (Oakland Axe Factory) was awesome for helping out by lopping off a piece of the PME board we have for a future build for Julius to use as a potential wood for the bobbins. I'm super excited now, cuz it's soooo close!


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## skeels (Apr 9, 2016)

I know those aren't the finished pickup covers (right?) but is it just me or do those last frets look wonky?


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## Hollowway (Apr 9, 2016)

Yeah, they're just rough trimmed and set on there. He did a couple of different woods and combos so I could get a look at what was best looking.

And I'm not sure about the frets. They're CNC'd, so I assume they're correct. Might be some optical illusions with the FB grain, the camera angle, etc?


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## jwade (Apr 9, 2016)

The last frets do kind of look to be farther apart on the treble side than the bass side.


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## Killemall1983 (Apr 10, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> Yeah, they're just rough trimmed and set on there. He did a couple of different woods and combos so I could get a look at what was best looking.
> 
> And I'm not sure about the frets. They're CNC'd, so I assume they're correct. Might be some optical illusions with the FB grain, the camera angle, etc?


ARe they CNCed? I didnt know he had access to that.


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## Hollowway (Apr 10, 2016)

I thought so. He posts pictures of his CNC machine a lot on FB. Those pickup bobbin tops were on the CNC. I don't know exactly how he runs things, so I guess any of the stuff could be either-or.


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## geoffstgermaine (Apr 10, 2016)

Whether CNC, cut with a jig or by hand, something looks out with the frets from about 18 and up. In particular 21 looks quite a bit out from where it should be. I went through all the neck photos to be sure it isn't somehow an illusion and it shows up in all of the photos, though isn't so noticeable when it's not a close shot of the area. I'd ask the question to find out about the issue.


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## oracles (Apr 11, 2016)

skeels said:


> I know those aren't the finished pickup covers (right?) but is it just me or do those last frets look wonky?



Definitely looks like they are to me.


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## downburst82 (Apr 18, 2016)

Any updates?


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## CoffeeSauce (Apr 18, 2016)

What are your feelings about The Guitarmory now? I was contemplating ordering a (non-custom) set from them soon, but this thread and another thread on here have me a little bit wary of how long it will take to get them and if they will be correct.

I'm glad he's fixing your issue now, but it seems like it took a little coercion to get it made right. Maybe I should look elsewhere?

That guitar is looking quite beautiful


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## Hollowway (Apr 18, 2016)

Yeah, Dale (of The Guitarmory) is making the pickups again. He originally assumed I had the guitar for the past 6 months and then waited to discuss it until now. Once he saw that wasn't the case he said he'd be happy to remake them. He was a little slow to get them in the first place, but that may have had to do with the wood bobbins (not something he does routinely) and the fan. Julius CNC'd the bobbins and tops, and sent them off to him to wind them, so we're just waiting for those. I feel like he stepped up and is a good guy at this point, so I don't think you'd have to be particularly nervous. I'm chalking it up to a misunderstanding between us. I'm hoping to get them asap so I can get the guitar.

And for those wondering about the frets, I DM'd Julius and told him to come on in and talk about it. He's pretty precise about things so I don't think he'd settle for misaligned frets, so either it was off and he didn't catch it or it just looks off in the photos for some camera angulation reason. I can't guarantee it, but I'm pretty sure he has them CNCd, which would make it odd if they were off. I certainly don't want him to have a backlash if everything is fine, so I told him people were asking about it, so he can come in and talk about it here.


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## Bigfan (Apr 19, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> He's pretty precise about things so I don't think he'd settle for misaligned frets, so either it was off and he didn't catch it or it just looks off in the photos for some camera angulation reason.



It could definitely be a combination of the camera angle and the wood grain making it look off. Wouldn't be the first time.


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## Hollowway (Apr 19, 2016)

Hey, guys, I know a number of you have PM'd be about the frets. I'm sure Julius will come in and give us an update. I just emailed him. If they are off, I'm confident that he'll figure out how it happened and put a new board on with the proper angulation. He's a pretty solid dude.


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## jandro (Apr 20, 2016)

Yeah, sorry to say that frets 20 and on on the treble side are noticeably off. 

I don't think Julius would have replace the board though, probably just remove the frets, fill the fret slots, resaw & refret.. the fret width should hopefully cover up the lines from the filled slots. (assuming you have no problem with this) Personally, I wouldn't mind. 

That's a fantastic PME board, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.


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## Hollowway (Apr 21, 2016)

jandro said:


> Yeah, sorry to say that frets 20 and on on the treble side are noticeably off.
> 
> I don't think Julius would have replace the board though, probably just remove the frets, fill the fret slots, resaw & refret.. the fret width should hopefully cover up the lines from the filled slots. (assuming you have no problem with this) Personally, I wouldn't mind.
> 
> That's a fantastic PME board, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.



Yep, that's what he's going to do, actually. He said that he measured and 3 of them are out of proper position. When he did this FB (over a year ago) he didn't have the CNC yet, so he wasn't doing these on any sort of jig or guide or CNC. I asked him to measure them and he said that 3 of them (the 24th and I'm not sure which others) were off, so he is going to redo those exactly as you said. The frets should cover the old locations, but he'll fill the slots too.


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## jwade (Apr 21, 2016)

Thank eff you don't have to go with a new fb. That thing is way too beautiful. It's not even my guitar and I'd be shattered.


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## dankarghh (Apr 21, 2016)

Hahaha agreed. Lucky you spotted it.


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## ikarus (Apr 21, 2016)

Don't take this as an offense, but why does it take some internet guys to point out that issue? Shouldn't the builder see it, when he works on the fretboard?


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## Lemons (Apr 21, 2016)

He definitely should have noticed it, especially since the guitar had been strung up at some stage. Imagine if a bunch of people never pointed it out and the guitar shipped out that way, the pickups are the least of this guitars problems.


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## Hollowway (Apr 21, 2016)

Lemons said:


> He definitely should have noticed it, especially since the guitar had been strung up at some stage. Imagine if a bunch of people never pointed it out and the guitar shipped out that way, the pickups are the least of this guitars problems.



Yeah, I think so. In his defense, he said he hasn't done the fretwork yet, and we've been mostly concerned with the pickup situation. So I assume he would have noticed it when he got to the point of doing the fretwork. I personally didn't notice it either, but once pointed out it seemed super obvious. At any rate, I'm glad he didn't give any push back and was apologetic and wanted to get it fixed. He was kind of embarrassed that he didn't catch that.


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## Killemall1983 (Apr 21, 2016)

He could at least respond to the thread. He had been responding up until something was brought up. It seems like he never publicly addresses anything when brought up.
Honestly, this is just a risk you take by going through an extremely young builder who has built less than 15 guitars. I get that mistakes happen, but you cant not notice frets being off, especially when you are fretting it.


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## Hollowway (Apr 21, 2016)

Yeah, he said as much, too (about him being young, and not having done many guitars at the time he started mine).


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## Deegatron (Apr 21, 2016)

Come on guy's. cut the Luthier some slack.
He likely pressed the frets in and set her aside waiting for the pickups before doing final fretwork / setup.
Poor guy missed it. 
I don't care who you are. .... happens.. mistakes happen... it's how you fix your mistakes that makes the difference between being a stand up guy and a total douche. 
he's rectifying the problem immediately upon it being pointed out.
Seems like he's doing a bang up job. 

Where's the beef???


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## Spicypickles (Apr 21, 2016)

I can understand the experienced guys in here saying something (and with class), but the armchair luthier crowd is a bit ridiculous.


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## ikarus (Apr 21, 2016)

Spicypickles said:


> experienced guys



Can you elaborate that?


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## Spicypickles (Apr 21, 2016)

The fellers in here that have built guitars.


I'm not looking for/participating in an argument. Just commenting on everyone going ape.... and busting out the pitchforks.


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## pondman (Apr 21, 2016)

This is the armchair luthier section


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## jwade (Apr 21, 2016)

Julius is a good dude. I'd be a bit weirded out if a new business venture didn't experience at least a couple minor hiccups in its first run. 

I know I can't speak for all of us here, but I doubt that anyone is pointing out issues from a spiteful place. I feel like most of the responses are a community attempt to help out one of our own to see their venture go well.


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## JuliusJahn (Apr 21, 2016)

My photo albums say that I slotted it March, 2015. I think we had paid dale that February for the pickups! I became an uncle before this guitar became electric 

Andrew and I already talked about all this, but since we're putting everything in the open and entertaining the armchair guys  here's the plan and background:

Last year, I was slotting and marking them by hand. Anyone who does it by hand will tell ya how slippery ebony is to slot without a rail system. A LOT has changed since then, which you'd see if you follow me on FB. Last year I was setting things up to Fender spec, this year I am setting them up to Mayonesse custom shop specs (Thanks to my local friend, Terran for letting me measure his build). 

This year I slot a board in 6 minutes, instead of 80+. I CNC (Yes, I made one this winter and would have lost my mind if I didn't have it to do all my templates) the template (accurate to 0.01mm) , and use a sled system similar to Adam Bath's (Elysian) on my table saw to cut everything. 

The 3 frets that were off were out by 0.5mm or so and I was simply going to crown them to one side to correct it IF they were out (using a tuner and basically doing a manual true temperament system). 24th was out by 1mm, which is where I suggested to pull and recut but we agreed to do all the affected ones. 

[I have the book match of this board in my private stock, so I mean if things were horribly wrong we could do a replacement but that honestly is a bit extreme for this scenario]

--------------------------
For Louis' concern, I'm at build 24 next week and the price when Andrew ordered reflected my point in my career. Im sure Andrew knows what he's doing and we've been in touch constantly 

@Deeg, thanks for the support. I guess I'll mention that the 2 days I spent doing all the pickup work were all pro-bono. I still have to make templates when they arrive, re-route, and re-wire the whole guitar before it leaves my door.

@jWade, I just heard from another luthier "You're only as good as the mistakes you fix" which I hope stands true here. I did notice this thread only got busy when the pickup drama started but what can ya do? 


For everyone who still believes in me, thank you very much and I dont intend to go anywhere besides up! If this fret issue irks you too much to consider any work from me, then I can only hope that you still follow my progression throughout the year and watch me grow and improve.


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## jwade (Apr 21, 2016)

Man, I've been jumping in every time you or Hollowway update the thread, every time. I'm a big fan of this build, and it's unfortunate that you weren't seeing more traffic based solely on the fb/body lines!

Straight up though, I wish I could find an fb blank like this. So ridiculously visually satisfying!


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## skeels (Apr 21, 2016)

jwade said:


> Straight up though, I wish I could find an fb blank like this. So ridiculously visually satisfying!



They're out there. ...


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## jandro (Apr 22, 2016)

To be quite fair, tolerances in the upper register are somewhat negligible - we are still dealing with guitars that are by nature of the beast: imperfect. As Julius said, compensating the fret crowns manually with a three corner file probably would have worked, but I think it's pretty rad to admit ones mistakes and take the time to make things right. 

I remember a botched fret job I hand-slotted on my 9th build for an important customer.. Man, that sucked. I'm at #32 and thank god I've also acquired a CNC. I use .024" 3 flute 3.5mm DOC bits for fret slotting on the CNC. Takes about 25-30 mins to slot a board, but you can do some pretty rad blind frets and such. 

Anyway, looking forward as to how this build turns out!!!


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## skeels (Apr 22, 2016)

JuliusJahn said:


> ... since we're putting everything in the open and entertaining the armchair guys  ....





pondman said:


> This is the armchair luthier section



Pretty esteemed company here in the "amateur" section.


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## oracles (Apr 22, 2016)

Deegatron said:


> Come on guy's. cut the Luthier some slack



Nope. You can't run a custom shop business, make flaws like that and not notice. I'll go on record as saying I don't think Julius is a point yet where he can justifiably charge what he does for these guitars. He doesn't have the experience, and that's not something that should be gained at the customers expense. You don't get to cut your teeth on someone else's dime. Too many people have been burned by ....ty luthiers to "cut them some slack" anymore. BRJ, Sherman, Roter, Decibel, Invictus, Acacia, do we really need anymore?

Every build I have seen from Julius has had several flaws. Binding, frets, pickup routes, string alignment, to name a few. Paying customers have had to take their instruments in to a tech to be fixed, just so they can be played when the owner receives it. Blaming Dale for the pickups is also a blatant lie, nothing that happened with those pickups is Dale's fault at all. 

Julius has had more than one experienced luthier approach him and offer help and advice, and Julius has been indignant and insinuated he knows better. Clearly, he doesn't. 

I WANT to see Julius succeed at this, truly I do. I think he has potential, his designs are good, but he doesn't have the experience yet to be taking on custom orders and taking people's money like this. 

Holloway, I really hope this works out for you and you get a quality instrument out of this. Unfortunately, I just don't see it happening.


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## JuliusJahn (Apr 22, 2016)

Skeels, yours doesnt have enough elephants and sky whales (or boobs, if you're Pat Renk )





Oracles, I'd like it if you could PM me with where you heard all this from, because I was never told by any of my clients that they had to take it to a tech or anything of the sort. Do you also know what I am charging? I don't remember ever giving you a quote request.

I sure hope you aren't aboard the bandwagon that thinks builds 7+8 were actually sold and not just pure prototypes for me to try out set necks and binding/wooden cavity plates. There seems to be a lot of misinformation out there spoken behind closed doors, and no one seems to actually fact check on these things.

I don't know if you're friends with Dale, but seeing as how Andrew was the one to relay most of the information in this thread (And talk to Dale via email) Im going to strongly disagree with you there. I know Dale said to some people that it was an issue with the dxf drawing, but that was just something from an export error and I had sent him a new one in 20 minutes. If he cut the baseplates, bobbins, and cores in that time then hell, why did we wait the other 7 months? I can show you photos from another builder who received an inadequate product from him, and required to also pull the "send them now or refund me" game to even get them in the mail. He (local builder) now has me CNC his plates and core/bobbins and winds them himself.

Killemall, am I being open enough for you? 

Cheers lads. Im off to email Dale to see if we have any updates on the pickups redux.


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## skeels (Apr 23, 2016)

Wow, dude, there are a lot of damn good builders on here who would be willing to help you and a lot of accomplished artists and designers whose experience you could benefit from if you would just open up your eyes and shut your mouth and drop the snide attitude. 

A little humility goes a long way here in the "armchair luthier" section - which you seem to visit when you haven't paid your dealer fees. 

Also, since you appear to be in charge of what makes a cool piece of timber..







Space whale, in case you needed someone to point it out.


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## Cloudy (Apr 23, 2016)

skeels said:


> Pretty esteemed company here in the "amateur" section.



I dont think he meant it in an offensive manner, sarcasm doesn't work well online 

damn that is some nice pale moon ebony though.


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## jwade (Apr 23, 2016)

I don't know where the angry attitudes are coming from in this thread, it's surprising, and so unlike a few of you that normally conduct yourselves with quite a lot more civility. Kind of a letdown, really.


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## Hollowway (Apr 23, 2016)

I think they're just being protective. I'm the ame way. I figure, these days, if you're a luthier you have to be aware of people who have previously posed as professional, legitimate guitar makers (Invictus, Brutalizer, BRJ, Decibel, Sherman, Roter, S7, Siggery, etc.), only to deliver either subpar products or disappear altogether. Unfortunately, there's just no way to know if giving someone the benefit of the doubt, or a second chance, or the opportunity to correct one's errors, etc., is a normal thing to do, or if it plays into the hands of someone who is (or is becoming) shady. I personally tend to give new luthiers my business because there are great savings and rapid turnarounds possible. I've been burned equally on new and experienced luthiers, so I figure why not. I got in on this run because I could get the guitar for just under $2,000, pickups included, and in just a few months. We're past the few months mark, but it's close now. And so far he's been upfront about what is going on. I'm definitely not thrilled about the frets situation, but he's been very apologetic and upfront about it, and is fixing them, so that makes me feel much better. I've had things on other guitars I've purchased that either were messed up and repaired (the Villex pups on my OAF 10 string were oriented in P formation, rather than reverse P, so I shipped it back to Tom, he remade pup covers on his own dime, had Villex remake pups, and then put everything back together and shipped it back to me. I was incredible customer service! And Shad Peters' entire shop burned down, and took my nearly complete guitar with it. He got no money from insurance for it, but is still remaking it for me, with no additional money needed from my end. Another example of awesome ethics and customer service.) and I've had mistakes that would have been an easy fix, but instead was given the run around with other companies (Gary Kramer guitars, among others). And I've had luthiers promise to fix mistakes they acknowledged, but never did. So for me, I don't mind other guys coming in and being picky and defending me, because I do the same for others, and we really need to stick together to make sure we don't get screwed. I personally looked at that guitar neck of mine dozens of times, and never once noticed the frets. But then someone posted in here, and I got LOADS of PMs and DMs about it. And I think that's awesome. Julius, like all others, is ultimately judged not just on the quality of the final product, but the communication, ethics, and willingness to build the best guitar possible. And in that sense, a mistake provides a opportunity to show potential customers, "Hey, don't worry, I got your back if there's anything amiss." Just tonight we talked on FB, and he said he's going to go back and check the measurements on frets 1-12. Previously he checked the higher ones, but we agreed that it can't hurt to check the whole thing over. Anyway, I appreciate everyone's input on this, both positive and negative, because we're really all in this together. The luthiers can't make a living if we get scared away. And if luthiers are scared to build for fear there will be no customers, then we get no custom guitars. Which, now that I say it out loud, would be good for my marriage and bank account, but, eh, what the hell. I still want more guitars.


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## MoonJelly (Apr 24, 2016)

That is well said, Holloway. You should be a moderator. And one day when I'm ready, you should buy one of _my _guitars.


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## Hollowway (Apr 24, 2016)

MoonJelly said:


> That is well said, Holloway. You should be a moderator. And one day when I'm ready, you should buy one of _my _guitars.



Yes, but I'm still voting that you name one of your models "Moon Jelly." Just think of it: You could have a really cool retro font, and your brand would be Moon Jelly, and your tag line would be "Spread it on your soul." That's gold, baby! And I'm only partly kidding!


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## MoonJelly (Apr 24, 2016)

I think I actually would build a limited run or one off called Moon Jelly--as tribute to the psychedelic movement. With SD whole lotta humbuckers, in a retro 60's-70's body style like the old Mosrites...


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## Hollowway (Jun 2, 2016)

Update: Dale (the Guitarmory) finished the remakes, so they're headed back to Julius. Then Julius will install them, and refret a few of the frets that are off-position. And then hopefully I'll have this guitar at last. The pups are now bubinga, since we couldn't find a good piece of PME to match the FB. Kind of a bummer, because that's the whole reason I went for custom pups. But Dale said he'd refund me some of the pickup cost, since it's been a year for them to be made, and a couple of snafus. The pickups were $284 which is not bad for custom pups, but I reeeeallly wanted PME. Oh well, maybe it'll be motivation for another build.  The edges of the pups look a little rough, but I'm thinking Julius will smooth them when he gets them back.


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## MoonJelly (Jun 2, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> The edges of the pups look a little rough, but I'm thinking Julius will smooth them when he gets them back.



That was literally my first thought. If you bevel the edge with a fine file it should look ok. So disappointing


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## downburst82 (Jun 2, 2016)

jeez...on the top right of the bridge pickup..

It has certainly had a bit of a rough time but hopefully when it all comes together it has some special mojo and sings!


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## esp_eraser (Jun 4, 2016)

Just thought I'd check in to see how this went, feel pretty dissapointed for you tbh Holloway.
I hope once it's finally complete you will be satisfied with how it sounds and plays 
I guess on a positive you've had your Ormsby gtr to play on till now


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## JuliusJahn (Jun 4, 2016)

Im hoping that most of the roughness is just potting wax, but we'll have to go over it all when it arrives here. Someone on FB had asked me for the timeline of these things, so here's what I found out. Going off of date-created from my photos.

Apr 2015 - paid for
late November? 2015 - Arrived after no contact+reminders+many missed shipping dates
March 14 2016 - discovered they were made the wrong size
April 14 2016 - Replacements all made out of pocket (after Toms free PME, and grain not working + waiting for dale to mail me base plate material), mailed to Dale on the 14th
April 20 2016 - Dale received package, didnt't have enough magnets to wind 
May 4 - Magnets received, ship in a 'few days'
May 17 - no contact, Andrew email'd and he said he'd ship next day
June 1 - First picture of redo (above), should be "shipping soon"
June 4th - still no word on tracking #


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## MoonJelly (Jun 5, 2016)

Kudos Julius, I think it's plain you're doing everything you can to get the build completed. Hopefully Hollowway is happy with the finished product, and we all get to see the epic NGD post soon!


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## downburst82 (Jun 18, 2016)

Did you ever receive the re-re-done pickups Julius?

Still love the shape and wood choices for this guitar and really interested in seeing it and hearing hollowway's thoughts when its finally done.


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## JuliusJahn (Jun 18, 2016)

Thats a negative, Ghostrider






I just got a sponsored guitarmory post on my facebook feed. Looks like hes readying to take new order in July....if we don't have them by then I think we'll have to go pretty public with this story and let any new clients know of this. Its getting out of hand.

Hollowway, did he refund you yet?


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## WhiskeyPickleJake (Jun 18, 2016)

Thanks for the excuse to start spending money on things made from "pale moon ebony". Beaut!


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## JuliusJahn (Jun 18, 2016)

WhiskeyPickleJake said:


> Thanks for the excuse to start spending money on things made from "pale moon ebony". Beaut!



I have some mismatched pickup bobbins you can use if you want 
Coaster? Bookends? Paper weight? Earrings?


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## WhiskeyPickleJake (Jun 18, 2016)

JuliusJahn said:


> I have some mismatched pickup bobbins you can use if you want
> Coaster? Bookends? Paper weight? Earrings?



Somehow it works better as a fanned fretboard &#128513;


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## downburst82 (Jun 18, 2016)

JuliusJahn said:


> Thats a negative, Ghostrider
> 
> 
> 
> ...



 

Hopefully he comes through eventually...


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## Hollowway (Jun 18, 2016)

Yeah, he emailed me on the 13th and said they were already en route. Maybe they're just held up in the mail.

And he hasn't refunded anything yet, but said he was going to do a partial refund based on the time this whole thing has taken. Which is cool, because I reeeeally wanted the PME pickups for this. It's the whole reason I went with customs. 

I have an idea for something to do with the PME's that I cannot use for this based on spacing though, so at least those won't go to waste. I've always had this idea of doing an overly fanned neck pup to get crisper tones in the bass side, so I'm thinking of putting the bridge pup in the neck position and the neck pup in the bridge position of a straight fret 8 string. I have this old project 8 string I bought off a guy online that I've never done anything with, so I'll use that. Who knows, it could be cool!


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## JuliusJahn (Jun 24, 2016)

Milling some templates this weekend. They aren't perfect but they'll do. Looks like Dale bailed on the guitarmory and a new guy is winding/managing the thing.


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## Hollowway (Jul 27, 2016)

Update! Julius had time to work on the guitar in the last couple of days. I think the new pups look pretty good. Still a bummer that the PME didn't work. I have plans for the old PME pups, but they would have been awesome in this! Still, the matching bubinga looks good. On the phone photo you can see how short the bridge pup was, so I think it was a good call we made to redo them to the correct size.

Also, I know a couple of the frets still look wonky. Julius is going to remeasure them all, and reset any that aren't where they should be. At the time he did this one (last year) he didn't have a CNC for 100% accuracy. There will be a couple reset. Should have this guitar soon!!


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## Mattykoda (Jul 27, 2016)

Nice Hollowway! Glad to see progress on this.

FYI I clicked the s**t out of the ghost version of the like button


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## KnightBrolaire (Jul 27, 2016)

oh my god I need a bubinga topped guitar now.


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## Hollowway (Jul 28, 2016)

Mattykoda said:


> Nice Hollowway! Glad to see progress on this.
> 
> FYI I clicked the s**t out of the ghost version of the like button



Haha, I instinctively went to click the "like" on yours too. Drat!


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## neun Arme (Jul 28, 2016)

Where is this fù^!ing LIKE button when you need it???


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## Grif (Jul 29, 2016)

Seriously I wish I could like this! (what is the reason for it being gone?)


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## Hollowway (Aug 3, 2016)

Fret update! So you'll remember that there were a few frets that were slightly off from their correct position. Due mostly to hand measuring and slotting, before Julius got the CNC. Anyway, the thought was that they could be differentially crowned to compensate for their position, but I was worried that they'd always appear wonky, so Julius said he could pull whichever frets were off, fill, and resaw and press in new ones. They're not off substantially, so the new placement will cover the old fill lines. And then it will be 100% correct in terms of placement. Anyway, here we are. The offending frets are out, and he's getting ready to put them back in.


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## jwade (Aug 3, 2016)

I still have an overwhelming urge to lick that fingerboard.


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## Hollowway (Aug 5, 2016)

Refretted! We decided to use medium jumbo on the higher frets to allow more finger space and a drop off for getting lower action.


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## MoonJelly (Aug 6, 2016)

That is my Jam.


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## BlackMastodon (Aug 8, 2016)

Looks good!


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## jemfloral (Aug 8, 2016)

like. like. like. Where IS that button!


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## Hollowway (Aug 25, 2016)

Super close! They used a double bobbin for the pickups, so the neck pickup needs to be dropped a bit, so that's going to happen tomorrow, and then Julius wants to recess the bridge 1mm to give action adjustability a little more range. Otherwise, it's done! Still a bummer about the PME pickups getting messed up on Dale's first couple passes, but I think these actually look good, all things considered.


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## EarlWellington (Aug 25, 2016)

Looks good now... however can't believe it has taken four months though since the pickup/fret issue to get sorted and there's still tweaks/issues being worked on


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## ElysianGuitars (Aug 26, 2016)

EarlWellington said:


> Looks good now... *however can't believe it has taken four months* though since the pickup/fret issue to get sorted and there's still tweaks/issues being worked on



Why not?


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## Winspear (Aug 26, 2016)

ElysianGuitars said:


> Why not?



 He must be new here


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## ElysianGuitars (Aug 26, 2016)

Guitar is finished now, saw Julius post it earlier


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## Hollowway (Aug 26, 2016)

Cool butt shot:


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## Winspear (Aug 26, 2016)

Gorgeous!!


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## JuliusJahn (Sep 4, 2016)

Would you rather I didnt do them and ship it earlier? By the sounds of it in our convos Andrew is very happy with everything here so I'd say it was all worth it  I don't even want to count the amount of days I put into this pro bono...


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## EarlWellington (Sep 4, 2016)

JuliusJahn said:


> Would you rather I didnt do them and ship it earlier? By the sounds of it in our convos Andrew is very happy with everything here so I'd say it was all worth it  I don't even want to count the amount of days I put into this pro bono...



Pro bono? Fixing crooked frets is not pro bono work and sorting out pickups (which you subcontracted out) is not pro bono work. The client requests a spec, you quote on it, and then you deliver on it... fixing things that you have delays on due to subcontracting or errors is on your dime, not the clients.


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## JuliusJahn (Sep 4, 2016)

Dales work isn't my responsibility, it's his. If hipshot sends me a broken bridge it wouldn't be my responsibility to cast new brass bases and machine saddles so I'd consider the fact I spent three days re-doing the CAD + 3D models, milling the base plates and bobbins and then mailing it to him again to rewind on my dime is not something that is ordinary.... I'm not even sure if Andrew has gotten any apology or refund from Dale yet now that we bring it back up


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## GuitarBizarre (Sep 5, 2016)

Guys FFS, buyer is happy with his guitar.

Was this build perfect? No. 
Was Julius at fault in some respects? Yes, for the fretwork, and arguably for his choice of subcontractor.

Rough, smooth, etc.

Chalk it up to experience and move on. I know people have been burned by luthiers here a lot, but at the end of the day, Julius made good here and I don't see any reason to keep treading on him like this.

That said, Julius, I know it's frustrating when everyone seems to be against you, but you're really doing yourself no favours by pointing out your own frustrations here - this is a predominantly US forum and, unfortunately, that means hypercapitalism is the philosophy of business most people are expecting from you - Cut your losses and stop arguing, it's going to go nowhere but south.


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## feraledge (Sep 6, 2016)

^ This. I rarely find myself agreeing with GB, but that post hits on all of it. The ups and downs, ins and outs of this build are all pretty clearly documented


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## Lemons (Sep 6, 2016)

I think EarlWellington has a point, its not "pro bono" work. He was paid to deliver a product and has an agreement with the buyer to do so, regardless of who else screwed up along the way. That being said good on Julius for owning up to any mistakes and rectifying them, I guess we'll all know if it was worth it once Holloway has his hands on the guitar and posts a review.


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## Hollowway (Sep 6, 2016)

Fellas, the guitar is in my hands! An NGD will be forthcoming, but I'll probably do it later in the week. I'm going to get it set up the way I want it (low nut, flat neck relief, potentially lighter gauge strings) and put it through its paces. But so far, as you can guess from the photos, so good!


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## Millul (Sep 6, 2016)

I'd like to be able to like (p-p-p-pun) Hollowway's post!!!


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## Crafty (Sep 13, 2016)

Hollowway said:


> Almost here! A couple of quick shots. Still some finalizing work to do, but this is the general idea. I can't wait!!


snug as a bug in a rug,that is class buddy


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