# Falbo 9 string build



## Hollowway (Jul 10, 2020)

So, you guys may have seen that picture Frank Falbo posted in the 9 string thread last week. I haven't been buying new guitars recently, because I really only trust Tom Drinkwater, Kevin Fast, and Brian Bowes these days. But, Frank has a great reputation, this build is pretty far along, and it's a super cool idea for a 9. I saw it and reached out to him to ask if he's planning on selling it, and now it's to be mine!
It's a walnut top, purple heart FB, and has some pretty unique features: the pickups have a secret sauce Frank came up with to help the guitar sound good across all of the strings, the frets are curved in a fan, such that the higher strings have straight frets (at 25.5") and the lowest strings fan out to 28". The bridge pickup will have a coil split.

Right now we're deciding on either a flamed maple or a lighter piece of the walnut for the pickups. And the tuners will have plastic buttons (either pearl or amber) to decrease weight. Anyway, here are the pics!


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## ThePIGI King (Jul 10, 2020)

Beautiful. I want to live vicariously through you.

As for pickups, I vote lighter walnut.

Keep us posted buddy!


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## DudeManBrother (Jul 11, 2020)

That top is insane


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## akinari (Jul 11, 2020)

Somehow I knew you'd be the one to get this if it made it out into the wild


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## Hollowway (Jul 11, 2020)

akinari said:


> Somehow I knew you'd be the one to get this if it made it out into the wild


 I had to. I should be, because I have no money for this stuff, and will have to sell some other things, but what the heck.


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## _MonSTeR_ (Jul 11, 2020)

Congratulations! 

The unnatural, natural colour action on that guitar is insane and I love the idea of the fan of the fret on this one. Il be following this build thread to completion for sure.


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## M3CHK1LLA (Jul 11, 2020)

well congrats mr. I'm never ordering another custom boutique guitar again...

any idea what he can do to keep the purple heart purple? ive heard it eventually turns brown over time.


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## Spicypickles (Jul 11, 2020)

I wouldn’t wood cover the pups personally, it would take away from that awesome top.


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## Winspear (Jul 11, 2020)

That is awesome!!


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## Hollowway (Jul 11, 2020)

M3CHK1LLA said:


> well congrats mr. I'm never ordering another custom boutique guitar again...
> 
> any idea what he can do to keep the purple heart purple? ive heard it eventually turns brown over time.



Yeah, that’s me.  But, what makes the difference here is he’s almost done. No waiting years for this. My main fear with customs is people walking away with my money (or getting sick, a fire, etc) and Frank is days or weeks away from completion here.

And for the purpleheart, that’s a great question. As best as I can tell, there’s literally nothing that can be done. I’ve read about it a lot, and seems that most woodworkers say it’s going to brown no matter what you do. That’s part of the reason I wanted lighter color pickups, if I went with black or the brown part of the walnut (or purpleheart) that whole build would look brown in 5-10 years.


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## jephjacques (Jul 11, 2020)

Yeah purpleheart Just Does That from everything I've read, it's just the character of the wood. Excited to see the finished product!


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## frank falbo (Jul 11, 2020)

There are only a few things you can do with PH. First is to catch it at the right time with finish. When you first cut it, it’s more gray, and then after some time (weeks at least) it reaches peak purple. I liken it to when you skin your knee, and it’s light colored, but then a few seconds/minutes later then you see the red. When I cut PH on the CNC or table saw the sawdust is gray, then a few days later it’s pink. So like a fruit, I want to apply a finish of some kind after it’s changed color. For the headstock it’s a UV cure and will do a decent job of preserving its color. For the fingerboard, even though it doesn’t need a finish I use Tru-Oil, thin enough that it’s not really a finish, just one coat before fretting and one after final fret dressing. That helps finger oils from getting in the pores a bit. 

Some people think that UV light makes it less purple, which can sound logical but it’s not really the case. In fact if I first cut PH and want to see it purple up quickly then I put it in my UV curing oven. I’ve heard of people rejuvenating their purpleheart that is under clear paint by putting it in the sun.


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## spudmunkey (Jul 11, 2020)

I've heard purpleheart's color is more related to oxidation, rather than UV. I've not done my own experimentation with this, so it's just something I remember reading somewhere from someone respected enough that it stuck with me...but cant remember where.


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## Emperor Guillotine (Jul 11, 2020)

Hollowway said:


> I haven't been buying new guitars recently, because I really only trust Tom Drinkwater, Kevin Fast, and Brian Bowes these days.


And none of these three men are building guitars anymore.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jul 11, 2020)

Emperor Guillotine said:


> And none of these three men are building guitars anymore.



And pretty much for the reason he said.  I know Brian and Elysian quit building because the market became too toxic due to all the scammers in recent years.


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## frank falbo (Jul 11, 2020)

spudmunkey said:


> I've heard purpleheart's color is more related to oxidation, rather than UV.


It is. There’s even a pen turner’s trick to use a torch to bring it right to the edge of char, and a purplish blue comes out.

If there were no other environmental factors aside from oxidation, the purple would follow an arc from grey to purple, back down to burgundy brown. But then you start adding oils, finishes, gloss lacquer or poly, and it changes things. And for whatever reason, UV does play a role in drawing the purple out, contrary to how we think of the sun as something that fades, or darkens.


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## MikeNeal (Jul 11, 2020)

regardless of finish its going to brown eventually. i have a neck thats a few years old that is still purple, but its a very dark purple now.


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## asopala (Jul 11, 2020)

Emperor Guillotine said:


> And none of these three men are building guitars anymore.



Not to derail the thread or anything, but did that just happen? Cause that's news to me, especially considering I got an OAF a couple years ago.


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## Shawn (Jul 11, 2020)

That is beautiful. Love the headstock design too.


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## erdiablo666 (Jul 12, 2020)

You know that feel when you get real comfy in bed and your feet are warm and you're happy and everything is right in the world? That's what this guitar makes me feel.


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## Hollowway (Jul 12, 2020)

asopala said:


> Not to derail the thread or anything, but did that just happen? Cause that's news to me, especially considering I got an OAF a couple years ago.


Yeah, Tom’s not actively building, as best as I can tell right now. Brian is building again some, and I’m not 100% sure on Kevin. All 3 are great guys who never were into hype, but solid dudes who build amazing guitars that SHOULD get the hype they deserve. I haven’t played a Bowes (yet!) but I have played a lot of Tom’s and a few of Kevin’s, and they’re easily as good as anything else I have. Really nicely done, great fretwork, A nut that’s nice and low, etc. Frank is a good guy as well, and I haven’t played his instruments yet, but from what I can gather he’s got the same stuff going, so I’m pretty stoked to get this thing.


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## r3tr0sp3ct1v3 (Jul 12, 2020)

Hollowway said:


> I had to. I should be, because I have no money for this stuff, and will have to sell some other things, but what the heck.



IF you have to sell that Drinkwater Raptor lmk


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## frank falbo (Jul 12, 2020)

erdiablo666 said:


> You know that feel when you get real comfy in bed and your feet are warm and you're happy and everything is right in the world? That's what this guitar makes me feel.


Ah man right in the feels.


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## ThePhilosopher (Jul 12, 2020)

That's a new level of schmexy, are you going to go for some crazy tuning or something fairly standard?


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## Pietjepieter (Jul 13, 2020)

Super cool! also like that is H-S.

looking forward to when it is finnisched!

I always tought the ONI was the only one doing those round freds.


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## ThePIGI King (Jul 13, 2020)

Pietjepieter said:


> Super cool! also like that is H-S.
> 
> looking forward to when it is finnisched!
> 
> I always tought the ONI was the only one doing those round freds.


Round Fred is always better than them square Freds'.


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## frank falbo (Jul 13, 2020)

I spent some time talking to Daniel, he's a great person. What I did differently here, is to make the top 3 strings all 25.5". So they're straight until that point, for solos, and chords on the top 3/4/5/6 strings are much more normally spaced, and then the bigger stretches are focused on 7/8/9.


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## Vyn (Jul 13, 2020)

frank falbo said:


> I spent some time talking to Daniel, he's a great person. What I did differently here, is to make the top 3 strings all 25.5". So they're straight until that point, for solos, and chords on the top 3/4/5/6 strings are much more normally spaced, and then the bigger stretches are focused on 7/8/9.



How are the curved frets made, putting regular fret wire through a roller of some sort?


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## spudmunkey (Jul 13, 2020)

Pietjepieter said:


> I always tought the ONI was the only one doing those round frets.



Etherial, too, but...like...with no logical sense to it.


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## frank falbo (Jul 13, 2020)

Vyn said:


> How are the curved frets made, putting regular fret wire through a roller of some sort?


I don't know how Daniel does it, I bent mine by hand.


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## odibrom (Jul 13, 2020)

frank falbo said:


> I don't know how Daniel does it, I bent mine by hand.



... but the slots are cut with CNC, right?...

Bending the "freds" sideways should work as bending to "match" the fingerboard's radius with those fret bending roller things/tools...

@spudmunkey I think the guitar panorama needs someone to take Etherial's design to a proper quality construction/conception. Some of his aesthetics and body designs are pretty cool tbh...


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## Avedas (Jul 14, 2020)

spudmunkey said:


> Etherial, too, but...like...with no logical sense to it.


I played a couple of these last month and they were surprisingly not that terrible to play. Super light, the frets felt fine to play despite the nonsensical approach, and the concave neck was interesting but got old very quickly.

And then I sliced my finger open on the corner of the fretboard. Never again.


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## Hollowway (Jul 14, 2020)

ThePhilosopher said:


> That's a new level of schmexy, are you going to go for some crazy tuning or something fairly standard?


Standard. So, C#1, F#, B, EADGBE. I am a mess with non-standard tunings. (Except drop tunings I will do.) What's cool about this is I can get my Van Halen (et. al.) on with those top frets being like a regular guitar, but then drop down for some chugs and djenty stuff.


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## Pietjepieter (Jul 14, 2020)

frank falbo said:


> I spent some time talking to Daniel, he's a great person. What I did differently here, is to make the top 3 strings all 25.5". So they're straight until that point, for solos, and chords on the top 3/4/5/6 strings are much more normally spaced, and then the bigger stretches are focused on 7/8/9.



interesting approach, to keep the top 3 strings straight!

but what the heck is wrong with that Etherial thing, is it like a fan with the parallel frets on the nut and then rounded?


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## jephjacques (Jul 14, 2020)

Avedas said:


> I played a couple of these last month and they were surprisingly not that terrible to play. Super light, the frets felt fine to play despite the nonsensical approach, and the concave neck was interesting but got old very quickly.
> 
> And then I sliced my finger open on the corner of the fretboard. Never again.



lmao


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 14, 2020)

1st - 25.5"
2nd - 25.5"
3rd - 25.5"
4th - 25.7"
5th - 26.0"
6th - 26.4"
7th - 26.9"
8th - 27.4"
9th - 28" 

Would that be a good estimate of the fan?


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## frank falbo (Jul 14, 2020)

25.500
25.500
25.513
25.611
25.818
26.127
26.571
27.178
28.000


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## Hollowway (Jul 15, 2020)

Update: HS logo is done!


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## Hollowway (Jul 15, 2020)

Lorcan Ward said:


> 1st - 25.5"
> 2nd - 25.5"
> 3rd - 25.5"
> 4th - 25.7"
> ...



And my wife thinks metal musicians are dumb. Where else are you going to find guys doing math problems just for fun? 

Lorcan, how did you estimate those? Fret find 2D? Or is there an e scale calculator you guys (Frank included) use for this sort of thing?


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## Vyn (Jul 15, 2020)

Hollowway said:


> And my wife thinks metal musicians are dumb. Where else are you going to find guys doing math problems just for fun?
> 
> Lorcan, how did you estimate those? Fret find 2D? Or is there an e scale calculator you guys (Frank included) use for this sort of thing?



I'm going to take a stab and guess that he measured the length of the high e on the screen then knowing that the high e is 25.5", divide 25.5" by the screen measurement to get a multiplier, then measure the other lengths and multiply them by the multiplier previously calculated.


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## frank falbo (Jul 15, 2020)

Fret2D doesn’t really help with something like this. After talking with Daniel, it turns out I had done many of the things the same way he did, and only a few things differently. If there’s anything that he might consider a trade secret associated with his e-scale, I don’t want to disclose it out of respect for him. But it’s essentially a manual operation, scaling each string individually and then there’s a right way to “connect the dots” and extend the trajectories, and translate that into fret slots, project them onto the arc of the fingerboard radius, etc.

It was really an engineering muscle builder.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 15, 2020)

frank falbo said:


> 25.500
> 25.500
> 25.513
> 25.611
> ...



Being able to keep the first 7 strings at around a 1 inch fan of 25.5-26.5



frank falbo said:


> 27.178
> 28.000


 
And then increase 1.5 inches for the last 2 strings is remarkable.



Hollowway said:


> And my wife thinks metal musicians are dumb. Where else are you going to find guys doing math problems just for fun?
> 
> Lorcan, how did you estimate those? Fret find 2D? Or is there an e scale calculator you guys (Frank included) use for this sort of thing?



I just did it by eye and then ran the maths over in my head a few times. I was thinking the 7th - 9th were more but increasing 1.5 inches in 2 strings is something I didn’t think possible.


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## Winspear (Jul 15, 2020)

Wow, yeah, I knew it was good but I never quite realised how effective until now!


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## Hollowway (Jul 16, 2020)

Some more in-progress shots of the finishing process. If the curved frets didn’t show off this thing’s beauty enough, that figuring in the walnut sure does!


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## Ben Pinkus (Jul 16, 2020)

Yeah that walnut top is insane!


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## 77zark77 (Jul 16, 2020)

what is not "curved" here ? looks sexy as hell !


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## Hollowway (Jul 18, 2020)

Mas.... Hard to believe colors like this come from natural wood. But so cool that they do!


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## Hollowway (Jul 27, 2020)

Almost there with the finish...


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## Avedas (Jul 27, 2020)

Those are some big cover holes on the bass side. Curious how those pickups will turn out.


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## Fred the Shred (Jul 27, 2020)

I played this design in 8-string format when Frank brought it out. It's just beautiful and makes me hate being broke. Thanks COVID!


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## Zhysick (Jul 27, 2020)

Avedas said:


> Those are some big cover holes on the bass side. Curious how those pickups will turn out.



I think the bigger pole pieces are for the plain/thinnest strings...
But it will be nice to know because I would use bigger pole pieces to thicken up the plain strings but hey... It would be interesting to know the real intention behind the design.


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## Hollowway (Jul 27, 2020)

Zhysick said:


> I think the bigger pole pieces are for the plain/thinnest strings...
> But it will be nice to know because I would use bigger pole pieces to thicken up the plain strings but hey... It would be interesting to know the real intention behind the design.



That’s exactly right. @frank falbo can explain it more, but the approach was to try to even out the tone for all 9 strings.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 27, 2020)

The limba pole pieces will compliment the body and fretboard contrast well. 

I’ve seen a few players experiment with different pole pieces but no big company has ever released a model that I know of.


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## spudmunkey (Jul 27, 2020)

Lorcan Ward said:


> The limba pole pieces will compliment the body and fretboard contrast well.
> 
> I’ve seen a few players experiment with different pole pieces but no big company has ever released a model that I know of.



...how would wooden pole pieces work?


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## frank falbo (Jul 27, 2020)

Right the larger poles are the plain treble strings, but what is harder to see is the middle 3 poles are also a little larger than the bottom 3. 

I’ve made strat pickups this way and played around with varied aperture for quite awhile, since before Duncan actually. 

Also since the bridge saddles are arched, and the pickup coils are straight, I am somewhat “bending” the magnetic field by manipulating pole height and whatnot.


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## frank falbo (Jul 27, 2020)

spudmunkey said:


> ...how would wooden pole pieces work?



Maybe he meant bobbin tops? The tops are made from figured Walnut, lighter in color than the body for some contrast. The poles are Alnico V. The Limba in that photo is just a stick to hold the pickups while painting the gloss poly protective coat.


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## spudmunkey (Jul 27, 2020)

OK, cool...that's what i thought too, I just wanted to make sure i wasn't missing out on some amazing new breakthrough i've never heard of before: non-magnetic pole pieces.


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## odibrom (Jul 27, 2020)

frank falbo said:


> Right the larger poles are the plain treble strings, but what is harder to see is the middle 3 poles are also a little larger than the bottom 3.
> 
> I’ve made strat pickups this way and played around with varied aperture for quite awhile, since before Duncan actually.
> 
> Also since the bridge saddles are arched, and the pickup coils are straight, I am somewhat “bending” the magnetic field by manipulating pole height and whatnot.



So, you're using magnetic rods as pole pieces instead of screws/bolts, hence the needed compensation...? But one can change the pole-to-string distance, won't that even the tone as well...?

I know that different pole-pieces material will deliver different results in a pickup response, but will enlarging those rods deliver that much of a difference that a pole piece adjustment (in the tradicional way) couldn't solve?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for these tweaks and what not, I'm just trying to dig deeper into this stuff...


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## frank falbo (Jul 28, 2020)

Each thing is its own variable. A larger diameter pole piece is producing a wider field and therefore listening to a longer length of the string. That's a harmonic content issue. (Thicker tone from treble strings, crisper tone from bass strings) 

Proximity to the string is a different thing, and is more related to amplitude. And the distance from the bridge is determining whether the pole will favor the neck-side coil or the bridge-side coil. 

The length of the pole piece, as in how much longer the pole is sticking out the bottom of the coil, also changes the shape of the field. 

So generally speaking, one thing doesn't really solve other things. And in my line of work I've had the luxury of seeing exactly what all these variables do.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 28, 2020)

spudmunkey said:


> ...how would wooden pole pieces work?



Whoops! Meant to say wooden bobbins. 



frank falbo said:


> The tops are made from figured Walnut, lighter in color than the body for some contrast. The poles are Alnico V. The Limba in that photo is just a stick to hold the pickups while painting the gloss poly protective coat.



Ah I was wondering where you got such nice limba. Walnut is a great wood for building since it can vary so much, looking like high grade koa, figured mahogany or even limba in this case.


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## odibrom (Jul 28, 2020)

frank falbo said:


> Each thing is its own variable. A larger diameter pole piece is producing a wider field and therefore listening to a longer length of the string. That's a harmonic content issue. (Thicker tone from treble strings, crisper tone from bass strings)
> 
> Proximity to the string is a different thing, and is more related to amplitude. And the distance from the bridge is determining whether the pole will favor the neck-side coil or the bridge-side coil.
> 
> ...



Thank you very much for your informative reply. Personally, I think I couldn't hear the diference, but I trust your judgement on the subject. There are so many variables at play... you just showed me a new one...


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## Infopimp (Aug 12, 2020)

Wow... a Falbo guitar just days away from being done. So close you can almost feel it.
Keep us updated.


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## Hollowway (Aug 29, 2020)

The bridges finally came in from Australia. Here’s where we are today!


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## Hollowway (Sep 1, 2020)

Done!


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## Hollowway (Sep 1, 2020)




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## Dayn (Sep 1, 2020)

Neat. "Luscious" is probably a good word to describe that wood, as uncomfortable as uttering such a phrase makes me feel.


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## Hollowway (Sep 1, 2020)

Dayn said:


> Neat. "Luscious" is probably a good word to describe that wood, as uncomfortable as uttering such a phrase makes me feel.


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## Avedas (Sep 1, 2020)

Completely nuts. That 9th string looks like it barely fits on the saddle. Amazing work and really cool look. Definitely the best 9 string I've seen.


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## Pietjepieter (Sep 1, 2020)

This think totally rocks!!!

Damn Epic, best 9 string i have seen I think!

(and we need a lot more pictures from the back, all angles etc.... )


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## Bdtunn (Sep 1, 2020)

Unreal!!!!!


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## cardinal (Sep 1, 2020)

Love it.


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## Fred the Shred (Sep 1, 2020)

That thing is so damn pretty!


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## mastapimp (Sep 1, 2020)

Looks like it was yanked from a Salvador Dali painting! Pretty trippy, but appears well executed and tasty! Enjoy!


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## Hollowway (Sep 2, 2020)

Here’s the back. And he engraved the cavity cover, which looks pretty cool!


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## iamaom (Sep 2, 2020)

What does it feel like playing the higher frets?


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## Hollowway (Sep 2, 2020)

@frank falbo will have to answer that. It’s on its way to me, but I don’t actually have it yet. The access looks crazy good, and the heel is non-existent, so I’m guessing it’ll be super easy to play up high.


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## frank falbo (Sep 3, 2020)

For upper fret access, yes getting your hand up there is easy, you can play the highest fret without effort. 

But if you’re asking what it’s like to play the curved frets up on the higher notes, that’s exactly why I did the top 3 strings all as 25.5” scale and only started to expand the frets after that. If you look at the top 3 strings they’re totally normal up there, and along the whole neck. Then the middle 3 strings (the bottom 3 of a 6 strings are still really normal, and so it doesn’t flare out really dramatically until the low 3 strings, but up past the 15th fret you’re probably not spending much time on the 3 bass strings. That’s why it’s not a big deal that those last frets are a bit chaotic on the lowest strings.


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