Norris

2 hours ago, Dantahoua said:

That looks super clean. Nice work!

It's back in my possession. The extra-chunky neck that was requested is a little too chunky.

I get to reshape the neck 

5 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

@Norris, apparently @mistermikev liked you a lot, too?

Yes. Fake news though

33 minutes ago, mistermikev said:

just went on a like spree... now that's more LIKE it (see wut I did there?)!  seriously tho... nice work.

Darn you 

On 5/16/2020 at 8:06 PM, Bizman62 said:

With all this liking I almost feel like I had friends! But obviously that's fake news.

Now I know how you felt 

1 hour ago, ScottR said:

Oh my! Stop right there!

It looks metallic in that photo 

Dan tried to post a response to this thread, but had a few difficulties registering. This is what he just WhatsApp'ed to me, what he wanted to say:

Hi all, this is Dan, Norris' "customer"! 

Well I woke up this morning with sore fingers from playing "Patience" (as Norris has christened my new guitar!) for countless hours last night, and have just spent another hour or two reading through this thread whilst noodling & strumming. To say I'm amazed at the amount of work, creativity & attention to detail he has put into my new guitar is a massive understatement! Wow, Norris, patience is your middle name & you must have it in spades!! It honestly doesn't seem like 3 years in the making, but really, at 2 hours a week & probably less than 30 weekly sessions per year it's not really taken that long, especially when you consider the amount of work involved. 

Anyway, for those of you who have been following Norris' endless & meticulous tooling, scraping, oiling, sanding & soldering I just wanna say the end result is a fabulous guitar that plays great, sounds fab & looks absolutely gorgeous! Thanks Norris! X 

PS: Gibby ES336 style next, asap! haha!

[\quote]

Well, what can I say? A lovely testament

1 hour ago, Bizman62 said:

Hopefully that spot won't be empty for the next three years!

Certainly not.

I'm considering refinishing a cheapo Charvel Charvette that I bought in a fire sale many years ago. I could do with something strat-ish and have been itching to do a Pelham blue finish...

That's as well as rebuilding my 12-string acoustic, and building myself a bass...

It's now with its owner 

13 minutes ago, 10pizza said:

again I'm impressed with the fast results using the shinto rasp

Shinto rasps rule!

Nice progress 

Well I just managed 20 likes in quick succession without running out. Thanks @curtisa!

And apologies to anyone that has posted in this thread for the spurious likes

It's finished 

I can't delay handing it over any longer

On 4/30/2020 at 3:41 PM, Bizman62 said:

The lack of "reactions" started about the same time with my status changing to Veteran Member.

I just checked - apparently I am also a veteran member 

There - I just blew my daily budget by liking posts in this thread. I managed a further 2! So I only got to make 5 reactions this morning, although I don't know where in the 24 hour cycle I am, so some from last night may have been counted too

2 hours ago, curtisa said:

@Bizman62, @ADFinlayson, @mistermikev, @Norris, @ScottR - Can I get a quick check-in from you guys and see if you're still happy with the number of reactions you're able to make per day? Something Ash posted in another topic has got me thinking you're still running into the limit too early.

I've not counted, but it seems like only 5 or 6 reactions in a 24 hour period. I've already used 3 in as many minutes this morning. I'm not sure why we would need to have a limit

Are you considering some quantitative easing to the PG reaction economy?

Fabulous. The yew looks like it's on fire

You might want to tag @Prostheta to get a response on an old thread

I had to replace the pickup in mine. Prostheta put me onto Rautia Guitars, who makes the closest reproduction available. Prostheta also makes replacement pre-amps for the SB-1000 (available on Ebay)

I heard an old ('95!) recording of me playing mine last week. I really must gig it again now that it's fixed - it sounded great 

1 hour ago, Prostheta said:

That's a tasty Jr DC! It looks more substantial than an original, and more capable up in the fun rows. The clear rear estate of the front - unsullied by a pickguard - gives it a nice presence

Thank you. I am rather pleased how it has turned out. It will be a wrench to hand it over to Dan next week 

1 hour ago, Prostheta said:

So, next?

Rebuilding my 12-string acoustic. The top is like a ski ramp, the neck has come unstuck and it has an action that can be measured in inches! It needs a complete makeover 

After that it will be a 5-string bass 

Btw, I used the Dremel buffing wheel to do the fret ends. It worked a treat with the Meguiar's ultimate compound. I got through 2 buffing wheels for the polishing

Phew! It's done. It played quite nicely before, but it's 73.4% better now It sings so nicely and the notes flow, so that it even makes me sound like a guitarist (I'm a bass player btw)

I did a much better job of polishing the frets too. I don't know why I did it by hand before - it's so much easier & better result with the Dremel

So it's probably handover early next week, although I'll admit I'd love to be able to keep it 

18 hours ago, Norris said:

Minor snag - it's choking on the 2nd fret. Either that is too high or the 1st fret is too low.

It simply doesn't meet quality control standards. I don't know if the neck has settled since I fretted it, or I've gone a bit overboard with polishing. The fact is I'll only be happy with re-levelling, crowning and polishing. As it isn't a million miles out I've made myself a sanding beam loaded with 600 grit wet or dry paper - that I know is properly flat. It will be used dry

Slight setback, but minor in the grand scheme of things. Normal service will be resumed shortly...

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

That's my boy!  Welcome to the 'why the hell do guitars have to be so flaming heavy' club  

 

I don't know what variety of khaya the body is, but it's light. And looks nice

Edit: it's actually a solid slab - no chambering

Minor snag - it's choking on the 2nd fret. Either that is too high or the 1st fret is too low. That's a job for tomorrow, as I've loosened and tightened the tuners about 100 times already today - the joys of adjusting a wraparound bridge!

Shame, as the rest of the neck is playing beautifully. It's only out by a gnat's nadger, so shouldn't be a major job. It might delay handover by a day, but hey - who's in a rush at the moment?

Final weight is 2982 grams, which is a shade over 6.5 lbs

I've taken a load of photos (which I'll post later). Handover is tomorrow

Yes, it will go into GOTM when Dan has done a demo video

I'll be sad to see it go. It sounds lovely with a clean sound, and absolutely sings with a bit of drive. My fingers are raw from playing it

6 minutes ago, JGTay said:

Thanks Scott. I had that thought myself and checked before oiling, plenty of room thankfully. 

If it's a bit tight, you could always use a forstener bit to recess the tuner nuts slightly. You have plenty of meat on the veneer

Edit: As Bizman says, it's added an elegance to the headstock. Classy!