# ISLAND Instruments Shop Thread



## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

Hello fellow Canucks!

I just signed up here and am looking forward to sharing my work with you and becoming part of the community. My name is Nic and I'm the (only) guy behind ISLAND Instrument Manufacture. I build custom instruments that are twisted, modern re-interpretations of the weirdo Harmony/Dano/Teisco guitars I love, all from my shop in Montreal. In this thread I will be sharing the builds that I am currently working on, giving insight into the process and looking to start some discussions.
[video=youtube;oxooGNbKC7Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxooGNbKC7Y[/video]









I'll be trturning to Berlin for the 2015 Holy Grail Show. Starting tomorrow I'll be sharing progress on the builds I'll be bringing









My Anzol model. This is an "a la carte" guitar with a fixed set of specs and a much shorter wait time. Inspired by one of my favourite little Teisco mashed up with a Dano.









L to R: Anzol, Modern Romantic (a nylon string parlor), The Atoll (a larger guitar shape, availale as a standard, baritone
or 12 string), The Forty Four (my flagship model, based on the Harmony H44, my favorite guitar - because of Marc Ribot), The Carny (my riff on the Silvertone 1457), which comes with a boutique amp-in-case, the "Drifter" made by Benson Amps.

And here's my Forty Four in action played by the super rad and talented RJ Ronquillo
[video=youtube;D14uBkRHEKg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D14uBkRHEKg[/video]









This is a prototype for a kids/travel guitar I just completed. It has a 22.5" scale and plays like butter. It's definitely not a toy.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Cool looking guitars. Welcome to the forum.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

do you restore these old ones too_¿?¿


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

sambonee said:


> do you restore these old ones too_¿?¿


I have yet to...
I've been watching auctions for old beat up ones with the idea of doing an ISLAND-y restoration (as opposed to do a strictly "vintage correct" restoration) but the prices are kind of prohibitive for what I'd want to charge for the finished product. Although, I haven't checked in the last year.


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

You'd be suprised by the deals you can get on ebay if you check it a lot.
I've recently picked up a '63 silvertone 1442 neck ($100), a vintage silvertone bridge ($30) and an awseome-ly beat up supro pickup ($100).

The only thing that sucks right now is our canadian dollar 

Welcome to the forum!
You and I might just be kindred spirits lol

I just build myself a danelectro single cut with the silvertone 1442 neck and I'm working on a supro ozark body with a gibson scale and single bridge humbucker!

I'm loving the stuff you're building.

Nathan


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

nnieman said:


> You'd be suprised by the deals you can get on ebay if you check it a lot.
> I've recently picked up a '63 silvertone 1442 neck ($100), a vintage silvertone bridge ($30) and an awseome-ly beat up supro pickup ($100).
> 
> The only thing that sucks right now is our canadian dollar
> ...


 The dollar is hurting right now that's for sure!
Lets see some photos of your builds, they sound cool. 

I just more or less finished up this Carny - reclaimed Barnwood Doug Fir Body, Birdseye Maple top, Poplar neck, Birdseye maple fretboard. MOJO Pickups, CJ Tooling bridge, Italian Celluloid appointments:















Just waiting on the final touches of the Benson Drifter amp-in-case and then this one is off to the Big Apple.

Also, T-shirts and limited artist prints coming soon:


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Nice guitars tho there is nothing wierdo about the old Harmony/Dano/Teisco kind guitars IMO. I have more than a few and like them. Going by the prices stated for Silvertone parts my early 60's Silvertone is worth a lot more than I paid for it. I find yard sale/pawn shop prices around here are a lot cheaper than auction prices but Montreal is a lot bigger than here and that might have something to do with the price/availability thing.
And now the check the website.


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## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

Woo! Very interesting work. Keep it up!


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

Electraglide said:


> Nice guitars tho there is nothing wierdo about the old Harmony/Dano/Teisco kind guitars IMO. I have more than a few and like them. Going by the prices stated for Silvertone parts my early 60's Silvertone is worth a lot more than I paid for it. I find yard sale/pawn shop prices around here are a lot cheaper than auction prices but Montreal is a lot bigger than here and that might have something to do with the price/availability thing.
> And now the check the website.


The last one I watched was an H44 carcass (neck and body, IIRC no pickup or pickguard) in serious need of a refin... it went for over 600$ and closer to 800 if my memory serves well... I sort of gave up after that.



jbealsmusic said:


> Woo! Very interesting work. Keep it up!


Thank you, I have no plans of slowing down... in fact,

I want mention that I am implementing a new mailing list and encourage you all to sign up. Subscribers will be privy to dibs on any instruments that are not pre-sold (a rare occurence) at a special price. Also one to two times per year, I will announce special runs of limited edition and exclusive instruments that will only be available through the mailing list. To subscribe, visit my website (link in sig.) I WILL NOT send out any spam or flood you with annoying BS newsletters... It will be somewhere between 1-4 times/year and only for major announcements.

AH, and more pictures. These are the necks I am carving for the guitars I'll be bringing to The Holy Grail Show in Berlin (L to R) Shreddy Carny - Fancy Anzol - Re-Ply 2.








Anybody notice something... "missing"? 

Thanks!


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

IslandNic said:


> The last one I watched was a carcass (neck and body, IIRC no pickup or pickguard) in serious need of a refin... it went for over 600$ and closer to 800 if my memory serves well... I sort of gave up after that.
> 
> 
> Thank you, I have no plans of slowing down... in fact,
> ...


Between $600 and $800 for a neck and body? The Tiesco made guitar I picked up is playable but needs rewiring and new strings. For $50 I got it and some other old guitar stuff. At the last auction I went to I saw one of those guitars the sold in walmart go for what it sold for new.


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

Electraglide said:


> Between $600 and $800 for a neck and body? The Tiesco made guitar I picked up is playable but needs rewiring and new strings. For $50 I got it and some other old guitar stuff. At the last auction I went to I saw one of those guitars the sold in walmart go for what it sold for new.



I'm speaking strictly of the Harmony H44 Stratotone, the guitar which my flagship model is based off of. It's true, there are tons of affordable Teisco's out there, like the EL-120 my Anzol model is based off of.


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

MOAR CARVING! Pretty necks for pretty playing.


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

What a beautiful neck
Here's the dano/silvertone style I've put together



Progress pics



Nathan


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

nnieman said:


> What a beautiful neck
> Here's the dano/silvertone style I've put together
> Nathan


Classic! Thanks for sharing Nathan.

Here I am getting me carve on. 








...

What (comfortable and ergonomic) abomination have I created?


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## jayoldschool (Sep 12, 2013)

No truss rods?


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

jayoldschool said:


> No truss rods?


Good eye. With the exception of my Anzol model, I've phased them out, about a year or so ago.


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

The beginnings of ISLAND Haute Couture Fashion House:







Sizes will be S, M, L, XL . If there are pre-requests for XX or XXXL please get in touch with me as soon as you can and I'll make it happen. 

I'll also be giving away a free T to the 100th person to subscribe to my mailing list (you can do so through my website). We're real close to that number.

Cheers!


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

This week in the shop: Anzol necks carved and stained.















Got new logos for the Headstocks as well. There are only 3 build slots left for the 2015 run of Anzols.

Also got some finish down on the Re-Ply. Using an epoxy. It went on thick, I'll sand most of it off.


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

Here's the Shreddy Carny with its Stonewash Denim stain. pre-finish,


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

In this demo, Dan Phelps runs down the Carny and the Benson Drifter Amp-in-Case combo.
[video=youtube;wOZVzg18RqI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOZVzg18RqI[/video]


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

And finally a clip of the Traveller. Don't be fooled by it's small stature. 
[video=youtube;LGwE6uYi294]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGwE6uYi294[/video]

Oh, P.S. For anybody on Instagram, I'll be holding a live Q&A session tomorrow at 11:30 - 12:30 Eastern time. If any of you have questions or care to check it out, follow @islandinstrumentmfg Of course, I'm happy to answer any questions here as well!


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

What a great little guitar
It sounds really good, what are you using for pickups?

I'm very interested in the no-truss rod necks
I tend to prefer beefy necks and I feel like it's not necessary in a one inch thick chunk of hard maple.

Do you made thicker necks to compensate?

Do you reinforce then supro-style? (chunk of metal)

Nathan


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

nnieman said:


> What a great little guitar
> It sounds really good, what are you using for pickups?
> 
> I'm very interested in the no-truss rod necks
> ...


Thanks Nathan! The pickup in that guitar is a humbucker sized singlecoil from Eastwood. All the hardware on that guitar was salvaged from a friend's project (the guitar is a gift for his 7-year-old daughter and I built it on a budget). The "production" models will have... well, I'm not sure yet. Likely a mini humbucker of sorts, probably from MOJO, despite my desire to keep the pricetag low on these, and the current exchange on the GBP.

In the Traveller I have a very rudimentary steel reinforcement 1/4"wide x 3/8" tall set as close to the back of the neck as possible. Seeing as this guitar is for a 7 year old, the neck is not really chunky.
My other models feature a carbon fiber half round... I make it in house, laminating Doug Fir with high modulus carbon fabric. My necks are usually a little on the chunkier side (standard) cause that's part of the vibe, and what I like but I will carve whatever porfile is asked. Lately I've been getting tons of requests for hard V necks (which i also dig).


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

Oh and here's the body for the "Fancy Anzol" that I'll be bringing to The Holy Grail Guitar Show in Berlin in a month. This one is dressed to kill, one-of-a-kind handpainted body, curly maple neck, Rainforest Alliance certified Ebony fretboard and Ferro Full Contact bridge. Brass and ivoroid appointments everywhere. Behold:


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## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

Wow what a beauty

Do you clear coat over the artwork or let it wear naturally?

A suggestion for pickups
Ken from Roadhouse pickups makes reproductions of all kinds of cool old pickups, including several supro ones.

http://www.roadhousepickups.com/pickups/

He's a really great guy to deal with and makes a really good product.

I've got a Kingston mini in the neck of my favorite tele and it sounds great!

Nathan


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

nnieman said:


> Wow what a beauty
> 
> Do you clear coat over the artwork or let it wear naturally?
> 
> ...


I'm clearing over the artwork... hopefully with minimal complications. I wrote roadhouse a while back for pickups. Ken was super nice but the project ultimately got shelved and then I found MOJO. I guess this travel project will be a good excuse to try again!

Speaking of the travel poject... I'm thinking of making it headless and collapsible, with a keying neck pocket an single bolt. The guitar would easily disassemble and fit into a small briefcase/flight case.
I


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

Here are the new prototype hardtail bridges. They offer the option to string thru-body or top-load








Here's hardware for the Re-Ply and the Shreddy Carny, fresh out of the acid bath.


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

Here's the Shreddy Carny guys. The half Dano, half Djent abomination is about to get strung:








Torched chrome pickup covers, saddles and head piece


















This guitar kind o started as a joke. It's premiering at the Holy Grail Show in Berlin...Not sure I'll ever make another one again.


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## IslandNic (Aug 7, 2015)

View attachment 12186776_1052225058162059_2528312808336119393_o.jpg


It was an amazing weekend. Big thanks to organizers and visitors alike, and a special thanks to Nicola L. Hein for putting on a truly memorable demo concert (video coming soon I hope). I ended up finding a stand for the headless monster! 

Hopefully I will be able to share some show rundowns on here shortly as well.


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## buyusfear (Nov 18, 2009)

Nice little feature on the Fretboard Journal website Nic!

http://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/online/bench-press-island-instruments


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