the nut is made from an exhaust bracket with a hand carved oak centre fixed with 2 pack epoxy.given that there was limited adjustment elsewhere, i wanted the ability for the user to ever have it set to standard length or the freedom to use the extended reach of the spade if wanted.it also gives the opportunity to fine tune the guitar to the exact length for optimal tuning capabilities.the machine heads were too long for the handle, however i found a perfect fit with some orange pipe i had in a pile of junk.i cut the pipe down to size with a set of pipe cutters and it went on perfectly.the strings were custom made from newtone strings uk.they were the only company i found that will make small run custom length strings. they took about 10 days to complete, however the sound from them is real awesome.it just so happened that the sticker they sent with the package fit nicely at the top of the spade covering up moulding marks.even though the spade has an orange plastic top, underneath the plastic is stainless tube that runs the full length.i kid you not when i say this beast was really hard to drill. i went through about 8-10 carbide tipped bits drilling the holes i needed.the only bit i really hate on this is the string tree.it's made from a bit of meccano and started life as a temporary fixing to get the centre string and pick up in the right place.problem was that i couldn't find anything else that worked as well. i may end up making a decent looking one from billet, but i really wanted to give the guy his christmas present before next christmas
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