Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
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Captain Strings
Master Contributor
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 2:45 pm Posts: 793 Location: Sylmar, California
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Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
I've had this for about 15 years but have moved on to a couple modern 12 strings and have not really played this one in a few years. So it's time to get this out of the closet and into another player's hands. I had Emmett (or probably Grace) install a trussrod and modern adjustable belt hook a few years back. It's got those stud bridge posts and intonates for light gauge Classic tuning. It also has a new shoulder strap and twist fitting. The tuning pegs for the 1st and 10th strings have been reversed like a modern Stick for reduced nut-to-tuner angle on those outside strings while still turning the same direction as the others. Right now I have light gauge Classic bass and light gauge MR melody strings which intonate quite well also. But I can restring the melody side to Classic if desired. With the trussrod it's able to be flattened out to a very low action like a new instrument and the frets are amazingly pristine w/virtually zero wear because it's been played very little since it was built. It has the original brown rectangular case and it's in pretty great shape for its age functionally and cosmetically. I re-foamed it recently and everything fits nice and tight. Original stereo split cable w/Switchcraft jacks from back in the day and it still works fine. It comes with a double ended and double thick trussrod wrench and one of my Lap Dawgs installed. It's a pristine example of an early model Stick with all the practical upgrades. Stickup is clean, clear, punchy and the volume pots run smooth w/no crackle or static. I need to get $1900 plus shipping and insurance. More photos on request. I'm in L.A.
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Fri Mar 04, 2022 2:41 pm |
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rclere
Multiple Donor
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:53 am Posts: 1518 Location: Seattle, WAq
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Re: Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
What an incredible deal for a vintage Stick.... Peeps! Pick this up! Michael is GREAT to do business with!!!
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Fri Mar 04, 2022 10:37 pm |
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AnDroiD
Elite Contributor
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:42 pm Posts: 2536 Location: Jersey
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Re: Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
The back of the headstock looks just like mine - must be Ironwood. Mine is an '84 #1212...bought at Sam Ash NYC! Great price someone grab it! (Tony Levin played one)
_________________ Peace, Marty "The present day composer refuses to die" -Edgard Varese
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Sat Mar 05, 2022 8:57 am |
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SethD
Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2022 7:28 am Posts: 1 Location: New England
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Re: Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
I'm very interested. I've got a grand stick on order, but it's going to be a while.
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Sat Mar 05, 2022 10:12 am |
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WerkSpace
Elite Contributor
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:19 pm Posts: 1799 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Re: Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
I noticed that your vintage stick has one piece of wood while my #404 has four pieces laminated together. Emmett stated that the #404 Angico wood was one of the toughest woods that he had ever worked with.
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_________________ #404 Stick - (1978) Angico hard wood. #6460 Railboard - Black with glow inlays.
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Sun Mar 06, 2022 11:20 am |
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Captain Strings
Master Contributor
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 2:45 pm Posts: 793 Location: Sylmar, California
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Re: Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
Yeah Emmett told me once that he tried certain woods for a while and built some Sticks but some turned out to be too hard to machine or prone to chip like Purpleheart and so were discontinued. One time Emmett gave me a heavy 2x4x7 block of purpleheart and said "here - go make something". I was all set to carve a cool tiki head but my wood carving tools were damn near useless on it.
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Sun Mar 06, 2022 5:27 pm |
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baggetthouse
Multiple Donor
Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2010 9:23 pm Posts: 674 Location: Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, CANADA
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Re: Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
Captain Strings wrote: Yeah Emmett told me once that he tried certain woods for a while and built some Sticks but some turned out to be too hard to machine or prone to chip like Purpleheart and so were discontinued. One time Emmett gave me a heavy 2x4x7 block of purpleheart and said "here - go make something". I was all set to carve a cool tiki head but my wood carving tools were damn near useless on it. Thanks for that info. I remember when I started playing Stick in the mid 90's, SE offered a slew of different hardwood options, including the Purple Heart that you mention. Also Zebrawood, which Emmett was playing in a B&W photo on the SE brochure from 1994. It was very sharp looking. I can't imagine either of those woods holding out well in certain climates. Or being easy to build from. But the color varieties offered would be amazing. I'd be very interested in seeing a list (or better, photos!) of all the varieties of hardwoods that Sticks were created from.
_________________ Brian Baggett Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, CANADA http://brianbaggett.ca https://www.youtube.com/c/BrianBaggett306
Lap Bars: https://brianbaggettwoodcraft.ca/chapma ... -lap-bars/ TAGG Interface: https://brianbaggettwoodcraft.ca/tagg-interface/
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Sun Mar 06, 2022 8:28 pm |
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WerkSpace
Elite Contributor
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2015 11:19 pm Posts: 1799 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Re: Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
I have a block of purpleheart with approximately the same dimensions as you had. When I had it cut at the vendor, the sides had turned brown from the heat of the saw blade. I was really bugged by this, but figured out a way to bring back the natural purple color. I watched a video of flame treating purpleheart on a pen maker's lathe. I decided to try putting the wood under a tanning bed UV light and it did the trick. The brown color disappeared after about 30 minutes and I had that beautiful purple color back again. I bought that piece of wood with the intention of making my own Stick but never got around to doing anything with that project. I have all the hardware to build my own stick. The hardest thing to find was triangular frets. Apparently, some fellow in Jersey has a patent on them and no one else can produce them. I ended up buying them from Sintoms in Belarus. http://sintoms.com/FretsProduction.htmCaptain Strings wrote: Yeah Emmett told me once that he tried certain woods for a while and built some Sticks but some turned out to be too hard to machine or prone to chip like Purpleheart and so were discontinued. One time Emmett gave me a heavy 2x4x7 block of purpleheart and said "here - go make something". I was all set to carve a cool tiki head but my wood carving tools were damn near useless on it.
_________________ #404 Stick - (1978) Angico hard wood. #6460 Railboard - Black with glow inlays.
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Mon Mar 07, 2022 7:58 am |
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mikecalvert
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2022 12:37 am Posts: 1 Location: LA
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Re: Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
Send a PM . Im in LA and would life to pick it up
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Thu Mar 17, 2022 11:51 am |
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LesMizzell
Joined: Sat May 21, 2022 8:49 pm Posts: 4
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Re: Early Ironwood 10 string w/factory upgrades
Is this now sold, or still available?
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Thu May 26, 2022 3:46 pm |
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