And now for something completely different

[Kim]

Now that looks sexy enough to have a 16000 RPM V12 under the bonnet Nick...Very impressive...Did you manage to find a set of racing wires for them little wheels???...F@#KING AWESOME mate, truly a work of art.

After all of us watching this baby unfold over the past months with such anticipation, if that customer of yours won't come good with a video demo for us, then they'll probably wind up wishing it really did have a 16000 RPM V12 under the bonnet so they could make their getaway...cause I reckon a few of us will feel like pay'in a little visit with a 3" round, 18" long, piece of rough sawn splintery wenge, just to see if we can find somewhere to hide it.






Cheers

Kim

[kiwigeo]

Build of the year Nick.......nice to see it all finished.

[Chalks]

Damn!

Great piece of work.

[P Bill]

Congratulations Nick ! Outstanding instrument, a lot of passion there.

[Bob Connor]

Stunning piece of work Nick.

Cant wait to hear it in action.

Regards

[Sean Syman]

Fantastic work Nick, bet it sounds awesome now it's all in tune haha! Hope the end result is worth all that production work.

[ozziebluesman]

G'day Nick,

Many years ago, early 1960s there was a dance band group that used to play at the old time dances in the local hall. The irrigation farming community I lived in was isolated but was made up of fifty odd families so many people in a small area. I can remember this band had a set of vibes as their lead instrument and they where amplified. What a beautiful full, big full sound. Loved it!!! The oldies hated it because they reckoned the band was too loud. So my early reccollection of musical instruments was the vibes.

I took forward to hearing the sound again in your demo.

I have been watching this build from the start and congratulate you on building such a fine instrument. Truely outstanding workmanship.

Thanks for sharing the journey.

Cheers

Alan

[charangohabsburg]

Wow, that instrument looks now a lot different than on the pictures in the first post of this thread!

The powder coating and anodising makes it look extremely neat!

Thanks a lot for sharing the whole building process in this epic thread. I really enjoyed it and I hope you can persuade the owner to let you record him performing something. I would love to hear this vibraphone.

[Dennis Leahy]

Nick? Who is Nick? Isn't he the fella that offers to make a custom guitar for $300. Well, I'll take one of these here vibraphones - let's see... would $200 be a fair price?

Nick! I'm blown away! Of course, I've heard 'em, but it is not an instrument that I have ever examined up close - so I don't know for sure, but I'll bet there isn't another one in the world made this well.

Amazing workmanship, my friend! Just amazing. And, like Ginger Rodgers got to brag that she did it "backwards...and in high heels", you get to say you built this vibraphone while the Earth was vibrating and land was liquifying around you.

If the musician can't come up with a few nice pieces (MP3s and videos), then I'll second what Kim said - only I'll recommend that the wood be square (you know, square peg in a round hole - to add to the discomfort.)

Dennis

[Clancy]

Yeah...not a bad job there, nick.

Now if you'd only done the whole thing in figured blackwood.....

And...
Um...
Speechless

[Nick]

Thanks for the comments everybody. I must say it's been a long build (and if I did another I could trim the time considerably now I sorta know what I'm doing ) but very challenging/rewarding & it's always great to see the customer's happy face when you present it to them. I've enjoyed the designing around a problem solving aspect of this build, the engineering side is pretty much everyday stuff for me & I'm pretty sure the cleaner will be happy now that I've finished it, no more sweeping up heaps of Aluminum swarf!
If anybody fancies having a go at a set of vibes as something different from guitars occasionally, then I would fully recommend Jim McCarthy's build instructions & I must send out a big thanks to him for firstly putting his plans out there and also for his correspondence & thoughts during the build.
His whole brief was to see how cheaply (and therefore within the reach of most people) he could build a functioning set of vibes with most parts available from a local Bunnies or (if you are Martin,) any other hardware store & his results was a set he took touring with him around schools.
Anyway here's a few finished shots & I'll try and get the customer to play something on camera as this thing can look as pretty as it likes but that ain't no good if it don't sound good also!

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[Allen]

My hat off to you sir.

Bloody marvellous workmanship, and the documentation taking us along the journey has been about the best I've ever followed.

Now we have to get together one day so I can buy you a few coldies.

[Nick]

Now we have to get together one day so I can buy you a few coldies.

I like the sound of that!

[morgan]

Fantastic, educational and entertaining build from start to finish Nick. Can't wait to hear it. Thanks for sharing.

[charangohabsburg]

Yes, it looks really great. Now you only have to wipe off all those black bold pencil marks you have left all over the frame!

[Paul B]

Excellent Nick! It has been a really enjoyable ride watching you build this, fantastic outcome.

When you've explained a problem and how you thought you could overcome it, I was always surprised when I saw the photos of the solution as you always seemed to come up with a solution that was much more elegant than I expected (or how I would have done it). You've really displayed a mastery of your trade.

My hat's off to you.

Now hurry-up and build something else just as cool, we need more pics.

[Clancy]

Ha! Your all suckers!!
I'm not fooled.
Something that good looking just had to be made by a machine in a factory!!
Nick just bought this thing on ebay & took photos for us as he pieced it all together.
I tells ya, he's just sitting back laughing into his beer!

[kiwigeo]

Ha! Your all suckers!!
I'm not fooled.
Something that good looking just had to be made by a machine in a factory!!
Nick just bought this thing on ebay & took photos for us as he pieced it all together.
I tells ya, he's just sitting back laughing into his beer!

Yeah...Im not fooled either. Bldi Kiwis always pulling the wool over our eyes.

[Tod Gilding]

Well Done Nick I enjoyed the ride, Possibly more than you did.

[Nick]

Yeah...Im not fooled either. Bldi Kiwis always pulling the wool over our eyes.

No wool here chaps, it chaffs against my skin & eyeballs.


Finally to round out the thread (ignore the female vocals in the background, there was a bit of jazz running through the stereo at the same time ) .

youtu.be/

Just as a really quick idea of sort of how they sound. The customer claimed to be a bit rusty & didn't want to ruin things so he stuck to simple scales & runs up & down the bars but it gives you the general idea. They are fairly hard mallets he's using, a mellower sound can be achieved with softer mallets.

[rocket]

Very cool and very clever Nick, i've been watching this thread as most have, and i think you win the award for versatility.
Cheers,,,
Rod.

[matthew]

I'm impressed. Good on you Nick for trying something different! What next?

[Luke]

Thanks for the ride Nick we are all so inspired, amazed and entertained by your work and good cheer. Looking forward to the metal body resonator guitar.

[J.F. Custom]

You are an absolute FREAK Nick.

In the nicest way possible of course Anyway, I'm fond of freaks... Or is it that, freaks are fond of me?

That is simply superb, exceptional craftsmanship in every way. I seriously want one still, as does my wife, but I'm scared to ask... Oh so scared...

I doubt you want to revisit such a project any time soon anyway, which is probably fortunate for me!

Thanks for documenting the whole process and kudos - a huge personal effort from you to the benefit of this forum and all its readers.

Also a real eye opener for me with no engineering/metal working experience. I can honestly say, much as I love the instrument, I can't see myself setting up for this challenge. A wooden Marimba or Xylophone perhaps one day, but I'll leave the metal work to those who have the know how - there is already too much I want to do in too little time.

Should I ever actually start making money from guitars (hah ), you can expect a phonecall.

Jeremy.