No more Nelson Guitars subforum?

[ChetMagongalo]

what happen?

[sylnau]

It was great to follow the build and stuff.
I miss that too.

[kbit]

I think you have to pay dues to keep yr spot, and it always seems like he was having trouble selling his guits

Speculating...

[SPACERITUAL]

I talked to bobby before I came back. He actually asked thom to take the forum down. He said it seemed like nobody was interested. Nobody really posted there.

As far as having trouble selling his stuff I believe there has been a lot of that, I've spoken with him about possible ways to remedy this. I'm not really sure what's going to happen but we will see.

[fishtankdork]

His FB feed has been ruff latley. Beautiful guitars all over it and barley any interest. I always comment and check his stuff out but he's having trouble selling completed guitars. He said he's coming up with a way to offer a more affordable easier to make electric. Hopefully we can see it soon, and the cheaper price will introduce more people to his stuff. Id love to own a Nelson, however it seems whenever he dose a run of guitars I'm always low on cash. He has bad timing wit my bank accounts haha

[bob the r0bot]

It's a real shame, the one I had was absolutely killer.

[PeteeBee]

What a bummer. I like how he's on here and the build pics. I can't afford one either at this point. Would love to but it isn't realistic. Not that they are overpriced, I'm just underfunded.

[Nelson Instruments]

I talked to bobby before I came back. He actually asked thom to take the forum down. He said it seemed like nobody was interested. Nobody really posted there.

As far as having trouble selling his stuff I believe there has been a lot of that, I've spoken with him about possible ways to remedy this. I'm not really sure what's going to happen but we will see.

Hi everyone!
As was quoted above that is essentially the reason. I did ask that the Nson forum be taken down. Yeah a big part was a seemingly general lack of interest but along with that I felt it did a disservice to me AND to the ILF forum to have a subforum dedicated to one make of guitar and to have such low activity.
It makes IlF look silly for hosting a subforum where there is no action and for casual passers by it looks like people aren't interested in my stuff.

So after a lot of thinking it over I did request it be taken down.

Now regarding the current state of affairs in Nelson land:

Yes it has still been difficult to get some guitars moved. There is a lot going on behind the scenes but 99% of that doesn't make it to the public (ie facebook) because in general people don't care about the "nuts and bolts" of it all.

I have been pushing hard to get some instruments solds recently only because I wanted to try and generate as much liquid cash as possible so I can finish up some guitars with no more delays that people have been patiently waiting for.
At the moment those guitars are waiting for pickguards. I have the aluminum ready to be cut out but wouldn't you know it my 70 yr old drill press decided it has had enough and demanded I rebuild it before it will do any more work.
So I've been delayed because of that. As soon as my press is back together and working I can finish the pick guard templates and get all of those instruments back on track. (Riddles, Grifters, Paramount basses, and a couple prototype Riddle basses).

Looking forward I am still working on my forthcoming "budget model" which is to be called the "Cosmonaut". It will be a bolt neck instrument offered in 3 standard satin colors and will have a base price of $995. (I'll attach a pic at the bottom of this post)

Also I am reworking my acoustic lineup. I've deleted everything except for the ft27 And will be adding 2 other models. All three will feature arched laminated backs and laminate sides among a few other cool changes.
With that there will be two versions of each model. A more budget friendly version with satin finish and minimal/no trimmings and a more costly version with trimmings and gloss finish.
(I may take this concept to all of my electric models which would open them up to a more wallet friendly price point).
More demo videos will happen as soon as new instruments are ready, a new website is to be constructed which will get rid of things that don't work and incorporate things that do (such as an online store).

Also as soon as the more budget friendly instruments are ready I will be embarking on a campaign to get these instruments into the public stream of consciousness.

It is rough out there and everyone is short on cash so I'm going to see what I can do about it.

The future is still uncertain though. If things are not getting better after all of the changes I'm making then guitar building will become a limited part time hobby while I go to find gainful employment. Hopefully these changes make a big difference and things will go up from here.

Before I had the Nelson forum taken down I did move the "current happenings" thread to the regular guitlove area so I can still update that.
If anyone has any questions etc you can always PM me here, email me, or follow me on facebook or Instagram.

As I said to Tom, I was/am grateful to have had the Nelson subforum and thanks to everyone who would regularly check it out etc. I think the novelty did wear off and having a dedicated sub forum just for me seemed no longer necessary. But I'm still thankful and happy to be here with you all on ILF and hope to be here for a long time!
Me love you long time ILF!

[Nelson Instruments]

Here's the mock up for the cosmonaut. It's worth noting that with this photo alone on fb it reached close to 1,600 people (way more than an average post), got lots of likes and comments and generated 3 pre-orders. 1 guitar and 2 basses.
I could be wrong but I think it will be a winner!

[goroth]

Holy smokes, that is hot!

[sonidero]

I really like the quality and honesty but they styles and shortish scales aren't my thing... I really like to see what you could do on a straight up Jazzmaster copy... Your pickups are awesome and I like that you offered them solo...

[Nelson Instruments]

Hi sonidero!
I appreciate your thoughts.
Scale length is something that it is impossible to please everyone with. Just like nut widths I offer one standard scale length but can do others if needed. I've not had any actual requests for a different scale length though.

Regarding doing a jazzmaster (or any) copy I really have NO desire to do copies. There are already far too many people doing fender and gibson copies that there's no reason to do so.
I wish more builders would try making something new and different. When you make copies you are automatically entered into "the great guitar mental circle jerk" where everyone wonders who makes the best les paul this week and we agonize over every detail and we swap these pickups for those pickups etc etc etc.
Now for those that want to do that, that's fine. But I'd rather close my shop than do that because there is so much more that can be done.
The beauty of doing original work (for example my guitars with my own pickups and the bridge and tailpiece I use etc etc) is that you can't compare it to anything else so while it might not be your thing you might also find that it is something you wonder where it's been all your life. ;-)

The Cosmonaut will be as close as I will go to something remotely fender-y but trust me the vague similarity in the offset body is where it ends. This is going to be a different guitar and I'm really excited about it!
I'd love for you, and everyone, to give one of my guitars a shot but I know that my stuff isn't going to appeal to everyone and that's okay!
To each their own! :-)

[ChetMagongalo]

thanks for posting in here Bobby! I loved the subforum, I would read every post endearingly, I really liked how much detail you went into. I hope you continue to update the current happenings thread. your new budget model seems exciting, I really dig the body shape, although i'm not really sold on the pickguard shape.

[Eivind August]

Dude, I've been thinking for a while that when I get a steadier job and come into some cash for a high end guitar, I would look into Nelson. That Cosmonaut looks beautiful, and might be the ticket. Any chance sonic blue/any form of lighter blue will be one of the colours it comes in? Remember seeing one of your electrics in sonic blue, and it was so damn beautiful.

[SPACERITUAL]

I still want a semi hollow and plan on copping one july/augustish.