Finally picked up the banjo from Fedex last night. Looks and sounds great .  Thanks for the setup!  My wife loves it!  She would play a bit, hug the banjo giggling, play some more, hug banjo and giggle some more, repeat  …   A big hit (:

The guitar came safe and sound.  With that case I don’t know why it wouldn’t! You were right, it is a gem.  It seems like it hasn’t been played much.  Hardly a mark on it.  I know it is 26 years old.  Do you think it will open up more, being a spruce top and all? Anyhow, I’d like to thank you Grant for your high level of expertise and professionalism. I am very pleased with this guitar! 

Thank you again!

I have had this guitar back over a week and I am still ecstatic over what a great job Jay did with that humble Classic Vibe Strat!

After you guys put that Lollar CC pickup in the neck of my tele, I couldn’t find a telecaster style bridge pickup which matched up closely enough with it for my taste while still fitting in a conventional telecaster bridge. So Lollar wound three balanced output CC tele neck style pickup and I bought a CV Strat in order to have something to try them out in.

It was a total experiment. The CV strat had had its fret edges beveled just a little deep and there was some playing room lost on the fret. I asked the fellow who helped me (Scott?), if he could put a new nut in with a bit tighter string spacing to compensate for the loss of playing space and he assured me that he could and we left it at that.

Now as things turned out Jay was the fellow who ended up working on the guitar. Now in a mediocre place when a different fellow works on your instrument than the fellow you talked to, something usually gets lost in the translation. But I’ll have you know, that thing plays fantastic now. The before and after with a new nut and set up was really striking. Way beyond expectations! I had assumed that I would check out how the pickups sounded and change out the neck to a Warmoth or something, once I determined whether it was worth it or not. This guitar is remaining intact now.

I have owned a lot of instruments, have taken guitar building courses and put guitars together myself. Twelfth Fret’s work really is on a different level than other places in this city and it is not only the technical ability but taking the time to understand clearly what the customer wants and treating even less expensive instrument with care.

I couldn’t be happier. This set up has taken this guitar to a different level now. I have a totally unique instrument that can effectively go from playing thick George Benson single-note jazz lines to Dire Straits approved ‘quack’ with the flick of a 5-way switch!

Just a quick note to say you guys do a great job, and I wish I were closer to you. Kansas is a long way away. Great job on the tips you provide for players. Spot on info, well said. I wanted to thank you for doing this, as it’s a great service to all of us. Take care and keep up the great work!

I’ve had the Deering Calico for a week now and I feel I needed to contact you again to let you know… every day I play, I’ m absolutely blown away by the look, feel, quality and sound of this thing!   The love grows; I couldn’t have gotten it from a better person and shop.  Truly, thank you very much!

Hello Grant. Just want to let you know that my banjolele arrived on Monday afternoon, so the postal strike didn’t hold it up too long. I’m delighted with the quality craftsmanship of the instrument and I was right that the shorter fingerboard is much easier for my 81 year old hands! So, here’s a shot of me with it in my studio with my dog Dusty laying beside me. Now just to harden up my fingertips and loosen up my finger joints! (Dusty loves it too!)
Thanks for everything.

Best. John.

John McConnell – Deering banjolele

October 2018
(Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)