Hi, I had Ed build me a great Halcyon Lutz/Ovangkol dreadnaught. It's a fantastic guitar, I think what's most distinctive about this guitar is the dynamic range it has. You can play it very lightly and drive it hard and it just sounds and plays great.

My song circle recently recorded a CD, we each got to record a song, and the sound engineer was blown away by the Halcyon's ability to record so well, he felt it was the best sounding guitar on the CD.

I have Ed building me a second guitar, it will be a Lutz/IER NL-00 guitar. I hope to get it before the end of the summer, or sooner!

Congrats! Thanks for sharing!

So, I went to GC today to spend some time in the acoustic room. Mostly it was to firm up details for my build, but also if something amazing popped up, I might be tempted. Anyway, I learned a few things. Taylors are freaking loud! Great note separation, too much in fact for my taste. Other thing I learned, my ear stinks. I played all sorts of different guitars, and I couldn't tell much between Mahogany, Ovangkol, or rosewood. It all sounded good. I pretty much firmed up what I already told Ed to make for me. OM 25' scale, 1 3/4 nut, ebony bridge and finger board, curly maple binding. Now that I think about it though, the biggest components of this build I couldn't try. No lutz, no walnut. Bummer. Gotta trust the luthier I suppose.

The biggest surprise was after playing a Taylor 4something, 814ce, 000-28EC amongst others, the best sounding one in the whole shop to my ear was the $700 used Larrivee L-03R. So balanced. It got me really excited that I'm going to love this guitar, knowing where Ed cut his teeth.

Larrivee makes a helluva guitar. So does Ed.

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread.... has been very informative... Gene

Congrats on an excellent purchasing decision which you will not regret. My 12 fret 000 Halcyon continues to be my go to guitar for beauty, playability and superior tone against my dreads, SJs and my A30c which I would characterize as a GA. Don't get me wrong, my higher dollar dreads, SJs and GA are also beautiful and have excellent tone and playability, but nothing seems to put it all together like my Halcyon. As I waited for my build to start, finish, and to receive my guitar, I occasionally began to second guess my decision. A relatively new luthier outside the USA, buying without being able to hear or play one in person, seemingly unachievable claims ("John, I can build you a 000 size guitar just as loud or louder than your dreads."), and all the hype on AGF (which I now continue to add to) all amounted to taking a fairly large leap in faith in order to commission and then wait to receive my guitar. Ed delivered on every claim/promise made and went above and beyond the call of duty when he hit a construction glitch, as well as in communicating with me throughout the process. Although I've bought other production and custom built guitars since, what those purchases have taught me is I don't need to look any further than Halcyon/Tinker for excellent craftsmanship, tone and value. Hang in there, keep the faith and you will still be surprised when you get it despite the hype.

Welcome to the Halcyon family !

John

You never know, Ed may have made that specific Larrivee. Sounds like you're going to get a great Halcyon.

Been waiting 6 months for mine, no word yet.

I've had my NL 00 (13 fret black walnut/lutz 25"scale) for about 7 months now and it's pretty amazing. It's powerful and articulate with wonderful balance leaning slightly towards mids and highs, but when I want I can make the bass boom, in fact it growls. I have a lot of other guitars but nothing with the Halcyon's voice, not even close. I ordered it at the end of Dec. in 2013 and took delivery the beginning of Sept. 2014, so it was about 9 months, which at that time was the estimated build time. To say the least, I couldn't be happier with it. In fact, I ordered another guitar from Ed this last Nov. This time it will be an AJ 25.5" scale, figured Padauk b/s with a torrified lutz top. It should be finished in a few months and you can be sure I'll post a NGD thread when I get it.

If you ask Ed where he is in the build order, I'm sure he'd be happy to let you know.

Me too
 

Apparently, great minds think alike in that I ordered a Tinker 12 fret Sloped dread with figured/flamed paduak, a AAA Adirondak top and a few other bells and whistles. Build should start in earnest any minute now.

John

Waiting
 

what time frame did he give you ? My Halcyon came on the timeline predicted by him, but Tinker time line has been somewhat revised given shop retrofit. I also agree that a simple call will get you an updated estimate.

John

Hi Mercy,

Yours is coming up in the next round of starts. Just put the prototype 00 into paint today, don't anticipate problems, but I want to hear a completed one before doing much more than prepping for the others. Kinda funny, no one had ever asked for one, but then we got orders for 3 in a row. Goes like that.

Anyway, it's important to remember than our delivery times are estimates. As of yet, we don't really know with any certainty what our production numbers are, as some take longer than others, sometimes we need to start again, sometimes we need to do prototypes, sometimes spec builds happen to test ideas, sometimes customers change horses in midstream, all unpredictable variables. So we look into the future, try to make the best estimate we can, and work every day to make it so, to the best of our ability.

Rest assured, the only person who wants you to have your guitar more than you is me:)

And this retrofit is bonkering me. Over budget and behind schedule. I had no idea proper ductwork would be such an expensive chore. You'd think it was a government job...;)

Hang in there Ed, and keep up the good work!

They sure do. I took delivery of a lutz/walnut 00NL last month. He's right. It's a nice guitar with a unique voice. Not like rosewood and not like hog either. You should enjoy it.