SOLD: Nathan Sheppard NSG26 - burled Redwood

guitargeek62

So here's a lovely but odd one for y'all. 



Some of you might recognize this from previous NS-related threads as it fell foul of Nathan's 'inconsistent' attention-to-detail on specs in a couple of ways, and wasn't quite what had been ordered. I acquired it a few months ago from @ArchtopDave who had originally commissioned it back in ~2009. I'd similarly commissioned another NSG26 at the same time, and believe these two made in the same batch by Nathan - mine also had a few issues with the ordered-spec vs. what was delivered, and as a result I traded mine away and started my long-running love affair with PRS Guitars from thereon... not the worst outcome eh?   What Nathan did deliver though was a gorgeous single cut design with a slight offset waist - it's a real shame that things went south for him (and his customers) as his designs were pretty unique at the very least!

I bought this one expecting to be taking on a fairly major project to remediate a reported issue with an un-level bridge on the treble-side. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's perfectly playable as-is and that the bridge is well within what I would consider normal tolerance (pics here from multiple angles). I’m not even able to slip a piece of tissue paper in between the bridge and body, and honestly I wouldn’t even register this as a fault myself. This left me in a bit of a conundrum, as I hadn't bought it to keep it but merely to practice some repair work and to get my hands on another NSG as they're not-exactly-common beasts. If this guitar had a wraparound or TOM then I wouldn't be selling it on, but I really don't get on with fender-type bridges and neck angles these days - not enough pick clearance for my liking, further hampered by the middle pickup on this example for my playing style and preference.  I did toy with keeping it, though for myself I'd be stripping the gold hardware off and adding black pickup covers - I swapped out the tuning keys and bushings already for some that felt more in-keeping with the cream plastics and earvana nut, as seen here; originals will be included, along with the Schiller strap-locks.

Playability is great across the whole neck, it's not the lowest action but well within my comfort zone - I'll measure it up at the weekend once I'm back home from a work-trip. Overall the guitar plays and sounds great as-is to my ears. It's (unsurprisingly) tonally somewhere between a punchy tele and an SG, lots of range and grunt available, with the switchable middle pickup being a great add-on to get you some pseudo Strat sounds - it's essentially a Nashville Tele on steroids! Personally I find the wiring arrangement a little odd, but it does give you plenty of tones - a freeway switch would speed up access to them though IMO and would be a worthwhile upgrade - I'm happy to source and fit one at cost for a potential buyer if that helps, along with any other mods or wiring changes.   Unfortunately the BKP P90s aren't labelled with a specific model (as per their normal-yet-frustrating practice!), though I can take output measurements if that helps.

Specs:

Additional specs & measurements:

• Weight: 7lbs 15oz / 3.6kg
• Nut depth: 23.0 mm
• Nut width:  44.6 mm
• 12th fret depth: 23.6 mm
• Fretwire: 1.9 mm width x 1.1 mm crown
• Finish: Acrylic (I believe?), applied by Sims Custom

Trade details

So, I'm primarily looking for interesting trades on the Gibson/PRS-side of things more so than a sale. I'd also consider putting money into the 'right' thing, and I'm also toying with amps along the lines of a Bad Cat Cub 15R or similar.  It's hard to know where to value this, but to me £1,200 feels like an appropriate starting point for trade value - happy to hear alternatives and rationale though in spite of forum rules, this is a hard one to price!  

I'm based in S.Somerset, but I also drive to E.London weekly along the A303-M3-M25 route so anywhere along/near that is pretty viable for an in-person handover. Short of that I'm happy to post too; I have plenty of packaging here and would ship via a decent tracked courier service, with added Secursus insurance.


More images here

guitargeek62

Update to add a sale price - I just spotted something neat that I’d like to jump on, so I would take a quick sale at just £800 + post please which is honestly far too low for something like this, but hey… crap market and niche guitar eh? 

*edit* SOLD pending delivery/handover