Thorn Pimp Daddy Purple is in the house!

[Ian Hurtt]

My Thorn is done, and I picked it up yesterday. I've got to say Ron did a fantastic job on this guitar. Here are the quick speca plus a couple pics:

Top: 5A Tubular Quilt
Body: 1-pc Honduran Mahogany - Total body 2-1/4" thick (Chambered)
Neck - 1 Pc. Honduran Mahogany
Matching Maple Headstock Overlay
Fingerboard - Ebony / 10"-14" Compound Radius / 24 3/4" Scale / 22 Fret
Nut - Graphtech 1.687" wide
Fretwire - 6100
Neck Carve - Fat Back (Similar to PRS W/F)
Matching Inlaid Truss Rod Cover - Sterling Silver / Ebony
Bridge - Thorn 1-pc. Tremolo - Nickel
Tuners - Nickel Sperzel Locking w/ Pearl Buttons
Dunlop Straploks
Purfling - Paua Body Top & Sides/ Fingerboard / Headstock
Inlaid Logo - Paua / Pearl
Side Dots - Mother of Pearl
Fingerboard Inlays - Pearl/Paua Firesuns
Pickups: Wagner Goodwoods
Controls:
1 x Vol.
1 x Tone (Push/Pull to activate Blend)
1 x Blend
3-way toggle
Color: "Pimp Daddy" Purple
Back Plates/Pickup Rings - Ebony

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/JHurtt/091_8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/JHurtt/091_9.jpg

[dkaplowitz]

Nice axe man! Congrats. That'll keep you busy for a while.

[enr1co]

Congrats on your new Thorn- it looks awesome!

Ron makes some of the most beautiful guitars today.

enjoy!

[tmihm]

Beautiful Thorn, Ian. I wish you the very best with it. Ron does make some killer guitars....thats for sure!!!!

Congrats!!!

Terry

[Marty S Horne]

Congrats Ian, that is one sweet looking guitar! How about a tone report?

[Ian Hurtt]

Congrats Ian, that is one sweet looking guitar! How about a tone report?

I can't resist, here's the review I posted on the Thorn Discussion Page, slightly edited:

Thorn 091, the "Pimp Daddy"

Ok guys, let me get this in today or it will never happen. I've literally sat down with the guitar three or four times to do this, but each time make the mistake of plucking out a few notes.....next thing I know I'm out of time! Let's begin, and I want to detail the construction as well as the tone.

The case: Ron had the guitar in the case when I walked into his front "office" space when I picked up the guitar. For those who have not seen this, TKL makes Ron's cases and they are one of the coolest on the planet. Slick faux alligator tolex and a form fit style case. Brown lining, gold latches (with a lock) with a generous center pocket, these cases are an excellent match for the gorgeous Thorn inside. As far as case candy, Ron included several brochures along with the tools to adjust the trem, a honest to god hangtag and a couple extra trem springs (on my request) along with the Dunlop straplocks.

Guitar Vanity Section: 091 was the first all Purple Thorn, with a very dark purple back. The back actually appears black unless you hit it with some light, then you can actually see the color and the grain. I asked Ron to shoot it as dark as possible while still allowing the grain to show. It was absolutely perfect, exactly as I wished it to be. For the front, I imagine everyone has seen the pics of the quilt. If not, don't go by my horrible pics I'm sending along with this. The quilt is stunning, very 3D and Ron bookmatched the top to perfection. I could not have picked out a better looking top if I would have looked at 100. Truely a steller piece of wood. The color, "Pimp Daddy Purple" fits in perfectly with my idea of a custom guitar. Classy but still a bit flashy, and it was applied with Ron's immaculate spray work. The color is accentuated by the trademarked purfling, and this guitar just sparkles when hit by light. For inlays, I went with the standard Firesun inlays, mainly as I think that they are incredibly cool without being over the top. Lot's of color and sparkle, just amazing! I admit to finding myself just staring at how beautiful the guitar is, and reminding myself it is actually mine! I went with the matching purple quilted headstock and along with Ron's classy trc and purfling it is an altogether stunning visual masterpiece.

I wanted to tie the guitar together, so Ron made ebony pickup rings and backplates for the guitar, to match the ebony fretboard and truss rod cover. Nickel covers on the dual WCR Goodwoods, along with the nickel trem and tuners round out the cosmetic goodies. Everyone who has seen this guitar in person has marveled at the top notch craftmanship that details each and every part of this guitar. It looks to me that Ron agonized over each bit of the process, as it is as perfect as can be. Backplates are tight and fit perfectly, and when you pop off one to see the brass inserts for the screws you know that this guitar was built to last a lifetime.

Tone/Playability: This is truely the hardest for me to describe, as tone is such a personal thing and interacts with you and your gear so much. Also, everyone has a different touch and preference for setup, and what might be ideal for you I might hate. But, I'll try to get as much as I can here.

The tone: Unplugged, this guitar sustains seemingly forever when strummed. I was quite taken aback with the unplugged sound. I'm a firm believer that a great guitar sounds good unplugged, and this one doesn't disappoint.

I went with Wagner Goodwoods in this guitar. The guitar was originally spec'd with Rios, but after getting caught up in all the hype I switched to the WCR's. I've never played the Rio's, but I can tell you that the Goodwoods are steller in the ax for my application. Clean sounds are very clean and even, with tons of harmonic overtones. Very full sounding, this might be one of the best sounding clean guitars I've ever played. It doesn't have the spank and clank of a good strat, more of a full bodied tone that really fills alot of sonic space. How much of that is due to the Goodwoods I'll never know, as I will never change them out of this guitar. Overdriven/dirty sounds are equally cool, and this guitar can either sing or crunch, depending on your touch. Lot's of clarity and punch, without being either muddy on the neck or brittle on the bridge. Back off the volume knob, and the sound cleans up nicely, you can easily gig this guitar with a tube amp and a couple pedals and cover tons of ground. Controls were a simple 3-way along with a blend knob. I set up the blend as a mix between bridge/neck for rhythm sounds, and kick it off for a bridge only tone for leads.

Playability: Another difficult thing to put onto paper. Ron did his normal setup, and as of today I've not changed one thing except a few string changes. The guitar has Ron's compound radius neck, and is set up with D'Addario .009's. The guitar has fairly low action, but I could go even lower if I wished. I'm more of a big bender now than when I was younger so I haven't dropped it at all. I think I will be going a bit heavier on the string guage, the guitar is just too easy to play if that's possible. Between the action and the compound radius, plays like proverbial butter. The neck itself is very fast, with the ebony board giving the guitar just a touch of brightness I like. All in all, playing the guitar is just a blast!

Customer Service: Very easy section to do...Ron was absolutely a joy to work with. He took my needs and wants, and crafted a guitar that does everything I asked him for and more. The guitar was finished in the time frame quoted, and through all my changes and worries Ron was cheerful and accomodating. For reference, I changed p/u choice, scale, nut, and toyed with the idea of a custom backplate inlay. Through it all Ron was simply, "No problem".... If you cannot get a guitar built by Ron and come out of the experience a super happy camper, then you just cannot be pleased.

Sorry for the bad pics, here's another shot of 091 at home:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/JHurtt/Thorn%20091/Thorn091withgear.jpg

Mini Harem shot:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/JHurtt/Thorn%20091/TheHaremShot.jpg