rzy6cn
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2010
- Posts
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In July 2022, I found a buddy who painted Echizen lacquer on wooden bowls in Xianyu (the largest 2nd hand market in China operated by Alibaba), and found that he was good at maki-e and could paint all kinds of cranes, orchids, and cherry blossoms. It looks like this:
At that time, I made some money from Crypto, so I planned to spend money to make a maki-e wooden bowl with Echizen lacquer.
I asked him to make me a crane and Mt. Fuji, but both Mt. Fuji and the crane use gold powder, and Mt. Fuji uses mother-of-pearl, inspired by the customised W3000ANV displayed when launched.
The artist said that it is possible, but it needs more budget than usual because if the entire Mount Fuji and cranes are made of gold powder, the labour and material costs will be very high.
I said no problem, so I asked him what to do on the other side. The artist said that the materials for this side are already very expensive, so let’s make the Kanagawa Surf on the other side, and I said yes.
So I paid half of the deposit. The artist said that he was reviewing and preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination recently, and he was going to use this as the final work. So he will do what he can do to make it perfect. I said no problem, I am not in a hurry, you take your time.
The next step is to consider what headphones to use as the bottom.
I have a full set of large cherry wood bowls and leather bowls from Audio-Technica (except W2022 and L3000G, which I can’t afford) except ATH-AWAS
Considering it might cost a couple of thousands of CNY to make this customised Woodie, I decided to buy an ATH-AWAS.
In fact, the wood grain of Audio-Technica’s Woodies is getting worse and worse. The wood grain of the AWAS earphones is particularly rubbish, far inferior to the early W2002, even worse than the W1000.
Look at the wood grain of W11R and W11J; they are clear and distinct, and then look at the wood grain of AWAS; it is a piece of crap red.
There is also a possibility that this headset has not been out for a long time, and the lacquered wood grain will generally become more and more beautiful with the years, but AWAS has just been out for a short time.
After searching for a long time, I found a pair of W1000 with beautiful wood grain, and I am ready to make the customised woody with it. Here is how it looks like:
I bought it and sent it to the artist. On the day he received it, I subsequently found another AWAS with a decent wood grain on Xianyu, so I decided to use AWAS at last. It is look like this:
I sent it to the artist again, it was mid-August at this time. He said let him do it slowly, he will update the progress at any time, I said OK.
After another month, it was said that the Echizen had been painted, and the artist said that he was going to take the postgraduate entrance examination in a couple of month, so he would do it for me when he has time, I agreed.
After a few months, it was January 2022, and the artist hasn't shown up for several months. When I asked him, he said he went to Xi'an for the exam and was locked down in the hotel for more than a month lol.
I said take your time and don’t worry. After half a month, he said that the side of Kanagawa surfing has been finished, and now he is going to make cranes side.
I found on the pic and ask him why the paint is uneven, and why is the surface of W2002 is smooth and flat, he said that it is because there is a layer of resin on the surface of W2002, and I said I want it too.
The artist said it’s okay; let’s add some budget and find another artist to apply the resin.
Both sides were finally finished in March and sent to Shanghai for resin coating. And...Shanghai was locked down for 3 months.
After waiting more than three months, the finished product was finally sent to me in June. It took another half a month of air freight from China to Australia and finally received it.
After waiting for almost a year, the overall production level is quite good. More than 1 gram of gold powder was used, and the painting was done with great care during surfing, and it definitely met my expectations.
As for the sound, anyway, I am using it as furniture rather than a headphone. I plug in the amp and it works well sonically. And that’s all I expected.
The only thing I am concern is that because the hardness of the resin is too high, there are some scratches when it is smoothed with sandpaper. The artist said that this thing needs some piano oil or wax from time to time, and it will be brighter and scratches can be removed and the surface will become smoother.
Less than half a year later, the W2022 officially announced by Audio-Technica also uses Echizen lacquer Makie and mother-of-pearl.
However, the price of W2022 is crazy IMO. I am not buying at the moment. Let's see if I can find a second-hand one at a suitable price.
At that time, I made some money from Crypto, so I planned to spend money to make a maki-e wooden bowl with Echizen lacquer.
I asked him to make me a crane and Mt. Fuji, but both Mt. Fuji and the crane use gold powder, and Mt. Fuji uses mother-of-pearl, inspired by the customised W3000ANV displayed when launched.
The artist said that it is possible, but it needs more budget than usual because if the entire Mount Fuji and cranes are made of gold powder, the labour and material costs will be very high.
I said no problem, so I asked him what to do on the other side. The artist said that the materials for this side are already very expensive, so let’s make the Kanagawa Surf on the other side, and I said yes.
So I paid half of the deposit. The artist said that he was reviewing and preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination recently, and he was going to use this as the final work. So he will do what he can do to make it perfect. I said no problem, I am not in a hurry, you take your time.
The next step is to consider what headphones to use as the bottom.
I have a full set of large cherry wood bowls and leather bowls from Audio-Technica (except W2022 and L3000G, which I can’t afford) except ATH-AWAS
Considering it might cost a couple of thousands of CNY to make this customised Woodie, I decided to buy an ATH-AWAS.
In fact, the wood grain of Audio-Technica’s Woodies is getting worse and worse. The wood grain of the AWAS earphones is particularly rubbish, far inferior to the early W2002, even worse than the W1000.
Look at the wood grain of W11R and W11J; they are clear and distinct, and then look at the wood grain of AWAS; it is a piece of crap red.
There is also a possibility that this headset has not been out for a long time, and the lacquered wood grain will generally become more and more beautiful with the years, but AWAS has just been out for a short time.
After searching for a long time, I found a pair of W1000 with beautiful wood grain, and I am ready to make the customised woody with it. Here is how it looks like:
I bought it and sent it to the artist. On the day he received it, I subsequently found another AWAS with a decent wood grain on Xianyu, so I decided to use AWAS at last. It is look like this:
I sent it to the artist again, it was mid-August at this time. He said let him do it slowly, he will update the progress at any time, I said OK.
After another month, it was said that the Echizen had been painted, and the artist said that he was going to take the postgraduate entrance examination in a couple of month, so he would do it for me when he has time, I agreed.
After a few months, it was January 2022, and the artist hasn't shown up for several months. When I asked him, he said he went to Xi'an for the exam and was locked down in the hotel for more than a month lol.
I said take your time and don’t worry. After half a month, he said that the side of Kanagawa surfing has been finished, and now he is going to make cranes side.
I found on the pic and ask him why the paint is uneven, and why is the surface of W2002 is smooth and flat, he said that it is because there is a layer of resin on the surface of W2002, and I said I want it too.
The artist said it’s okay; let’s add some budget and find another artist to apply the resin.
Both sides were finally finished in March and sent to Shanghai for resin coating. And...Shanghai was locked down for 3 months.
After waiting more than three months, the finished product was finally sent to me in June. It took another half a month of air freight from China to Australia and finally received it.
After waiting for almost a year, the overall production level is quite good. More than 1 gram of gold powder was used, and the painting was done with great care during surfing, and it definitely met my expectations.
As for the sound, anyway, I am using it as furniture rather than a headphone. I plug in the amp and it works well sonically. And that’s all I expected.
The only thing I am concern is that because the hardness of the resin is too high, there are some scratches when it is smoothed with sandpaper. The artist said that this thing needs some piano oil or wax from time to time, and it will be brighter and scratches can be removed and the surface will become smoother.
Less than half a year later, the W2022 officially announced by Audio-Technica also uses Echizen lacquer Makie and mother-of-pearl.
However, the price of W2022 is crazy IMO. I am not buying at the moment. Let's see if I can find a second-hand one at a suitable price.
