That's good news. I know Alfred has had a number of health issues, and that has affected his production. But often people get really upset about the time it takes, and don't realize that he does this as a hobby, not as a business....I'm glad you have been patient: he respects that.
What is odd to me is that if one hunts down the complaints about the time it takes on Fora like this one, one would think that Alfred had a stack of arms waiting to be sold, and he was just messing with people. He makes every arm to order, and delivers an amazing product at any price. At the price he charges, this is, along with Maggies, the best value in all of audio.
When I ordered my Schroeder Reference nearly 20 years go, it took 6 months to get. That didn't bother me, and it never seems to bother anyone else who orders a Reference from Frank. And to those who say "but he promised me the arm in 2 months," or whatever, all I can say is what's your hurry? An older gentleman is hand-making an amazing arm for you: you can have it good and slow, or not at all.
Macboy, I hope you have a great cartridge ready for this arm! It loves SPUs. But I've recently found (as I have sold my SPU to move up the line) it also does really well with medium compliance and even some high compliance MMs, due to the split counterweight. Right now mine is just singing sweetly with a Supex 900 Super on an Oyaide graphite headshell. 3 days ago, I was using an AT V95E with a Stanley wood body and a cut-down stylus, on an Orsonic headshell, and it was so much better than it has a right to be...and I think it is this arm. Alfred is a genius, and a gentleman, and I will defend him to the....well, this is just a hobby, but you catch my drift.