PeachyDragon
What are your opinions on custom build jobs? What do you guys think the costs should be? Minus the actual pickup costs.
I have found that every guitar that has what I want has been discontinued of late... But there's also the risk of wasting money on a guitar
I might end up not playing if the build does not work out right.
Bob-Dubery
Prices would be highly variable - depending on materials used and the builder's reputation.
You should clarify costs and timelines before going ahead with the order. In some cases the time from order to delivery may be long, more than a year, but as long as the builder discloses this up front you can make up your mind. Sometimes the schedule may not be adhered to, the only time I've had a guitar built it came in way past the promised date and only after things got acrimonious. Not good, but I don't think that's the norm - custom builders are usually keen to preserve their reputation. See Racman's thread elsewhere on this forum about a custom build he had done in the USA - it wasn't quick, but the builder stuck to the agreed schedule and provided regular progress reports.
Be sure to be clear on the timing of the payment/s. Some builders want a deposit down to secure a spot in the queue and a further payment when your build is about to start. Some will want it all up front (you should not be ashamed to ask for a discount).
Reinhard
What kind of design are you going for?
dan77
You mention pickups so I guess you want an electric built. As it is I've seen acoustic guitars built by a local luthier and although the guitars are nice, in my opinion they're nothing special, if you consider that they average R40 000.00. For that kind of money I can import almost anything from the US, and have it in weeks, rather than months, or a year.
Which brings me to the point. You can import awesome parts from the US (if you want a bolt-on neck guitar) as well as completed neck through body guitar kits too. Have you considered this much cheaper alternative.
Ray
You get some damned good builders in SA. Out in Benoni side there's a bunch of guys that make electric guitars and I have seen a few at Pete Buckle's place that look, play and sound really great. And when I saw them they cost a hellofalot less than 40G's. And then ol' Zohn had a guitar built by an local oke a while back and that guitar is about as sweet as anything I've seen, from here or over yonder. Not that I saw it in the flesh but the pics were great. I'm actually thinking of getting in touvh with that guy and getting something as well sometime.
But then again what do you want? You can probably buy something that is just as playable that is factory-made. In the book "Acoustic Guitar Owner's Manual" the writer has a go at the premise that "Handmade guitars sound better than factory-made guitars". Google that phrase you'll find the piece.
Gonna build it yourself? Get ready for frustration and a long wait. Because we're a lot more patient with ourselves than with others ne? And are you into that? Can you handle getting some good wood and buggering it up maybe? Then again it's a beautiful world we live in and there's hundreds of people that know a lot about these things who are waiting to answer questions you may have.
nick
Firstly you gotta ask yourself if there isnt anything currently on the market that will do the job because custom built is going to take far longer and more than likely cost quite a packet more. Plus if you build it up to your spec then one day get bored of it, you may have a bit of a lemon that wont be worth anything to someone else.
PeachyDragon
Thanks to everyone for the responses. Well, here are the details.
I play everything from Jazz to Metal.
I want to get an electric but with a Chambered mahogany body.
No F hole, I just want the chambers for tone and resonance and sustain.
Neck probably deep set neck tenon or some joint where the wood is wedged in tight without glue.
With a bolt through the neck as well. Carved top flaming maple. Probably a design similar to PRS or a Korean Hamer I have.
It's also similar to the discontinued Les paul Double Cutaway.
I want a really high neck joint to give access to high frets. Probably a shorter scale lenght: 24 inches I think?
Maybe 24 frets... I know it compromises pickup placement but I like the thought of it.
Gibson style stop-tail bridge. Maybe a zero fret for the tone of it.
Neck radius will probably be quite flat for bending lots.
Pickup-wise I am still torn between getting a Seymour duncan Alnico II pro and a SD JB or possibly
getting 3 Burns Trisonic single coils or 4 Burns trisonic's configured as humbuckers. The price is really about the same.
I was thinking of speaking to Grant Fouche since his knowledge of guitar is unparrallelled in some ways. (I wont go into details but I had some guitars with serious issues that a few other luthiers misdiagnosed at my expense and he sorted it out in no time)
He works at Tom's in JHB nowadays.
I also went to Andries at Musica Instruments in Pretoria recently and he is actually having the bodies and the tops carved via computer, so
I am starting to consider doing it through him.
Price-wise I think this kind of thing can be done for about R12 000. I did ask and I got an affirmative response.
Any feedback is welcome.
Bob-Dubery
Look.... you can get a guitar built exactly to your specifications this way. So that's attractive.
However, be prepared for the wait. This is not just me being sarky, you have to understand the game you're getting into. These small operations typically don't have climate controlled workshops, so you're at the mercy of a lot of things. They won't do certain jobs until the humidity is within a certain range. Then if it's rainy or too humid then they may not spray etc etc.
That's why I recommend that you discuss all of this in detail first and get an estimate of the build time and see if that suits, and then add a couple of months and see if it still suits. Ask around - who else has had a guitar built by this guy? Did he meet the deadline? Was the work of good quality etc etc?
This is not just sticking the boot into local builders by the way. A friend of mine ordered a guitar from a builder in Canada and had problems.
PeachyDragon
Thanks, makes sense. There are guitars he built there so I can try them out.
The things he mentioend about neck radius etc also seemed knowledgable enough to
exclude him being a chancer. I will take everything into consideration and get all the information before
deciding though.
slyd
Check out B & S Custom Guitars, Neon Ghecko could possibly assist ?
PeachyDragon
I have to add that I've been playing for 13 years and have a degree in jazz guitar yet I've never bought a guitar that you can't get wholesale for under R4000, that's about R6000 to R7000 retail. Those prices are from about 6 years ago. I spend money on amps. I have 3 amps that are all irreplaceable. They aren't made anymore and the ones that are, such as the vox AC30, sound rubbish these days.
My point is an epiphone with new pickups and a setup is a great guitar and I've never seen the difference between that and the Gibsons being worth the R16000 difference. Therefore a luthier that builds a stable guitar that plays like my epiphone will be fine.
MikeM
PeachyDragon wrote:
They aren't made anymore and the ones that are, such as the vox AC30, sound rubbish these days.
Have you actually played the AC30C2?
PeachyDragon
Yip, sure have. I tested my mesa boogie against a 1960's vox ac30. 2 actually and the voxed were amazing. I then took the mesa boogie to a music store and compared it to the line of vox ac30's they released about 3 or 4 years ago. Even the salesmen in the store said the mesaboogie sounded much better.
