Custom Guitar Builders

JDOD

JDOD

therecordingrebels.com
Gents,

Has anyone ever specified and ordered something bespoke from a custom builder? If so, what was the experience like? Would you recommend it.

I was thinking about getting a 2nd telecaster (probably a cheap knocked about Squire) setting it up nice and putting some decent hardware on it but I was also thinking about finally spending some decent money on something really nice instead. Thinking about what stuff the main big guitar companies make and if anyone has something similar to what my ideal spec is. They don't.

I got in touch with what I think is a relatively reputable luthier, and sent them through my specification - I've since managed to go down there to refine the spec and come up with a final idea. It should be between £2 - 2.5K. I was quite impressed with their set up and the quality of the stuff they were producing - but I didn't get to play on a complete guitar.

Question is, does this sound like good value to get something truly unique or would cash be better spent on a top end guitar from a mainstream manufacturer? Do custom guitars tend to feel as good as mainstream manufacturers - or do they feel like something someone has knocked together in a shed?
 
Most of the Tele style builds I make are a good bit under that price. I've posted a few pics of some here before... That may give you an idea of what a custom build can be like.

What have you chosen spec wise? I can give you an idea of what would be a reasonable price based on that alone. If you want to PM me with some more personal info on the builder in question go ahead. I'll give you an honest view point without bias.. Sadly there are a few out there who do not cut it as far as I'm concerned but equally there are many in the UK who do..

Good luck and remember ordering a custom guitar should be fun and exciting.
 
What's so special about your own personal Tele needs that it can't be done to a regular production Tele?

That seems like a lot of money for a Tele build.
 
Greg_L said:
What's so special about your own personal Tele needs that it can't be done to a regular production Tele?

That seems like a lot of money for a Tele build.
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Most times I get requests for tele builds it's either because they want a different neck configuration rather than a bolt on or a maybe a wider neck, different profile. Other times it's purely cosmetic or they want a variation on the hollow body or woods that are not normally available... There are quite a few possible reasons. Not least is that hand built should be put together with more care than factory and some just like what I've done before.
 
muttley600 said:
Most times I get requests for tele builds it's either because they want a different neck configuration rather than a bolt on or a maybe a wider neck, different profile. Other times it's purely cosmetic or they want a variation on the hollow body or woods that are not normally available... There are quite a few possible reasons. Not least is that hand built should be put together with more care than factory and some just like what I've done before.
Click to expand...

That's how I felt when I got my Hallmark 60 Custom Mosrite clone. I couldn't get a real Mosrite the way I wanted it. Real Mosrites are expensive as shit, kind of rare, and they have notoriously skinny necks. The string spacing is super close together down by the zero fret. So, the hunt began for a "Mosrite" built more like a Gibson. Most Mosrite clones are off in one way or another. The body shape is wrong, the features are wrong, they're cheap junk, etc. But the Hallmark ticks all the boxes. It physically identical to a Mosrite Ventures model...but it "fixed" all of the weird idiosyncrasies of an actual Mosrite without getting too far away from the original idea. It looks perfect, the build is impeccable, it's surfy and twangy, and it's much easier to play than a real Mosrite. And it was way cheaper than a real Mosrite. In my opinion it's a total win.

I'm just wondering because Teles have been done to death for decades. And if it's still gonna be a bolt-on neck, I'm wondering if homeboy could just build his own.
 
I'll post up my full spec when I get back to the office (out at lunch now) but the crux of it is that I want a 5 piece neck through archtop with a compound radius ebony fretboard.

Mutt, I've not had my final quote yet but I've been in discussion with Crimson Guitars down on the south coast.
 
Greg_L said:
Oh wow, so that's not really a Tele at all. You're going straight boutique with a Tele shape.
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Exactly. The idea is that it's a combination of my current Tele and my Washburn with a tiny bit of my Ibanez thrown in. Spec as follows:

Wood:
Neck through maple - five piece, spliced with ebony.
Ebony fretboard
Burled maple top.
Ash body
Subtle archtop in a telecaster shape

Electronics:
Duncan JB in the bridge position
A cooler Humbucker in the neck position.
Master vol/Master Tone - coil tap on the tone pot - I want the option of a crisp clear single coil neck tone.
Three way pick up selector placed adjacent to the pots.
Tele style metal control place, nicely recessed into the archtop.

Hardware:
All hardware to be finished in black nickel.
Grover locking tuners.
Though body stringing, possibly going into a Tune-O-Matic with an ~200mm space between body exit and bridge.
No tremolo
Graphite nut would suit the hardware

Dimensions:
25.5" scale
1.625" width at the nut
Compound radius board.
Jumbo frets
 
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JDOD said:
Exactly. The idea is that it's a combination of my current Tele and my Washburn with a tiny bit of my Ibanez thrown in. Spec as follows:

Wood:
Neck through maple - five piece, spliced with ebony.
Ebony fretboard
Burled maple top.
Ash body
Subtle archtop in a telecaster shape

Electronics:
Duncan JB in the bridge position
A cooler Humbucker in the neck position.
Master vol/Master Tone - coil tap on the tone pot - I want the option of a crisp clear single coil neck tone.
Three way pick up selector placed adjacent to the pots.
Tele style metal control place, nicely recessed into the archtop.

Hardware:
All hardware to be finished in black nickel.
Grover locking tuners.
Though body stringing, possibly going into a Tune-O-Matic with an ~200mm space between body exit and bridge.
No tremolo
Graphite nut would suit the hardware

Dimensions:
25.5" scale
1.625" width at the nut
Compound radius board.
Jumbo frets
Click to expand...

None of that is difficult. If you were dealing with me I would be asking you a fw specific questions to make sure that your expectation meets the specification.

From a tone point of view what are you after and why do you think/suppose that spec would achieve it?

A lot of times people have ideas that are not actually based on anything more than a hunch... Not saying thats you but..

Why the compound radius fingerboard, it adds to cost and unless you have a very specific reason...?

"Though body stringing, possibly going into a Tune-O-Matic with an ~200mm space between body exit and bridge." So you are looking for a tunomatic without stop bar? Why the 200mm spec? On a tele shape that would put the through body eyelets about two inches from the end of the body..

I would also want to sketch out the spec for a compound radius board, the tuno-matic spacing and the nut width to make sure the geometry would work ok with a neck through design. No reason why it wont but it's a bit off the wall. You would be setting the neck width at the body join and it may influence pickup position and choice. Worth looking into.

Finally there would be a potential issue with recessing a flat plate into a carved arch top that would need some discussing. Where the plate sits on a tele shape would coincide with where the steepest part of the arch would be. Again not impossible to work around but some thing to think through carefully before committing to wood. The arch height would be determined by the tunomatic you select and the neck pitch. You wont be able to have the tele style neck angle. It would end up more like a prs or LP...

Just some observations. You may have considered or discussed some or all of them already.

Enjoy the ride...Always happy to advise in my role as guitar builder myself..;)
 
muttley600 said:
None of that is difficult. If you were dealing with me I would be asking you a fw specific questions to make sure that your expectation meets the specification.

From a tone point of view what are you after and why do you think/suppose that spec would achieve it?

A lot of times people have ideas that are not actually based on anything more than a hunch... Not saying thats you but..

Why the compound radius fingerboard, it adds to cost and unless you have a very specific reason...?

"Though body stringing, possibly going into a Tune-O-Matic with an ~200mm space between body exit and bridge." So you are looking for a tunomatic without stop bar? Why the 200mm spec? On a tele shape that would put the through body eyelets about two inches from the end of the body..

I would also want to sketch out the spec for a compound radius board, the tuno-matic spacing and the nut width to make sure the geometry would work ok with a neck through design. No reason why it wont but it's a bit off the wall. You would be setting the neck width at the body join and it may influence pickup position and choice. Worth looking into.

Finally there would be a potential issue with recessing a flat plate into a carved arch top that would need some discussing. Where the plate sits on a tele shape would coincide with where the steepest part of the arch would be. Again not impossible to work around but some thing to think through carefully before committing to wood. The arch height would be determined by the tunomatic you select and the neck pitch. You wont be able to have the tele style neck angle. It would end up more like a prs or LP...

Just some observations. You may have considered or discussed some or all of them already.

Enjoy the ride...Always happy to advise in my role as guitar builder myself..;)
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Cheers, Mutt. You're welcome to put in a quote!

The main "cost centre" in the design is the neck through design. This comes out of my love of the design of my Washburn which I find has great sustain and a certain "liveliness" (shit word) to the tone that my other guitars don't - almost like its more responsive to subtle variations in your left hand.

The pick-up choice is 'cos I want a guitar for heavy rock. I'm a big fan of Nirvana although I struggle to either write or play that loose. When I go heavy it tends to take on more of a metal edge - think Tool and probably more poppy - think generic, slightly cheesy punk or Pearl Jam when I'm not going heavy. I'm also a fan of a Pink Floyd style interlude. See my interludes to "Smashing" and "Time For A Change" on my SoundCloud.

The CR Fretboard is due to me liking the bottom neck chord feel of older Fenders but I do widdle a bit and I sometimes get the Ibanez out for this, so I want to flatten out higher up - eliminate the need for the Floyd Rose equipped thing that seemed like a great idea in the mid '90s!

I like through body stringing - I feel it adds a touch more brightness. The ~200mm gap between bridge and body exit (what's the fancy word for that) is a stylistic touch. It's an idea I got off the through body strung flying Vs. Although I would want the body exits shaped to make a triangle with the line of the bridge as opposed to a V.

I've discussed the recessing of the control plate with them face to face in some detail. Again, this is s style touch. I think the black Nickel plate on the front will look cooler than an access on the rear. The archtop will have to be subtle for this reason but the bodywork will have to be very carefully chamfered accommodate this touch.
 
What radii are you considering on the neck? Any binding? Inlay? What finish? All those would affect the price.

Personally I would prefer the access plate on the rear but thats me..

Get their quote first and then I'll let you know if it's reasonable. As mentioned via PM their pedigree is sound.
 
muttley600 said:
What radii are you considering on the neck? Any binding? Inlay? What finish? All those would affect the price.

Personally I would prefer the access plate on the rear but thats me..

Get their quote first and then I'll let you know if it's reasonable. As mentioned via PM their pedigree is sound.
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I can't remember the figures, we were discussing neck radii in comparison with my Fender which is 400 and my Ibanez which is a Wizard neck - 430 I believe.

No binding, fairly standard inlays (I don't want chinese dragons or anything daft like that) I want the guitar to look relatively simple and functional. Easy on the needless adornments.
 
JDOD said:
I can't remember the figures, we were discussing neck radii in comparison with my Fender which is 400 and my Ibanez which is a Wizard neck - 430 I believe.

No binding, fairly standard inlays (I don't want chinese dragons or anything daft like that) I want the guitar to look relatively simple and functional. Easy on the needless adornments.
Click to expand...


4OOmm? Thats a pretty flat radius for fender. I've only seen that on the Tele special edition they did a few years back... They could have sneaked a couple out since then but it's not common. 430mm would be a 17" radius, again pretty flat. The standard tunomatic is designed to cope with f/b radius of around 12". I would think the people you are going to would be able to advise on what would work. You can slot tunomatic saddles to give you a bit of adjustment when setting up...

---------- Update ----------

JDOD said:
This is the kinda thing I was getting at with the bridge and stringing

http://images.epiphone.com.s3.amazo...er/1958-Korina-Flying-V/Gallery/KO_Splash.jpg

But not V shaped of having the strings exiting through a plate.
Click to expand...

Bridge_string_thru_body.jpg
 
Cheers mate, that's exactly the sort of thing I had in mind.

It is quite flat; didn't seem quite so flat to me as I was used to the Ibanez
 
I have had five or six guitar or guitar like instruments built in the last 20 years, and many more professionally modified.... I have NEVER been unhappy with any of the projects. Resale value? Most guitarists would prefer a crappy big name brand to an incredibly good, custom built instrument. HYPE is a monster, but that's what advertising is all about. I always check out the builders prior projects before I order. I've had built an "f hole" custom hollow body Les Paul, double course eight string fretless, a mandocello, piccolo bass, a violin body nylon string fusion ..... etc.. GOOD luck and always check out the luthier first, and not just necessarily an established builder.
JDOD said:
Gents,

Has anyone ever specified and ordered something bespoke from a custom builder? If so, what was the experience like? Would you recommend it.

I was thinking about getting a 2nd telecaster (probably a cheap knocked about Squire) setting it up nice and putting some decent hardware on it but I was also thinking about finally spending some decent money on something really nice instead. Thinking about what stuff the main big guitar companies make and if anyone has something similar to what my ideal spec is. They don't.

I got in touch with what I think is a relatively reputable luthier, and sent them through my specification - I've since managed to go down there to refine the spec and come up with a final idea. It should be between £2 - 2.5K. I was quite impressed with their set up and the quality of the stuff they were producing - but I didn't get to play on a complete guitar.

Question is, does this sound like good value to get something truly unique or would cash be better spent on a top end guitar from a mainstream manufacturer? Do custom guitars tend to feel as good as mainstream manufacturers - or do they feel like something someone has knocked together in a shed?
Click to expand...
 
Jorge deJorge said:
I have had five or six guitar or guitar like instruments built in the last 20 years, and many more professionally modified.... I have NEVER been unhappy with any of the projects. Resale value? Most guitarists would prefer a crappy big name brand to an incredibly good, custom built instrument. HYPE is a monster, but that's what advertising is all about. I always check out the builders prior projects before I order. I've had built an "f hole" custom hollow body Les Paul, double course eight string fretless, a mandocello, piccolo bass, a violin body nylon string fusion ..... etc.. GOOD luck and always check out the luthier first, and not just necessarily an established builder.
Click to expand...

:thumbs up:

;)
 
Heard from Crimson again today. Really happy with what they are suggesting. It's just a case of deciding whether I can justify the expense.

Really excited about the possibility though. Hope I don't have to sell my telecaster to get it.
 
Those guys post up a lot of useful videos on guitar building on youtube. Crazy bolo-head with all the tattoos. lol, but some good info.
 
JDOD said:
Heard from Crimson again today. Really happy with what they are suggesting. It's just a case of deciding whether I can justify the expense.

Really excited about the possibility though. Hope I don't have to sell my telecaster to get it.
Click to expand...

run it by me if you want...
 
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