Anyone here had a guitar/bass cutom built for them?

N

notCardio

I walk the line
And I don't mean the Fender or Gibson custom shop, or custom versions of standard guitars ( strats, teles, LP's, etc.). I mean truly custom built.

What did you get, who did it, how did it turn out, and how much was it?

If you don't want to discuss price here for some reason, feel free to pm me.

I just want to know who to contact to see if what I want is do-able and if I can do it without having to sell a kidney.

Thanks.
 
Last question first,

No. Kidney sale would be the only method.

I have had a couple of instruments built. I built them. They're marginal at best, and i've decided that though I am a rather fine wood craftsman, I'd have to make about 5000 of anything before I get one right. I've played several custom instruments and to tell you the truth, I haven't found any that I would tout as a better instrument than high retail mass market instruments. Several folks would whole heartedly disagree with this. And those instruments that they'll refer to are probably leaps and bounds above a figure that i'd ever be willing to pay at my current (or any future) skill level. The time and energy that goes into building a 'one off' if immense, and you'll pay for it. In some situations with notable luthiers you have a marginal benefit. So, a kidney for a marginal improvement is my vote.
 
Well, quality isn't the issue, exactly

It's not that the regular stuff isn't good enough, far from it. it's that what I want isn't the standard size or shape.

Let's say I wanted a body of a Godin, because that's what feels most comfortable to me, but I really want a late 50's LP neck, because that's what fits my hand perfectly, but I want it with a maple fretboard.

Or I want an LP, but the neck is too wide or too narrow. That kind of thing.

And I should've added ' or CARVIN'. Like I didn't know that was coming. :rolleyes:
 
How much bread have you got???

Your question depends so much on woods used, finish, electronics, set neck/bolt-on, etc............
 
I think

Aubrey was her name.


As far as how much, that's part of what I'm asking.

But mostly I want to find someone who's had it done, successfully, who's happy with it, who can recommend the luthier. Then I can contact that luthier to see if they can, or will, do what I want and can give me a rough estimate. I don't think what I want is particularly difficult in the luthier world, just sort of unusual, a one-off. Or a few-off if I can afford it.

Anyone?
 
I went with Jon Kammerer. www.jonkammerer.com Go to my website at www.ryanformato.com and look under tools. My guitar came out absolutely stunning. I paid a cheaper price than normal because I was a guitarmageddon finalist when I met him back in 2004 (that gained me some popularity) when I was in Texas. He was actually in Texas at a convention and I played his guitars which were far superior to every other custom shop there (I played a lot of guitars too). Just drop my name if you decide to contact him.

Also, my style of guitar was the first he ever did that looked as wild as it does. Contact me, if you'd like more information.
 
I have a hand-made strat-style. He even made the neck-SUPER thinline and really fast. BL L-500...Only shittiness is the trem tailpiece needs replaced and I recently rewired it and the whole damn electronics cavity has become microphonic... :mad:

...The total price was $0 (though I spent $100 and refinished it)...Built by a friend who doesn't make them for anybody but himself and who he gives them away to...

Eric
 
Go to this web site and you will see the custom tele built for me.

http://www.apolloguitars.ca/

These are great guitars at less than a store price for cheap junk.

The pickups are custom built to. They are really good sounding.

I love mine.

Watch the custom fees though. Have John say it is a gift.
 
There are lots of us around. My base price is $1800, but that is for one of my designs. If you wanted something with a custom body and all that, it is going to be WAY more (I'm all jigged up to do my guitars). As for quality, there is usually a better attention to the details of design in a custom built guitar than a factory guitar, but a high end factory and a high end hand builder will have very similar levels of craftsmanship.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Thanks

I'll look into the suggestions so far.

Like I said, it not about the quality, it's just that I want some things that are akin to getting a tele neck on an SG body, or an SG neck on a Ric 4001 body, or something like that.

Now if I only knew someone who could tell me how to get a Carvin neck on a Carvin body...
 
I had a bass built for myself by Bud Lecompte
www.lecomptebass.com

I choosed everything, woods, pick ups, radius, body shape, frets, hardware, etc...

The price was really good for a custom instrument. I am very happy with the result and I am looking for having a 2nd one made from Bud.

Another thing that I consider important. Bud sent me about 70 E-mails and about 100 pictures while he was building it! The waiting time was about 4 months

You can see pics of the bass here:

http://yvongravel.googlepages.com/lecompte

Some of the building process pictures here:

http://yvon.basses.googlepages.com/fabricationlecompte1


I recommand Bud works!
He is very friendly and he build great instrument.
For the price of a US fender or a EBMM (at least here in canada) you could get something built for you and with the specs that you want.

Yvon
 
David Artis said:
Go to this web site and you will see the custom tele built for me.

http://www.apolloguitars.ca/

These are great guitars at less than a store price for cheap junk.

The pickups are custom built to. They are really good sounding.

I love mine.

Watch the custom fees though. Have John say it is a gift.
Click to expand...

Looks cool, and the price is certainly right, but his site says that he can't take new orders until further notice.
 
notCardio said:
Looks cool, and the price is certainly right, but his site says that he can't take new orders until further notice.
Click to expand...

I saw that to but I started an email thread with John and eventually things worked out.

My tele is 100% hand built including the neck. It is different but really really playable - very comfortble to work with.

John may be busy but once he knows you he may put you on his list.

Good luck.

:cool: from Florida
 
I've had two custom basses built for me. The first was a six-string fretless built by Hill Instruments in Ohio. Some of the custom features included a polyester coated fingerboard and having the fretlines made out of both maple and purpleheart- the maple ones signified the 3,5,7, etc. positions. Also, I had the side dots located directly under the fretlines (on fretless basses with lines, most builders put the side dots in the middle of the frets as they would be on a fretted bass, which is ludicrous as they're of no help there on a fretless). I also had the side dots be red LEDs.

It ended up being a tad bit too neck heavy, and the side dots were somewhat hard to see when they weren't turned on (an issue with me as I am legally blind).
Here's a pic:
full5.jpg



My second custom was a four-string fretless made by Elrick. I currently have three Elricks and have owned three others in the past- they're simply the best basses for me out there. I again had the side dots placed below the lines. This bass is also a 33" scale (Elrick's standard is 35") for extremely easy playability, and I had him build the bass with an enlarged headstock in order to fit a Hipshot Xtender on each tuning peg. I can basically get the range of a six-string with this bass.
Here's a pic:
newfull.jpg


http://bryanrtylermusic.web.aplus.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/fullback.jpg

Both cost a little over $3000. I sold the Hill, bought another fretless, then sold that to pay for most of the Elrick's cost, so the Hill paid for most of the Elrick.
 
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