Who's got a small name independent guitar?

Jalapeno

I've also got a Morgan, and would similarly expect to get mullered on resale value.  Took a looooong time to deliver from the initial 3-4mth delivery time quoted.  Being a builder who commits to a timescale and delivers to it would be a very good thing.

danishbacon

Well, that went smoothly. I spent an hour and a half with the builder, brought my amp and pedals so I could assess with gear I am already familiar with it. Had a great chat about the build itself and custom/hand built guitars in general. I'm very happy with the outcome and must admit that was hesitant on the drive there, but after extensive play and a cup of coffee it was deal done. NGD day and extensive review coming at some point, along with an FS to plug the big hole. 

Thanks all for all the input. 

Evilmags

Jalapeno said:

I've also got a Morgan, and would similarly expect to get mullered on resale value.  Took a looooong time to deliver from the initial 3-4mth delivery time quoted.  Being a builder who commits to a timescale and delivers to it would be a very good thing.

At least it wasn't ten years. Mine sounds immense but the neck is so big that the Jade and PRS get more attention when I'm in bucket mood. 

OilCityPickups

danishbacon said:

Well, that went smoothly. I spent an hour and a half with the builder, brought my amp and pedals so I could assess with gear I am already familiar with it. Had a great chat about the build itself and custom/hand built guitars in general. I'm very happy with the outcome and must admit that was hesitant on the drive there, but after extensive play and a cup of coffee it was deal done. NGD day and extensive review coming at some point, along with an FS to plug the big hole. 

Thanks all for all the input. 

Brilliant :-)

kjdowd

I am the proud owner of two Felines (lion special and a feline built black machine b6). Easily the best guitars I've owned. Difficult to pinpoint exactly why, but they are just so sorted and playable, which I appreciate is not a detailed technical review...

I have another on order...

kjdowd

In fact am at the unique point in my guitar playing life that - when I sell my jazz master - I won't own a fender or a Gibson and have no plans to buy any in future. 

PhilKing

I have a lot of custom built guitars and some that I have put together myself.  I have a Feline Anniversary Lion, 5 Bravewoods, 8 or more from @WezV, 2 Will Scott's and some others.  Many of them are things that I wanted and couldn't get on the market (like a 25.5" Les Paul Custom), others are copies of some of my guitars that got too valuable to take out any more.  All of them get played.  

I'm lucky enough (touch wood), to not worry about resale value.  That is the first thing you need to think about when you want a custom guitar.  My very first one was with me at NAMM in the 90's and got a lot of comments, but it was something that allowed me to cover a lot of sounds in one guitar (H/S/mini-H), with switching to use any pickup and coil tap on the humbucker).   Even when I got it, it probably didn't have much resale value, but for me it was perfect.  That's the great advantage of a custom built guitar.  The other one is the ability to talk to the maker about what you like and don't like (especially if you are an anorak like me!).

Be prepared to wait though.  To get a custom the way you want takes time.

TTony

PhilKing said:

8 or more from @WezV,

  

He does make quite a nice guitar though!

fandango

TheGuitarWeasel said:

fandango said:

TTony said:

fandango said:

Guitar & case cost £1,100.

When I factor in all the repairs, servicing, strings etc, I lost about £1500 in just over two years. 

1.  You're not going to get a "proper" luthier made guitar for £1100.  They're losing money on anything under £2500 if they're building properly.  For £1100 you got a partsa.

2.  To lose £1500, you must have spent close to £1000 on fixing it.  For that sort of problems, I'd have been getting a refund, or getting him to fix it.


That sort of thing gets the small builder industry a bad name.  No doubt the bad 'uns exist, but there are enough good ones around, with customer testimonials to support them, if you choose carefully.

To fill in a little bit of detail. It wasn't a custom job. It was one already made, although the scratchplate was actually custom. I wasn't looking for a blingy guitar, but I was looking for a korina guitar, and this was the only UK-based guy who made guitars with korina. So i wasnt into special burst finishes, fancy birdseye maple or suchlike. This was a simple gibson-style hardtail. Never had a problem with the woodwork, the tuners, frets or choice of pickups (seymour duncans).

The lack of quality showed itself in duff pickup springs which I had replaced, and the pickups were likely either used pickups or "seconds", and the quality of the electrics. Someone mentioned about taking it back, but I didn't get to that point until 2 or so years after buying.

The maker should have spent a bit more effort marking out the bridge and tailpiece (think: measure twice cut once), and he should have spent a couple of quid more on a better tailpiece, and then have sorted out his soldering (its not hard). It wouldnt have taken much to have built it properly in the first instance, but making it good as an aftermarket task ruined it for me.

Lovely tone, great versatility and played like butter loved the way it played. Great neck finish, feel and profile to the neck, so no issues there. Body shape was very very comfortable, and in natural finished korina ticked a few boxes. It's just that the tailpiece worked loose just by looking at it.

In essence it was the finishing items that marred the experience.

I appreciate the effort that goes into Feline guitars - they look stunning, but when i bought the above mentioned guitar, i just didnt want anything blingy and looking a million dollars. I just wanted a 'decent', straight down the line guitar, I could cut my teeth on.

With sincere apologies to guitar makers worldwide, I think some of the finishes/finishing touches are overkill for me. I would have appreciated more effort into the unseen build quality. Anyway nothing ventured, nothing gained, and I'm older and wiser about 'boutique' and small scale builders.

Feline guitars make many instruments that are not at all 'blingy' ... look at their 'Juniors' etc. It's really only the top of the range 'Lions' that have the bells and whistles. The internal attention to detail is second to none, and as far as hardware etc, the likes of Tonepro bridges and my own Masterwound or Bare Knuckle pickups should tell you the level of hardware quality fitted. 
I supply pickups to many leading UK luthiers from Carillion guitars to Feline and Blackmachine, and all of these have attention to detail that surpass the best US Custom shop models. I suppose I'm in a fairly privileged position in having had the opportunity to try a lot of UK made customs, and have to say that I think your experience is unusual. 

Regarding price, I will say that any luthier in the UK that is selling below the £1500 price bracket is cutting corners somewhere, especially in the current economic climate. Many small makers pop up, get their economic sums wrong, try to pump out loss leaders to get market penetration then fold when they realise they are working for nothing. This happens in my own field of pickup making too ... 
My recommendation is to look for companies that have been around a while, ones with premises you can visit and try their instruments, and ones who don't have rose tinted spectacles on as far as pricing. 

@TheGuitarWeasel - many thanks and I will take for when the coffers are full again and GAS bites.

mburekenge

PhilKing said:

I have a lot of custom built guitars and some that I have put together myself.  I have a Feline Anniversary Lion, 5 Bravewoods, 8 or more from @WezV, 2 Will Scott's and some others.  Many of them are things that I wanted and couldn't get on the market (like a 25.5" Les Paul Custom), others are copies of some of my guitars that got too valuable to take out any more.  All of them get played.  

I'm lucky enough (touch wood), to not worry about resale value.  That is the first thing you need to think about when you want a custom guitar.  My very first one was with me at NAMM in the 90's and got a lot of comments, but it was something that allowed me to cover a lot of sounds in one guitar (H/S/mini-H), with switching to use any pickup and coil tap on the humbucker).   Even when I got it, it probably didn't have much resale value, but for me it was perfect.  That's the great advantage of a custom built guitar.  The other one is the ability to talk to the maker about what you like and don't like (especially if you are an anorak like me!).

Be prepared to wait though.  To get a custom the way you want takes time.

You dont piss about! Please post the btavrwoods. I only have one, but woukd love more!

OilCityPickups

fandango said:

TheGuitarWeasel said:

fandango said:

TTony said:

fandango said:

Guitar & case cost £1,100.

When I factor in all the repairs, servicing, strings etc, I lost about £1500 in just over two years. 

1.  You're not going to get a "proper" luthier made guitar for £1100.  They're losing money on anything under £2500 if they're building properly.  For £1100 you got a partsa.

2.  To lose £1500, you must have spent close to £1000 on fixing it.  For that sort of problems, I'd have been getting a refund, or getting him to fix it.


That sort of thing gets the small builder industry a bad name.  No doubt the bad 'uns exist, but there are enough good ones around, with customer testimonials to support them, if you choose carefully.

To fill in a little bit of detail. It wasn't a custom job. It was one already made, although the scratchplate was actually custom. I wasn't looking for a blingy guitar, but I was looking for a korina guitar, and this was the only UK-based guy who made guitars with korina. So i wasnt into special burst finishes, fancy birdseye maple or suchlike. This was a simple gibson-style hardtail. Never had a problem with the woodwork, the tuners, frets or choice of pickups (seymour duncans).

The lack of quality showed itself in duff pickup springs which I had replaced, and the pickups were likely either used pickups or "seconds", and the quality of the electrics. Someone mentioned about taking it back, but I didn't get to that point until 2 or so years after buying.

The maker should have spent a bit more effort marking out the bridge and tailpiece (think: measure twice cut once), and he should have spent a couple of quid more on a better tailpiece, and then have sorted out his soldering (its not hard). It wouldnt have taken much to have built it properly in the first instance, but making it good as an aftermarket task ruined it for me.

Lovely tone, great versatility and played like butter loved the way it played. Great neck finish, feel and profile to the neck, so no issues there. Body shape was very very comfortable, and in natural finished korina ticked a few boxes. It's just that the tailpiece worked loose just by looking at it.

In essence it was the finishing items that marred the experience.

I appreciate the effort that goes into Feline guitars - they look stunning, but when i bought the above mentioned guitar, i just didnt want anything blingy and looking a million dollars. I just wanted a 'decent', straight down the line guitar, I could cut my teeth on.

With sincere apologies to guitar makers worldwide, I think some of the finishes/finishing touches are overkill for me. I would have appreciated more effort into the unseen build quality. Anyway nothing ventured, nothing gained, and I'm older and wiser about 'boutique' and small scale builders.

Feline guitars make many instruments that are not at all 'blingy' ... look at their 'Juniors' etc. It's really only the top of the range 'Lions' that have the bells and whistles. The internal attention to detail is second to none, and as far as hardware etc, the likes of Tonepro bridges and my own Masterwound or Bare Knuckle pickups should tell you the level of hardware quality fitted. 
I supply pickups to many leading UK luthiers from Carillion guitars to Feline and Blackmachine, and all of these have attention to detail that surpass the best US Custom shop models. I suppose I'm in a fairly privileged position in having had the opportunity to try a lot of UK made customs, and have to say that I think your experience is unusual. 

Regarding price, I will say that any luthier in the UK that is selling below the £1500 price bracket is cutting corners somewhere, especially in the current economic climate. Many small makers pop up, get their economic sums wrong, try to pump out loss leaders to get market penetration then fold when they realise they are working for nothing. This happens in my own field of pickup making too ... 
My recommendation is to look for companies that have been around a while, ones with premises you can visit and try their instruments, and ones who don't have rose tinted spectacles on as far as pricing. 

@TheGuitarWeasel - many thanks and I will take for when the coffers are full again and GAS bites.

And any of my own customers in the London area are always welcome to pop in for a coffee to Oily Towers and discuss pickups and get mugged by the cats :-)

bermudianbrit

Not UK, but just to add to the general discussion. I picked up a Ruokangas Mojo Classic from a member of the forum...it was my first telecaster...it may well be my last. It is that good. My only regret is that it doesn't have a b-bender, and I don't want to mod such an expensive piece. But god damn its good.

Gadget

7 out of my 11 guitars are UK luthier custom builds (1 Manson and 6 Royals).

Winny_Pooh

@Gadget pics please 

Gadget

Winny_Pooh said:

@Gadget pics please 

viz

TheGuitarWeasel said:

I agree that one probably has to have owned several types of guitar in ones career to fully understand what one needs and wants in a custom instrument, and I'd probably never recommend one as a beginners tool. But when one gets ones ducks in a row and works out what the 'must have's' are ... then I think the custom route is a final step for some.
 

Yup. I had loads before getting my dream guitar 20 years ago; I don't think I'll ever find something better and have no interest in looking. It's simply perfect. And it wasn't even made for me. 

https://m.facebook.com/callaghanguitars/photos/a.163791953738611.32725.160159754101831/829675797150220/?type=3&source=54