If your shelling out a couple of grand plus

Danielsguitars

HAL9000 said:

So, if I'd been spec'ing my 'ideal' guitar back in my pre-Strat days it would have been a simple T-type of some description - and it would have been so wrong, and I'd probably be a couple of grand worse off. As others have already said, buying something off the shelf at least gets you something that you can try before parting with your hard-earned, and that hopefully can be moved on without too much of a hit.

I think you've pretty much nailed people's thoughts on buying custom, it's the resale mostly imo and a brand so it's easy to shift

There are some things people want that you can't go in and buy, that's my market 

Garthy

It's the lack of truly trying something before you buy that would get me, that and being utterly baffled by things that cannot be changed such as what wood species to make the various bits out of and how to make it- such as those 11 piece necks on some J-Craft Ibanez or a one piece neck (with scarf) on a Jackson, or if I wanted an acoustic chamber like a Red Special would it screw up the balance when hanging on a strap, although I guess this could be countered with tungsten weights. Primarily it's a lack of knowledge on my part that is most off putting, assuming I had that sort of money spare in the first place.

ArchtopDave

Garthy said:

It's the lack of truly trying something before you buy that would get me, that and being utterly baffled by things that cannot be changed such as what wood species to make the various bits out of and how to make it- such as those 11 piece necks on some J-Craft Ibanez or a one piece neck (with scarf) on a Jackson, or if I wanted an acoustic chamber like a Red Special would it screw up the balance when hanging on a strap, although I guess this could be countered with tungsten weights. Primarily it's a lack of knowledge on my part that is most off putting, assuming I had that sort of money spare in the first place.

Knowledge, to a reasonable degree, can be acquired. Before I made my first guitar, I bought a few books on guitar making, and also bought, and played a number of times, a set of DVD's on making an Archtop, as I was embarking on making an Archtop. I accept that this doesn't replace experience, but it does provide a basic understanding of the process, and an understanding of what will need to be done and assessed at each stage of construction. At the end of the day, there is always an element of risk, because you never know exactly how the guitar will sound until it's strung and played. 

tone1

I remember being at Norman Reed’s Guitar Making School in Totnes years ago, when a customer was there complaining that his hand built acoustic he’d commissioned hadn’t got much volume... He had paid in the region of £2k for it. I watched as the Luthier tried to explain that it would get better in time etc. The punter definitely wasn’t happy with it.. Left me thinking that I’d like to try before buying

ICBM

armitaan said:

Thought those master builders just assembled the guitars having chosen the woods etc . No way they do anything like eg John elliott who carving own bodies and necks. Anyway I won’t get in an argument on this as sure the millions of fender fans will be on my case, but think you’d be surprised how little what I would call genuine craftsmanship really goes on

Which is a good thing.

Hand making a guitar type which was intentionally designed from the beginning to be machine-made, and is more accurate and consistent when done so, is bonkers.

customkits said:

Sorry but that is complete nonsense, you honestly think some so called master builder, whatever that is is actually making anything in a factory is laughable to me

What is a master builder btw, is he somehow more skilled than a one person luthier workshop,  i don't think so,  i love the thought of this master builder running around making anything start to finish

This is nothing more than fender marketing
B. S, they might pick lighter weight wood, big deal it's already been cnc'd or nicer looking maple necks, he never made it that's for sure

Picking the best pieces of wood from the production line and assembling them correctly with more than the usual care is where the difference is.

I've never played a 'Master Built' Fender which was as good as one of the 'Team Built' ones, so I actually agree that the 'Master Built' thing is marketing.

Hand making a guitar design that you can't get from a mass manufacturer is a completely different thing.

thegummy

I keep being tempted to get a custom bass and I sit on the website speccing everything out but then at the end think that there's so little difference to my existing cheap bass that I can never justify it.

Lighter in weight and a colour I prefer would be the only true advantages, everything else is just being picky.

Maybe that's another reason a lot of people don't go custom - they're perfectly content with the specs of the ones that are on offer.

hotpickups

thegummy said:

I keep being tempted to get a custom bass and I sit on the website speccing everything out but then at the end think that there's so little difference to my existing cheap bass that I can never justify it.

Lighter in weight and a colour I prefer would be the only true advantages, everything else is just being picky.

Maybe that's another reason a lot of people don't go custom - they're perfectly content with the specs of the ones that are on offer.

I suppose at the end of the day it's simply if you can afford it ?

darthed1981

hotpickups said:

thegummy said:

I keep being tempted to get a custom bass and I sit on the website speccing everything out but then at the end think that there's so little difference to my existing cheap bass that I can never justify it.

Lighter in weight and a colour I prefer would be the only true advantages, everything else is just being picky.

Maybe that's another reason a lot of people don't go custom - they're perfectly content with the specs of the ones that are on offer.

I suppose at the end of the day it's simply if you can afford it ?

It really isn't.

For some people it might be, but I expect some people don't want to drop a huge pile of cash on a guitar?

thegummy

darthed1981 said:

hotpickups said:

thegummy said:

I keep being tempted to get a custom bass and I sit on the website speccing everything out but then at the end think that there's so little difference to my existing cheap bass that I can never justify it.

Lighter in weight and a colour I prefer would be the only true advantages, everything else is just being picky.

Maybe that's another reason a lot of people don't go custom - they're perfectly content with the specs of the ones that are on offer.

I suppose at the end of the day it's simply if you can afford it ?

It really isn't.

For some people it might be, but I expect some people don't want to drop a huge pile of cash on a guitar?

There's different degrees of affording it too; I can afford a 1500 quid guitar as someone whose main thing is music but it would be a big spend for me.

A premier league footballer could afford to spend that on a guitar he'd play one tune on.

I think that's it when I look at the perfectly customised one vs my existing, all the slight changes to the specs would be nice but not enough to justify the spend given my finances.

Henrytwang

A custom built guitar always sounds like a great idea but I would be reluctant to buy one myself. I’d prefer to try a whole bunch of instruments and find one that I really like. For me price and craftsmanship are not always an indication that I’m going to love a guitar. For instance,I own a huge collection of guitars many of them from major USA manufacturers but for the last few months my go to guitar has been a relatively inexpensive 2006 Gibson Les Paul Junior, can’t put it down!

57Deluxe

FENDER - GIBSON - Listen up!

What a great completion win it would be to be flown over to the factory and to specify a model from within current inventory and watch and have some input into each stage of its construction!

Now that would be a special...

darthed1981

maltingsaudio said:

On a guitar why not get someone to build exactly what you want?

You are missing the key questions...

Should you go custom shop?

Will the tonewood you choose matter?

Should you get it relic'd or shiny?

What do we all think of Rob Chapman?

Jam or clotted cream first?

9/11 - what the hell happened on 9th November anyway?!?!

Cock out in the office - should I have just asked her out for a drink?

And so on... this is the Fretboard dammit!

martinw

Please correct the thread title, it's doing my head in.

maltingsaudio

martinw said:

Please correct the thread title, it's doing my head in.

Glad to have been of help!