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Comments
Much like the Cleartone buyers who presumably think the reason they're struggling is their strings are too close together - they just don't know any better.
A custom flat top build is still more expensive to do than any mass made sub £1500 guitar.
I built a strat for someone and the whole lot works out about £1,000 in parts then add time and paying for a workshop etc, even at £2k no one is getting rich, I also had to customise the neck after it was finished to suit him a little better, it was only a small amount needed but still that's extra time doing it and refinishing it, that's what I hope a custom build gets you anyway, main thing he loves the guitar.
By contrast I set up a £150 squire tele bullet and was genuinely shocked how good it was, change the electrics and you have a good gigging guitar, we small builders cannot compete with this, we're a different market and only the individual can justify if it's worth it, just do your homework and go by recommendations if possible and visit the workshop.
Not sure how he comes back from this tbh but he'll have to work twice as hard now and get to some shows if possible, this is not an easy fix, good luck to him.
(formerly customkits)
I just looked at the 2 discussions you have started, which go....
- Hey guys...I made a prototype guitar last year which was very badly thought through.
- Last year I cancelled a crowd-funding campaign to help start the new guitar business.I wasn't ready and the guitars weren't ready.
There does seem to be a constant theme!Good luck in whatever you choose to do next
just googled “UK custom guitars” and the first result was a list from this forum...
same with Daniels guitars, Ivison guitars, feline guitars... all return at least one result from this forum on the first page of google...
similarly with Ian Elson guitars you get a result from this forum... and unlike the others above, it’s not a glowing result!... I’m guessing there will be another result once the internet catches up!...
personally the first thing I would do if I was spending money on something custom is research the crap out of it!...
not knocking the folk that have been wronged... but it wouldn’t have taken five minutes to suss out the guy is not a great luthier or suss out that getting a custom guitar costs a fair bit more than £700.
I spoke with a couple of people who had bought guitars from him. I looked very carefully at the photos and the specs. No red flags there.
Too cheap? His explanation of bulk saving made sense. And he's not a full-time luthier - he does other woodworking for a living. As far as I could see, the downside was the two-and-a-half month wait. The upside was one of his standard guitar designs with custom elements and cheaper than he would usually charge.
Basic design aside, I didn't expect a guitar that was unfinished, geometrically flawed and completely unplayable. I also didn't expect to have to deal with an inveterate liar.
But yes, even with his bullshit about bulk saving it’s still too cheap.
take the wood out of the equation.
bare knuckles £275
hipshot - £140
youre still at £400 just for those parts alone! and he deffo won’t be getting a discount for either of those items.
you mention another downside being a two and a half month wait... two and a half months would have rung a massive alarm bell there for me tbh...
ask @FelineGuitars @Danielsguitars @IvisonGuitars what their build times would be for a double cut like @IanElsonGuitar is promoting...
again, not knocking you guys in the slightest, I hope the prick pays what he owes and stops making these things... it only serves to give a bad name to custom guitars and the very talented folk that build them.
have to ask, after all of this would you consider commissioning a custom build again?
• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@Goldeneraguitars
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
The bit about not caring about profit is a possibility, I knew someone who after retiring built tables and other furniture as a hobby and sold them for the material cost.
however, IMO I suspect he’s just banging them out without any care to quality or ability to build and hoping that his price will get him enough orders that he can scrape a living... which is not sustainable and also not a way to ensure a quality product... as shown by the op in this thread...