Who will be the builder of your choice?

[Izy]

Hi,

I'm new here.

Have been reading a lot of post.

So it made me wonder,

If you would to have someone build a strat, a tele, a LP style and an archtop guitar who would be the builder of your choice?

I know very little about the small company luthiers so i would like to know who are rated among the best in building these guitars.

Of course if you could include a price range that would be even better. :)

So could anyone fill in the blanks below?

Strat: ???
Price range: ???

Tele: ???
Price range:???

LP: ???
Price range:???

Archtop: ???
Price range: ???

[niersbach]

Originally posted by Izy
Hi,

I'm new here.

Have been reading a lot of post.

So it made me wonder,

If you would to have someone build a strat, a tele, a LP style and an archtop guitar who would be the builder of your choice?

I know very little about the small company luthiers so i would like to know who are rated among the best in building these guitars.

Of course if you could include a price range that would be even better. :)

So could anyone fill in the blanks below?

Strat: ???
Price range: ???

Tele: ???
Price range:???

LP: ???
Price range:???

Archtop: ???
Price range: ???

All in my own very humble opinion of course

Strat: Suhr, Anderson, Grosh
Price range: anywhere from 1500 used all the way up tp 3500 new

Tele: Same as strat
Price range:

LP: McNaught
Price range:2800 - 3800 used depending on appointments Over 3500 new and on up to 6k also depending on appointments

Archtop: No Idea, would probably just get a PRS
Price range:

Other small companies that are extremely reputable at the moment....Thorn, Heatley, Swan, and countless others

[derek_32999]

www.jetguitars.com, www.driskillguitars.com, and www.thornguitars.com. as far as les paul types go ... price- i know jets are about 4k and up, thorns and driskills are easier to customize through direct contact with the makers.

with strats and tele's anderson :) used 1500-2500, new- i think up to 4k(with all bells and whistles)

archtop- i have been reading a lot about yamaha's aes and sa models etc, they are supposed to be real sweet under 1600 bucks

hope this helps

[arriba]

For Archtop Guitars : Ted Megas

Fender Style guitars : Scott Lentz


http://www.megasguitars.com/

[John Mayes]

I'm biased in the others as I would say Me, Me, Me, but for the archtop category I would say

Vintage D'Angelico

Price range: $40,000 plus... something like this:

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=785461

Or we can go the budget route and get one like this for a mere $16,000

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=800216

Now if we are talking semi solid bodys like a 335 or something I'd say me :) Or a vintage gretsch... those are cool.

[abergdahl]

For the semisolids and solids Chapin and/or Koll. For an LP style JGguitars (Johan Gustavsson) for an archtop Ribbeke or Meizner.

[MOJO]

for an Archtop inspired = Thorn or Artinger

Strat/tele inspired = any of the above mentioned + Scott Heatley makes some pretty nice tele's also

Les paul = definately Scott Heatley,Thorn's new SC model,or our own Schroeder SC model

[BattleAngel]

I've got my dream guitar coming in from Ruokangas, it's a quasi-strat style with three beautiful custom made p90 pickups, a spanish cedar back and arctic birch top and fretboard.

[MJR]

These days, every guitar I think about getting has the name Koll or Lentz on the headstock. :D

[Fantom1]

Strat/Tele type guitar: Lentz

LP: Gustavsson

Archtop: Absolutely no idea.

[big mike]

Strat: Chapin Houla
Price range: As I would get it, around 2800

Tele: Chapin Hawk or T Bird
Price range: As I would get it, around 2800

LP: Thorn Artisan Deluxe (as LPish as possible, I prefer having a double cut)
Price range: Around 3K as I would order it

Archtop: Not much of an Archtop Guy. if I was going to do that, likely Koll
Price range: Dunno really.

[enharmonic]

Strat: Don't play 'em...wouldn't know where to start

Tele: Chapin, Callaham, Trussart

LP: Mcinturff Taurus or Gemini

Archtop: Waiting on Terry to unveil his, but might end up going Motorave.

[Izy]

Wow!

Thanks guys!

I will look at all these builders, and make a decision.

In the meantime, i think i probably should starting setting aside an amount every month. :D

Will post after i reached a decision but one thing is for sure,

My archtop will not be a Vintage D'Angelico. They may be sweet but i don't think i have that type of $$$. :p

[decay-o-caster]

Chapin for Strat or Tele - ~$2400+
No idea for an LP
Saul Koll for an Arcthtop - ~$5000 or so

[The Eristic]

Strat/Tele - Gerard Melancon

LPesque - Terry McInturff

Archtop - Ari Lehtela ( www.lehtelaguitarcraft.com )

[Scott Peterson]

Strat/Tele: Gerard Melancon (been there/done that!)
LP: Ron Thorn (have a double cutaway from him, have an SC on order); or Scott Heatley.

[Down and Out in NYC]

Thorn, Heatley, Mcnaught, Mcinturff for LP style.

Melancon, Suhr or anderson for strat or Tele style.

I dont own any of em..............................yet, but im about a week away from my first mel :dude

[fatback]

bolt-on: Lentz, Vinetto, GVCG (2-3k)

set neck: Grosh, Thorn (3-4k)

I'd love to try some guitars from JG, Koll, Chapin, Heately, and others that I first saw on TGP. There are so many folks building cool guitars these days that it's getting hard to choose.

[flash1]

strat- Chapin houla (preferrably goldtop)
tele- Chapin hawk
lp- Bill's building a Bloomfield tribute for me, I'll report back. Oh yeah, that's Bill Chapin.

[PlexiBreath]

Strat:
Either a Suhr Classic with the Silent Single Coil system, or a Fender Custom Shop.

Tele:
Many good choices, I'd go for a Suhr, but Fender Custom Shop, Chapin, DeTemple are all great.

LP:
Only a Gibson Custom Shop Heritage series. I haven't heard or played anything else out there that nails the Les Paul thing like the real thing.

Archtop:
A Michael Lewis!!! I have the San Rafael model and absolutely love it! My second choice would be a Gibson L5.

[Balance]

Taken only from my hands-on experience:

Tele/Strat - Chapin or Suhr (haven't played/owned a DeTemple or Lentz)

LPesque - McInturff (haven't played a JG or a Thorn SC or a Heatley)

Archtop - no idea.

I'm sure all these makers have their fans for good reasons.

[Testudo]

Strat: Chapin 'houla. The one he did with lipstick pickups!:dude Price on that one....probably well into the $3ks. But one could easily be spec'ed for under 3.
Tele: Chapin T-Bird or Hawk. Price...well, I had a T-Bird on order that was going to be bare-bones simple: alder body, 2 singles, no frills, for $2400. Then something else turned up...:dude
LP: For an LP-shaped guitar, Thorn. For a double-humbucker guitar that doesn't look like an LP, Driskill.

[michaelg]

bolt on- lentz/callaham
set neck- jg/ koll

[r9player]

Tele/Strat - www.mayesguitars.com or www.langcaster.com
Singlecut - I love the LP Class 5 and Elegant models - If I had money I might ask John Mayes to make me a single cut, also love the DTM Neck so I'd consider that too.
Archtop - No idea. But a D'Angelico sounds nice :)

[olectric]

From my experience:

Strat: Grosh or Anderson

Tele: Anderson Hollow T Classic (hands down the best T in my opinion)

LPish: Anderson Atom. Honestly. Don't knock it 'til you try it.

[whoofnagle]

Single Cut: Heatley/Thorn

Tele: Heatley/Melancon

Other: Koll - his stuff just looks cool and by all accounts sounds cool as well.

Bill

[cnardone]

Originally posted by flash1
strat- Chapin houla (preferrably goldtop)
tele- Chapin hawk
lp- Bill's building a Bloomfield tribute for me, I'll report back. Oh yeah, that's Bill Chapin.

another vote for Bill. I'd definitely talk to Scott Heatley about a LP too!!

[Mike M]

My vote is for Gustavsson

:dude

[Auge]

strat type: musicman, siggi braun
teletype: terry mcinturff terrycaster
LP type: terry mcinturff taurus
archtop: no idea

[WahmBoomAh]

I make no claims to being unbiased ..nor am I paid to write this ...BUT , My 3 favorite builders for anything I could dream up would be Koll,Koll, and Koll

[Marty Horne]

Fender style: Chapin, Suhr, Anderson, Detemple, Lentz
Gibson style: Gibson Custom Shop, McNaught, Gustavsson

[gregc]

Fender style: Don Grosh
Gibson: Hamer
Archtop: I'm having Saul Koll build me one now, but I also wouldn't mind having my good neighbor, John Monteleone ,build me one too!
gregc

[WahmBoomAh]

I hear ya`Greg.... John built me his second arch top "eclipse" in 1980/81. What an axe! Still have it ...and hope to always . The next finest thing to me is my Duo Glide by Mr Koll .....something tells me that they dream tone in stereo ...and have that sixth sense of what something should and WILL sound like before they start . They WILL the wood to obey ....or vice-versa?
You`ll love your Koll

[AJ Love]

I'd have John English of the Fender Custom Shop build me a Telecaster

[Antero]

Koll. One day.

He'd better still be building in a decade. :D

[arriba]

Originally posted by gregc
Fender style: Don Grosh
Gibson: Hamer
Archtop: I'm having Saul Koll build me one now, but I also wouldn't mind having my good neighbor, John Monteleone ,build me one too!
gregc

Having John Monteleone build a guitar these days, would have a huge prize tag and a very long waiting time. But he, Megas, Grimes, Walker and Manzer are the very best in my opinion when it comes to Archtop guitars.

[KRosser]

I am very partial to the Tele format in guitars, but wanted a couple custom interpretations of that design that aren't available in any 'off the rack' models that I know of, so I looked around for custom builders. Based on 1) the recommendations of a few players who play his guitars and who's opinions I value very highly, 2) the general word-of-mouth here about his quality and professionalism, 3) some absolutely mouth-wateringly killer pics of his work posted here, 4) the fact that he's very reasonable priced and asked for a reasonably wait time, and 5) the fact that he was willing to stand behind his work with the kind of guarantee I've never had a custom builder extend me, I picked Saul Koll.

[nik]

Originally posted by arriba
Having John Monteleone build a guitar these days, would have a huge prize tag and a very long waiting time. But he, Megas, Grimes, Walker and Manzer are the very best in my opinion when it comes to Archtop guitars.

Mark Lacey makes a wonderful playing and sounding archtop also...

for a semihollow style Les Paul inspired guitar, check out the Lacey Artist:
http://laceyguitars.com/artist.htm


:dude

[arriba]

You are right! Mark is in the same league as the above mentioned Archtop Builders.

[emjee]

For a LP style I believe I read on his web site Gene Baker is now taking orders for his new company, Fine tuned Instruments. Anderson makes a helluva Strat, though I havent tried any of the others mentioned in the posts above.

[WahmBoomAh]

I`d have a chat with the gentleman on the right httphttp://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/MooWahmBah/KOLL.jpg

[charley]

I just ordered a custom Alembic Further. It is a flame maple/vermillion neck thru with a vermillion body and birds-eye maple top and back. It comes with side LED fret markers, and I also am getting a custom Cheshire Cat inlayed below the bridge. I cannot wait. Should be ready in January or February.

After that, I think I'll have to go with a GVCG Tele when the funding appears.