I don`t get it

[VaughnC]

I have no doubt that sometimes "custom built" does work. However, with wood being a naturally tonally inconsistent product, and the fact that a neck & body have to communicate with each other in just the right way, and that no two pickups can be made exactly the same, I think that a custom built guitar is a bit of a crap shoot. Great if custom built worked out for you but seeking out "the one" by running the racks can be fun too. I've played probably several hundred Strats in my life and only a handfull really spoke to me....and only one had it all. So I must be fussy in my old age ....

[lhallam]

Originally posted by Suhr
it serves the customer best if that know it all guy runs the shop

What kind of luthier work does the know it all guy do when he runs the shop? QA?

[Glowing Tubes]

I could blindly order a Suhr or Anderson and know Im getting an excellent instrument. There certainly is a bit more at stake when you wait over a year for a guitar but Im sure the builders do what it takes to make sure their customers are completely happy.

Richard

[MightyGuru]

While I agree somewhat with VaughnC's sentiments, nothing I have ever owned or played is as sweet as my Heatley.

I am a guy that looks through tons of guitars before buying one (I must have tried 70 teles before settling on my Mary Kaye) but there is nothing like playing a neck designed with your hands and style in mind.

The downside is the wait but some can easily reconcile this niggle.

[lhallam]

Originally posted by Suhr
Active Q&A is extremely important.
I trained I do all the drawings All pickups are my design I also program. You really cant get more involved than I am, I also intonate and check every guitar before it leaves. If I go on vacation nothing ships.

I also deal with customer, amp design, PC Board design and Amp QC, play thru every amp and put it in the box, wire speakers

I think you're due for a vacation.

Thanks for the insight.

[RevolutionMan]

I've had Scott Heatley build 2 guitars for me. Both times I found the experience to be unique in that you're actively involved in the planning, and you have to really do your research to make sure that what you're ordering is what's best for you, in other words if you're a roots rock/country player, that dream guitar with EMG's and a floyd isn't going to do it for you at the end of the day. I suspect that some of that goes on.

When I received both guitars, I had to ask myself to completely remove myself from the situation, not to like the guitar just because I had helped plan it. Then ask myself, ok knowing nothing of this guitar, pick it up and are you still blown away compared to "off the rack" guitars that I have.

The answer is yes, no doubt. It's the little things, the very slight details that make the difference. Both of the heatleys are simply outstanding, from the fretwork to the actual tone acoustically and out of various amps, one of them is my main guitar now, not because I'm attached to it, but because I simply haven't found anything better, and I sure look. Until you get one that's been made by hand, with love, I guess it's hard to explain, but the quality is something that is quite evident when it's all said and done. Sure I'll still buy a new tele or les paul once in awhile if I find a good one-just because I'm a sucker for a nice guitar, but I doubt that it would replace what I've had built for me.

I'm not trying to do some public service announcement for Scott, even though he deserves one in my opinion. I'm just saying that the wait is completely worth it. In fact, after receiving what I have from Heatley, heck I'd wait even longer if I had to. Just make sure you're ordering what you really want and more importantly, will really use.

[paintguy]

Until you have a custom guitar made, you can never relate to us who have. I thought I could buy the ultimate guitar for me off the shelf. 25+ guitars later, (13 currently) I decided to have a custom guitar made to my specs.
Guess what? My favorite one, the 1 that has ended what seemed like a never ending search was the custom 1 . I waited 17 frustrating months to get mine.
When I got it, all was forgotten!!!! Still dig my Gibsons', Prs', Ibanez, Yamaha etc.... but they all take second place to the custom 1. The 17 months were well worth it!!!
If you know the specs you want, you can't go wrong (imo). Honestly, the custom 1 feels and sounds better than any other guitar I own.
Also, everything about it is exactly what I wanted. I could never find a off the shelf guitar like it.
"Try it, you'll like it"
Larry

[Lucidology]

Good subject ...

[decay-o-caster]

Originally Posted by VaughnC

I have no doubt that sometimes "custom built" does work. However, with wood being a naturally tonally inconsistent product, and the fact that a neck & body have to communicate with each other in just the right way, and that no two pickups can be made exactly the same, I think that a custom built guitar is a bit of a crap shoot.....

Vaughn - that is EXACTLY why you have a custom builder build it for you.

There are some guys out there who just buy the prettiest flamiest quiltiest lumber they can find, and yes, then it's a total crap shoot. But there are lots of others (and it's no secret that I'm a big Chapin fan) who find the wood and pickups that work best together to get exactly what you want out of the guitar. When I talk to Bill about guitars, I don't tell him what wood and hardware and pickups I want, beyond vague generalities. He knows my playing and my ergonomics and my heroes better than I do, and he won't put together pieces that don't fit, no matter how much I beg. So the guys who want a vintage S or T can get that from him, whereas my S-style is anti-vintage because I really don't like strats. So I have an S-style that looks like the real thing but sounds totally different - much more in line with what Bill knows I want from a guitar.

So you run the racks at GC to find the one Strat that has "the tone", or you build a relationship with a guy who can give it to you without the randomness. And most custom builders who really know what they're doing will give you something pretty close to a guarantee that what they're building you is what you really want.

So that's why you wait for the months to pass. When it comes in, it's pretty much what you wanted from the git-go.

[big mike]

Old threads come back!!! LOL Love that.

Gotta trust the builder to do what you ask, from a tonal standpoint, and not TELL him how to do his job, and you'll have a winner, IMO.

Chapin or Thorn, I could blindly order one with no worries and know I'd get a stellar instrument.

[ducmike]

I agree that you have to go through the experience to get it. And the odds of getting a dud from someone like Koll or Thorn is pretty slim. These guys know what you want before they take your money. I knew what I wanted, and I knew that Saul was the guy to build it after I spoke to him. It took about 9 months. But I have had for about a year and a half now and it is still my #1 go to guitar. You'll forget the wait as soon as you get it in your hands. Provided that you knew what you wanted and you found the right builder for you.

On the flip side, I totally get the find a great one off the rack theory too. My #2 is Vinetto Legato that I got at the Arlington show last year. I knew I would probably be leaving with as I played the first lick on it. Half an hour later there was no way anyone else was gett'n that one.

[Martin Horne]

Ordering a custom guitar IMO depends on
1. Being familiar with the builder's work and
2. Knowing what specs work for you.
I have 2 McNaughts, one which I speced out and one bought as is and they are my 2 all time favorites.

[John Page]

As to part of the original question of why it can take up to a year (or more) to build a guitar, I'd like to address that... at least from my perspective. I've learned many things over the years of working with wood, both guitars and art furniture (and I know there's a ton more I can learn). But the one thing that I think is key, is the fact that while a tree grows, dries and cures, it develops internal stresses. The direction of the grain, figure, etc., effect that. When a piece is cut from the "green" tree it's dried (air dried first, then maybe kiln dried) at a nominal dimension... let's say 5/4 or 4/4 for a neck ("five quarter" means 1 1/4" thick), and some random width and length. Everytime you take something off of that piece, the piece moves. It moves because it was originally "cured" at a nominal dimension that the piece equalized to. When you start to remove material the internal stresses take the wood "somewhere else", they make it move. Very few pieces of wood that I have ever worked have stayed in the same level of original (pre machined) equalibrium once I machined it. I have found over the years, that the longer I let the wood sit between critical operations and removal of material, the more stable the final piece is... so I'm going to let it sit between operations as long as I see fit... period. That also goes for paint cure!

I would also say, again just my opinion, that most of us builders want to make the absolute best possible instrument that we can. If we need more time to make it right, do it over, test other possible options, rework tooling, refurb our shops, clear our scattered-brained heads, etc., etc., etc., then most of us do it. That's another big difference between us and the big guys, "right is right", it's not just about the production numbers getting out there day after day.

I've always believed that building a guitar is like human gestation, you can't rush it and it'll take about nine months. That being said, add back orders, the fact that most small shops are one-ish man operations, building, selling, parts acquisition, maintenance, etc., and that nine months turns into a year plus pretty easy.

[Vince]

Originally Posted by John Page

I've always believed that building a guitar is like human gestation, you can't rush it and it'll take about nine months.

Yes, and to use Mr. Page's analogy, you can rest assured that at some point during the process, something got f**cked!

I love you man....

[fusionbear]

I have 3 Suhr's and only one is a custom order. It took 5 months, but was worth the wait. J.S. and co. make the best guitars IMO period. Everyone of them resonates acoustically and is ALIVE when plugged in. The other seem to have been built for me even though the specs are different. My first was a Light Ash Standard w Maple neck, my second was a mohogany/maple top with mo/Ind. RW board, the third a chambered Koa body with Pao ferro neck. Each one sounds different but plays as if it was carved for me......