HELP with all these Strat and Tele builders...

Some builders buy parts from 3rd party sources and then do their magic and put the guitar together.

Other builders actually make the bodies and necks themselves either with a CNC or pin router and then do their magic and put the guitar together.

 

I have, Danocaster, Crook, Tom Anderson.. Tele styles. They all have their own thing going. One is modern style, sounding. One is very much a vintage repro. One is a very custom made with a in modern feel but a very vintage sound. To each player they mean something different. However, no disrespect to the Tom Anderson's, they are all for sale..

 

Some build and then sell...some talk to you and build exactly what you want.
Those "personal" builds take longer because of communication. A big factor is paint...if you want all Nitro, it's much more. Nitro takes time and work to make right. Time = money.
My Girlfriend takes her time on builds and talks to her client very often so it gets done perfectly. Often, the client switches gears during the build...especially on hardware, so she waits as long as she can to get parts. Some builders spec. it on a sheet and that's that...she speaks to them during the build and will call them "OK, it's ready for the pickups. You talked about an Antiquity, I'm making sure you still want it."

Many times we'll be out to dinner and she gets a call or thinks of something at that moment and calls someone. I don't mind...she loves it.

She delivered a beautiful Esquire to a client just last night at a nice Italian Restaurant at the table (AFTER a delicious Veal Chop).

 

Ron Kirn is the only name you need to know! Great custom teles start at about $1,650.00,strats at about $2,000.00. As good as anything out there!!! Check him out,you won't be disappointed!!

 

Its not rocket science to assemble a perfectly good Tele if you start from quality sources, USACG, Callaham etc etc etc, painting it is another story but high quality results are not that hard to achieve, its a very simple design, I have put together 2 excellent partscasters and while I am good at handtools already its not anything too involved, careful yes every step of the way but not
that difficult if you have some basic knowledge and are patient to figure out things before you go too far.

 

I think part of it is sometimes people buy CS guitars and still want to replace pickups, hardware, etc. A lot of these small builders have even smaller niches that speak to a very specific piece of the market.

I bought a K-Line because the look spoke to me, it had my favorite pickups in it, modern frets and fretboard radius, top quality hardware all around, and because every conceivable source said that they are all a joy to play, and they were right! Danocasters seem to have the coolest, most realistic relicing around in the 2G or less category.

It's also a delight to be able to speak directly to the person who assembled your guitar if you have any questions or concerns.

 

Frankly, anyone can build a strat or tele. There is not a lot going on there woodworking wise, electronically or acoustically. That may be why they sold so well. Why they would charge high prices is because people will pay it.

I bought a nice birdseye maple Warmouth neck, a swamp ash unfinished body and a loaded pickguard with the TexMex setup. It came out awesome, but I can't play Fender slab guitars, everything feels too close to the body, like it's squished! I sold it to a fellow who loves it.

 

+10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

Regarding intonation - I'm not sure if there are any builders out there making relic T-style guitars with six-saddle or compensated saddle bridge assemblies. That said, just some old brass 2-string per saddles have always worked great for me.

Of the builders you've mentioned, I think K-Lines most often have a modern fretboard radius and bigger frets than the Nash or Danocasters I've seen.

I know Nash uses lots of different pickups. Danocaster is a case-by-case thing as well, I believe. (although I may have just seen used Danos that have had pickups replaced.) Most K-Line Ts I've seen had that Lollar Special bridge/Vintage neck combo, which works great imo.