TalkBass Forums - LETTSBASSES

A little more info...
I started building guitars in 2008 after 20 years of playing and tinkering.
I was originally inspired by the wealth of information and other builders sites on the internet. Carl Thompson was the main builder who made me realise that lutherie was the thing I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I'm sure all of my friends and family thought I'd gone insane when all of a sudden all I would talk about was guitars and started covering my kitchen floor in wood shavings. In the beginning all I had was a couple of handplanes and an obsession with creating the perfect glue joint. Most of my first attempts at guitars, however satisfying for me, usually ended up on the bonfire as my expectations increased and skills rapidly grew. These initial instruments were made using only hand tools. I think I read absolutely EVERYTHING, either on the internet or in the university library where I worked at the time. From american woodworker magazine to books about A.Sradivari, nothing slipped through my radar and my thirst for information was insatiable. INPUT! IIINPUUUT!
I soon teamed up with an old friend who I encouraged to learn the art of pickup building and preamp design. Unfortunately this relationship proved unhealthy for the growth of my instruments and in the end I decided to teach myself how to make pickups and started using Commercial preamps (Aguilar).
After around 5 years of relentless hardwork and an obsession with perfection, I have built somewhere in the region of 40 guitars completely by hand from raw materials at the rate of 10 or so a year. My work load has increased over the last year or so to 10-20 guitars. Predominantly bass guitars. I have made around 7 regular guitars including 7 string guitars. For the first few years I sold all of my instruments through fleabay and I can honestly say that not a single guitar has been returned other than for the odd tweak. I have also never received negative feedback from any customer. In fact every instrument that I have sold has received very positive and more often than not, glowing reviews. I believe this is an extraordinary feat of achievement for someone who is completely self taught. I encourage people to do their own online searches for any trace of negativity regarding my products.
All of my sales are now driven by word of mouth, through my website www.lettsbasses.co.uk or from internet forums.
I have always been a very creative, artistic and mechanically minded individual with a streak of perfectionism to a point beyond eccentricity.
All of my basses are 100% handcrafted one off instruments. No automated machinery is used and all parts are made from raw materials and the finest woods available.
I work alone and 'from home' in a converted garage/workshop which enables me to keep prices as affordable as possible with the least amount of overheads for myself.
I have sold guitars to America, Russia and other parts of Europe, Japan and of course many in the UK.
Every instrument is supplied with a LIFETIME WARRANTY for build and parts and satisfaction GUARANTEE!
This applies to any guitar that carries the Letts name whether you are the original owner or you bought the instrument second hand. Of course any repairs must be carried out by me for the warranty to be valid and I do not replace parts without a full inspection of the instrument. This can be a problem for overseas customers and in such cases I would reimburse individuals the cost of repair and/or parts based on my own price structure, and only then after I am comfortable that diagnosis is correct.
I seem to be going on and on now and I could possibly keep going on and on and on add infinitum, but I wont.
Lettsbasses are professional instruments at relatively affordable prices which are painstakingly designed and lovingly hand crafted in a market that is all too often crowded with clones and mass produced mediocrity.
All the best for 2013. Jon Letts