Advice to Prospective Custom Customers

Mine would be:

1. Rick's comment from above...
2. If you're asking for anything unique, ask how the luthier plans to accomplish it up front.
3. Set an expectation of quality
4. Be preparred for the project to take a little longer than initially expected.
5. Be patient - you DO want a great bass, right?
6. Don't harass the luthier.
7. Don't change the design once you have an agreement. There may be points to clarify along the way, and that's to be expected. But don't suddenly decide you want a different fretboard without expecting to pay more and it increase the time.
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   I'm sure there are many more...
   
   Jeff

 

1. Know what you want
2. be specific about what you want
3. pick a luthier that you feel you can trust and then listen to his/her advice
4. have enough money available to make it worth the luthiers time and energy
5. don't haggle over price with your luthier
6. don't expect your project to be completed quickely, but you should be given a realistic timeframe in which you can expect your instrument to be ready

 

- All the stuff you guys mentioned..

Don't be afraid to ask people questions. Post here at the board, e-mail luthiers... Many of these guys are very friendly and helpful, and most of the time happy to answer your questions, even though you may not buy a bass from them in the end.


Rickbass, thanks for your help with woods and pickups, I value it.

 

I'd also add that you should have a way of checking out the luthier's previous work. See if you like the way he/she has built instruments before. Talk to previous customers. See what they'd have done differently, and how close to their ideas did the luthier come...

 

Find out how much it's going to cost, and THEN add another 300 - 400 bucks to the total. Ya' never know what'll come up.

 

One word. Woods.

And this lil' treatsie- (On woods)

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21346