TRUE CUSTOM builders? Any left?

[dwagner]

I know several local guys that make true custom guitars. Whatever you want.
The thing is, it’s their passion, not a business. There’s plenty of people out there, few want to spend all their money marketing themselves when they’d rather be building guitars / making other things.

 

[phillipkregg]

I understand the desire to design your own instrument, and I used to be the same way, but nowadays I seek out builders who have their own niche and are good at it.

Pete Skjold makes amazing modern basses with great electronics, killers woods and finishes, and fantastic neck playability. But I don't think he will make "just anything". He picks his designs and materials because that is what he is comfortable with and he is an expert within those margins.

Another example is Jake Serek out of Chicago. I've got a couple of his basses and they are completely different. They combine vintage aesthetics with modern technology so that you come out with something really unique, yet seems familiar. Also one of the only guys I know that specializes in short scale extended range instruments.

There are a lot of talented builders out there, and some of them can build excellent instruments unlike anything they've ever built before. But, honestly, I would rather know that the builder specializes in a particular type of instrument that I like. If they have a solid vision and reputation, the final outcome will probably be much higher quality and more consistent.

 

[bwoodman]

https://garzguitars.com/

 

[mrpaulmills]

Unless I’ve missed it, I don’t think anyone yet has mentioned Waghorn, in Bristol, UK. Waghorn Guitars
I especially like the Gibson RD-esque build they did, and if that’s not your thing there seems to be a lot of variety. A few grand should do the trick...!

 

[Paulabass]

Alembic will build anything, from modding a regular model, to complete flights of fancy never seen before.

 

[ERIC31]

You guys are killing me!!

Now I’ve got visions of a custom shop Ibanez TMB bass dancing in my head! My wife is going to really kill me if I pull the trigger on this!!

 

[MultiScaleMale]

You guys are killing me!!

Now I’ve got visions of a custom shop Ibanez TMB bass dancing in my head! My wife is going to really kill me if I pull the trigger on this!!

L.e.H. Guitars

 

[rwkeating]

Head over to the luthier's corner on Talkbass and support a "virtual local" builder. They aren't "known", but there are good builders over there.

 

[ERIC31]

L.e.H. Guitars

Aww hell.....you just had to post that link up didn’t you??

 

[Killing Floor]

Fender Custom Shop lets you select from a few non-standard colors. Does that count?

 

[el murdoque]

what looks awesome on paper turns into a nightmare instrument that the player may end up hating. Also, having something out there that's not "on brand" with their artistic statement doesn't appeal to them.

If you do find someone that's willing to do this, I would hope you do two things:

1. Heed his/her advice when they steer you for/against a specific feature. You are working with the builder on this project, and they're the expert. Otherwise, you could just build it yourself.
2. Pay more than just a deposit. I know many builders who still have that "truly custom" instrument, because the buyer either backed out or demanded a refund because it wasn't "exact" (spoiler: it was) and threatened to smear them on social media.

That is very good advice.
Going all-out custom on a build is walking a narrow ridge. The builder might steer you towards something for two reasons: a) Laziness. Maybe he suggests something just because he has the templates ready to go.
b) Because he truly thinks yours is a bad Idea, or at least because he's venturing in unknown territory and is uncertain whether or not the things you want might or might not end up in an instrument that is on par with the ones that bear his name on the headstock.
Even when you provide a detailed plan, and the Luthier sticks to it, and the bass that comes out turns out to be bad - and even when you buy it off him with no further complaint - you might sell it off a few years down the line and then there's a bass in the market that could damage his reputation.
Technically, there's also c) because he's so full with orders that there is an 18 months waiting list and people are desperate to buy anything already built, so he might figure it's more fun to build his own ideas instead of yours.


I found, for myself, that unless you really know what you're talking about - and I can't stress this point enough - most people do not see the whole picture. They want a certain detail, unaware that when you alter one detail on a bass, that might also have an impact on certain others (I have no good example, so forgive me for using a bad one): A customer might insist on a neck being built as thin as possible, with reinforcement rods glued in to shave off even more wood, so there's next to nothing between your thumb and fretting finger. This customer might then complain that the bass lacks sustain, which is a result of losing so much mass in the neck. People often think they know what they want but actually want something else, it is alarming and annoying how common that is - it's always a good idea to get across what you want from the instruments, talking more of results than of detail specifics and listen to the luthiers answers and ideas on how to implement that.
When you manage to figure something out together that sounds like it will fit your bill while it is worth carrying the name of the person responsible for making it on the headstock, then you can lay down your deposit and enter the uncomfortable eternity between commissioning a build and receiving it.

 

[Nephilymbass]

So it seems to that, among the more well-known "custom" builders there isn't all the much "custom" to what's being offered.

Usually these builders offer you a choice of 3 or 4 body styles, often less, and your pick of body wood, top wood, FB wood and stain / color and that's about it.

What if you're one of those folks that has (or thinks they have) the wherewithal to design your own body shape, want something unusual in terms of neck design and scale length etc? Any builders out there who both offer this level of customization AND can turn out a truly high-quality instrument in terms of build-quality, fit & finish etc?

Any suggestions TB? There's a 50/50 chance I'm gonna see some proceeds from a real estate closing this coming fall, and I'm considering trying to fulfill a long-held dream...

Thanks!

Every builder has their limits. Either because what you may want might be outside of what they feel comfortable doing or because they want all their instruments to represent their brand. I think you will get plenty of people who say “so and so will do this” but depending on the options you want everyone has a different “everything you want” for example some ones “crazy idea” for a bass might actually be super common to someone else. As an example someone said fenders custom shop will do anything? Anything? Ask them for a fan fret p bass and see what they say.

 

[Jared Lash]

WOW guys thanks for all this feedback! This is a lot of food for thought and I'll be doing some research over the next week or so.

I should say that... there's really only a 50/50 chance of this ever actually happening... but if it does it will be a decades-long dream come true. I'll pull the curtain back and explain what I'm after. Since I was a kid I wanted a BUZZARD BASS:

View attachment 3813017

The iteration I liked best in terms of design/aesthetic was the Status version. Mine would have this aesthetic exactly, built as follows:

• Light Ash 2-pc body (since most CNC's out there don't have this wide a table)
• Deep-pocket bolt-on maple neck w/ ebony FB
• 35" scale tuned B-E-A-D
• EMG 35DC pups w/ Darkglass pre
• Hipshot hardware & brass nut
• Gloss black body, satin black neck
• I have some ideas on nut / last fret width as well as radius, but will likely defer to the builder's recommendations here.
• Super thin frets
• As cool as they are, probably wouldn't go with the Roman Numeral inlays tho...

I've played the Warwick versions and didn't care for them, and Status won't build any new ones as far as I know, even if I did care for the carbon fiber, which I don't.

Based on these specs I'd recommend Chris Stambaugh. He's done Flying V's, Thunderbirds and plenty of customer designed body shapes. I think he's your best bet for a custom Buzzard bass with high quality at a reasonable price.

 

[eddododo]

Not that I would know first hand, but I get the impression most of the builders who do things on the custom level would do ‘true’ custom work as you describe it, I think you just have to ask and put your money where your mouth is. Some won’t, some (probably) will.

the thing about coming to the table with a worthy design, is that if you know enough to reallllly have some unique thoughts for a neck with actual design merit, then you’d probably be building instruments. Scale length requests seem pretty available from most custom builders, and a body is relatively trivial compared to a neck.. but for a neck and even a body, it will undoubtedly cost a LOT because they have to synthesize a proxy for all of the trial and error that went into their current already well-flushed out design.. if they don’t want to it’s because they’re putting their time and reputation on the hook to make something that someone else designed, a design that might just plain stink.

Anyway, I clearly go back and forth thinking out loud, but I imagine many builders will meet you halfway; I don’t think it would work well for anyone to just have a website that says ‘whatever whenever, you tell me what you want anything goes.’

 

[Funkinthetrunk]

Based on these specs I'd recommend Chris Stambaugh. He's done Flying V's, Thunderbirds and plenty of customer designed body shapes. I think he's your best bet for a custom Buzzard bass with high quality at a reasonable price.

And don't forget a Space Bass, too.

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Michael Dolan still makes one off custom guitars.

 

[vid1900]

If you are in Las Vegas, Roman Guitars.

Scott took over after Ed Roman passed, and will make you anything you desire.

Literally, anything.

Ed Roman Guitars | Shop

 

[eude]

HUGE shout out for AC Guitars (www.acguitars.co.uk) here, they truly are a proper custom bass builder.

Alan, the man behind them does everything, by hand, himself and he has a massive array of custom options and not relying on CNC machinery, he can tweak, nip and tuck to your hearts desire.
There's a big choice of shapes, 10 standard designs, including single cut and more traditional styles, plus he's happy to build anything from his discontinued designs.
Two headstock styles, angles, or paddle (think Fender) and headless options on most shapes, plus he'll pretty much build any scale length, I recently took delivery of a 26.5" six string bass, and he'd gone up to 35" and everything in between.

An insane amount of wood options, including acrylic impregnated and resin treated woods, ACG have been using these for years, the market is kind of catching up now.
Neck construction, neck joint, fingerboard options, blocks, binding etc, all possible as each instrument is build by hand, not by machine.
Lots of pickup options, from traditional sounding, to more modern, all customisable as they are hand wound per bass by Aaron Armstrong, plus there's the Multi Coil MC pickups too.
Finally, there's also a great choice for preamps too, all built by the legendary John East, including the ACG Filter preamps, which as far as I know are now only available WITH an ACG bass.

The limited options you mention are almost always down to the use of CNC in the build process, even the slightest tweak requires a new template which takes time and can add considerable cost to a one off build. These guys aren't building inferior basses, but they are offering less choice and therefore less chance of getting exactly what you want/need. This certainly is not the case with AC Guitars

Here's some examples of the range available, I don't think anyone could argue there isn't a lot of variety and customisation on show here...

Here's mine too...

Cheers,
Eude

 

[pablomigraine]

Wow lots to reply to... Lemme see here;

Alembic sounds like the place you need to go.

I was afraid you'd say that. First - $$$, Second, there are only like 5 pieces of wood in this concept, not 500 in 10 species of offset color, so it doesn't really "seem" like and Alembic. Last, $$$. Plenty of GREAT builders out there who can do this for less than they would necessarily charge.

You don't have that wherewithal unless you've had building experience....

Oooh you almost had me PM'ing you my resume with a nasty note attached!

;-)

Ahhh. Different ball of wax. Proven design, that's good. Now for the problem. Warwick will sue you into the ground for building it. They went after Rob Green hard, made him destroy all his molding for the Status version, and that molding cost far more than any money he ever made off the very limited amount of Buzzards he was able to build. It's like building a Rickenbacker. You can do it in your garage and there's not a damn thing John Hall can do about it. If you build one and sell it to someone else John can ruin your life, and he will try.

To address the legal concerns, I'm somewhat friendly with the Wilfers and Nico doesn't give a toss if I build one for personal use. Start selling them I might have a problem. They weren't sure if they still even owned the exclusive rights and seemed uninterested in investigating. I'd have it cleared with Legal in Nashville.

It's worth asking Status what they'd think about building one. I know they did on occasions.

Not interested.

Have you asked Status if they'd make you one, provided that is what you are really after?
Also; You are going for a 2 piece body because you think most CNC s can't accommodate a one piece one?
My guess is that most builders will be able to saw the shape by handsaw. no?

From here follows that the question I would have is; do they have a piece of wood, that is wide enough for such a body whilst of good enough quality? .

Lots of good reasons to not do it this way even if it could be done.

It wouldn't be wise to build such a big body from a single plank.

Correct.

That's going to be a tough one to find someone that would take on the project. A lot of R&D work, almost no chance of recouping those costs in follow-on builds and a very real possibility of being sued. I guess the most straightforward path would be to contact the Warwick custom shop. I can't imagine how much that would cost and OP said that he didn't care for the Warwick Buzzard.

Again ignoring the legal aspect, that was actually my first stop. They're such a juggernaut now it wouldn't be worth it for them to retool no matter what I paid. (Again, you'd be surprised how little "custom" there is to the Warwick Custom shop, even compared to an MTD where again you're basically just choosing number of strings, one of 3 or 4 body shapes, woods and stains.)

 

[lug]

Bud LeCompte recently reopened..
Bass Models - LeCompte Electric Bass
You can find plenty of reviews of his work here.
For something different you can check out
Lowe Custom Guitars
Both guys are A+