Official Luthiers Forum!

A friend is looking for a luthier to build his wife a custom guitar as a surprise birthday gift. He knows nothing about guitars and asked me if I knew anyone who might be interested. Anyone interested?

I am in the business so of course I would be interested in helping. Now when is her birthday? One issue this person will run into is back log in build schedules and just the time required to build in general. Lead time is always and issue to deal with on a gifting scenario. I am in a position I can get one out in a fairly short turn around right now in term of typical delivery with in the handcrafted community.

He can view my website for cost, deposit requirment and contact info if interested.
http://www.mp-hand-crafted-guitars.com

I should also tell you that you should tell your friend that with him not being a guitar player more less the player that will be playing the guitar,that any luthier worth his weight would tell your friend to handle the gift on one of two ways.

Place the deposit and wait and surprise her on her birthday with the fact that you have reserved a spot in the luthiers build schedule for her. Then have her get in touch with the luthier/builder to work out the design details. That or let know up front ahead of time and get her involved early so that on her birthday if possible she has the guitar in hand.

It really is not wise to try to build a player a guitar based of info provided by someone else other than that the player that will use the instrument. A hand crafted guitar should be a very personal thing. The type of music she plays, the attack and technique she uses and many more things are all very relevant issues to the luthier in order to build an instrument for a lifetime.

While it is possible to do a generic surprise build. It in more than just a small amount detracts from the advantage an hand crafted instrument can provide. The best result will come from having the recipient involved from the get go.

+1 to what Michael said. There are a lot of luthiers here that would be glad to put your friend into their schedule, including myself. Too many variables can cause the price to fluctuate wildly from anybody's advertised base price. It would be better to know that a deposit has been made and the other choices left up to the wife when the time came to surprise her.

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Reguards,

Ken H

daddy-o;

I would be happy to also, I just finished a baritone uke for a birthday gift to a mans wife. It really surprised her, she had no idea and she just loved it.

When's her birthday? -N.C.

www.coveysacoustics.com

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Nehemiah Covey
www.coveysacoustics.com

That is kind of the thing about heatfelt gifts they will love them.

I too have done two surprise gifts commissions in the past. Both have been good outcomes with no complaints. That said a commissioned hand crafted instrument is more often than not a one time opportunity to have an instrument built that is what the player wants and if done right becomes a partner in there music.

“Just my personal opinion” But the opportunity to be involved in the design of the instrument is a major part of the experience. And the odds of building an instrument she falls in love with and remains in love with for the rest of her life is vastly increased with the player involvement and interaction with the builder.

I am not knocking the surprise thing but there is the best way and the surprise way. Both have deep context.

Any builder would be happy to get involved and take an order from your friend, but not all could get the guitar
to him by a birthday this year. I'm backlogged to where I couldn't deliver until October or November of 2011 so
I'll bow out and will make the same suggestions that have been made already.

Send your friend a list of all of the custom builders you can find and allow him to do some of the "leg work"
of checking out their designs and styles through websites and forums. He can then pick his wife's brain a little
get a clear idea of what she'd like and narrow his builder considerations accordingly.

He may want a short delivery time...which means he may be forced to choose a builder who has no standing
orders or possibly less experience. His price range will determine how many builders can realistically be considered
as well so all of the pertinent information should be thrown on the table to help him expedite his quest for the
right builder for the job.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

If time is of the essence a custom build may not be feasible. You might visit luthier's websites. Many have a few guitars "in stock" and ready to go.

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Greg
http://garibaldiinstruments.com/

I would say the first thing is to find a custom builder in your area of the country (or world ) there is a whole passel of builders out there that would take you up on your offer,someone close to you ( or your friend) might narrow the list of prospective builders and make the process expidite more smoothly . Jody

Kevin has made some terrific suggestions here, and anything I would say would be useless reiteration of what he has already said...so why am I typing this? I dunno....maybe I'm bored watching baseball at the moment. Could be. I would do as he suggests.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I agree that the prospect of actually going through the design process with a builder could be a great part of the gift
of a custom guitar. The whole process of selecting the wood and arriving at all of the design points together with the
builder is a pretty large part of the attraction for players who commission guitars on a regular basis.

I've enjoyed forging many friendships with customers as we got to know one another through the design and build
process. I really have to say, too, that I actually enjoy and value those friendships more than any other part of this
business.

I recently had a customer who has become a close friend visit just to have me do some minor action adjustments on
a few guitars that I've built for him over the past seven years or so. He drove nearly five hours to visit and we spent the
better part of the day catching up and talking about family, business, playing and music....and then about an hour on
his guitars.

I enjoyed getting the guitars to just the right action for him, but enjoyed his company even more. Not many businesses
offer these kinds of perks. Lutherie is a great business that is built around a product that can contribute so much to an
individual, a family and can become an heirloom that will be enjoyed for generations.

Allowing her to initiate the process may just prove to be the part of the gift that she appreciates most in the end.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

Just a thought, some builders here and elsewhere have "custom" guitars that for one reason or another the thing is now for sale as "instruments available" there may be one that would fit the bill or that is sitting and not completed yet that a few, but very few and limited custom things could be done and in shorter time than a new commission. Might check out some of the sites. I do often, not to buy, but like looking at what is out there, and shops.

Great suggestion Stan! William Cumpiano always has guitars "in the white" which he builds along side his students while teaching and are available for purchase on his website. Once you order the guitar, he will finish it and have it out in fairly short time compared to a guitar from scratch. Of course the catch is you need to like the guitar he already has built.

Here's a link to his current guitars in the white:

http://www.cumpiano.com/Home/Guitars/Howtobuy/Instock/in_the_whites2.htm