Guitar builders/luthiers

Manners14

Manners14

Manners14

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Joined
8 Apr 2014
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426
Location
Lincolnshire, UK
Hi all,

Just looking for some advice on a guitar builder/luthier, hopefully up in the East Midlands area (live in Lincolnshire and work in Nottinghamshire) although I don't mind travelling for the right person/company.

I wanted to design my own custom model and hopefully build it myself, if not... Then they can do the dirty work and I'll happily pay for probably a better quality product. I've seen a few companies but they all seem to be in the deep south, and it seems to be a black hole of knowledge on Facebook etc about local builders.

Thanks in advance!
 
i can't help with the luthier aspect, but this place is a good source of parts; wood, luthier tools, electronics, etc. occasional good tips & info....pretty expensive if you're only doing a one-off build, but the satisfaction of constructing it yourself would make some of the expense worthwhile
(there is a UK-based site)
https://www.stewmac.com/
 
NickK said:
Could check out Crimson Guitars? IIRC they do kits as well as courses.
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I think for the price of a boutique guitar they allow you to build your own design in the course. When I looked into it it seemed great value.

There's a bit of investment needed in tooling needed for quality of life but might not be worth it for a one off. It's something I'd love to do given the space. When I have a home with room for a workshop I'd love to do a course and do my own builds.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, I'm aware the cost can be high but I've got £10k worth of gear sitting at home, some of which I have no attachment to so the idea was to clear a few out and then invest my time and money into something I will cherish for the rest of my life.

I looked at crimson but. They're 4/5 hours from where I am so it's a trek. I had thought about taking a week's holiday in October and going down there, Dorset is lovely to be fair.

The guitar kits unfortunately just aren't for me, they're a bit cheap and nasty, and I have become a bit snobbish in my guitars over the years as I've been able to play and afford more, I dont think it would be something I would enjoy during the build or afterwards.
 
I always ask that what special spec you are looking for that isn't already made? Do you have a special carve or body contour that you are after or simply a project that you love to get your teeth into?

If it is more the former then there are plenty of builders or even Custom Shop that can do it for you.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I always ask that what special spec you are looking for that isn't already made? Do you have a special carve or body contour that you are after or simply a project that you love to get your teeth into?

If it is more the former then there are plenty of builders or even Custom Shop that can do it for you.
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The lure of a project appeals to me because I would like the satisfaction of doing something and enjoying it afterwards, because the build I want shouldn't be too hard to come across, I could even get the parts of warmoth or a similar site without too much trouble I imagine, I just don't want to chuck money into that and not enjoy it because in my head I'll still be thinking they are less than quality parts or the build isn't up to scratch etc...

Probably talking out my ar$e!
 
You’d probably have to build a few guitars and bin a few bits of wood to get to the point where you made one that was a joy to play, there’s a lot of little things that need to be precise/meet tolerances in order for the thing to intonate properly and be easy to set up and play nicely, even stuff like shaping the neck... it’s a lot more technical than making something that’s merely easy on the eye. Need the tools as well. I used to spend a lot of time on the ProjectGuitar forums watching people make stuff from scratch and had a guitar made for me back in 2002 by a local luthier so I know a bit about the process and how much work is involved to make something look good and play well.

Curious what sort of guitar you actually want as that will make the whole thing easier/harder depending. The Warmoth stuff is okay quality-wise, but it’s quite basic and last time I checked (a decade or more ago probably) they didn’t have much in the way of fancy woods or anything outside the standard classic shapes. Neck shapes weren’t to my taste either, although it depends what style of stuff you play as I liked stuff that was easy to play shred-dy stuff on.

Also, if you get someone to build it or at least build the bits you can put together yourself, make sure you choose a guy whose output is basically the same sort of guitars as what you’re after yourself (e.g. if the guy mostly makes modern multi-scale ergonomic extended-range style guitars, you’d be better off looking elsewhere if you just want something classic rock style) as people tend to be best at what they’re familiar with when it comes to this stuff.
 
I basically want to combine two of my favourite guitars, I've got a mad love for the Tele body shape but I have a couple of rare early 90s Ibanez, the RT650, Which is more like a strat C shape neck which is the best neck I've ever played.
Body I want to be poplar, the neck a bolt on roasted maple with maple fretboard, SS frets.
Nothing fancy about electronics, HH setup, one volume, no tone. 5 way blade switch.
hard tail bridge and locking tuning pegs... Very very basic but I want it done right if you get me.

I want it to land somewhere in the middle of rock and heavy rock... Something that bites but also cleans up nicely... Like a staffy in a suit
 
How about a partcaster?

You can get the body and neck from Fender and then get the pickups and hardware you want. The finish will be good, the holes will be drilled correctly. Not 100% sure on SS frets but I know they do roasted maple necks.

What’s tricky is Poplar, I got to ask...what made you want that? I have never seen a guitar with that wood.
 
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That's kinda what I'm thinking, but the neck is pretty unique on the RT650 so I'll have to find someone to try and recreated that as accurately as possible.

Erm... Without opening a can of worms here regarding tone woods on electric guitars, the research I have done into the different woods has shown me.that poplar is similar to alder but is a little brighter.
It seems to have a really nice clear bottom end and top end and sustains pretty well.
The stuff I'm writing lately often involves down tuned guitars, and more recently I've been using a tuning that Karnivool use on some of their tracks which is drop B in the bottom three strings, and standard in the top three. So I thought poplar would be a great choice by naturally having those low and high frequencies, rather than just a spanky mid frequency... But that's open for discussion, it's all quite subjective and everyone has their own say on the matter
 
I am incredibly sceptical about the sort of wood being used on an electric guitar having any bearing on the tone personally.
 
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You expected it, I thought it impolite to deny you it. :p

You pick a string, the string vibrates. The vibration is converted into a signal by the pickup(s) and the signal is sent down a wire, through some amplification circuitry, to a speaker. Where does the type of wood come into it?
 
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Manners14 said:
Gone are my days of looking for internet nibbles.
Out of curiosity do you play at all?
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I do. On and off (mostly off though I admit) for about 15 years.

I have changed my mind having thought on the subject a little more, you might be pleased to know...

The plucked string vibrates the wood, and the pickup might convert some of that background vibration and meld it into the signal sent to the amp. I'd have thought any difference caused by the composition of the wood used in the guitar would be so slight that it would be drowned out by the vibration passed to the pickup via the air gap under the string, but perhaps not entirely drowned out.

Anyway, sorry for derailing your discussion.
 
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