Guitar builders/luthiers

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Joined
8 Apr 2014
Posts
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!
 
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.
 
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!
 
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
 
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
 
Thanks so much man, guitar build.co.uk is around the corner from me, I was looking at doing something through them a while back, I might see if I could get a custom body. I didn't know about the guitar anatomy site that's a great shout!
 
There were a few YouTube videos where they tried to do a scientific test of different woods and it was interesting to watch and hear as they plugged the guitars in and did blind tests too, most of differences are so subtle you wouldn't know the difference, but the poplar stood out to me compared to the mahogany for example, which I know to be quite a dark sounding wood anyway... Then I went off a few other videos where they were just knocking the different woods like a xylophone and hearing the difference made me buy into it a little... I've played enough guitars to know that pickups are obviously the biggest factor in the tone, but I think it all counts like you said.

I don't mind sinking some money into something I'll keep forever, the resale value will be horrendous with it not being a major company, so I would look to make something to keep.
 
Acme said:
I'm trying to find out if my Squier Affinity Strat has an alder body or a plywood body now... I have a horrible feeling its plywood. :p

I've had it since I was a kid, not much of it is original anymore. The body, neck, and bridge, thats about it. Neck is bare maple.

The only reason I haven't replaced the body/neck is because I still want it to be the same guitar that it was when I first got it. If I replace those, its like Triggers broom! I really want one of those roasted maple necks for it though...
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I would probably keep that as it is, it's worth more sentimentally than it would be as an instrument you could get any real mileage out of.
I'm pretty sure they're alder body's so not the worst things to be built from!
 
Ah nice that sounds awesome, makes all the difference with a few tweaks here and there doesn't it.
I quite like the Chapman guitars mantra of, 'heres a basic model, it's really easy to change stuff so here you go'
Encourages people to tinker and see what happens.
Some of the new squirts, the classic vibes especially rival the Mexican made fenders.
I've never been a big fan of fender to be honest, for every good one I've owned I've had 5 bad ones, I've got a Geddy Lee signature Jazz bass made in Japan and that's all now.
 
That's the dream, make use of his hobby and those skills for his own enjoyment as well as others... And earn a living from it too.
 
If only we could all afford to do that, id love the chance to start again and pick a different path.
Or just have my house paid off to allow me to take a pay/hours cut and see what happens
 
Probably not to be honest, they're quite pricey and bring along their own brand of awkwardness setting them up and changing strings etc.
I quite like gotohs, never had any issue with them, Ive never had a Wilkinson or a hipshot buy I've heard excellent things about hipshots, so I'd be keen to try something new that is similar to what I already use.
 
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