nightmares having guitar built!!!!

alxman · #1 08-04-2009, 02:01 PM

i have over the past year, had several guitars built by most of the luthiers/ builders around. i have a very varied attitude to what i have found about these so called pro's who will make your dreams come true!!

nato101010 · #2 08-04-2009, 03:29 PM

Cool...

smooth55 · #3 08-04-2009, 03:51 PM

so...any details regarding your varied experiences and opinions?

alxman · #4 08-04-2009, 05:32 PM

yes plenty! lets start with martin sims from sims custom! firstly the mans rude, and secondly i could make a better neck than him! i was having a universe replica made so i got the body from jaden rose, got it swirled by OOT swirled, and needed a neck. this turned into a very very expensive test of these so called pro's skills. i actually ended up after 3 months selling the body and all hardware because the quality of the 2 necks i was offered were quite frankly crap. i have more on the mistakes with the necks themselves if your not bored already!!! and in fact the whole saga as it turned out!!

nato101010 · #5 08-04-2009, 05:59 PM

Brutal.

Jaden Rose and Alan at OOTS do amazing work.

But Sims? Brutal.

alxman · #6 08-05-2009, 02:17 PM

really!! i have 4 of his guitars here and ive seen it all. you cannot tell me that jadens bodys are perfect because they are not. do you have any?? alans swirls from OOT Swirled are 100% perfect the mans a genius! i have 3 of them here too!!

martin sims sent me a neck with the frets going across the neck wonky, i mean from the nut to the first fret on the left was nearly 1mm different to the right side!

do you think that good for £600

nickcoumbe · #7 08-09-2009, 08:15 AM

Not wishing to pass comment on any of the people in your list, but I think that it is pretty unusual for anyone to have a custom made and not find a single issue.

The fact is that you are asking an individual to make you a one off, and that rarely goes without any issues. Also people tend to forget that factory made guitars have issues as well, but the finish often covers this up, or they don't really check that carefully.

I haven't seen the work of any of these guys in person, but I have communicated with Jaden and he seems like a straight forward bloke.

The fret work issue doesn't sound great, and 1mm is quite a bit, but I have seen 0.5mm difference on some factory made guitars. I am not defending that, but it does happen. To be honest for £600, that is unacceptable, but for that kind of money the neck would have to be unbelievably good just to justify the price tag.

My question to you is: if you are not happy with the work the luthier has done, how have you ended up with 4 of their guitars? Surely if the first one is bad, then you don't buy again?

All I can say is that I hope you got your moeny back on the necks!

alxman · #8 08-09-2009, 05:51 PM

i bought 4 at once and then after months found there all not right! i have since spent the £10k i should have spent in the first place on originals.

these guys say they can give you an exact copy, jaden WILL tell you that, hes wrong! he can make a good neck and in fact a good guitar but not an ibanez shaped one, i have a jaden rose original guitar and thats almost perfect ish! the fact is they all say they will give you an exact copy and when trems dont fit or pickups dont fit or the necks just crap, you see them for what they are!

bottom line is if YOU are considering buying anything from these people? from me to you just go and buy an original its cheaper in the long run and far less hassle, and it will take months and months to get anything from any of these dudes just to find out it all dont fit right, and once youve had this 4 times its a hard pill to swallow!

Cam-Vai · #9 08-10-2009, 07:24 AM

shouldn't you put this in the vendors section?
anywyas
i have the same problemn
the neck i got from hippo_house on **** is 2 mm too thin
i was nearly in tears - a custom guitar - first person in my school to own a jem - and it didnt work!

alxman · #10 08-10-2009, 06:18 PM

how do you get it in the vendors section??? it should go there.

it is a bad feeling when you finally get the anticipated item and its rubbish i know where your at man! i have had nothing but a bad time with these builders, its a total waste of time and they should ALL only make there own stuff as the copies are simply no good.

send back the rubbish you got get a refund and buy a real jem, its the only way! i have a lot of originals but i just thought id have a few customs made, its a false economy man these people will take your money and waste your time, and if thats what your after then crack on!

saying all that, if you want a swirl done alan from Out Of This Swirled does the best by far. he takes his time but you get what you want. my advice is buy a beaten jem and get him to re finish it how you want, then at least you know it will all fit together mate!

amen

**jim777** · #11 08-10-2009, 11:21 PM

If I was going to get a custom guitar done, I would want it to be actually custom, not a less expensive copy of something I couldn't afford. But I've had bad experiences with custom shops as well (not one of our sponsors though) so the most custom I'd be willing to go for in the future is getting another Carvin.

nickcoumbe · #12 08-11-2009, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alxman

send back the rubbish you got get a refund and buy a real jem, its the only way! i have a lot of originals but i just thought id have a few customs made, its a false economy man these people will take your money and waste your time, and if thats what your after then crack on!

It is a false economy. A lot of people (me included) go down the road of customs because they think it is cheaper, but it actually isn't.

I found too that if you want a Jem; buy a Jem. I actually build my own customs and obviously I am happy with my own work. I actually thought about making and selling a few bodies myself, then I realised that with the amount of time it took me to make them and the cost of the blanks I would have to charge £400 for a body just to break even. Also, I just wouldn't want the hassle of doing stuff for other people. A lot of Luthiers use machines and buy wood in bulk, but it is still hard to see how they can make a living which is why so many of them give up after a year or 2.

May be you should post pics of your experiences in the vendor section.

Myst and rain · #13 08-12-2009, 01:12 PM

Yeah, that would be a good idea to post pictures, pointing out what you think are the imperfections.

alxman · #14 08-12-2009, 04:35 PM

yea lets do it..... i have my pics ready but i tell you now there not pretty! jaden rose and sims custom will not like what i have to show here! but quite frankly if they cared too much they wouldn't knock out this rubbish in the first place...

i am now going to open this thread in the vendors section!!

Tubarão Guitars · #15 08-12-2009, 04:51 PM

only request for a custom guitar if you want something unusual, not available on the market.
and be prepared to pay $$$$ top dolar for that inconvenience!
i just love to customize my guitars and or pay for someone modding it.