Why not go Custom?

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by billyfamilyvide

What is martins return policy on a custom?

I don't think Martin has one, per se. But individual dealers can and some do. But I'm sure that depends on the degree of customization. I would check with the various forum sponsors on that. Guys like Ted at LA Guitar Sales and Jon at MyFavorite Guitars (two I've dealt with).

Originally Posted by billyfamilyvide

What is martins return policy on a custom?

You're not buying directly from Martin. You're buying from the Authorized Martin Dealer, so it's their policy that matters. Some will not take returns on Custom Shop guitars at all, especially if they are highly customized with features that make them hard to resell as "spec" guitars. I think it's highly dependent on the dealer, customer, and exact situation.

[billyfamilyvide]

I suppose I was asking from the position of the dealer.

[brencat]

The downside to a custom order is 1) the wait, 2) the uncertainty of whether you will love it, 3) the resale value if substantially different from the closest production model.

I've ordered a custom from Martin and Collings in the past. Nothing but good things to say about the dealer experiences (LA Guitar Sales and Cotten Music, respectively), but I didn't bond with the guitars and both were sold within a year of delivery. I think the better move is to purchase a dealer spec'd custom that you can live with. This way you can send it back if you don't like the tone right out of the gate.

Resale value is also never the same on customs relative to the closest production model, and a potentially big negative for a highly personalized guitar. People like to say they don't buy with resale in mind, but that's foolish IMO. Nobody likes losing any more money than they have to.

[RustyAxe]

Why not go custom? Because there is no guarantee that a custom guitar (by any maker) will be a winner. Sure, it'll have the specs and appointments that were ordered, but everything else is a crap shoot. I'd much rather buy an instrument I've held, played, and auditioned.

[Mr. Jelly]

There's nothing like ordering that dream combo guitar. I ordered a Franklin many years ago that I had to almost pay for in advance and wait a year. I also ordered a custom Martin many years ago before most people even new that they did such a thing. I ordered it with bar frets because my guitar hero loved them. I didn't and he has since changed his mind.
Thanks for the info though. It's good to know. This type of information is why we hang at AGF.

[Napman41]

Originally Posted by Rip VanWinkle

6L6 makes some great points about the potential downsides of going custom shop. Let me share the other side. I just got my custom D-35 last week after a seven month wait. Oh yes, it did occur to me more than a few times..."What if I don't like it?" The reason was everything we did was under the hood. Rear shifted Adirondack scalloped GE bracing with an Adirondack VTS top hand sanded to "105", total hide glue construction and an enlarged sound hole. Replaced the plastic with flamed maple for the binding and created a 3 piece headplate design...those were the only visible changes. No inlays or herringbone or custom pick guard. I wasn't worried about the 1.75 bone nut and the increased bridge spacing because that's always my preference. Short answer...it is spectacular! And it plays great, my favorite guitar by the wide margin. There are several safe guards in place to avoid disaster you should consider. You should always start with a good Martin dealer...because, like they say in the commercial..they "know a thing or two because they've seen a thing or two". Then Scott Sasser at the the Martin custom shop will go over the build sheet with your dealer to make sure what you are proposing will work and is build able to Martin standards. That doesn't guarantee success, like 6L6 found out, but both act as a good check and balance. I've done several custom builds including this one with Ted at L.A. Guitar Sales and have been very happy. But I also have a couple from Marty and Don at Wildwood that are great too. Those were designed without my input but were what I was looking for anyway and I only had to wait a couple of months because they were already on order.

Not to hijack this thread but we may need to see some pictures. 🙏

[guitargabor]

It's the way to go if you are fussy abut having your preferred neck shape,scale and other features that make the instrument more playable for each person.

I don't regret ordering my custom "000-28" from Martin in 2008.It took about 4 months to complete at that time.

The workmanship on mine is superior to standard models and I was lucky in the final result.The tone is superb,improving with the years ...

I would not hesitate to order another one and it is kind of fun configuring all the possibilities....

Gabe

[rgregg48]

Now keep in mind this is only my opinion. I find Martin guitars to be the least consistent of the high-end makers. If I were to purchase a Martin guitar I would have to go through quite a few of them before I would find the one that had the tone I was looking for. So if I were to order a custom instrument with my Woods, my neck width, or God forbid, my initials on the headstock
What happens if I don't like the tone once I get it in my possession?. For me personally I would rather get something very very close to what I want , and be able to check out the tone first.
Maybe Taylor or larrivee is more consistent, but the same principle applies.

[guitargabor]

Most of the higher end Martins I have purchased or played at shop have been pretty consistent( very very good).Under the $2k price point however is a different matter.

We have Olson just down the road here in the Northern twin cites suburbs.I have toured his shop and of course all of his product is all custom.

Each of his completed guitars that we tried that day were unique in it's voice.

Don't know how one can predict the true tone of the final product in any of the custom scenarios.

Part of the enigma with any unique naturally made product...

[Rip VanWinkle]

I neglected to point out the obvious. Many dealers who regularly build Martin custom shop guitars have them available to audition and purchase (built on spec). I know this is the case with Ted and Helene at La Guitar Sales and Marty and Don at Wildwood Music. I'm sure it is true with other sponsers here at the AGF although I don't have any personal history with them. I don't want to speak for Ted as to his return policy...but my Martin 00-28 12 Fret was a custom built for someone else. He couldn't take the finished guitar for some reason. I played it in the shop and fell in love with it. I never would have spec'ed that out for myself. Of course you can't fuss around with the neck shape or rosettes or any build details, but you can play them first.

[Jasper64]

Originally Posted by Authentic

Because you can't get Authentic Series' bracing on a custom. If you're going to spend the bucks on a custom, you might as well get the best bracing available.

Actually I kind of hate it how Martin do that. For any other builder, you get the bracing you want if you want it on your custom guitar (Collings, Santa Cruz, etc)... On Martin they have to do the whole if you want the best bracing you have to buy an Authentic for $$$ more... I guess thats just how they operate these days...

Like I said I got exactly what I wanted for a lot less money. BTW not impressed with the authentics. I played one before ordering this. GE forward shifted adirondack 1/4 bracing with a progressive tone bar is not far from authentic bracing and sounds better to me.

[Jasper64]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

I'm sorry, that makes no sense.

"Similar" is not "identical". What I believe you are saying is you ordered a custom with only the specs/appointments you want, but not some of the specs/appointments on the closest standard/stock model that you didn't want, so the custom should be less, the Custom Shop isn't Martin's bargain basement...

So what did you spec??

I got a combination Johnny Cash (with out the black) and a D42 with less bling. I also got it with adirondack GE (forward shifted) braces and addy VTS top, progressive tone bar, Block CFM headstock (d42 style), gotoh tuners, maple binding, strap button, EIR and Guatemalan RW... all for about $1400 under MAP on the Johnny Cash. So I basically got a JC D35 with the (exception of engleman spruce) with more for less

[brencat]

Originally Posted by Jasper64

Like I said I got exactly what I wanted for a lot less money. BTW not impressed with the authentics. I played one before ordering this. GE forward shifted adirondack 1/4 bracing with a progressive tone bar is not far from authentic bracing and sounds better to me. I got exactly what I wanted and paid less than similar guitars in stock.

Just curious... when you say you "paid less than similar guitars in stock," are you comparing apples to apples? In other words, make sure you're not using Martin MAP pricing on production models as your basis for comparison. Many of us on this forum and elsewhere buy our Martins at nearly 40% off MSRP (MAP is 25% off MSRP), including custom builds, and the custom is almost always more expensive when compared on that basis.

[zhunter]

Why not go custom? I'm OK with off the rack.

hunter