The typical situation is a 10% non-refundable deposit with either final payment due prior to shipping the completed guitar or sometimes installments based on the progress.
If you do not know him or have not seen his work either here or elsewhere, I would call and talk with him. How many guitars has he built, any sound clips available, what is his guarantee, how long will it take to build, what is the wait list time, any references he could give. These would be the basic questions to ask.
There are many luthiers out there that build fantastic guitars, so if the answers to your questions are not what you want, you have choices. ANY of the builders on the AGF can be considered reliable in my opinion and just searching this custom thread will give you some ideas.
I hope this helps.
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PS. I love guitars!
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