[steveh]

Originally Posted by Vaillant75

I chased down his latest apprentice and learnt about a young English luthier that was the latest addition to the Somogyi roaster. A prompt due diligence revealed adamant opinions, especially from the forum’s British crowd. Some advanced form of patriotism? 



...or perhaps we've simply had more opportunity to sample them? I've been chasing Holy Grail guitars for years and have come to the conclusion there are a lot of great builders out there, in all price brackets. Given that, I think there's a lot to be said for using a luthier in your own backyard: I've "enjoyed" plenty of stress over the years with shipping guitars overseas, getting nervous whether they return, and non-responsive emails etc. Having said all that, at least you can get to Tom via train.

I see you've never played a Somogyi? I've played some that were fabulous, some that were merely "good" (if we ignore the eviscerating cost of entry) and one that was not really very good at all IMHO. The same applies to many of the apprentices. IMHO, on average, Tom's guitars live with Somogyi no problem at all. So do Jason's etc. Tom has the very obvious benefit of being the cheapest of those three, which was a huge consideration for me when I got on Tom's list.

Originally Posted by Vaillant75

First and foremost, I have to thank Tom for his patience… Being my first build, I got slightly obsessed about getting it RIGHT. I spent countless hours imagining all sorts of wood combination and ergonomic choices, but without getting to any conclusion. It was enjoyable at first, but quickly got exhausting. Thankfully, I soon realized that my best option was to express my preferences to Tom, and to simply rely on his knowledge and skill. 



I hear this a lot from luthiers: Bat-s**t crazy customers who provide several pages prescribing how the guitar should sound etc etc. "Like a Traugott AND a Somogyi AND a Walker...AND a Claxton...". You get the idea. And they're working with wood! In our defence, we are commissioning a guitar because we want something very specific, that can't be bought off the shelf, but be reasonable!

IMHO you've done the right thing - find a great builder whose guitars you enjoy, and then let them get on with it. My best builds have turned out like that, including mine from Tom from a couple of years back. We settled on the specs pretty early and then I left him alone. The guitar is a constant delight and one of the longest "honeymoons" I've had.

Originally Posted by Vaillant75

Caveat 2: I am French so English is not my mother tongue. Please excuse any potential mistakes along the way.

Your English is ridiculously good.

Cheers,
Steve