Up-charge to go custom with Martin

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by jklotz

Unless this is new as of just last few months, it is incorrect. They will give 40% discount on the first quote, and if you revise, the discount drops to 37%. They are upfront about this and encourage folks to try to get it right the first time. They will take the time to answer your questions and walk you through the process. The whole point is to get the customer to take the time and do the research upfront. They are not trying to nick you for that 3%, they are trying to encourage you to get it right the 1st time. It takes a lot of time for the dealer and Martin to do these very complicated quotes and Martin has requested dealers do their best to avoid multiple revisions.

No one gets it right the first time. I've done 3 customs with Martin. Martin has made multiple errors on every single first spec I've ordered. (Simple stuff like "change the binding to maple" but it stays plastic on the quote, or "change the rosette to style 18 maple fiber" but it comes back as white plastic rings.). You've got to COMB those quotes, because Martin makes mistakes on almost every one (in my direct experience). Not to mention, you ask for x, y, z changes and get a quote back with only x and y saying they won't do z or comes back with x, y and a wonky z, and it needs revision.

I think it's respectful to do your homework and really talk it through in advance before asking for a quote, but it's unrealistic to expect to get everything 100% on the first try. It's the vendor's job to have a good thorough conversation before you order. Setting penalties because a vendor didn't do their job in that way would infuriate me.

Personally, I'd call Vintage Instruments in Philly and be done. 40% off everything, and they have a lot of custom shop experience.

[000/28]

Originally Posted by zoopeda

No one gets it right the first time. I've done 3 customs with Martin. Martin has made multiple errors on every single first spec I've ordered. (Simple stuff like "change the binding to maple" but it stays plastic on the quote, or "change the rosette to style 18 maple fiber" but it comes back as white plastic rings.). You've got to COMB those quotes, because Martin makes mistakes on almost every one (in my direct experience). Not to mention, you ask for x, y, z changes and get a quote back with only x and y saying they won't do z or comes back with x, y and a wonky z, and it needs revision.

I think it's respectful to do your homework and really talk it through in advance before asking for a quote, but it's unrealistic to expect to get everything 100% on the first try. It's the vendor's job to have a good thorough conversation before you order. Setting penalties because a vendor didn't do their job in that way would infuriate me.

Personally, I'd call Vintage Instruments in Philly and be done. 40% off everything, and they have a lot of custom shop experience.

Agree with everything said here. Multiple mistakes by Martin on my quote was very frustrating.

[blindboyjimi]

As anyone who sees my posts knows I’m a big Martin guy. I’ve only ordered one CS guitar and with the back n forth with the dealer, somehow the neck got switched from Mod V to MLO. I probably have 30 posts of how much I hate the MLO neck. When it came with the MLO, I was so mad, I looked at my order sheet with my signature and there it was. So yes, be very careful. Luckily, mine was a 15 series so with 40% off it was only $2195. I sold it here for $1250. A quick loss of $945. I think I played it for 10 minutes only to prove to myself how much I hate the MLO neck. The order is 4 pages so just be careful and check every line.

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by blindboyjimi

As anyone who sees my posts knows I’m a big Martin guy. I’ve only ordered one CS guitar and with the back n forth with the dealer, somehow the neck got switched from Mod V to MLO. I probably have 30 posts of how much I hate the MLO neck. When it came with the MLO, I was so mad, I looked at my order sheet with my signature and there it was. So yes, be very careful. Luckily, mine was a 15 series so with 40% off it was only $2195. I sold it here for $1250. A quick loss of $945. I think I played it for 10 minutes only to prove to myself how much I hate the MLO neck. The order is 4 pages so just be careful and check every line.

That's infuriating and super common. Did you order the Mod V in writing (over email) or verbally? If the former, did you bring that to the vendor? Seems like a major mistake made by either the vendor or Martin. I love my custom; I hate the Martin custom ordering process.

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by zoopeda

No one gets it right the first time. I've done 3 customs with Martin. Martin has made multiple errors on every single first spec I've ordered. (Simple stuff like "change the binding to maple" but it stays plastic on the quote, or "change the rosette to style 18 maple fiber" but it comes back as white plastic rings.). You've got to COMB those quotes, because Martin makes mistakes on almost every one (in my direct experience). Not to mention, you ask for x, y, z changes and get a quote back with only x and y saying they won't do z or comes back with x, y and a wonky z, and it needs revision.

I think it's respectful to do your homework and really talk it through in advance before asking for a quote, but it's unrealistic to expect to get everything 100% on the first try. It's the vendor's job to have a good thorough conversation before you order. Setting penalties because a vendor didn't do their job in that way would infuriate me.

Personally, I'd call Vintage Instruments in Philly and be done. 40% off everything, and they have a lot of custom shop experience.

I just got a quote from Maury's and didn't place the order, so I don't have direct experience with actually placing an order. I suppose I should let Maury state their terms, not my place, but I'm pretty sure there is no non-refundable deposit required. I'd be most surprised if they dinged you the 3% for a mistake on the part of Martin.

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by blindboyjimi

As anyone who sees my posts knows I’m a big Martin guy. I’ve only ordered one CS guitar and with the back n forth with the dealer, somehow the neck got switched from Mod V to MLO. I probably have 30 posts of how much I hate the MLO neck. When it came with the MLO, I was so mad, I looked at my order sheet with my signature and there it was. So yes, be very careful. Luckily, mine was a 15 series so with 40% off it was only $2195. I sold it here for $1250. A quick loss of $945. I think I played it for 10 minutes only to prove to myself how much I hate the MLO neck. The order is 4 pages so just be careful and check every line.

Oh man, I'd have been pissed! I'm like you - a mod V neck would be the MAIN reason I'd place a custom order. I can't stand the MLO profile. Sorry that happened to you. Your experience and suggestion is probably the best post on this entire thread.

BTW - did you bring this up to the shop you went through? I'd be most interested to know how they responded and how the whole thing transpired. I can only imagine how that'd have gone down with the one I've been considering - Mod V, Addi top, sinker hog b&s's, GE bracing, slotted headstock. In my case, it would have been like taking $2500 and throwing it out the window.

[eljay]

Originally Posted by zoopeda

That's infuriating and super common. Did you order the Mod V in writing (over email) or verbally? If the former, did you bring that to the vendor? Seems like a major mistake made by either the vendor or Martin. I love my custom; I hate the Martin custom ordering process.

Martin's arrogance is beyond off-putting. The Martin process is disrespectful to buyers and dealers alike. A bad experience I had with the Martin custom shop (not the 3 snowflake fiasco I mentioned in my earlier post) turned me against Martins as a whole. Santa Cruz and Gibson meet my needs for excellent-quality dovetail joint guitars. A Larrivee will be joining the herd before too long. I once was a Martin fanboi . . .

[blindboyjimi]

Originally Posted by jklotz

Oh man, I'd have been pissed! I'm like you - a mod V neck would be the MAIN reason I'd place a custom order. I can't stand the MLO profile. Sorry that happened to you. Your experience and suggestion is probably the best post on this entire thread.

BTW - did you bring this up to the shop you went through? I'd be most interested to know how they responded and how the whole thing transpired. I can only imagine how that'd have gone down with the one I've been considering - Mod V, Addi top, sinker hog b&s's, GE bracing, slotted headstock. In my case, it would have been like taking $2500 and throwing it out the window.

Originally Posted by eljay

Martin's arrogance is beyond off-putting. The Martin process is disrespectful to buyers and dealers alike. A bad experience I had with the Martin custom shop (not the 3 snowflake fiasco I mentioned in my earlier post) turned me against Martins as a whole. Santa Cruz and Gibson meet my needs for excellent-quality dovetail joint guitars. A Larrivee will be joining the herd before too long. I once was a Martin fanboi . . .

No mention of the shop. They were great. A CS order is off an existing guitar so it’s easy for a revert to happen. Again, it was my job to sign the finalized order. I did. I am solely responsible. No big deal. I simply missed a line. It was not Martin’s fault. They are a factory. The custom shop is not like a luthier shop. I’ve ordered many luthier guitars and none were ever less than perfect.

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by blindboyjimi

No mention of the shop. They were great. A CS order is off an existing guitar so it’s easy for a revert to happen. Again, it was my job to sign the finalized order. I did. I am solely responsible. No big deal. I simply missed a line. It was not Martin’s fault. They are a factory. The custom shop is not like a luthier shop. I’ve ordered many luthier guitars and none were ever less than perfect.

Fair enough. What scares me off from ordering a custom shop Martin is what if I take the time, do the research, scrutinize every line of the order, wait 6 - 12 months and get a dud? Or worse yet, they put a MLO neck on?

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by jklotz

Fair enough. What scares me off from ordering a custom shop Martin is what if I take the time, do the research, scrutinize every line of the order, wait 6 - 12 months and get a dud? Or worse yet, they put a MLO neck on?

Odds of getting a “dud” through the Martin custom shop are slim. Odds of getting the wrong specs depend on how well you scrutinize it before you buy. You don’t get the wrong neck unless you miss it when signing the spec. But you have to scrutinize it. That’s a tough process. If you navigate well, it may be worthwhile. If not, difficult for sure...

[Wade Hampton]

When I ordered my Martin Custom Shop 12 fret 00-21 I got a quote from Terry Straker, owner of The Guitar Works in Evanston, Illinois, who used to do all my repair and setup work when I was living and working as a professional musician in Chicago. Terry had previously ordered a custom mandolin from Collings for me, so naturally I chose him as the Martin dealer that I’d order the guitar from.

Terry quoted me a price on some of the options that I was thinking of, told me he’d have to check with Martin on a couple of others, and when all was said and done the only uncertainty was what the shipping costs from Illinois to Alaska would be.

When the guitar arrived at his store Terry installed the K&K pickup I sent him and dialed it in to where he knew I preferred the action to be, and the price I’d been quoted was correct right down the last nickel.

The only surprise was that Martin finished the guitar about a month and a half earlier than they had said we could expect it and - somehow - I found it in my heart to forgive them that error.

Deeply upsetting as it was....

I’m not trying to diminish or dismiss the aggravation that some of you who’ve had unhappier experiences ordering a Martin Custom Shop guitar, but my recent experience shows that it can go beautifully and exactly as hoped for. I got a perfect 00-21 with a comfortable neck and moderate width at the nut that I wanted, and it’s truly a great, world class guitar in every respect.

So I do think it’s only fair that my happier experience ordering a custom guitar from Martin should be mentioned in this thread, as well.

My hunch is that the key to getting a Martin Custom Shop guitar that you’re delighted with is ordering it through a dealer that has a good grasp on the process. It also helps a great deal to know what you need most out of the guitar and focus on those characteristics before you even make the order.

I’m fairly knowledgeable about acoustic guitars in general, but I still did some more research and figured out what the most important aspects of this guitar should be.

It seems like most first time custom guitar buyers focus mostly on the cosmetic appointments of the guitar, but I find it much more rewarding to focus on the tone and playability issues first. Think about the cosmetics after you’ve gotten those more important issues figured out.

As George Gruhn had said about vintage guitars: “The more you know, the luckier you get.” By focusing on both the tone I wanted and the accommodations that I needed for comfortable playability, I really did get a dream guitar out of the process.

So that saying of Gruhn’s could be modified for Custom Shop orders as “The more you know exactly what you need from a custom guitar going into the process, the better the resulting guitar will be.”

That’s obviously a lot clunkier to say than Gruhn’s pithy little bon mot, but you see my point.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Nanosecond]

Originally Posted by jklotz

Unless this is new as of just last few months, it is incorrect. They will give 40% discount on the first quote, and if you revise, the discount drops to 37%. They are upfront about this and encourage folks to try to get it right the first time. They will take the time to answer your questions and walk you through the process. The whole point is to get the customer to take the time and do the research upfront. They are not trying to nick you for that 3%, they are trying to encourage you to get it right the 1st time. It takes a lot of time for the dealer and Martin to do these very complicated quotes and Martin has requested dealers do their best to avoid multiple revisions.

Happened this past February. I thought we were still ironing out what was going to be on the first quote (this was my first custom so I was probably pretty needy), and they went and pulled the trigger and got the quote from Martin. Might be my fault, but I honestly did not realize we had reached point of no return. I asked for one pretty major change that I thought we were still discussing, but they were firm on not proceeding without the $500 (no mention of any percentage, just flat $500). I felt pretty burned on a technicality, and if they were that stringent already, I had no faith in a good relationship going forward working together on a final order.

I said no thanks and went to Mark at Reno's. He was amazing. Held my hand all the way through and was saint-like in his patience. So he got my $7K custom order and not Maury's.

[Nanosecond]

Originally Posted by jklotz

I just got a quote from Maury's and didn't place the order, so I don't have direct experience with actually placing an order. I suppose I should let Maury state their terms, not my place, but I'm pretty sure there is no non-refundable deposit required. I'd be most surprised if they dinged you the 3% for a mistake on the part of Martin.

It's on Maury's website: The first quote is free and there's no obligation. If you want to proceed further in the process, we must collect a non-refundable $500 deposit, good for 60 days.

[D41Fan]

Im not going to go into details about how Martin screwed up my D41, but when I went custom and spend 7K I would at least have the ability to choose from a couple samples of wood.. Is it so hard to take a couple of pics and email them to me? Custom means custom and I want to see what I;m paying for before I end up with a guitar that after 2 months got a top and back center seam split. Guess who didnt even acknowledge it was there fault. It wasnt me, all my guitars are between 40-50 percent. Let me guess, wood that wasnt cured properly, glue joints made with bad glue? They told my Martin certified repairman that it was my fault and they dont even want to talk about it..
Come on, they cant even glue on bindings that come off in a year!
Lesson learned the hard and expensive way. By the way it is a Madi guitar as well.

[Mrbirdog]

I mean this in a good way and that is if you have to ask you can't afford it. If you are going to get a special, just the way you want it ,maybe Lifetime guitar.....Get what you want.
Having said that if one were to find not just with Martin but other builders as well that the "cost" was outlandish for the requests you have made then proceed with caution or not at all. I don't think you will find that with Martin.

Good luck and enjoy the journey to find that special guitar

Mrbirdog