Looking for luthier options

[ejw93]

If you had a budget of up to $9k and could pick any builder to build a cedar/RW fingerstyle guitar, who would it be? And which model guitar.

Would love to spend less or upgrade wood species, but wanted to get opinions that cover the gamut.

At this point just looking to do a little research on builders.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by ejw93

If you had a budget of up to $9k and could pick any builder to build a cedar/RW fingerstyle guitar, who would it be? And which model guitar.

Would love to spend less or upgrade wood species, but wanted to get opinions that cover the gamut.

At this point just looking to do a little research on builders.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Not trying to be negative, but I really don't think this open ended of question will get you any real objective answers. There are lots of fantastic luthiers who could build you the guitar of your life with those woods and that number. What you are more likely going to get are names from people who have purchased guitars from luthiers and love them. While this is fine, it is far from objective.

I think you would be much better off just spending time on this area of the forum, watch various builds, go back 2, 5, 10, 15 pages of threads and start to form your own opinions. A lot of threads will come with soundclips to further your education on each builder...

My 2 cents....

[bho]

There are so many excellent options, and $9,000 will buy you a lot of guitar.

I don't know where you live, but I recommend playing as many different luthier built guitars as you can to see what resonates with you. Dream Guitars in Asheville and Guitar Gallery in Nashville, along with Luthier's Collection near San Diego have the broadest selection I'm aware of. You can also listen to soundclips online.

If you want to meet the luthier and visit during the build process, you may land on someone local to you.

Good luck and keep us posted on your journey!

[lizzard]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Not trying to be negative, but I really don't think this open ended of question will get you any real objective answers. There are lots of fantastic luthiers who could build you the guitar of your life with those woods and that number. What you are more likely going to get are names from people who have purchased guitars from luthiers and love them. While this is fine, it is far from objective.

I think you would be much better off just spending time on this area of the forum, watch various builds, go back 2, 5, 10, 15 pages of threads and start to form your own opinions. A lot of threads will come with soundclips to further your education on each builder...

My 2 cents....

Yes.........!

[iim7V7IM7]

There are MANY luthiers who can build you a fantastic guitar. It will come down to personal preference. What sounds "great" to one player is not necessarily "great" to others. At a recent luthier show some players that I knew suggest that I try some guitars by some particular luthiers who they that were fantastic guitars. After auditioning them, I was frankly underwhelmed. People's playing styles, likes and dislikes are all over the place.

So me suggesting some builders to you may not be particularly helpful to you. After you have identified a short list of luthiers whose work is of interest to you, pick up the phone and begin a dialogue to see who you "click" with. The questions they ask you may differ greatly. I would also suggest beginning your discussions with builders not by saying you want a cedar/rosewood guitar, but discuss your goals which might be achieved by a variety of wood combinations. Discuss your past playing experiences, likes, dislikes, goals for this commission, perhaps if you have a video of you playing to share with them it can be very helpful.Lastly, public lists like this in forums are rarely are informative.

Good Luck!

Originally Posted by ejw93

If you had a budget of up to $9k and could pick any builder to build a cedar/RW fingerstyle guitar, who would it be? And which model guitar.

Would love to spend less or upgrade wood species, but wanted to get opinions that cover the gamut.

At this point just looking to do a little research on builders.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

[Marcus Wong]

Originally Posted by ejw93

If you had a budget of up to $9k and could pick any builder to build a cedar/RW fingerstyle guitar, who would it be? And which model guitar.

Would love to spend less or upgrade wood species, but wanted to get opinions that cover the gamut.

At this point just looking to do a little research on builders.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Budget aside, if you are bent on a cedar/rosewood guitar, you are going to have to look at luthiers who regularly use this combination with success. Some luthiers off the top of my head would be George Lowden, Kevin Ryan and Jim Olson.

Happy hunting!

[dekutree64]

Spend some of that budget traveling around to stores, guitar shows, and luthiers' shops to find out whose guitars suit you best

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by Marcus Wong

Budget aside, if you are bent on a cedar/rosewood guitar, you are going to have to look at luthiers who regularly use this combination with success. Some luthiers off the top of my head would be George Lowden, Kevin Ryan and Jim Olson.

Happy hunting!

All three of those names are cream of the crop, no doubt some of the best in the world, however, I think the base price of these is probably more than the budget....I think Olson base is 13,000.00. This is easily checked on their websites.

Many fantastic builders (one I think you are very familiar with) have base prices from 4-5000 for example, will build a truly world class killer guitar and you would have room for some upgrades like different woods, cutaways, binding and purfling choices etc. etc. I know Mark Hatcher loves Cedar tops also BTW as do many others.

Peace out, hope all is well in the East Marcus!!!

[mikealpine]

Originally Posted by dekutree64

Spend some of that budget traveling around to stores, guitar shows, and luthiers' shops to find out whose guitars suit you best

This is a great idea. If you're not in a hurry, depending on where you live, you can get to a few shows and see if you feel a connection with individual builders. There's a show in Santa Barbara coming up:

http://sbaic.com/

The Woodstock NY show is in October, and so on. That being said, Mark Hatcher's name was mentioned, and you can see great builds on here from Steve Sheriff/Edwinson, and either of the Kinnaird brothers, Joel Stehr (love my Stehr dread) among others. Take your time, research builders whose aesthetic is appealing, open the door to some communication, and see who you develop a rapport with.

[SJ VanSandt]

I think you can get a Lowden for 9K or less, but I don't know if that's the way I would go, personally. A limit of $9000 does cut out a lot of great luthiers who specialize in cedar tops, it seems. Are you wanting to commission a custom build, or would you be open to buying used?

I see you own a Charis SJ - why not turn to Bill Wise again? I know he makes a fine cedar guitar, and he could probably build you one in your price range.

[lizzard]

One more thought.

Tom Doerr is in Saginaw MI. I bought a Maple/Swiss Trinity (OO-size) that he built for the Memphis show. I have been to his shop twice. He also built a Trinity in Cedar/Wenge. It is a killer. The Wenge is full like RSW - just a TAD drier.

It is a stunning guitar and I bet that if you made him an offer you would wind up well below budget.

His work is superb. Perhaps the best frest-dress I have seen.

You could commission from him if you want larger.

I also like the Goodalls in Cedar. The CJ in particular. Also below budget.





Good Luck,

Chris

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by SJ VanSandt

I think you can get a Lowden for 9K or less, but I don't know if that's the way I would go, personally. A limit of $9000 does cut out a lot of great luthiers who specialize in cedar tops, it seems. Are you wanting to commission a custom build, or would you be open to buying used?

I see you own a Charis SJ - why not turn to Bill Wise again? I know he makes a fine cedar guitar, and he could probably build you one in your price range.

Yes, I think the Lowden is the only one that would fit under the budget in that trio. My point is there are so many great builders out there, so many of them that post on this site, that to list names is just not going to really help???? I mentioned one just in response to the cedar question as I know personally he is a big fan of Cedar, but I could easily make a list of 10 right now that I would love to commission from and after I win the 1.4 billion on Wednesday, I probably will!!!!!

Another couple of threads to check out that are currently in this area, are "who is on your list" which is a list of builders people dream of using, that would show you a BUNCH of names to start researching and the other is, "What Custom Commissions are You Expecting Delivery on in 2016"? , which shows commissions that will be starting in 2016 or have started and will be finished in 2016. That would also give you a feel for who people are using.

[JoeCharter]

Kevin Ryan's base price is under $9,000.

[invguy921]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Many fantastic builders (one I think you are very familiar with) have base prices from 4-5000 for example, will build a truly world class killer guitar and you would have room for some upgrades like different woods, cutaways, binding and purfling choices etc. etc. I know Mark Hatcher loves Cedar tops also BTW as do many others.

I think it is possible to build a guitar of your dreams for less than 9 grand. Of course, it all depends on your definition of "dream guitar". I would let your ear and and mind be the judge of what is a dream guitar, and let the budget be the secondary decision. It will be EASY to spend 9 grand and if that is what you've set out to do, and you'll have no trouble finding the right guitar. However, your tastebuds may indeed be satisfied spending 7 grand, or you may need to spend 15. Just my opinion. Lots of great builders, lots of great suggestions from others here on how to find one.

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by JoeCharter

Kevin Ryan's base price is under $9,000.

Thank you Mau, I went to his website before posting that and I could not find the base price listed anywhere I looked. I went under his guitars for sale and looked at the first two listed, one was over 16 and the other over $21,000 so I made an assumption based on those numbers that the base would likely be over 9000.

Thanks for the info.