Iris Guitars

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by jontewright

I still have one on order through TNAG. Prior to that I was emailing Iris to see about going direct through them. I must say they always replied promptly and answered any questions that I had. I found them great to deal with.

Adam actually apologized twice for the poor e-mail response - something about someone else not being there at the time.

Maybe they've improved service ... I'd like to think so.

Hope it goes well for you and the guitar is fantastic.

[jontewright]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Adam actually apologized twice for the poor e-mail response - something about someone else not being there at the time.



Maybe they've improved service ... I'd like to think so.



Hope it goes well for you and the guitar is fantastic.

Thank you, Bruce I'm looking forward to receiving it.
I'm sorry it didn't work out for you with them this time around. There are still plenty of other great guitars out there though and from your signature you already own some beauties.

[ZeroFretWear]

Originally Posted by jdinaz

but there is still a 12-14 month wait if you order one thru Iris !

Well, there are now 37 Irises on Reverb, and a ton more at dealers who don't advertise on Reverb. So really no good reason that I can see to wait 12-14 months on a custom; surely people can find something they like among all these choices. I just wish other brands had this much available inventory just sitting on the shelf for the taking.

I'm definitely interested in a couple of their models, but I wonder if it will be hard to resell in the future when there are so many options for buyers. It's not like a Pre-War or Waterloo, where there is barely any available and they usually sell very quickly if priced at all reasonably.

[SalFromChatham]

I did get it..l

If you like a light crisp airy sound, with a chunky neck… this IRIS OG is for you…

Here it is next to my LG-2 (50s Reissue). It is a slightly larger guitar, and much louder.

[KalamazooGuy]

I have a Smeck and I like it. For the used price, I am pleased more than I thought I’d be.

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

I'm definitely interested in a couple of their models, but I wonder if it will be hard to resell in the future when there are so many options for buyers. It's not like a Pre-War or Waterloo, where there is barely any available and they usually sell very quickly if priced at all reasonably.

I hope that doesn't happen to Iris cuz that would mean they are basically shutting down production like Collings did to Waterloo, or they shrunk to just a few guys making a few guitars like PW.

Iris is fitting into a really interesting space at the moment with the volume they can produce. It allows them to have some real reach, which most brands of similar or just smaller size can't quite do. When they launched, you just couldn't get your hands on them, so you had to roll the dice. It's fun to see them at shops all over the country and the world. That will give more people the chance to play them and see what the fuss is about. No guitar is for everybody, but I think the playability and sound are exceptional on these instruments and people playing them get that experience...some of the cork sniffers can even see past the headstock (which I happen to love).

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Since it was brought up in a few posts, I should mention that my communications (via emails) with both Adam and Ben at IRIS were courteous, professional and answered in very timely manner. After getting the quote for a full custom and hearing of the 11-12 month wait and passing on the order (due mostly to the wait), Ben came back with several options to get a guitar in my hands faster that would meet some or all of my custom requests. I'm still mulling!

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Interesting - my experience was the complete opposite.

More than once I nearly gave up waiting for an email response and when I did finally get one it was often unclear and I needed to repeat my questions.

It was Ben who promised to look into why my deposit was refunded and didn't get back to me.

The tyranny of distance.

I figured I'd update this post since I made the comment above (specifically the part in bold). My initial emails were all very promptly answered by initially Adam and then after that all with Ben. Ben made some interesting suggestions on ways to possibly get a custom IRIS into my hands without the long wait. That was right before Thanksgiving. I immediately replied with some thoughts and a few more questions. I received no reply. I figured, hey, Thanksgiving, right? So I waited another week and emailed again on 12/1 asking if he'd seen the email and had any thoughts on my questions and added a couple more. Standard custom order type things. Two more weeks - nothing. Crickets. Oh well. Maybe they just shut down from Thanksgiving until after Christmas?

[rollypolly]

Originally Posted by SalFromChatham

I did get it..l

If you like a light crisp airy sound, with a chunky neck… this IRIS OG is for you…

Here it is next to my LG-2 (50s Reissue). It is a slightly larger guitar, and much louder.

I noticed your Iris made it to the classifieds pretty fast. Is there any particular reason you chose it instead of the LG-2? You mentioned the Iris is louder and more airy.

[cc132]

If anyone is in the market for an Iris AB, Fiddler's Green has a new one at a ridiculously good price.

I have no affiliation with them aside from stopping in for strings every now and then, but I figured someone here might be interested in getting a deal.

[ZeroFretWear]

Originally Posted by rollypolly

I noticed your Iris made it to the classifieds pretty fast. Is there any particular reason you chose it instead of the LG-2? You mentioned the Iris is louder and more airy.

I asked him via PM why he was selling it so quickly after the positive review and got an earful of insults....

[ZeroFretWear]

Originally Posted by cc132

If anyone is in the market for an Iris AB, Fiddler's Green has a new one at a ridiculously good price.

I have no affiliation with them aside from stopping in for strings every now and then, but I figured someone here might be interested in getting a deal.

Now that's a seriously good deal, I will have to think about this one hard.
It makes sense though; with so many Irises available for sale, dealers might need to offer some incentives if they want to move along inventory.

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by cc132

If anyone is in the market for an Iris AB, Fiddler's Green has a new one at a ridiculously good price.

I have no affiliation with them aside from stopping in for strings every now and then, but I figured someone here might be interested in getting a deal.

Very, very nice ... except for those mediocre tuners!

[jim1960]

There's a maple Iris ND-200 in my future. Growing up a Cat Stevens fan, that J-200 sound is like an old friend. I just never got on with Gibson necks so I never bought one. This will be my third guitar out of Adam's shop (my first two being Circle Strings guitars).

[jdinco]

I have a few mixed feelings about Iris, I have a Smeck that I love and decided to order an RCM last August, Ben was very helpful with getting the initial order done, after that any email questions basically went unanswered, recently I was thinking about a major change to my order, after Ben didn't answer, I emailed Adam and got a nice response from Christian McAdams telling me that I only had 60 days to make changes and after that it was a $200. charge. I understand that, but it would have been nice to know that up front. I certainly didn't see it on the web site, nor was it explained at any time. Adam told me they prefer people to deal with dealers when ordering an Iris, makes sense they would like to not have to deal directly with customer orders, but they do! And it does make one wonder why my custom order can't be worked into the schedule when I see dealers getting stocked with inventory. Instead I am waiting a year, I do look forward to getting the guitar ! Hopefully they will get the bugs worked out as a growing company that is bound to have some issues. Good communication could alleviate most of the complaints I read here. I think we are an understanding bunch for the most part.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by jdinco

I have a few mixed feelings about Iris, I have a Smeck that I love and decided to order an RCM last August, Ben was very helpful with getting the initial order done, after that any email questions basically went unanswered, recently I was thinking about a major change to my order, after Ben didn't answer, I emailed Adam and got a nice response from Christian McAdams telling me that I only had 60 days to make changes and after that it was a $200. charge. I understand that, but it would have been nice to know that up front. I certainly didn't see it on the web site, nor was it explained at any time. Adam told me they prefer people to deal with dealers when ordering an Iris, makes sense they would like to not have to deal directly with customer orders, but they do! And it does make one wonder why my custom order can't be worked into the schedule when I see dealers getting stocked with inventory. Instead I am waiting a year, I do look forward to getting the guitar ! Hopefully they will get the bugs worked out as a growing company that is bound to have some issues. Good communication could alleviate most of the complaints I read here. I think we are an understanding bunch for the most part.

I can understand the preference for wanting to work mostly with dealers. The philosophy behind the Iris line was to offer that would have the fit and finish of a handmade guitar but at a lower cost. To achieve that, labor hours have to be reduced which is why so much of the work is done by machine rather than by hand. I think they're probably also building in batches to reduce having to readjust the cutting machines so often. Where custom guitars are built individually, I suspect with Iris they're sort of mapping out things. For example, getting as many of the same necks cut at the same time rather than doing each neck in succession of when an order was placed.

For a small shop, phone time isn't much different than labor time since it's still occupying someone for some period of time. Where a dealer might call and already have the guitars they want spec'd on paper, the individual is going to have a bunch of questions about this option vs that option and that defeats the goal of reducing labor time. If pushed in that direction too far, the cost of the guitar would likely have to go up.