Would you commission a custom guitar without looking at the back and sides?

[JoeCharter]

Just curious. Would you be ok with commissioning a guitar from a luthier of your choice -- without looking at the wood for the back and sides?

It happened to me once. I was expecting photos of the sets of wood to choose from -- but it turned out my guitar was already half built by the time I asked the question...

[gstring]

Where you happy with the choice ??

daniel

[fitness1]

Certainly prefer it the other way......

[dneal]

Originally Posted by gstring

Where you happy with the choice ??

daniel

Well, it was that "The Tree" Olson...

[Tstalcup]

I would and did; I'm in the Osthoff build queue and I don't have any real preference for the mahogany used. I just asked for a set John thinks will deliver a slightly darker, woodier tone and I'd trust his judgment on it. I'm only going to be looking at one side anyway.

[rgregg48]

Would you commission a custom guitar without looking at the back and sides?\

Sure , why not?

Rick

[rgregg48]

R

Originally Posted by dneal

Well, it was that "The Tree" Olson...

Mau,

You is
"DA KING OF BLING" in my book!

bless you,

Rick

[mikealpine]

I would want to look, but in reality, if the builder says "the is THE set" to get what I am hoping to achieve, it most likely wouldn't matter. It would only be important if they had it narrowed down to a couple, wanted me to pick which I like best. I have a build going with Chris Ensor, and he sent me some pictures of the top and back/sides. I barely looked because a) Chris said these were good and b) he said he'd absolutely use these on a guitar he'd build for himself. Of course this guitar is not about figured woods, though (Port Oxford Cedar and Wenge), so it was even less important here.

[HHP]

If I was commissioning a guitar, I would make it a point to commission someone who knows a lot more about wood than me, so yes. In fact, I'd probably be inclined to tell him what I want soundwise and have him/her tell me what wood I want.

[Archtop Guy]

I totally trust a luthier to know more about wood than I do, and that's why I choose the ones I do. And what I want from a guitar is about much more than the way the back and sides LOOKS. There's actually a real risk (luthiers: please chime in on this) that by over specifying your order you can constrain the luthier too much and hurt the final product.

But anyway, glad you liked what you got.

[usb_chord]

Yeah, I would. I'd definitely rather see it, though.

The only reason is out of general geekery in wanting to see all the pieces before they came together.

[martind42]

In a word, no. It has nothing to do with trust, but courtesy and consideration for the customer. If the luthier was unwilling to show me the woods being used, then I would probably shop elsewhere.

Bruce Petros was kind enough to give me options, within reason, to pick from for the back. He matched the sides to my selection. I had no input on the top, but was fine with it since I had seen other examples of the wood. I fully trusted him to work his magic and he did. But he also engaged me in the process, allowing me to become closer to the instrument and that is a smart move by any luthier. Bring the customer into the shop virtually by photos and let them be an active part in their guitar. I don't know why any luthier would do otherwise.

[islandguitar]

Short answer, YES! I'm coming up in Tom Doerr's build que.....I'd researched and knew that's who I wanted to do the build.....and he knows his stash of wood! Sent music to him.....some nice thoughts back and forth.....and some choices were made with his total input the whole way on the quality and structural qualities of the back/sides he had...couldn't ask for more. If he didn't have a set that worked for me, he was more than willing to search out one that would as there was time to do that before the build began. Totally impressed with Tom!

[J-F C]

Originally Posted by martind42

In a word, no. It has nothing to do with trust, but courtesy and consideration for the customer...

I fully trusted him to work his magic and he did. But he also engaged me in the process, allowing me to become closer to the instrument and that is a smart move by any luthier. Bring the customer into the shop virtually by photos and let them be an active part in their guitar. I don't know why any luthier would do otherwise.

Couldn't have said better.

[Larry Pattis]

When I was working with the great folks at Martin, I ordered probably a 1/2 dozen custom guitars with no idea what the wood was going to look like. I never had a problem with anything they built & delivered...after they "fixed" their 00 cutaway to resemble the OM cut...the first 00-18v cutaway they built was a bit of a surprise...but Dick Boak made good on a promise, and everyone benefitted!

With one man/woman shop custom builders I would always expect to have a choice, based on photographs of wood that the builder had already pre-selected as a part of his/her wood stash...especially for the b & s.

With Simon Fay, I have complete trust in what he does, and for my last guitar (and upcoming guitars) I gave him carte blanche for the tops...the new ones, both with whatever Spruce species he thinks will be best, and for the individual pieces of wood he will build with. We discussed what tone I like, and we have a track-record with a magnificent Cocobolo/Sitka that I am *very* pleased with (delivered in the Fall of 2011). I will see photos of what he selects for the tops before the building commences...in fact, I've already seen the Adirondack top that will go with the brazilian b & s instrument.