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Looking for luthier options
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!
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Charis SJ Adirondack/Madagascar NKForster Model B (Nov '07) |
#2
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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....
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PS. I love guitars! |
#3
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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!
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Martin OM28 (European Spruce/EIR) Collings OM3A (Adirondack/EIR) Greven OOO (Lutz/Brazilian) Greven OO (Lutz/Maple) ARK Senorita S6-12 (Adirondack/Mahogany) Circa OOO-12 (European Spruce/Mun Ebony) |
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The Electrics check The Acoustics Tom Doerr - Trinity. Flamed Maple under Swiss Tom Doerr - M/D. Braz under Red |
#5
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My $.02
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! Quote:
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings… |
#6
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Happy hunting!
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THE GOLDEN ERA GUITAR FOR SALE | VIDEOS AUTHORISED DEALER OF: Astrand | Bowerman | Brondel | Buendia | Casimi | Datlen | Doerr | Fujii | Gerber | GR Bear | Heinonen | Isaac Jang Keith | Keystone | Matsuda | Michaud Made | Ogino | Pellerin | Petros | Poljakoff | Strahm | Tom Sands | Wingert ...and more www.TheGoldenEraGuitar.com [email protected] +65 8666 0420 |
#7
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Spend some of that budget traveling around to stores, guitar shows, and luthiers' shops to find out whose guitars suit you best
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#8
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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!!!
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PS. I love guitars! |
#9
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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.
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--------------------------------------- 2013 Joel Stehr Dreadnought - Carpathian/Malaysian BW 2014 RainSong H-OM1000N2 2017 Rainsong BI-WS1000N2 2013 Chris Ensor Concert - Port Orford Cedar/Wenge 1980ish Takamine EF363 complete with irreplaceable memories A bunch of electrics (too many!!) |
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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.
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Hatcher Woodsman, Collings 0002H, Stella Grand Concert |
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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
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The Electrics check The Acoustics Tom Doerr - Trinity. Flamed Maple under Swiss Tom Doerr - M/D. Braz under Red |
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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.
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PS. I love guitars! |
#13
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Kevin Ryan's base price is under $9,000.
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#14
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"A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold." Woody (aka: Mike) FOR SALE: Kinnaird Brazilian!! |
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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.
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PS. I love guitars! |