What Everybody Ought to Know About Custom Guitars

What is a custom shop guitar?
The term “custom shop guitar” is defined differently by different people. We’ll give three definitions (the first being how we define it ourselves):

1. A custom shop guitar is a guitar made to the customer’s spec (e.g. customer says they want a neon green guitar, and so the company makes a neon green guitar). In this case, the customer decides how the guitar gets made. Without the customer, no guitar gets made.
   
   
2. A custom shop guitar is a guitar made with a different (custom) spec compared to the guitar company’s standard offering (e.g. a guitar company that only offers three colors normally decides to offer a special/custom color at limited quantities). In this case, the customer has little/nothing to do with how the guitar gets made. Without the customer, the guitar company is still going to make these guitars.
   
   
3. A custom shop guitar is a guitar made to look radically different to what “standard” or “normal” guitars look like (e.g. a guitar in the shape of a star). In this case, it could have been the company or the customer who decided on how the guitar got made, but the reason why it’s considered custom is because a star-shaped guitar is radically different in appearance to what we’re used to seeing (e.g. Strats, Teles, Les Pauls, etc.).
   

While the term “custom shop guitar” means different things to different people, we’re going to be coming from the perspective that they are guitars made to the customer’s spec, which is the first definition mentioned above. This means the customer has control over the guitar’s overall design and the guitar company is simply taking the customer’s instructions and building the guitar accordingly.

Why do custom shop guitars cost more?
It comes down to efficiency. Custom shop guitars are made one at a time, for one customer only. Contrast this to production guitars that are made in batches, all with the exact same specs, and can be sold to any number of customers. Make a mistake while building a production model guitar... no problem, there are dozens more being made. Make a mistake while building a custom shop guitar... it could be game over and the whole build process needs to start over from the very beginning.

On top of that, the raw materials, hardware and electronics all tend to be of a higher quality standard (more expensive) because customers who go through the process of having something custom made for them don't usually opt for entry-level or economy-grade ingredients.

How can I go about getting a custom shop guitar?
There are two main ways and also a do-it-yourself (DIY) kind of way. The first way is to go with a guitar company that offers custom shop guitars. These companies generally have customers in all 50 states in the USA and internationally. The second is to go with an independent luthier. Luthiers tend to operate on more of a local scale, but there are exceptions to this, of course. The DIY option is for those adventurous and skilled enough (or not) to build the guitar on their own.

How should I pay for a custom shop guitar?
Because custom shop guitars are relatively expensive and take much longer to receive compared to standard guitars, it’s common to pay only a deposit when ordering a custom guitar. Depending on who you buy from, the deposit amount will be different. Some are a percentage of the total price, others are a flat dollar rate. Some give you the option to pay in full if you wish. Some, however, will require you to pay in full upfront. Paying in full upfront has its pros and cons. On one hand, paying in full means you can move on and not have to think about the financial aspect of the guitar again. On the other hand, paying in full can leave you feeling like you have no leverage when it comes to getting the guitar built according to the agreed-upon schedule. Consider larger projects, like custom home building, there are milestone payments made along the way (e.g. pay 10% when the foundation is complete, pay 10% when the framing is complete, and pay the remaining balance during the final walk-through).

When is the best time to buy a custom shop guitar?
The best time to buy is when you have the time (to wait) because custom guitars generally have long lead times to get built and delivered.

How long does it take to get a custom shop guitar?
There are three things to consider:

1. The actual build time. This is the amount of time actively put into building the guitar (all the processes involved with taking raw wood and transforming it into a functional high performance instrument). In the context of a guitar company, this build time might be around two weeks. In the context of an individual luthier, it could be up to around three months, especially if it includes intricate designs and if everything is done by hand. In either case, making custom guitars is very labor intensive and detail oriented. It is a process and it takes time.
   
   
2. The backlog. This is the amount of orders that came in before yours did. Those orders that came in before yours need to be built and delivered before your guitar can get built and delivered. This doesn’t mean that no work is performed on your order until late in the overall timeline. Quite the contrary. In the days immediately after placing your order, design/engineering work and purchasing of all the required materials and components is likely to commence.
   
   
3. The other production needs. Most guitar companies offer production models in addition to their custom shop services. This can mean that a batch (or several batches) of production models need to be built and delivered before your custom guitar can get built and delivered. Some guitar companies address this issue by having separate production teams/lines (one for production models and another for custom builds). Other guitar companies might address this issue by scheduling, for example, one month is focused mostly on production models and the next month is focused mostly on custom orders. The same kind of thing may occur with individual luthiers, although it is more common that luthiers dedicate some of their time to services like guitar repair, maintenance, setup and upgrades/mods. But, the end result is the same - it takes longer than the actual build time to get a custom shop guitar because whoever is making your guitar has other tasks/jobs/projects that demand their time.

How do I ensure that I’ll like the guitar that is built for me?
There’s no way to guarantee it, but there are three things that you definitely want to do in order to increase the likelihood that you’ll ultimately like the custom guitar you receive:

1. You need to know what you like (and what you don’t like) about guitars. It sounds simple (and it is), but it’s not advisable to experiment with a new spec on a custom guitar if you’ve never had first-hand experience with that spec. For example, if you’ve never played a multiscale (fanned fret) guitar, then you should probably go try one before committing to it on a custom shop guitar.
   
   
2. You need to get every little detail (spec) of the guitar down on paper (the way we do this is through a “Full Spec Sheet”) so you and your guitar builder are on the same page as to what’s being built. If you’ve ever purchased a guitar before, you’re probably familiar with general specs that most manufacturers/retailers will list out for you, but when it comes to ordering a custom shop guitar, it can get very detailed and nuanced to the point where even seasoned players don’t know exactly how to define a certain spec. But, don’t worry, because this leads to the third point…
   
   
3. You and your guitar builder need to arrive at a mutual understanding of the guitar’s purpose - that is, what you envision the guitar to do for you as a player. This means you need to communicate and the guitar builder needs to truly understand where you’re coming from. It helps immensely when your guitar builder is also a decent guitar player him/herself, though it’s not necessary and is often not the case. For example, if you’re a jazz player, and you unknowingly select specs that are going to give a thinner sound, the guitar builder should step in and at least bring it to your attention, and perhaps even advise that you change your specs so you can get a fuller sound. Or, if you’re a metal player, and you unknowingly choose some specs that aren’t going to get you the attack and definition you’re aiming for… again, the guitar builder ought to be able to step in and advise you on that fact. When everybody knows what the guitar is intended to do for you musically, then it becomes more likely to happen.

Where do we go from here?
This isn’t the complete rundown of how to buy a custom shop guitar. That would be a much lengthier discussion. What we included here are just the most common questions guitar players ask and we did not want to get overly technical with all the nitty gritty specs and details. That’s not to say that we don’t have more to share.

For example, there are three neck construction methods (bolt on, set neck, neck through body), each with their own pros and cons. And scale lengths - what are they, and how do I choose what’s right for me? How about trim options like binding and purfling (what are they, and do they affect durability?). And the neck, which is the part we come into contact with the most, how do you go about getting a neck that feels right for you? Hint: it’s all about the scale length, nut width, fretboard dimensions, fretboard radius, fret size, neck thickness, neck profile, and even the kind of finish/paint that is applied to the neck.

All these specs and more are detailed in a free guidebook we published called, “How to Order a Custom Guitar.” It’s a comprehensive guide that discusses every customizable aspect of a custom guitar. Anybody interested in buying a custom guitar but is unsure about certain aspects of the guitar’s design will find tremendous value in this guidebook.

WANT A FREE COPY OF THE GUIDEBOOK?
If so, email customshop@haloguitars.com and I'll reply with a PDF of the guidebook.
- Jeff Lee, Halo Custom Guitars