Custom build buyers remorse - what did you get wrong?

[Drax]

High cost and long lead times - custom builds are ripe for disappointment. 

There's been a few here recently - faultless bass arrives and it’s just not what you’d hoped for. It’s an expensive lesson.  

Years back had a custom build from US - specced woods but naively left selecting exact pieces to the luthier, he’d done other basses in this wood and I’d ‘assumed’ would look the same. My fault, and my money. Hoped I'd warm to it but sold within a year for half what I’d paid. 

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give anyone embarking on a custom build? 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Drax

[thedontcarebear]

I've done this a few times, three times with basses from UK builders, and once for an amp from a UK company (that was for guitar though).  I was pretty disappointed with them all in the end - the amp just wasn't suited to what I played, even though I'd spoke to them a lot, and the basses were works of art, especially two of them which were all very "woody" but just didn't play as good as other basses I owned.

I am sure the basses all found good homes, and one of them I would maybe buy back again if the opportunity arose, but I cannot see me ordering anything custom again.

[Black Coffee]

The only remorse I have from my acg custom build is that I had a domestic cash flow crisis and had to sell it about 8 weeks after I got it.  

 

If the person I sold it to ever decided to move it on I’d jump at the chance to have it back. 

does this answer count ?

[GuyR]

I wonder what proportion of custom builds are with the original owner?

I am not generally a seller, but moved my custom build on after 6 years. I simply preferred other similar basses so it wasn't getting any use.

I have played other basses by the same maker I much preferred to the one I received. Nothing wrong with the spec, just the natural variation you get between otherwise near identical instruments. I was fortunate enough to get my outlay back, minus shop commission, when I sold. 

Buying any bass sight unseen is risky. Adding the element of uncertainty in speccing something where you have never tried all the ingredients together previously increases the uncertainty. The element of guesswork combined with the natural variation in the woods/other components means you would be fortunate to get exactly what you hoped for. On the plus side (my preferred outlook) you could get something better you didn't know you wanted, but of course the opposite could as easily be the case.

None of this will be sufficient to deter me from trying again.

 

Edited August 26, 2020 by GuyR

[El Capo]

Yep, Gordon Smith about 20 years ago...custom order, my exact specs...and I hated it!

[Beedster]

Part of the problem with customs builds is the anticipation/reality gulf. We're anticipating something extraordinary, but it can only ever be a bass guitar, the rate limiter being that in most cases even the most expensive example is made of the same materials (wood and metal), of the same dimensions, and built to the same functional criteria as nearly all other bass guitars. So, whilst we're expecting something amazing (after all, we designed it to suit our personal needs and a craftsman hand built it over months, even years), we tend to get what is to all intents just another bass guitar, and we tend be disappointed, at least a little. It's the opposite reasons to why people say how amazing Squiers and Harley Bentons are, largely because they exceed our expectations. 

[uk_lefty]

I've often considered a custom but the problem for me is the sheer number of options. I'd like a really nice fretless, but then again I asked a company who makes Fender relic type things if they'd do me a Telecaster bass, 70s style, luckily for my wallet they don't do lefties. The other day I even thought "well, I should get an 8 string really!" because you can't buy them anywhere so why not have an 8 string (octaves) bass? Then I realised, I'll never use it except for messing about for five minutes at a time at home. 

I'm still tempted to have a nice fretless built though... 

 

[Beedster]

13 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

I've often considered a custom but the problem for me is the sheer number of options. I'd like a really nice fretless, but then again I asked a company who makes Fender relic type things if they'd do me a Telecaster bass, 70s style, luckily for my wallet they don't do lefties. The other day I even thought "well, I should get an 8 string really!" because you can't buy them anywhere so why not have an 8 string (octaves) bass? Then I realised, I'll never use it except for messing about for five minutes at a time at home. 

I'm still tempted to have a nice fretless built though... 

 

Ha ha, lucky escape. But seriously, they don't do lefties, did they miss that module at luthier school You need to start a Lefties Basses Matter movement)!

Best way to do a custom build of a Fender spec bass (IMO of course) is via Warmoth, Allparts or similar. They do lefties, the quality is extremely high, and you can spec pretty much anything you could spec into a custom build. You will however have to put it all together, including the electrics, which I know for some is a challenge

[binky_bass]

I've had two custom basses made, one being Binky the 10 string, made by Bee Basses out in the States and one being made by ACG. Both basses started in my head as one thing, then with guidance from the luithers as to what, from their experience of building, will yield the best results, ended as another. Both builds involved extensive communication with the builder, regular photo updates and confirmations of me being happy with various woods etc before anything was cut as well as them trying as best they could to create the bass as the instrument I had in mind based on the conversation had prior to build. 

For me, both basses turned out absolutely beautifully and will never be sold on. Maybe I'm lucky, but I do think that with you asking the right questions, and a luthier capable of understanding your questions and taking you through each build stage, you are likely to end up with the bass you want. 

If you give a luthier free reign, then there's little point going custom as it won't be made to your exact wants. 

[uk_lefty]

36 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Ha ha, lucky escape. But seriously, they don't do lefties, did they miss that module at luthier school You need to start a Lefties Basses Matter movement)!

Best way to do a custom build of a Fender spec bass (IMO of course) is via Warmoth, Allparts or similar. They do lefties, the quality is extremely high, and you can spec pretty much anything you could spec into a custom build. You will however have to put it all together, including the electrics, which I know for some is a challenge

Yeah I think they use pre made parts and they route, assemble and relic to order, helps keep the costs sensible. I could go to Nash or someone but I don't want to pay in body parts. 

Always drooled over Warmoth, currency conversion and taxes don't make it viable at the moment though. 

[Matt P]

I have a custom (ish) 5 string that i had made by Letts a while back (just as their relations with Basschat were falling apart) it was actually a neck that had been started for another Basschatters order that was then changed (it might have been @binky_bass possibly) and a body blank that had been started (luckily it was i the wood combination that i would have chosen anyway). the bass wasn't exactly what i had ordered but was fairly close, I wanted a workhorse passive 5 and that's what was delivered, the pickups weren't what i had asked for and the neck was a bit on the chunky side but it's been my go-to bass ever since and if i had another bass built i think it would have the same neck profile as it feels so right now.

i may be in the minority of people that have kept their custom basses but i think i just got lucky this time.

 

I would definitely buy another custom bass but probably from @Andyjr1515 as i really like his work, unfortunately i'm pretty skint and that isn't likely to change in the near future.

Matt

[Roger2611]

I briefly owned an Adam Thompson (local builder to Northants) fretless bass in the 80's I was told it was a custom build for someone who didn't get on with it, it was based around a Thunderbird shape but with a longer headstock and a more pronounced shaped body, it played really well and sounded great but the total killer for it was is was so big that no case existed at the time that could hold it! I soon realised it was pretty much unusable as it couldn't be transported safely, I was told by the shop selling it that the original owner had paid close to £1000.00 for the original build, I paid £250.00 for it and sold it a few months later for £200.00.

So for those planning their next design, ensure it will either fit in a case or that it is supplied with one that fits the bass! 

[binky_bass]

@Matt P, wouldn't of been me sir! 

I didn't abandon any of my builds with Jon, it took the threat of legal action to get him to provide what was contractually agreed, but eventually he provided. Albeit with shoddy craftsmanship and terrible homemade pickups. If you got a playable instrument out of him you should absolutely count yourself lucky because A: you actually got an instrument and B: it's playable. I don't count his firewood as being part of my short list of instruments I've had made for me. 

[DaytonaRik]

I had a relic Limelight built and me spec was 'make it look as if Phil Lynott was alive and had been playing this P bass all his life still' - the result was superb!  I could be tempted to get Rob from Brooks to make me a custom black flame top Thunderbird, very similar to the Gibson Blackwater/older Joe Perry Les Paul models finish.  

[Paul S]

I went for the middle ground and had a bass made by Adrian Maruszczyk via his custom shop configurator.  Choices are not infinite but more than enough to get a bass that suited me - a lightweight 5 string Precision with a narrow neck.  Fender didn't make one so this was perfect.  At every stage you get plenty of options for material and finish for body, neck, fingerboard, neck markers, binding, headstock, frets, hardware, electrics, bridge.  So not exactly an actual custom made bass as it is made within certain parameters, but you end up with a bass that is pretty exactly as you specify for a good deal less than an actual custom shop job.  Mine arrived on my doorstep after a 3 month wait and cost a whisker under £1500 including delivery, a SKB hard case and leather strap.

I couldn't be happier with it, I must say.  But then I quite like my basses to be traditional shapes.  If I wanted one of those cartoon whale single cuts or something that looks like a piece from a jig-saw puzzle this route wouldn't suit.

[DaytonaRik]

5 minutes ago, Paul S said:

I went for the middle ground and had a bass made by Adrian Maruszczyk via his custom shop configurator. 

Indeed - this is something that I could be tempted by.  His Phoenix T'bird is lovely!

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I don’t think I’ve had any remorse over a custom build, yet. I had a Stingray put together which you would be unlikely to find another of, so I guess that counts as custom. That’s a great bass and a keeper. I had a Limelight Precision made as a clone of John Deacon’s Live Aid bass. That’s also going nowhere. I’m now having a crack at putting a bass together myself. We’ll see how that goes.

[Happy Jack]

I've owned loads of custom builds, but they were all built for other people so I do understand what this topic is all about!

The two honest-to-God commissioned-by-me-to-my-own-specs custom builds that I have ordered are still with me and are HUGELY unlikely to be going anywhere else.

In truth, and in the interests of full disclosure, both basses have things that I could nit-pick about if I wanted, things the builder got 'wrong'. These issues (I can hardly bring myself to describe them as 'faults') are always going to happen unless you spend the entire build in the luthier's workshop, looming over his bench and preventing him from deciding anything for himself.°

In my (limited) experience the killer factor is whether or not you have a clear purpose for the instrument. Commissioning an instrument as a 50th birthday present to yourself, or because you like the luthier or something, is IMHO doomed to end in failure and disappointment. My two were both very specific orders to meet very specific needs.

 

 

º Other genders of luthier are available.

 

[uk_lefty]

I contacted a builder a few years back and offered to go to the workshop with all my basses and talk through what I like or don't like about them and give them a link to clips of my playing. Seemed like the best way to get somewhere rather than me send a drawing or make an unrealistic or unworkable shopping list of stuff. He was open to the idea but finances prevented it from going further than a few emails, sadly. 

[BigRedX]

Remorse?

None whatsoever. I've had two custom guitars and two basses made especially for me, I also own a custom bass that wasn't built for me but has been back to the person who made it for modifications to make it more suitable for my use.

Of all of these only one has been sold and that's because the musical project it was built for is now over and given the sorts of bands I'm playing with at the moment, and I'm likely to be playing with for the foreseeable future, I can't see myself using it for anything more than noodling at home, which IMO is a waste of a musical instrument, so it has been moved on to someone who will use it. The money is being used to fund a new custom bass for one of my current musical projects.

[LeftyJ]

I have never had a custom instrument made for me, but I did have some modifications done to factory instruments with mixed results. These were nearly all electronics mods, so easily reversible. The one that comes to mind that REALLY disappointed me was the addition of an Audere JZ3D preamp to my 1975 Jazz Bass reissue. It changed the character of the bass, even with the controls flat (less bottom end with the EQ flat, and slight compression), and added a huge amount of control options that I never used. Being a lefty, the one thing that annoyed me most, though, and which I hadn't taken into consideration when ordering the preamp from Audere, was the controls all worked in the opposite direction of what I was used to, including the pan pot! It worked so counter-intuitive that I absolutely hated the bass and stopped playing it entirely. It's a great bass though, so after sitting in a rack for months I decided to have it changed back to passive, with a regular VVT setup again, but I did have an active bass boost added - because I decided the only controls I ever use on an active bass are bass boost and high cut. It's absolutely perfect now. 

[TheGreek]

I seem to be the exception to the rule - of the three custom builds I've had built for me I still have all three. Admittedly one comes out very rarely but the two that @Andyjr1515 built for me get used regularly and are firm favourites with visitors to my home.

I've actually been more disappointed by factory basses. My first Ray (1996, mutes and figured maple) was a dream to play but I sold it here to fund something else. Shortly after I bought a 2006 to replace it, seriously disappointing - none of the previous assets and felt "average".

Recently bought a G&L M2000, loved it but sold it as part of my downsizing - sellers remorse so bought a G&L Jazz - didn't have the same "oomph".

[Matt P]

1 hour ago, binky_bass said:

@Matt P, wouldn't of been me sir! 

I didn't abandon any of my builds with Jon, it took the threat of legal action to get him to provide what was contractually agreed, but eventually he provided. Albeit with shoddy craftsmanship and terrible homemade pickups. If you got a playable instrument out of him you should absolutely count yourself lucky because A: you actually got an instrument and B: it's playable. I don't count his firewood as being part of my short list of instruments I've had made for me. 

Ahh, I know it was one of the members on here but can't remember exactly who, i don't think it was an abandoned build, rather that the spec was changed considerably (loads more strings than the 5 the neck was made for) and the blank had been glued up already so another was started and the neck i have was left over so a cheapish build was available.

I do consider myself quite lucky that i got a playable bass in the end, it took about twice the time than was originally quoted and the collection experience itself wasn't great but I've had it fettled by a local expert and it plays fine.

I think that the reason i actually got a bass was partly down to the fact that it was partly made from abandoned parts from other builds so there wasn't much work required to get it together (but it did take forever to get it built despite the ready-made nature of some of the parts)

I will leave the conversation now as i know how much of a sore point the whole thing is for so many members. 

[Hellzero]

The first thing to keep in mind is this : Are you dealing with a luthier or an assembler ?

If it's a luthier, you are on the right path, but you'll have to exactly know what you want or you'll be totally disappointed by the end result as it won't be what you're waiting for, but the luthier bass he wanted to build at that moment.

So at first you need to meet in the flesh and talk a lot. Then tell all you know about the instrument you want and let the luthier explain you the end result step by step. If he can't, he doesn't know his job.

If you feel confident, push the start button. If you don't, put the eject (and give me the tape 😉 ).

I commissionned 5 basses by (most of you already know the name) Christophe LEDUC and still have 2, the last one still being made, so it'll make 3.

The first one was a full maple MNV derived fiver that's been stolen within the week I got it in the late 80's. Yes, stinky poo happens. No remorse at all as I wanted a sixer, so looks like karma did its job here.

So I ordered that crazy sixer (I designed the body shape on blue print) with a Vigier Nautilus preamp. I got it 6 months later, but the preamp wasn't reliable at all, so it was removed and turned into a passive with a Brazilian rosewood plate to hide all the holes (and there's a lot). I was quite happy with the bass this way, but wanted a fretless, so ordered a fretless neck (maple and ebony) that was fitted to it. Terrific bass that now belongs to Hadrien Féraud as I sold it, because the maple body on a fretless was too much...

Then I ordered my third one with extraordinary AAAA grade woods (called Master Grade tone woods by the classical luthiers, so the best of the best. I know some are going higher up to 15A, but it's just masturbation as it doesn't exist...) : a headless fiver fretless with Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, flamed maple neck, flamed pear tree at the back, flamed maple for the top with veneers of mahogany between each different woods, and the Octavio ramp (a ramp including the pickups). A true masterpiece and fantastic sounding. Hélas, after a year or so I developed a left arm multi tendinitis and decided to sell it to a friend. It took more than a year to get rid of this multi tendinitis and I had to completely stop playing hence the selling of the bass (it was the time when I only had one bass) for health reasons. I tried many times to buy it back, but my friend doesn't want to sell it at all.

And I ordered my fourth one : that sixer EUB called Moaï that is still here as it's exactly what I wanted. It took seven (yes 7) years to reach home. The first year was only meeting and talking about the project, then we started to build. I say we, because it was a two deranged minds idea. I'll never sell it.

The fifth one is a totally custom sixer U-Basse fretless that I'll keep forever too when I get it.

And my main instrument is a sixer headed Masterpiece fretless made exactly at the same time than my fiver with quite the same extraordinary Master Grade tone woods. a tone monster that I'm playing for so many years that it has become an extension of myself.

No regrets at all !

I've been chasing the stolen one for decades, but it never resurfaced. 

The Leduc Nautilus was a mistake, but once turned into a fretless, it was a really terrific sounding one, but the maple body is not a good idea for a fretless...

All in all, I'll do it again with that fantastic luthier (and friend) called Christophe LEDUC.

[binky_bass]

I spoke to Leduc, he told me he hates you. 😜

 

 

 

(P.S. it was me that stole your bass, and yes a Delorean was involved...)