# Suggestion for private Luthier?



## TaylorGA8 (Mar 17, 2009)

I am very interested in exploring the custom/private guitar Luthiers. I have no experience with these guitars and have no idea where to start.

Thanks!


----------



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

www.beneteauguitars.com

www.houseguitars.com

...have both built guitars for me. I'm thrilled with both builders.

There are many others of course, Laskin, Manzer, Schwartz, Threet, etc.

Peace, Mooh.


----------



## henrykuong (Aug 4, 2009)

Really great! This is I need. thank all eveyone 4 shared !
calcul pret assurance simulation taux emprunt 
immobilier - Taux emprunt immobilier. Comparez les offres d’emprunt immobilier, simulation emprunt immobilier, taux emprunt immobiliercalcul pret assurance simulation taux emprunt immobilier


----------



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

http://www.gtlg.org/

Peace, Mooh.


----------



## Stephen W. (Jun 7, 2006)

TaylorGA8 said:


> I am very interested in exploring the custom/private guitar Luthiers. I have no experience with these guitars and have no idea where to start.
> 
> Thanks!


Start by asking yourself the hard questions.
Why a custom? What is it you're looking for that you have not found or can not get in a brand name, off the shelf instrument?
Set a budget. (That's a real tough one!)
Then search the net for Lutheir's that offer that "something" you seek. Don't be afraid to look at some avant-garde builders either. Sometimes that idea you dislike at first becomes the feature you could not live without latter.
Next, travel to meet these builders and play their instruments. Talking face to face, getting answers to specific questions and seeing how and where they build will be some of the most fun you'll have during this whole process. The best way to accomplish the first 2 out those 3 is to attend one of the big shows. Montreal just passed last month. Next is Healdsburg in California.
Visit their websites by clicking on the underlined links


Welcome to the addiction.


----------



## Scottone (Feb 10, 2006)

George Rizsanyi made me a really nice OM guitar.....and delivered pretty much on time.

http://www.rizsanyiguitars.com/

So many great luthiers in Canada


----------



## Mike MacLeod (Nov 27, 2006)

This is just about the most rewarding thing you can do in hunting up a great guitar. I love working with independent builders and Canada has many of the best in the world. Once you've lived with the best of the hand built guitars, you can never really look at the factory instruments the same way again. I hardly ever bother to pick up a modern Martin or a Taylor or Gibson or Larrivee these days. 

Not that these are bad instruments, but it's just that so few of them really inspiring. When you turn out hundreds of instruments a day, you just can't make every instrument a "monster". 

*let the flames begin* !!! 

I might add Ted Thompson, John MacQuarrie (Northwood guitars), and Judy Threet to the mix and there is Robert Armstrong in Victoria who is making guitars for Eric Shoenberg. If you can get to Healdsburg CA this summer the best guitar makers in the world will have their wares on display. I was there several years ago and will go back again. Truly amazing.


----------



## pattste (Dec 30, 2007)

TaylorGA8 said:


> I am very interested in exploring the custom/private guitar Luthiers. I have no experience with these guitars and have no idea where to start.
> 
> Thanks!


The website for the Montreal Guitar Show has a list of luthiers:

http://www.montrealguitarshow.ca/accueil_en.aspx

What kind of guitar are you looking for?


----------



## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

*here are some more*

And if you are serious I can put you in touch with other builders (Off line ), but as mentioned be sure that you really want to go that course, it can get expensive and builders don't mind answering questions as long as you are very serious about something like that.
http://theguitarwall.com/index.php?grid=3
Ship


----------



## Mike MacLeod (Nov 27, 2006)

*correction*

That was Robert Anderson not Armstrong. kqoct


----------



## cougar2 (Mar 10, 2007)

TaylorGA8 said:


> I am very interested in exploring the custom/private guitar Luthiers. I have no experience with these guitars and have no idea where to start.
> 
> Thanks!


TaylorGA8,
I sent you a pm in regards to your question. I am a Luthier and if you have any questions I can fill you in. There are a number of things that you should be looking at when it comes to a custom build. 
First what is your budget?
What are you after for tone, sustain, complex or dry?
What is your playing style?
What is the climate like and Humidity in your home during the winter months? I ask this because there are some woods that are drop dead gorgeous and sound fantastic, Like Ziricote but are prone to cracking and should be avoided if climate and humidity are a problem. 
thanks,
Dennis
www.kwasnyciaguitars.com


----------



## foghorn99 (Apr 28, 2008)

*Tony Karol....*

A friend of mine....was/is a mech engineer, also makes great guitars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnNfyjNR3oM - Tony's promo vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYE5e0BpsXg - Tommy seems to like 'em

-Kent


----------



## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Mooh said:


> Threet,


I went for a private tour of her building studio when I lived in Calgary. Amazing. She has no assistants doing anything. She does everything from tuning the top to cutting purfling.

Her website is a gem too but not apparent until you start clicking around on it to see all of the content.

If money is no object and you don't mind waiting (she only builds 10-12 per year and last time I checked there was a 2 year waiting list) get a Threet. Most people never get a chance to play one but I played one back in 1998 or 1999. Absolutely phenomenal.

I watched very good players who had tried numerous guitars go from 'this is just another guitar' to 'oh my God this feels and sounds incredible!' after playing it. One player spontaneously broke into laughter as she played it. Hard to describe but it simply felt that good.

I asked her how she makes the tiny 45 degree angles in some of the detail work so perfect and she said something along the lines of 'I didn't know anyone else noticed that stuff-I do that for me'. *Such a perfectionist!*


----------



## cougar2 (Mar 10, 2007)

Most Luthiers, Not all, mind you, are perfectionist's. They have to be to have a great product. 
Your spending limit will help determine what Luthier you will end up having make a guitar for you.
Dennis


----------



## Mike MacLeod (Nov 27, 2006)

Judy has been one of my closest friends for well over 30 years. She is truly a unique individual

Judy Threet is remarkable, even among great luthiers. She has a PhD from Stanford (actually in philosophy). She is meticulous to fault. She thinks through every single detail and often comes up with new and better ways of attacking a problem. She had actually stopped taking orders for a while due to the intense demand, but I think she may be taking orders again. At least my wife convinced her to build me a guitar. I had been bemoaning the fact that I had missed the boat on one of Judy's guitars when I was building the business and now they were too expensive. I am still deciding what to have her make.

I do urge you to talk to a number of luthiers. The entire process will be fun. I had my first guitar built by Grit Laskin in 1980 and I enjoyed the 18 month process. The anticipation and research and discussions on materials leading up to the start point was as much fun as anything I've ever done. 

I paid $1K for the guitar in 80 and would have to pay over 10 times that much to day to have the same guitar made by Grit. I think I did well. Judy's guitars are in the same class (and her inlay is not far away).

That's Judy, of course, but there are literally hundreds of fine builders just in Canada alone. I had a songwriter (she had an international number 1 hit a few years back) call me to tell me her new Thompson had brought tears to her eyes when she realized she had been fighting her current guitar (a top level factory guitar) for years to pull songs out of it.

Have fun. The hunt should be as much fun as the 'kill'.


----------



## xuthal (May 15, 2007)

foghorn99 said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYE5e0BpsXg - Tommy seems to like 'em
> 
> -Kent


I like how he lets those harmonics ring out.Great sounding guitar tookksjur


----------

