8 string builders for $1,500 to $2,000

[sakeido]

Mike's prices are absurdly low for what you get. Everytime I look at one of his guitars I feel like I underpaid BY FAR.

I was surprised at what Mike's price came back as too, its nothing but a good deal considering the kind of specs I was looking for. I actually wish I put in my money with him a long time ago instead of fucking around with a certain guy from overseas. The exchange slide has made it a little more expensive, but shit happens

 

[caughtinamosh]

I totally agree with the latest posts on this thread. Unfortunately, I cannot add a profound elaboration save that I firmly believe that a custom instrument is one of the biggest luxuries a guitarist can ever obtain, and so (s)he should not be afraid to truly splash out. I also firmly believe that custom luthiers should have a right to make a good living, as it's not the most stable of careers, and is undoubtedly hard work.

Mike, I look forward to buying my dream custom eight string from your "vending machine" one day .

 

[eelblack2]

Some people are almost embarrassed to make a profit, which i think is absurd.

Yikes, no embarassment here for N3TDATA, Inc.

 

[darren]

I'm always very impressed when i hear what Mike is charging for his instruments. At first you get a bit of sticker shock if you're used to buying instruments "off the rack", but his prices are more than reasonable considering you're getting a built-to-order instrument made by an absolutely top-notch industry veteran

It's like buying a suit. You can go to Banana Republic and pick a jacket and a pair of pants that fit. But you'll probably have to pay for some alterations to nip and tuck it slightly to suit your build. It'll have cheap plastic buttons, it's likely made in some factory in Asia, and it will probably wear out in a couple of years. Or you can go to a small tailor and have a suit cut and sewn to measure, by hand, by someone who knows how to make it fit you like a glove. And you'll get to pick the fabric, the lining, the buttons, all the little details of how it's made, and maybe even the thread.

Sure, the cheap suit you buy off the rack at a mass-market retailer is going to get the job done. But if you've ever worn a good suit, and i mean a good suit, you know that it looks and feels like a million bucks, and is well worth the expense.

 

[caughtinamosh]

Amen, Darren.

The original topic of luthiers selling custom eights for 1500 - 2000USD seems a million miles away now .

 

[msherman]

Here is another thing to consider. With 7+ stringed instruments, it means more overhead for the luthier. Suppliers sell tuners/ferruls, ect... in sets of six.
When I place my bulk orders with suppliers, I have to stock more than normal to account for the extra strings.

The era of net 30 days are gone with the guitar industry, therefore we have to eat the interest from paying for inventory on the company credit card.

Another example is Lee`s V. I don`t stock gold hardware, and rarely get a asked for it. lee put the hardware color to vote in a thread, and everyone voted for gold hardware.
Being that the guitar is two weeks from completion, I had to purchase two sets of tuners/ferruls to accomidate for one extra string.
As a result, there is an incomplete set of tuners/ferruls floating around the shop.

Last week, the blade on my resaw developed a fracture requiring replacement, $85 for that.

Next time you guys are out and about, stop into a wood store and have a look at the prices on lumber. You can`t just buy a 2' piece of lumber to build one guitar body. You have to buy the whole 8'+ board. I rarely get out of a wood mill spending less than $1000, and it won`t be used for quite some time.

It all adds up rather quickly!

 

[caughtinamosh]

+1 to that Mike

I know from past experiences that upgrading seven string guitars isn't economical due to the need to purchase multiple parts or custom order. For example, I couldn't buy those Steinberger tuners I so dearly wanted because StewMac would only sell them in packs of six !!!

If I find it troublesome and costly to upgrade ONE guitar, it must be nightmarish for you to have to regularly do it. Hell, it must really be a labour of love...

 

[st2012]

Sherman is pretty much out of the question. I just got quoted $3700 for a custom 8. I just cringed when I saw that pirce tag.

If I had the cash for a Sherman (and one day I will) I would gladly pay that much and feel like I'm getting a great deal. It's not like your walking into a Guitar Center and pulling a Telecaster off the wall dude...

 

[hairychris]

+1 on what everyone here has to say. Mike's quote is reasonable to the point of epic undervaluing - I mean, a fairly nice PRS vs a Sherman 8?

Yeah... right...

Then again, talking as a Brit (and as a European too), almost all quality guitars are priced steeply over here. I'm getting an Agile, and making any further calls re: 8 strings when I've had a play with that.

And one day, when the market's a bit better, I may get rid of my own PRS and get another luthier built instrument. However I will know exactly what I want first, and exactly what process I'm getting in to, unlike a couple of the other posters!

 

[El Caco]

Luthiers have to eat too. I believe that the prices of customs in general are too low, it's a result of having to compete with production line guitars. There is no way Oni Dan is making the wage of an average motor Mechanic yet IMO he is at the top of his field, it's not right.

Sure one can compare the value of a production guitar to a custom and it might not seem worth it to step up to the next level. The thing is if you are making the comparison you are really saying that you would be happy with a production guitar and if that's the case perhaps a custom isn't for you.

Other than what has been mentioned there is no comparison because major brands profits work off volume, a production guitar often uses inferior materials and what options do you get? Dan and I talk about a custom he will be building for me one day in the future and at times I throw some specs at him. He once said in response to my specs "it wont be cheap" to which I responded "it's a custom, I'm not going to compromise what I want to save a couple of dollars"

I'd be willing to hand build a custom car/hot rod if someone wanted me too, off the top of my head starting price would be about $50k+ for something basic and could get to over $100k easily. You can go out and buy a car that will do everything you need for a lot less, you could even get a custom (I hesitate to call it that) for less but if you wanted a car that would be built to the standard I would you will have to pay that kind of money and it's not worth the effort for me to do it cheaper. Can I build something for the price China can? No. Would I want to? No. Do I care? No

I also don't care that there are people willing to do the same thing for $4 an hour and I don't care that I am here sitting on my ass here making nothing when I could be out there making a few dollars if I was willing to go back and work for under $10 an hour. Why? Because while Joe is driving around in that awesome car I built him for $15000 I wouldn't be able to afford to maintain my 14 year old car. At least this way I can spend quality time with my kids and Joe can get some other idiot to build it for him and then complain about what a piece of shit he got.

There is another benefit of getting a custom from a good local builder, you are helping your economy, if everyone does it, everyone gets to own better products and eventually gets paid better. If that happened we wouldn't be having discussions about price anymore.

 

[hufschmid]

Luthiers have to eat too. I believe that the prices of customs in general are too low, it's a result of having to compete with production line guitars. There is no way Oni Dan is making the wage of an average motor Mechanic yet IMO he is at the top of his field, it's not right.

Sure one can compare the value of a production guitar to a custom and it might not seem worth it to step up to the next level. The thing is if you are making the comparison you are really saying that you would be happy with a production guitar and if that's the case perhaps a custom isn't for you.

Other than what has been mentioned there is no comparison because major brands profits work off volume, a production guitar often uses inferior materials and what options do you get? Dan and I talk about a custom he will be building for me one day in the future and at times I throw some specs at him. He once said in response to my specs "it wont be cheap" to which I responded "it's a custom, I'm not going to compromise what I want to save a couple of dollars"

I'd be willing to hand build a custom car/hot rod if someone wanted me too, off the top of my head starting price would be about $50k+ for something basic and could get to over $100k easily. You can go out and buy a car that will do everything you need for a lot less, you could even get a custom (I hesitate to call it that) for less but if you wanted a car that would be built to the standard I would you will have to pay that kind of money and it's not worth the effort for me to do it cheaper. Can I build something for the price China can? No. Would I want to? No. Do I care? No

I also don't care that there are people willing to do the same thing for $4 an hour and I don't care that I am here sitting on my ass here making nothing when I could be out there making a few dollars if I was willing to go back and work for under $10 an hour. Why? Because while Joe is driving around in that awesome car I built him for $15000 I wouldn't be able to afford to maintain my 14 year old car. At least this way I can spend quality time with my kids and Joe can get some other idiot to build it for him and then complain about what a piece of shit he got.

There is another benefit of getting a custom from a good local builder, you are helping your economy, if everyone does it, everyone gets to own better products and eventually gets paid better. If that happened we wouldn't be having discussions about price anymore.

+1 that was a nice post s7eve

 

[phaeded0ut]

LOL! Ask a bass guitar player what they think is a "reasonable" price for an instrument, and you'll tack on another $1000.00+ easily and that's for a 4-string, no-frills Fender Jazz bass clone. Let alone if you decide to go a bit esoteric and look for an instrument with a carbon fiber neck, or a whole instrument constructed out of carbon fiber/resin...

Went through this bit of "sticker shock" a few times, coming from the basis of always purchasing used guitars, to finally purchasing the occasional new instrument, to finally purchasing a pair of custom instruments (and hoping to make that a trio in the fairly near future). Also came to the realization that many luthiers do go out of their way to discount portions of their time in the construction/testing/fine tuning of their wares, too.

Again, many thanks to all of the different luthiers in this particular forum for being available for questions and comments!

(On a more basic forum question, "is there a means/way of thanking someone who posted something within a thread, vs. the thread-creator?" Please, shoot me PM on this, as I'd rather not have a simple answer hijack this thread.)

 

[El Caco]

Click the scales on the left.

 

[phaeded0ut]

Thank you!!!

 

[vontetzianos]

Well lets break it down then, Alex. You asked me to quote a guitar exactly like Chris letchford`s guitar which is a $3400 guitar with Nordstrand pickups.

Incidently, I sell quite a few of these and people are quite happy with them.
In fact, I`ve heard the comments many times that the customer feels they have paid too little for the guitar they have received.

Now, your quote request also asked for a Lundgren in the bridge and a Q-tuner in the neck. Being that the Q-tuner is $160, and the Lundgren is $250, that is a $410 pickup upgrade.

I happen to know of several builders offering 8 strings with one piece mahogany bodies, with an oil finish, and charging $3000+ for them.

I would suggest that you do a little leg work and price out an 8 string with other builders and compare prices before you go attacking my pricing structure.

I didn't intend to "attack" your price structure, as you so bluntly put it. The thread asked for 8 strings that are between 1500-2000 dollars, and I'm just saying a quote I received did not fit into that range. If I came off that way, I'm sorry.

 

[gaunten]

I totally agree with most of what's being said, I also asked michael what his starting price on a custom 8 would be, and as much as it was just a wee bit out of my current pricerange, I still thought it was silly cheap from what I've seen and read about his work.

to the OP, check out Roter, is all I have to say


btw, eelblack, mind if I sig this?

Imagine paying for a pack of Cheetos in a vending machine, and 8 bags, 2 King-Size Snickers, a large pizza, a 12 pack of Becks, a half ounce, and several strippers come tumbling down through the shoot - its good like that.