Recommend an acoustic luthier

[malphas]

Here is what I'm looking for:

Left handed acoustic baritone
26.5" or 27" scale length
Tuned to B standard

Anybody here know a good luthier who could build such an animal for a reasonable price? By reasonable, I mean $2000~ or less. I've looked into it somewhat and prices for a custom acoustic don't seem to be within what I'm willing to pay. I hope someone here knows of some different options other than what I have found otherwise this will be a fleeting idea.

 

[SirMyghin]

Custom acoustics typically cost more than custom electrics (acoustics are harder to make). That said you would be hard pressed to get a custom electric for that. If you really want one, I would say keep on saving.

 

[Trespass]

Reasonable price? You do realize to build a decent acoustic guitar is going to require a ton of work hours. You're going to be paying that guy like $4-5/hr at that price, not counting the R&D to design bracing to compensate for because it's a baritone.

Seriously, find a guy in your area that's building acoustic guitars and ask him what he makes per hour.

 

[Explorer]

By reasonable, I mean $2000~ or less. I've looked into it somewhat and prices for a custom acoustic don't seem to be within what I'm willing to pay. I hope someone here knows of some different options other than what I have found otherwise this will be a fleeting idea.

As has been noted, this might well be a fleeting idea.

The least expensive non-custom acoustic baritone is probably the 6-string from Taylor, which retails around $3k in right-handed. I'm fairly certain they will do a left-handed for a nominal upcharge.

Santa Cruz? Lowden? Quite a bit more.

Takamine and other lower-cost acoustic guitar makers haven't started making baritones yet, and most luthiers build instruments which will sell easily (if building without a custom order). There is a definite difference between making an electric guitar and an acoustic, and being a real luthier takes a bit more skill than assembling an electric.

With that said, though...

Peavey announced that it bought up Composite Acoustics, which went broke a few years ago. Composite Acoustics had a baritone which sold for around $1700, and CA did make left-handed instruments as well.

I don't know how the new CA instruments will be priced, but it's possible that they'll fall into your price range.

And, of course, Emerald Guitars, which are also composite construction, make an acoustic bass guitar which sells for $2k. You might try dropping Alistar an email and asking for a price. There was a recent thread here about a custom Emerald 9-string acoustic, to which Alistar contributed.

Good luck!

 

[StratoJazz]

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