Who are your favorite boutique luthiers?

[Andromalia]

I don't have a "favourite" since I own only one guitar made by a boutique brand, but my Amfisound is up there with every other high budget brands. I've owned it for something like 12 or 13 years at this point ?

 

[lost_horizon]

Barlow Guitars:

Handcrafted Boutique Electric Guitars, Rare and Exotic Tonewoods, USA Made - Barlow Guitars

Barlow Guitars instruments are expertly handcrafted in Long Island, NY, U.S.A. to your personal specifications offering exceptional playability and tone.

barlowguitars.com

Ruokangas:

Hellcat Custom 7

This guitar is a good example of what the term ‘custom guitar’ really means. I am happy and honoured that he chose us to translate his dream into reality.

ruokangas.com

 

[jaxadam]

Ibanez RG570 w/ 18 V mod EMG 81 S 60.

 

[Taikatatti]

Manninen Custom Instruments here in Finland. Not even considering ordering from other builders. I have 3 of his builds and Juho is great to work with.

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[Fret Me Nought]

Barlow Guitars:

Handcrafted Boutique Electric Guitars, Rare and Exotic Tonewoods, USA Made - Barlow Guitars

Barlow Guitars instruments are expertly handcrafted in Long Island, NY, U.S.A. to your personal specifications offering exceptional playability and tone.

barlowguitars.com

Ruokangas:

Hellcat Custom 7

This guitar is a good example of what the term ‘custom guitar’ really means. I am happy and honoured that he chose us to translate his dream into reality.

ruokangas.com

Barlow and Roukangas are some of the best in the game! I just listened to a podcast with Juha and he seems like a really interesting guy. A true industry vet

 

[Fret Me Nought]

I don't have a "favourite" since I own only one guitar made by a boutique brand, but my Amfisound is up there with every other high budget brands. I've owned it for something like 12 or 13 years at this point ?

I hadn't heard of them until now. I gave them a Google and really like what I see. They make some awesome Vs

 

[Fret Me Nought]

Some great stuff has already been mentioned, so to not repeat:

Michael Sankey

Chris Forshage

Steve Klein

Tao Guitars

Sankey makes some super unique instruments. I love the aesthetics of Tao Guitars, but I'm not familiar with the other names. I'll have to look into them. Thanks!

 

[Fret Me Nought]

Some great stuff has already been mentioned, so to not repeat:

Michael Sankey

Chris Forshage

Steve Klein

Tao Guitars

Sankey makes some super unique instruments. I love the aesthetics of Tao Guitars, but I'm not familiar with the other names. I'll have to look into them. Thanks!

 

[Fret Me Nought]

Love Sankey's work, almost more like modern art than instruments. Not quite on the heavier music tip though.

Forshage is awesome, can basically build anything, and he's done 7-strings and heavy metal ready guitars.

The only guitars I've seen from Forshage are his original shapes. They are interesting, but not quite my style. I'll have to try and dig up some of his 7-string builds

 

[Fret Me Nought]

Dean Gordon for sure, he's already gotten some mentions here. Probably the coolest and most ergonomic designs you can find right now.

Check out Stradi: https://stradi.pl/

Also Sully Guitars -- classic shapes but built to impeccable quality.

Yeah I do love Dean's work. He seems to have quite a few fans on here. Sully makes some cool stuff too. I've been following him for a while.

 

[Fret Me Nought]

Take a look at these two posts I made recently.

Current Custom Brands

So I guess all the brands I used to lust after in the custom world are kind of gone now? I can't hardly find anything about Oakland Axe Factory, Xen, or Ran anywhere. What happened? I have never, and am not in the position to purchase customs, but I like looking. Who are the builders now that...

www.sevenstring.org

Current Custom Brands

So I guess all the brands I used to lust after in the custom world are kind of gone now? I can't hardly find anything about Oakland Axe Factory, Xen, or Ran anywhere. What happened? I have never, and am not in the position to purchase customs, but I like looking. Who are the builders now that...

www.sevenstring.org

That's quite the list on there! You might really like my Instagram page @fret_me_nought. I've posted almost every single one of those brands

 

[Fret Me Nought]

Manninen Custom Instruments here in Finland. Not even considering ordering from other builders. I have 3 of his builds and Juho is great to work with.

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That's a new one for me. I'll have to look into his work. Thanks for the input!

 

[spudmunkey]

I see a lot of Arda guitars on social media, but I know nothing about them. They might even only have3-4 body shapes, but I dig em a bit. They photograph well, at least. https://www.instagram.com/arda_guitars/

Are Acacia guitars any good? Some of their shapes are pretty neat. https://www.instagram.com/acaciaguitars/

 

[MetalDaze]

I heard that unfinished BRJ's on eBay are the bomb

 

[vark]

I just saw his stuff thanks to this thread. Did you get the Burl one he posted FS a few weeks ago?

yes sir

 

[Fret Me Nought]

I see a lot of Arda guitars on social media, but I know nothing about them. They might even only have3-4 body shapes, but I dig em a bit. They photograph well, at least. https://www.instagram.com/arda_guitars/

Are Acacia guitars any good? Some of their shapes are pretty neat. https://www.instagram.com/acaciaguitars/

I've heard great things about Arda Guitars. Acacia makes some really amazing looking stuff, but I've heard some not so good things about the brand itself

 

[SalsaWood]

Acacia's Cronus and carved top headless models look very compelling to me. Their site is having some issues and I can't find any prices, though. I'm guessing they probably start at around 4k$ USD and go up. That's about the bracket I see comparable outfits selling their guitars for.

 

[Musiscience]

They've been mentioned before, but it's just so easy to recommend Tom Anderson, Suhr and Vigier. Plus you know you're going to get a guitar when ordering.

 

[soliloquy]

No experiences with them. Always loved the way their Isabella guitar looked. Based on the prices, I would have assumed they are favorable guitars. Online community gives them variable reviews. Some warranted, others get the 'ick' from their religious angle

Warrior Instruments

Warrior Instruments

warriorinstruments.com

 

[mikah912]

Maybe this is a bit "homer"-ish of me, but Hinnant guitars right here in Georgia are spectacular and pretty nicely priced, comparatively speaking. They also happen to be gorgeous: