The longer you play and the more you learn about guitars, the clearer your preferences become. You know which model you like, which types of tonewood appeal to you, what the guitar should look like and in your head you can even hear what your dream guitar sounds like. The only thing is: that perfect guitar often doesn't exist yet. Obviously you can wait and hope to some day you run into The One. Or... you can have it built! But ordering a guitar you don't know yet is a big, and often expensive gamble. For anyone who is hesitant about having a Custom Shop Guitar built: this is my story about this leap of faith. Spoiler Alert: it all ends well. Very well.
Who is going to build my Custom Shop Guitar?
If you have ever been to the Guitar Villa in Dedemsvaart then you know: there is an abundance of guitars to choose from.. Martin, Taylor, Lowden, Gibson, McNally, Collings and many, many more brands hang on the wall to watch and play. This offers a great opportunity to find out what suits you, but can also be overwhelming. After a first visit, you might have so many guitars go through your hands that you end up confused.
But if you play guitar for a while, you delve into it a little bit and try guitars more often, then likes and dislikes will automatically appear. For example, you might fall for everything Lowden guitars has to offer. That dreamy sound, the ease with which these guitars handle a different tuning and then that glorious fit and finish; it's all almost impossible to resist.
The boutique guitars made by Kevin Ryan, Collings and many others come eerily close to perfection every single time we see them. And then, of course, there's the iconic Martin Guitars. The brand that has been at the basis of steelstring guitars as we know them today. The brand that gave us the dreadnought, the OM, the X-brace and the brand you hear on thousands of albums. Martin is the benchmark that many builders pursue, but rarely match. And the brand that radiates a certain simplicity and sounds that to me sounds the way a guitar should sound. It is 'just right'.
Choosing a particular brand to build your Custom Guitar is important, because even though a luthier will create a guitar based on your preferences, they all work within a certain bandwidth that suits the style they've developed over the years. So choose a luthier that is already close to something you like. At The Fellowship of Acoustics they have a lot of experience with many different Custom Shops and luthiers, so you can see and hear the differences and discover the styles of a wide array of guitar builders.
Which tonewood for my Custom Shop Guitar?
The possibilities with tonewood combinations are endless and it might help to have a look at the most important properties of the most common types of tone tonewood.
In recent years I regularly played guitars with a torrified top and was always impressed. Using a special treatment, the wood is 'baked' in an oven, which accelerates the aging process. It adds more stability and a more direct, 'drier' sound that resembles a vintage guitar. Because I wanted to build a small all-rounder that I can strum and fingerpick, I was torn for a long time between sitka (easier on the ear, warmer, but also a bit more muddy if you are going to dig in) and adirondack (more power, precision, suitable for strumming, but less friendly and sometimes a bit shrill).
In the end I went for torrified sitka. That doesn't have the overwhelming boom of adirondack, but to me torrefied sitka also sounds just right. Especially combined with mahogany, but here I wanted to add something extra. Something that is more than just right, if only because of the story behind it: sinker mahogany. These are old trees that have been lying at the bottom of the river for decades and have now been reclaimed. Due to this slow aging in extreme conditions, it sounds different and often somewhat richer than 'normal' mahogany. also felt good right away. And I was floored by a second-hand also felt good right away. And I was floored by a second-hand
De afgelopen jaren speelde ik regelmatig op gitaren met een torrefied bovenblad en was daar standaard van onder de indruk. Door een speciale behandeling wordt het hout ‘gebakken’ in een oven en dat versnelt het verouderdingsproces. Het geeft meer stabiliteit en een wat directere, ‘drogere’ klank die iets wegheeft van een vintage gitaar. Omdat ik graag een kleine alleskunner wilde laten bouwen waar ik op kan strummen én fingerpicken heb ik lang getwijfeld tussen sitka (vriendelijker, warmer, maar ook iets sneller rommelig als je gaat strummen) en Adirondack (power, precisie, veel laag, geschikt voor strummen, maar minder vriendelijk en soms een beetje schel). Het werd torrified sitka. Dat heeft niet het overweldigende van adirondack, maar voor mij klinkt torrefied sitka ook gewoon precies goed. Gecombineerd met mahonie, maar dan met iets extra’s. Iets dat dat méér is dan precies goed, alleen al vanwege het verhaal erachter: Sinker Mahogany.Dat zijn oude bomen die decennia lang op de bodem van de rivier hebben gelegen en nu weer zijn opgevist. Door deze langzame veroudering onder extreme omstandigheden klinkt het nét even anders en wat rijker dan ‘gewoon’ mahonie.
Which model Custom Shop Guitar?
I love the full sound of a dreadnought guitar, but the size of this model doesn't really fit me. When I play on it more than an hour, I feel my shoulders. That's why years ago I chose an Orchestra Model that I have enjoyed playing for hours and hours. A great guitar, modern sound, very precise and super reliable. But the desire for a guitar with a different character remained. So I bought that beautiful 'Yesterday' movie guitar, the Martin CEO7 and it was a wonderful addition.
I played several Atkin guitars and was impressed with the sound by default, thanks to the ‘baked’ or torrified Sitka spruce tops. I was bowled over by a second-hand Custom Shop Martin 00018 and fell in love instantly. Great neck, blissful sound, but found the size of the CEO7 just a little more pleasant. I tried a standard 0018 and knew: this model, but with some extra Custom Shop Magic, then it's just right.
Which neck for my Custom Shop guitar?
After the model, the neck of the guitar is, of course, super important. And personal! Do you want a wide or a narrow fingerboard? A long scale for a bit more tension on the strings or a shorter scale to make bends a bit easier? And where the differences seem small on paper (we often talk about millimetres), sometimes the difference feels huge.
Again, the advice is: try! I immediately felt at home on Martin's most popular, easily playable, modern neck: the modern low oval with high performance taper. Other players might be missing some grip and girth, but for me that felt just right..
How do you create a Custom Shop Guitar?
So here's how I got my wish list for the Ultimate Custom Shop Guitar:
- Brand: Martin
- Model: 0018
- Material: Sitka (torrefied) Sinker Mahogany
- Finish: Nitro-cellulose Thin Finish
Dit lijstje maken is een unieke, verrassende reis waar je heel veel plezier aan kunt beleven en dat kost tijd. Hoeveel tijd, is voor iedereen verschillend, maar ik heb daar iets meer dan een half jaar over gedaan, veel gitaren gespeeld, ik ben op mooie plaatsen geweest, heb leuke gesprekken gevoerd en veel geleerd. Niet alleen over wat er te koop is, maar ook over wat mij wel én niet bevalt. Dat maakt het een once-in-a-lifetime experience die véél meer biedt dan ‘gewoon’ een gitaar kopen, want het wordt steeds meer ‘eigen’.
Als je helder voor ogen hebt wat je wilt, kan je een Custom Shop gitaar zelf
The Wait...
Once you have virtually assembled the guitar, you will receive an extensive confirmation and order form with all the details. You sign and agree, pay the deposit and then the least fun part of having a Custom Shop Guitar built begins: the excruciatingly long wait. Through a 'normal' Martin dealer you have to consider waiting times of well over a year. Fortunaly, Expert Dealers get priority treatment, so it takes around 10 months, depending on your wish list.
Can I change anything about my Custom Shop guitar during construction?
While you are waiting for your Martin Custom Shop guitar, in most cases you no longer have any influence on further construction. You only have that with the very exclusive ones. This makes the order form an important document, because what it says is executed and you cannot change it afterwards. Through an Expert Dealer, there are opportunities to get pictures from the Custom Shop in between, but otherwise Martin makes your guitar the way Martin knows is right. While you wait...and wait....
How much does a Custom Shop Guitar cost?
A Martin Custom Shop guitar is not cheap, but if you do it cleverly and with some help from an Expert, the price may not be too bad. You can go as crazy as you like in the Martin Custom Shop, but you don't have to. A slightly different choice of wood or finish generally comes at an extra cost of a few hundred euros over a ‘standard’ Martin.
Final delivery and aftercare
En dan, na 10 lange maanden is het eindelijk zover: een telefoontje van The Fellowship dat mijn Custom Shop 0018 klaar is. Je doet de koffer open en je ogen zien de gitaar die tot dan toe alleen in je hoofd heeft bestaan. Je pakt die hals, die al een beetje voelt als thuiskomen, je slaat een G-Akkoord aan en je weet: dit is meer dan Precies Goed. Dit is Precies Beter!
What to do if you don't like a Custom Shop Guitar?
So that exciting leap of faith was a good idea, because the result exceeds my wildest expectations and it feels like a privilege every day to own and play such a guitar. But what if a Custom Shop guitar is not to my liking? Of course, I also asked Expert Fellow Coen that question before embarking on this adventure. His answer: ‘That hardly ever happens, but if it does, you don't have to buy it. You won't even lose your deposit. In fact, it will be converted into shop credit. Ultimately, we want you to buy a guitar here that you are happy with. If you're not yet, we'll just keep looking.’
Would you like to know more about having a Custom Shop Gitaar built by Martin or an other luthier? Feel free to get in touch by mail, chat or phone. Or visit the magical Guitar Villa in Dedemsvaart. The coffee and the Custom Shop Guitars are ready!
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