Members thom Posted August 28, 2013 Members Share Posted August 28, 2013 I've contacted a luthier, asked about building me a Wal MKII copy. I told him what I'd like ecaxtly, and tried to get a rough price qoute, maybe with options/extra's.... Not totally unexpected he didn't give me a stright answer...But he asked me what my budget was, so he could tell me hof far it would get me:sSound like he doesn't have fixed rates or anything, like he just plans on charging me whatever my max budget is, regardless of the instrument's specs...:sIs this a normal way of price negotiating for a custom guitar/bass, am I being paranoid over nothing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chunky-b Posted August 28, 2013 Members Share Posted August 28, 2013 There are a few people on here that build custom instruments... (BeetL? )Maybe they will be along soon to answer your questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lz4005 Posted August 28, 2013 Members Share Posted August 28, 2013 If you can agree on a reasonably detailed spec list (neck construction, woods, electronics, etc) he should be able to give you an estimate. +- 10 or 20% at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thom Posted August 28, 2013 Author Members Share Posted August 28, 2013 lz4005 wrote: If you can agree on a reasonably detailed spec list (neck construction, woods, electronics, etc) he should be able to give you an estimate. +- 10 or 20% at least. Yeah, exactly, that's what I figured. I pretty much told him I was after a copy that was as close as possible to the real thing in every way, except for a couple of small cost cutting differences. I said I wasn't sure about the wood yet, and asked for his opinion on a somewhat affordable option or two. I would think that that should make it possible to make give me a ball park price at the very least.Either way I should try to find some other builders and prices before I bite the bullit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators isaac42 Posted August 29, 2013 Moderators Share Posted August 29, 2013 thom wrote: I've contacted a luthier, asked about building me a Wal MKII copy. I told him what I'd like ecaxtly, and tried to get a rough price qoute, maybe with options/extra's.... Not totally unexpected he didn't give me a stright answer...But he asked me what my budget was, so he could tell me hof far it would get me:s Sound like he doesn't have fixed rates or anything, like he just plans on charging me whatever my max budget is, regardless of the instrument's specs...:s Is this a normal way of price negotiating for a custom guitar/bass, am I being paranoid over nothing? I'm guessing that you're right, but not the way you might think. I'm thinking that he doesn't want to quote you a figure way outside your budget and scare you off. Rather, he wants to find out what you're willing to spend, then give you as much of what you want as he can at that price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thom Posted August 29, 2013 Author Members Share Posted August 29, 2013 isaac42 wrote: thom wrote: I've contacted a luthier, asked about building me a Wal MKII copy. I told him what I'd like ecaxtly, and tried to get a rough price qoute, maybe with options/extra's.... Not totally unexpected he didn't give me a stright answer...But he asked me what my budget was, so he could tell me hof far it would get me:s Sound like he doesn't have fixed rates or anything, like he just plans on charging me whatever my max budget is, regardless of the instrument's specs...:s Is this a normal way of price negotiating for a custom guitar/bass, am I being paranoid over nothing? I'm guessing that you're right, but not the way you might think. I'm thinking that he doesn't want to quote you a figure way outside your budget and scare you off. Rather, he wants to find out what you're willing to spend, then give you as much of what you want as he can at that price.Yeah I thought about that too. I'm just gonna tell him how much I can spend, so I can still compare his proposel to another luthier's spec list... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Perfessor Posted September 5, 2013 Members Share Posted September 5, 2013 isaac42 wrote: thom wrote: I've contacted a luthier, asked about building me a Wal MKII copy. I told him what I'd like ecaxtly, and tried to get a rough price qoute, maybe with options/extra's.... Not totally unexpected he didn't give me a stright answer...But he asked me what my budget was, so he could tell me hof far it would get me:s Sound like he doesn't have fixed rates or anything, like he just plans on charging me whatever my max budget is, regardless of the instrument's specs...:s Is this a normal way of price negotiating for a custom guitar/bass, am I being paranoid over nothing? I'm guessing that you're right, but not the way you might think. I'm thinking that he doesn't want to quote you a figure way outside your budget and scare you off. Rather, he wants to find out what you're willing to spend, then give you as much of what you want as he can at that price.It might be a little of both. Anyone I have discussed custom basses with gave me a ballpark figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zon5string Posted September 6, 2013 Members Share Posted September 6, 2013 The only "custom" instrument I've had built was merely assembled from parts. The luthier didn't actually make any of it. Warmoth body & neck, Hipshot tuners, Badass bridge, EMGs.... He just charged me MSRP for all the pieces and that was his profit for labor. And, it was exactly what I asked for and came in just under $1000, which was my budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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