Official Luthiers Forum!

Greetings All!

After careful consideration, I have decided that I should give serious thought to having a luthier craft an instrument. I'm willing to look into having one made, as I do believe that for the price of the guitar I was considering purchasing I can have one made that will be of equal/superior quality and truly be a custom guitar. Can anyone recommend any luthiers in the San Antonio-Austin-Houston area that have experience with electric-acoustics/acoustics with built in pick-ups? (Prefer San Antonio-Austin as they're closer to me) I'm willing to travel to meet them personally at their place of business and hopefully be able to see/hear some of their work.

Thanks In Advance!

Well If you don't mind waiting till after The christmas holidays I would be willing to have you over. However I am out in the desert Of West Texas (Odessa). I would be willing to meet half way on a weekend. In the mean time if you would PM me you email I will email you presentation CD in Microsoft Powerpoint format and if you don't have Powerpoint I will include a free viewer or give me you address and I will mail you a CD of it.

I encourage you to get Michael to build you a very fine instrument, i've seen his craftmanship here on the OLF when he shows his gorgeous guitars, very refined craftmanship and no, i do not get paid for this!

Serge

Garsh

Ya deserve it Michael!

I can honestly say that if you are going to buy ONE instrument, buy Michael's! If you're going to buy TWO, I have one for sale on my website!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Yes, go with Michael!

BTW - Congratulations on your decision. I know it is a hard one. You are going to have so much fun picking out woods and purfling and size and everything else that goes into a guitar. Heck, I'm getting excited just thinking about how much fun you are going to have.SteveS39034.7992476852

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

That is a hard recommendation to answer here on a guitar makers forum you must understand.

There is another great (IMO) Texas builder here at the OLF. John Kinnard would also build you a great guitar. I don't know the geography of Texas so I can't say who is closer. Also, I appologize to any of the other OLFer's in the Texas area (as this is where * has asked for builders from) I don't know where everyone here is located.

This would be a hard decision for me to make, but I would have to say that you wouldn't be disappointed in any way by either Michael or John's guitars. What they have posted here over the years has been nothing less than spectacular.Rod True39034.8375

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Little Big Man,
I would definitely check out Michael, since he is close to you. I would also
recommend checking out some of the luthiers sponsors at the APM
forum. I personally feel that all of those guys can build you a guitar that
will more than meet your expectations. Also, you might consider looking
for a used handmade guitar. If you familiarize yourself with some of the
makers, you just might be able to snag one up for a really good price
used.

Here is a link to the APM forum - the sponsors are at the top of the page.

http://www.acousticplayermagazine.com/forum/

Here is another link from the 13th fret website that lists a larger number
of luthiers. Some of these guys/girls are very well-known and might be
out of your price range. But I am sure that there is somebody out there
who has the look and sound that you would really love:

http://13thfret.com/luthiers.shtml

Take your time and really research your options.

Best of luck friend,
Simon

John Kinnard moved to South Carolina, but Steve Kinnard his brother lives in Nacogdoches, Texas which is in East Texas on the Louisiana border or thereabouts. Steve does build a really nice guitar for sure, I have visited his shop and seen his work up close and personal. MichaelP would also be a great choice.

There are many great Luthiers here on the OLF to pick from, but only a few in Texas IMHO. With email and digital photos at your fingertips, shop around.

Good Luck and you made the right decision!

Mike

guy I am earnestly flattered, Thank you. Little Big Man what Rod and Simon said is very sound advice Though it is Steve Kinnard, Johns brother that lives in east Texas. A fabulous Luthier. Notice the capital "L" in luthier. Seriously though check out many luthiers. Call them and talk to them for a bit. Get a feel for the person. understand how they work. Some build specif models with specific features, Some like me will do darn near anything you want as long as it does not compromise the instrument. Some of us can turn an instrument around in a short time spans, some of us have back logs. Some of us are still cutting our teeth as far as commission building is concerned Some of us are truly worthy of the earned title Mater Luther, though none will likely profess to it.

Things to look out for is track record but don't discount newer builder solely on their time in the craft. Often you can get an excellent instrument for a fraction of the cost that the more experienced builder would require. That said experience is still golden in this craft. but also understand that you pay for experience.

Look out for a builder that does not ask a lot of questions of you. knowing what a perspective client is looking for is hard to determine from an order form. knowing the style of you play and the type of music and settings you play in is likely to give the luthier clues as to what woods, body styles and set ups to use.

It is a vastly different thing to commission a hand crafted instrument than to go to a music store and buy or order one. It is many times more involved than most ever expect.

A good luthier will give you any info you ask for concerning the guitar you plan to have built. Most of us that build customer spec ed commissions will spend many hours considering the issues and spec of what you asked for. Don't be surprised if we turn you down on some combinations or specifications. There may be some things you think you would like that just will not work together well. and a Craftsman worth his weight in salt will let you know.

More than anything involve yourself into the process. I promise you will walk away with a much greater understanding of what make and instrument great and how it happens.

Oh and don't let the price fool you. We make peanuts on our labor. Well maybe not if you name is Olsen or Cumpiano. But I can testify that, The Payne shop has more peanut shells on its floor than green backs in its bank MichaelP39034.9410763889

I'm in no way discounting Michael's guitars. He will indeed build you one you'll be proud to own for a lifetime.
BUT...in this 21st century, someone thousands of miles away might as well be next door. With free long distance, email, and next day shipping, things can sometimes happen faster than they would if they were being delivered locally.
I'm yet to sell a guitar locally. Every one has been out of state. I realize that you loose some of the face-to-face contact and if that's important to you, by all means, stay in Texas.
I'm just trying to say that there are many options out there. I'm just glad you haven't gone down that expensive Taylor road.

It could not be taken that way no mater how hard you tried Paul