How much do you think this custom built Les Paul would cost me?

[Fracture]

 

[ARandall]

^ Wow, he wants a bit for that. There's a lefty 2000 R9 on the bay from a reputable seller for a little over half the price, and a new 2014 for a grand less than he wants.

Needless to say, they don't have the features the OP is specifically after.

 

[Fracture]

 

[JEguitars]

I stated what I'd expect that spec to LIST for, which can be considered to be the price you'd see on the hang tag in a store that doesn't understand the word "discount".

Of course there would be room for negotiation.


Personally I don't have any issue with saying what I'd build a given guitar for. If your prices are some great big secret, in my opinion something is wrong with your attitude.

I do not price my work to be a huge bargain. I set my pricing based on the cost of materials and parts involved plus the amount of labor I expect to put into it. What you get in return for that is a guitar made to the highest standards of workmanship that I am capable of at the time I make it, which hopefully will always be a steadily improving standard. You'd get a guitar made by someone who has a total passion for making instruments, and although I do not think I deliver perfect instruments, I do think that most players would find little to criticize about the workmanship, playability, tone, and looks of my guitars. All of which are also steadily getting better.

I really try to make every guitar in such a manner that I consider it to be one I have made for myself and never would want to part with it. I need it to be that good. I want the buyer to be every bit as enthusiastic about it
after he's had it for a while. I loved making it, I want you to love owning and playing it.

While it IS true that I can and will make a guitar that can be compared directly to a PRS Private Stock or Gibson Custom Shop instrument that costs 12,000 dollars from a dealer, I can hardly imagine asking more than 6K for it as there's just no NEED for me to do that. At a price of 6K I can assure you that it would be quite satisfactorily profitable for me. For that price you'll get VERY comparable quality, or, dare I say it, better quality than Gibson usually delivers.

The only guitars I'd charge more for are my Super 400 class acoustic archtops, which start at 7500 dollars. But there is a LOT more labor involved in those.


But I'm not offering to build Zakalwe's dream. I haven't made any lefties and would HAVE to make at least one FIRST before I'd consider taking on a commission for another lefty. I firmly believe in proof via prototype before offering a product.

Incidentally, I don't even mind if the customer provides certain parts for a build. In this case I'll discount it by the amount I would have had to pay out to buy that same item, but that is ALL that gets discounted.

If I build a guitar for 5k and total materials and parts cost is 1K and the customer sends me a big box full of ALL those materials and parts so I don't have to go out and buy a single thing, then I will discount the 5K price
by 1K so it'll still be a 4K guitar. This actually is more profitable for me as you can see.

I don't think you'd need a full prototype build, all you gotta do is just flip the templates over. Much remains unchanged, but you are a great builder and getting one built by Chris is a rock solid thing to do, he wouldn't give you anything less than perfection.

 

[JEguitars]

For that price, you might as well a Gibson.

A Guitar from Chris would be superior to a gibson in just about every single way. $4500 for a hand made guitar is a great deal.