Custom Shop turn around time.

[toejam]

Doesnt the custom shop also do the select models?

Yes, they do. So they turn out a bunch of regular USA Select models for the general buying public, and they also have Custom Shop orders. From what I understand, even the regular Select models get done in batches of certain colors and models, so you may have a little wait on those, too.

[Grandturk]

And I overlooked this reply.

THIS is a credible reason IF there is an overabundance of CS orders waiting to be filled.

Of course there wouldn't be an overwhelming amount of orders if the turnaround time was more reasonable

It is a vicious circle dammit!!!

I'm sure they work Left Coast schedules... you know, Tues-Thurs, 1pm-3pm, then you know, hit the waves, man. It only takes 10 hours to build a guitar, but that's spread out over months and months.

Seriously, it takes what it takes - they're not just building YOUR guitar.

[Matt_B]

Mike Learn is just about done building from scratch a complete custom guitar for me. By the time I receive it, it will probably be about 85 days since he first started on it.

All the time includes:
- Building the body from scratch (no CNC machine)
- Building the neck from scratch (again, no CNC)
- Waiting for fingerboard blanks to arrive.
- Designing the graphics for the body (front and back)
- Designing the inlays.
- Waiting for the inlays to be cut and glued (subcontractor)
- Painting the body (front and back) and the headstock (graphics)
- Assembly
- Set-up.

The design work was pretty complicated and there was iteration time (he'd come up with a design, send it to me, I'd send comments and he'd make tweaks). Thank God for the Internet to facilitate getting concept work back and forth far faster than snail mail.

During the build time, he did do other work, also ran a 5 day class on guitar building, and busted his ass. He always hit his deliverables for me so I have no complaints.

All in all, 85 days for a complete crazy custom guitar is great to me and yes, I will post pics when it's done.

[bombtek]

Mike Learn is just about done building from scratch a complete custom guitar for me. By the time I receive it, it will probably be about 85 days since he first started on it.

All the time includes:
- Building the body from scratch (no CNC machine)
- Building the neck from scratch (again, no CNC)
- Waiting for fingerboard blanks to arrive.
- Designing the graphics for the body (front and back)
- Designing the inlays.
- Waiting for the inlays to be cut and glued (subcontractor)
- Painting the body (front and back) and the headstock (graphics)
- Assembly
- Set-up.

The design work was pretty complicated and there was iteration time (he'd come up with a design, send it to me, I'd send comments and he'd make tweaks). Thank God for the Internet to facilitate getting concept work back and forth far faster than snail mail.

During the build time, he did do other work, also ran a 5 day class on guitar building, and busted his ass. He always came hit his deliverables to me so I have no complaints.

All in all, 85 days for a complete crazy custom guitar is great to me and yes, I will post pics when it's done.

So in reality, my estimate of 60 days for a CS was not all that far off.

Congratulations on getting your dream guitar. I'm sure that it will rock!!

[Matt_B]

So in reality, my estimate of 60 days for a CS was not all that far off.

No, it's really not. Those 85 days were calendar days and if I figure in weekends off, it comes to be 61 workdays so you're actually pretty close. If Mike had been able to do the inlays in-house that would have shaved off a 4-5 days and if he had the kind of wood we wanted to use for the fingerboard, that would have shaved off a few more day. The design of the body graphics and inlays probably took 5-7 days so if we had gone of a basic finish with dot inlays, that would have saved some time too. It's the whole custom thing that really extends the build time. The actual painting of the graphics is pretty quick too (a day each for the front and back).

Congratulations on getting your dream guitar. I'm sure that it will rock!!

Thank you. I've seen pictures of it and it looks amazing.

[Dred]

Carvin states that the build time should be around 4-7 weeks for theirs. Add that to a queue system, and it may be 3 or so months. Now, if Jackson didn't make the USA Selects in the sam sgop, I'd expect they'd do their orders about as fast.

[Jason1212]

Regarding Mike, take into consideration that he he has the run of "his" shop. I dont think that each builder at J/C has their own pin router, table saw, plainer etc. They also probably have bottle necks at the paint booth to deal with as well.

[bombtek]

Regarding Mike, take into consideration that he he has the run of "his" shop. I dont think that each builder at J/C has their own pin router, table saw, plainer etc. They also probably have bottle necks at the paint booth to deal with as well.

OK I'll take that into consideration, but that still doesn't excuse them for taking up to 2 years to deliver a guitar to a customer in my opinion.

[Matt_B]

Carvin states that the build time should be around 4-7 weeks for theirs. Add that to a queue system, and it may be 3 or so months.

Eh, I've looked at their custom options and they're somewhat limited so I don't think it's fair to put them in the same category as a the Jackson or Charvel custom shop. Obviously, the level of customization one orders can affect the delivery time but the few options a manufacturer offers, the faster they can get order out the door.

Now, if Jackson didn't make the USA Selects in the sam sgop, I'd expect they'd do their orders about as fast.

Back in the day, before there was such a thing as USA Selects, it still took 12-18 months to get a custom shop Jackson so I don't feel that the USA Selects are affecting the delivery times of custom shop orders to leve that you might think, not by a long shot.

[Grandturk]

OK I'll take that into consideration, but that still doesn't excuse them for taking up to 2 years to deliver a guitar to a customer in my opinion.

I think ESP has a pretty quick turn around time - try them out.

[atdguitars]

You also have to consider the number of dealers that routinely order CS guitars as well for upscale wall candy too.Those add to the clock as well. Also the amount of available materials that are suitable for instruments and the price of wood. A lot of companies buy their supplies daily or close to it to keep the cost down as much as possible since the lumber market varies as much as the stock market does. If lumber is too high they will wait if possible to get it at a better price. Every little thing adds to the clock. I agree, I'm impatient as hell about waiting for something I want I had asked a dealer the same questions years ago and the explanation was alot more than I had ever considered.

[bombtek]

I think ESP has a pretty quick turn around time - try them out.

ESP makes a damn fine product, but that is not the point. I am not looking to order/spend $ on a CS guitar. The 25 year old $150-$500 Charvel Model series guitars fit my needs nicely. I am just trying to find out the why the wait is so long. I'm not bitching, if any of my posts sound like bitching, I recind any parts of them that sound that way. Like I said I just want credible reasons as to why.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I think ESP has a pretty quick turn around time - try them out.

You can get the exact same guitar Kirk Hammet plays *instantly* at almost any Sam Ash!

The salesman told me so!

[Newc]

It's gotta be a combination of the queue, the "give the customer time to come up with the money", and the all-important fact that Customs are not being built by the same people that build the USA Selects anymore, so that means you're getting MasterBuilt stuff, not "Freddy the newbie".

Plus you've always got NAMM stuff to build, Artist models, small batch runs for dealers, and you've got stuff you just WANT to build like the Benetton Racer, the Pablo Extreme stuff (from which they stumble upon new innovations, techniques, and processes).

As well, there's the simple fact of marketing: most people think that high price = quality. Grover stated that was his pricing motivation back in the day. The more you pay for something, the better you expect it to be.

With that, time = quality.

Look at Rolex: takes 5 guys 3 months to set 12 jewels into a watch that cannot keep accurate time.

[bombtek]

You also have to consider the number of dealers that routinely order CS guitars as well for upscale wall candy too.Those add to the clock as well. Also the amount of available materials that are suitable for instruments and the price of wood. A lot of companies buy their supplies daily or close to it to keep the cost down as much as possible since the lumber market varies as much as the stock market does. If lumber is too high they will wait if possible to get it at a better price. Every little thing adds to the clock. I agree, I'm impatient as hell about waiting for something I want I had asked a dealer the same questions years ago and the explanation was alot more than I had ever considered.

Like this explanation. Something that I never would have thought of. The one where someone mentioned the CS making the US select series as well as trying to fill CS orders. That was a reasonable, credible explanation.

I'm not knocking the CS at all. Obviously it works for them and the people ordering guitars from them. They are OK on both sides of the fence about the turnaround time to get a guitar from them or there would be no orders for the guitars, and from what I gather, there are a lot of orders for them to fill, so people must be buying.