I was reading some sticky threads in Basses about problematic situations related to customers not getting their instruments in time, and it got me thinking of a situation I was in previously, which got me thinking about what's reasonable when it comes to communication expectations between builder and customer. Sorry this is long, but long stories usually are. 
TL/DR: I built a bass for a guy and each of us had different expectations about what the other meant in our communication, which led to a breakdown. What could be done differently? What would you expect? More questions below.
In my case, a friend of mine contacted me that a player in his band was interested in a custom guitar and so I said sure put him in touch. We spoke once on the phone about his interests (basically a 4 string p-bass but in one of my original body designs), and then he came over to my workshop to visit, and we hashed out some of the specs he wanted. He wanted a chambered maple body with a poplar top and back with a solid antique white finish, 33" scale laminated maple neck, bolt-on, rosewood fretboard, jumbo frets, zero fret, wood nut and Fender bridge and existing loaded pickguard from a 70's p-bass. In order to make the pickguard work on my body, it required a little reshaping on the lower horn area, which we discussed in person with the pickguard laying right on top of the body template in front of him and me marking it with masking tape to show him where it needed to be reshaped (foreshadowing ).
We agreed on a price. I believed it to be a "friend" price and had told him my pricing "structure"; I later learned he had thought of it as "quite high", but had agreed. There was a $200 deposit and he dropped off all of the parts and pickguard, with the expectation that I'd be finished in about 3 months. I usually only build two or at most four guitars at a time, so 3 months is no problem, especially for a simple build like this (no complex laminations, exotic woods, inlays, etc.). We had an email exchange where this was all laid out and his last comment was "sounds awesome, can't wait!"
A week in, I got an email that I read to be sarcastic - something like "I would hope to get progress notifications but I guess you're too busy". We had not discussed this at all, and it was only a week so I wasn't sure how to take it. I'd already got all the body and neck lumber dimensioned and glued up, so I sent him a couple of pics.
He wrote back, something like "these are great, looking forward to next week's work". I wrote him right back politely explaining that I would not be able to provide status updates regularly as I don't document all my builds in detail due to the considerable extra time involved. He didn't respond to this, but instead asked me if I could add walnut veneers between the neck laminates. By the time this request came, I had already taken more steps on the neck, routed the TR and stiffener slots and glued down the fretboard, so I told him I could not at this point without making another neck, and reminded him that the specs called for a painted neck. No response for over a week.
He then writes me that his wife found out he was having the bass built and told me he was sorry but he "had to ask for the deposit back and cancel the order", and in the same email also said he was concerned about whether I was even able to complete the build when I had told him it was too late to add the veneers to the neck. I called him at this point and we talked on the phone, where I explained if he really wanted, I would give him back his deposit, and also mentioned that if he wanted to continue, I was even willing to make a new neck with veneers, but would have to use a different rosewood board (he'd chosen the one I had glued up). I explained how the rosewood would not likely remain perfect, and why I had to make a new neck to add veneers (they are glued up with the laminates, but he thought they could be applied after).
He became excited about the build again and said his wife had come around to support the idea. I had a passing thought that he'd used the wife as an excuse originally and that she was probably never against it. He actually decided against the additions and continued with the painted neck idea.
At this point, he started to email me about every three days or so with information about the kind of finish he wanted, details about the approach to buffing, a description of what it might involve to add a control cover to the back and some other things. I didn't respond to any of these as I was nearly done with the construction and there were no real questions, mostly just discussion points, links and some statements about things he likes.
After a couple of weeks or so, I wrote him to tell him that I had routed everything and done an in-the-white assembly of the bass, and he wrote me asking if I could change it to jazz pickups instead of the precision pickup, and if it was too late to move to a 34" scale. I replied that it was nearly done, and at this point a scale change would absolutely require a complete new neck, and to change to jazz pickups would require a new pickguard or a pickup ring, because you can't hide a precision rout with a jazz. I also mentioned that I'd already reshaped the pickguard to fit my body design, so I suggested that he think about making it a PJ, which I could easily accomplish at this point or I could make him a new pickguard. No response for over a week, so I actually didn't do anything else to the bass in the meantime as I wasn't sure what he wanted to do.
He then wrote me a very long email that was again a bit sarcastic and passive-aggressive and complained that for a "custom builder" I "was not very open to custom ideas". He said he already had a PJ and wanted a jazz, and then there was an all caps sentence about how I had destroyed his vintage pickguard by reshaping the lower horn without his knowledge or consent. He also wrote that since I had told him he could "have whatever he wants" that I should have been prepared to deliver on that promise, and that his wife had only supported the build because she believed he was getting an heirloom instrument and now they both believed they were not. My builds are nice and I try to get them perfect, but by design this was going to be a practical player, not a supermodel.
At this point, I was annoyed. I wrote him back and pointed out that we had previously discussed at length how the pickguard was going to be altered, reminded him of the fact that I had originally recommended a new PG and that he keep his vintage one, and that when he had brought it back to me with the rest of the parts for the build, that it still had my masking tape and felt-marker "cut line" on it, so he should have been fully aware it was going to be altered. I tried to keep it civil and polite, but put it back on him to decide where to go from here. No response for a few weeks, so I shelved the build temporarily as I didn't want to even look at it.
Then I get a call from my friend that the guy had extensively badmouthed me at their practice and said that he didn't think it was ever going to be built and that he thought I was a con artist, and that I had exceeded the 3 month deadline. I told my friend the entire story, and to my utter surprise, he sided with his friend in the band! He said that I should not have told him he could have whatever he wanted if I could not deliver that. When I explained how the build works (i.e. once things are done you can't go back and change them without redoing them), he better understood, but also said that people should not be expected to understand how a build works and that it's my job to make that clear to people. He also said that based on where it was left, that he would have expected me to just complete the build to original specs and then tell the guy when it was done. I was blown away by this and still am.
I finished the bass over the next couple of weeks and then had to wait to buff it out, but as soon as it was done, I called and emailed him. He ended up working it out so that my friend would pick it up for him as he didn't want to see me, which honestly was fine by me. It was difficult to do a good setup on it just because of the bad taste in my mouth, but you can bet I went over it with a fine toothed comb and had a buddy go over it as well.
A few months later, he wrote me a short email saying something like it was now his number one player, but it's too bad things hadn't worked out the way he'd hoped, or he would have ordered a second one and wouldn't have to be telling people I'm a flake.
I learned from this. Now I tend to just build what I like and then sell it afterwards if I even bother to sell them. When building for someone now, I don't take a deposit anymore and instead enter into a "right of first refusal" relationship with them, where they get the first chance to take possession of an instrument when it's complete, and I make no promises of a timeline anymore, instead saying it can take up to a year, even though most of my builds are well under 5 months.
What do you think is the right amount of communication?
Should a builder document every build and contact the buyer with status updates at regular intervals? If so, how frequently should this happen?
Should a buyer expect that every email, text and phone call be immediately answered, even if this is 3+ times per week?
Curious to hear from builders and customers about what you think is reasonable and what you'd like to have happen if this were you.
TL/DR: I built a bass for a guy and each of us had different expectations about what the other meant in our communication, which led to a breakdown. What could be done differently? What would you expect? More questions below.
In my case, a friend of mine contacted me that a player in his band was interested in a custom guitar and so I said sure put him in touch. We spoke once on the phone about his interests (basically a 4 string p-bass but in one of my original body designs), and then he came over to my workshop to visit, and we hashed out some of the specs he wanted. He wanted a chambered maple body with a poplar top and back with a solid antique white finish, 33" scale laminated maple neck, bolt-on, rosewood fretboard, jumbo frets, zero fret, wood nut and Fender bridge and existing loaded pickguard from a 70's p-bass. In order to make the pickguard work on my body, it required a little reshaping on the lower horn area, which we discussed in person with the pickguard laying right on top of the body template in front of him and me marking it with masking tape to show him where it needed to be reshaped (foreshadowing
). We agreed on a price. I believed it to be a "friend" price and had told him my pricing "structure"; I later learned he had thought of it as "quite high", but had agreed. There was a $200 deposit and he dropped off all of the parts and pickguard, with the expectation that I'd be finished in about 3 months. I usually only build two or at most four guitars at a time, so 3 months is no problem, especially for a simple build like this (no complex laminations, exotic woods, inlays, etc.). We had an email exchange where this was all laid out and his last comment was "sounds awesome, can't wait!"
A week in, I got an email that I read to be sarcastic - something like "I would hope to get progress notifications but I guess you're too busy". We had not discussed this at all, and it was only a week so I wasn't sure how to take it. I'd already got all the body and neck lumber dimensioned and glued up, so I sent him a couple of pics.
He wrote back, something like "these are great, looking forward to next week's work". I wrote him right back politely explaining that I would not be able to provide status updates regularly as I don't document all my builds in detail due to the considerable extra time involved. He didn't respond to this, but instead asked me if I could add walnut veneers between the neck laminates. By the time this request came, I had already taken more steps on the neck, routed the TR and stiffener slots and glued down the fretboard, so I told him I could not at this point without making another neck, and reminded him that the specs called for a painted neck. No response for over a week.
He then writes me that his wife found out he was having the bass built and told me he was sorry but he "had to ask for the deposit back and cancel the order", and in the same email also said he was concerned about whether I was even able to complete the build when I had told him it was too late to add the veneers to the neck. I called him at this point and we talked on the phone, where I explained if he really wanted, I would give him back his deposit, and also mentioned that if he wanted to continue, I was even willing to make a new neck with veneers, but would have to use a different rosewood board (he'd chosen the one I had glued up). I explained how the rosewood would not likely remain perfect, and why I had to make a new neck to add veneers (they are glued up with the laminates, but he thought they could be applied after).
He became excited about the build again and said his wife had come around to support the idea. I had a passing thought that he'd used the wife as an excuse originally and that she was probably never against it. He actually decided against the additions and continued with the painted neck idea.
At this point, he started to email me about every three days or so with information about the kind of finish he wanted, details about the approach to buffing, a description of what it might involve to add a control cover to the back and some other things. I didn't respond to any of these as I was nearly done with the construction and there were no real questions, mostly just discussion points, links and some statements about things he likes.
After a couple of weeks or so, I wrote him to tell him that I had routed everything and done an in-the-white assembly of the bass, and he wrote me asking if I could change it to jazz pickups instead of the precision pickup, and if it was too late to move to a 34" scale. I replied that it was nearly done, and at this point a scale change would absolutely require a complete new neck, and to change to jazz pickups would require a new pickguard or a pickup ring, because you can't hide a precision rout with a jazz. I also mentioned that I'd already reshaped the pickguard to fit my body design, so I suggested that he think about making it a PJ, which I could easily accomplish at this point or I could make him a new pickguard. No response for over a week, so I actually didn't do anything else to the bass in the meantime as I wasn't sure what he wanted to do.
He then wrote me a very long email that was again a bit sarcastic and passive-aggressive and complained that for a "custom builder" I "was not very open to custom ideas". He said he already had a PJ and wanted a jazz, and then there was an all caps sentence about how I had destroyed his vintage pickguard by reshaping the lower horn without his knowledge or consent. He also wrote that since I had told him he could "have whatever he wants" that I should have been prepared to deliver on that promise, and that his wife had only supported the build because she believed he was getting an heirloom instrument and now they both believed they were not. My builds are nice and I try to get them perfect, but by design this was going to be a practical player, not a supermodel.
At this point, I was annoyed. I wrote him back and pointed out that we had previously discussed at length how the pickguard was going to be altered, reminded him of the fact that I had originally recommended a new PG and that he keep his vintage one, and that when he had brought it back to me with the rest of the parts for the build, that it still had my masking tape and felt-marker "cut line" on it, so he should have been fully aware it was going to be altered. I tried to keep it civil and polite, but put it back on him to decide where to go from here. No response for a few weeks, so I shelved the build temporarily as I didn't want to even look at it.
Then I get a call from my friend that the guy had extensively badmouthed me at their practice and said that he didn't think it was ever going to be built and that he thought I was a con artist, and that I had exceeded the 3 month deadline. I told my friend the entire story, and to my utter surprise, he sided with his friend in the band! He said that I should not have told him he could have whatever he wanted if I could not deliver that. When I explained how the build works (i.e. once things are done you can't go back and change them without redoing them), he better understood, but also said that people should not be expected to understand how a build works and that it's my job to make that clear to people. He also said that based on where it was left, that he would have expected me to just complete the build to original specs and then tell the guy when it was done. I was blown away by this and still am.
I finished the bass over the next couple of weeks and then had to wait to buff it out, but as soon as it was done, I called and emailed him. He ended up working it out so that my friend would pick it up for him as he didn't want to see me, which honestly was fine by me. It was difficult to do a good setup on it just because of the bad taste in my mouth, but you can bet I went over it with a fine toothed comb and had a buddy go over it as well.
A few months later, he wrote me a short email saying something like it was now his number one player, but it's too bad things hadn't worked out the way he'd hoped, or he would have ordered a second one and wouldn't have to be telling people I'm a flake.
I learned from this. Now I tend to just build what I like and then sell it afterwards if I even bother to sell them.
When building for someone now, I don't take a deposit anymore and instead enter into a "right of first refusal" relationship with them, where they get the first chance to take possession of an instrument when it's complete, and I make no promises of a timeline anymore, instead saying it can take up to a year, even though most of my builds are well under 5 months. What do you think is the right amount of communication?
Should a builder document every build and contact the buyer with status updates at regular intervals? If so, how frequently should this happen?
Should a buyer expect that every email, text and phone call be immediately answered, even if this is 3+ times per week?
Curious to hear from builders and customers about what you think is reasonable and what you'd like to have happen if this were you.
