Two Part Reply:
FIRST:
I had Alembic custom build me a PJ Elan Five.
I had worked at Gibson for several years and had a rough sense of the progression from blanks to shaped to sanded to finishing to final assembly to setup. Even for someone like them building guitars in the thousands, it takes time for wood to season, glue to dry, in and out of spray and buff, and on and on.
When you are operating at the top of the game as Alembic does in a small family business, it obviously is going to take longer, and I was more than prepared for it to take . . . . as long as it takes. God Love 'em, they try and post 'Factory to Customer' updates in the Alembic Club on the website, photos and notes of how this or that bass is moving along. And even Alembic deals with a few 'problem customers' just like everyone does.
I paid in full up front, and we had long since worked out exactly, feature by feature, of what this axe would include. Of course, this is helped along tremendously as Alembic has been doing this since the 70's and have an almost telepathic manner of building your quote after translating everything you want into their specs and features.
I chose NOT to have a 'FTC' thread for my bass, on the premise it's a small business, they just don't have the people or the time to hold your hand every day, and for me it was simply a matter of why would I tell Emeril Lagasse how to cook or Mario Andretti how to drive . . . . or wear my welcome out with Alembic.
I got it in 11.5 months, it was EXACTLY what I asked for, and that was that. I had studied their features deeply, discussed it thoroughly with Susan Wickersham, and there were ZERO surprises, and I never called them about my axe, not once.
I knew who I was dealing with and had no worries whatsoever.
SECOND:
Everbody is NOT LIKE ME. Most folks, even for a straightforward build with no real complicated features, think ya just screw 'em together, pop it in the microwave, and it's done. No clue about the woodwork, glue drying, making sure wood is dry before finish, the time it takes to make a great finish, and on and on. Or they can completely change their mind once underway that you can suddenly change routs, bridges, pickups, whatever. Or that they're free to tie up all your time and be a big pain in the ass.
I would heartily agree with Arbiter. Spell everything out exactly, sign a contract, require HALF down, and specify what would be required for cancellation, refunds, changes in the original build sheet, etc. Period. Think you can call up the Fender Custom Shop and pull that crap? Leave a lot of things up in the air with a stranger or a 'friend of a friend', well, you see what happened because YOU didn't set the ground rules UP FRONT.
You want to eliminate most any chance for confusion or lack of knowledge and have it on paper in a contract with a deposit before you pick up the first piece of sandpaper. Then on your end, you deliver EXACTLY what they bought, on time and on budget.
And there are people who are simply always going to whine ('Hey, ya want cheese with your whine?) and will never be satisfied, no matter what you do. Or as we used to say at a retail job I once worked, 'the customer's always right, the sons-of-b*****s).
FIRST:
I had Alembic custom build me a PJ Elan Five.
I had worked at Gibson for several years and had a rough sense of the progression from blanks to shaped to sanded to finishing to final assembly to setup. Even for someone like them building guitars in the thousands, it takes time for wood to season, glue to dry, in and out of spray and buff, and on and on.
When you are operating at the top of the game as Alembic does in a small family business, it obviously is going to take longer, and I was more than prepared for it to take . . . . as long as it takes. God Love 'em, they try and post 'Factory to Customer' updates in the Alembic Club on the website, photos and notes of how this or that bass is moving along. And even Alembic deals with a few 'problem customers' just like everyone does.
I paid in full up front, and we had long since worked out exactly, feature by feature, of what this axe would include. Of course, this is helped along tremendously as Alembic has been doing this since the 70's and have an almost telepathic manner of building your quote after translating everything you want into their specs and features.
I chose NOT to have a 'FTC' thread for my bass, on the premise it's a small business, they just don't have the people or the time to hold your hand every day, and for me it was simply a matter of why would I tell Emeril Lagasse how to cook or Mario Andretti how to drive . . . . or wear my welcome out with Alembic.
I got it in 11.5 months, it was EXACTLY what I asked for, and that was that. I had studied their features deeply, discussed it thoroughly with Susan Wickersham, and there were ZERO surprises, and I never called them about my axe, not once.
I knew who I was dealing with and had no worries whatsoever.
SECOND:
Everbody is NOT LIKE ME. Most folks, even for a straightforward build with no real complicated features, think ya just screw 'em together, pop it in the microwave, and it's done. No clue about the woodwork, glue drying, making sure wood is dry before finish, the time it takes to make a great finish, and on and on. Or they can completely change their mind once underway that you can suddenly change routs, bridges, pickups, whatever. Or that they're free to tie up all your time and be a big pain in the ass.
I would heartily agree with Arbiter. Spell everything out exactly, sign a contract, require HALF down, and specify what would be required for cancellation, refunds, changes in the original build sheet, etc. Period. Think you can call up the Fender Custom Shop and pull that crap? Leave a lot of things up in the air with a stranger or a 'friend of a friend', well, you see what happened because YOU didn't set the ground rules UP FRONT.
You want to eliminate most any chance for confusion or lack of knowledge and have it on paper in a contract with a deposit before you pick up the first piece of sandpaper. Then on your end, you deliver EXACTLY what they bought, on time and on budget.
And there are people who are simply always going to whine ('Hey, ya want cheese with your whine?) and will never be satisfied, no matter what you do. Or as we used to say at a retail job I once worked, 'the customer's always right, the sons-of-b*****s).
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