How Do You Order a Custom Shop Gibson Anyway?

[bkharmony]

I assume it's only through a dealer. But now the only dealer around is Guitar Center, and there's no way I'm subjecting myself to that lunacy. Am I mistaken?

 

I swear, everything Gibson does these days is just bass-ackwards. I'm about to pull the trigger on a custom Taylor, in addition to dropping a load of cash on another guitar. I would LOVE to own a custom Gibson built for exactly what I need, but they are so freakin' difficult to deal with. Last time I tried to talk to a real person in Nashville I waited for weeks for a call/email back before giving up.

[onewilyfool]

Well...first of all you pull out your wallet......this process will NOT be for the faint of heart!!!

[Hoss]

I'd call a dealer that you want to support, and have them place the order. And get you a quote. (I don't blame you for hesitating about going through Guitar Center, esp if you don't shop there.)

 

There are several shops with excellent reputations- even if they aren't next door. (Fullers and Music Villa come to mind.)

 

I remember when I bought my first guitar- there was no music store in my town. My cousin and I had to write away to different companies for colorful brochures and then we ordered direct. My yamaha came as ordered, but Guild sent her a sunburst instead of a plan top. Which she kept-- what else could you do back then? I don't think I'd heard of Martin or Gibson.

Times have changed.

[jgwoods]

I worked with fuller for a while in specifying and pricing a custom Gibson- nothing too fancy- kind of a Nick Lukas mahogany 12 fret with parallelogram inlays. They told me that Gibson can always make anything they made before, and also many combinations- so a deep body L-00 with a J-185 style neck- pretty easy.

Price- it was "only" $500 higher than I hoped.

I didn't do it.

I think their price was...OK, but I wanted it for less and they wouldn't budge.

It's hard to know the cost of such an item to Fullers so I don't know if they were holding out for a little extra because it was custom or if Gibson charges a lot more for custom that I would expect.

I would call them again if I was looking.

 

Right now I am having a custom built for me in my price range. Basically a custom build J-45 for the street price of a J-45.

[onewilyfool]

The dealers don't have to front any money themselves, dont' have to hang it on the wall, don't have to carry cost it, so their markup should be minimal.....shop around for dealers who will give you the best deal.

[bkharmony]

The dealers don't have to front any money themselves' date=' dont' have to hang it on the wall, don't have to carry cost it, so their markup should be minimal.....shop around for dealers who will give you the best deal. [/quote']

 

Not gonna bother. I was just curious when I asked the question.

 

I look at it this way: if a company doesn't want my business enough to at least meet me halfway, why should I give them my money? I'm not exactly new to Gibson, yet I'm still not sure how to order a custom shop guitar. You'd think I would have run into this information at some point, after hours and hours spent on their website, their forum and other internet resources. But they are just not customer-friendly, and as someone who spends most of his work day trying to make life easier for customers, I simply can't abide this attitude.

 

Maybe someday I'll have another wad of cash burning a hole in my pocket and I'll give Fuller's a call, but for now, I'm overjoyed with the experience of ordering a BTO Taylor. (Hope you're reading this, Gibson folks.)

[sjl200]

I custom ordered a J45 from Fullers after I talked to Jeremy about a J45 they had in stock.I expressed what my "dream 45"

would be and he offered to call Gibson find out what "it" would cost and when he gave me the price it was very close to the 45 he had in stock. I ordered the Custom Shop J45 and it is a fine instrument with every thing I wanted and did not cost any more then what GC was selling their J45 for.

I am glad I told Jeremy what I really wanted and he made it happen. You don't find that kind of service very much anymore I'm sad to say.

 

AND this thread gives me another chance to show the PIC's!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks.

[Eddie Rondack]

In late '06 I ordered a custom shop Western Classic Prewar 200... Adirondack top and braces and mahogany neck... from E.M. Shorts ( www.wichitaband.com ). I was thrilled with the service (ask for Lance) and thought the price was very fair.

 

The guitar came in about 6 weeks, I think... exactly how I wanted it with top-notch craftsmanship. It's opening up really well now (finally) and it is absolutely wonderful.

 

Based on that experience, I recently ordered a custom AJ, which I have posted about separately. I'll let everybody know how it comes out.

 

I was very satisfied with the experience at E.M. Shorts.

[Hoss]

Not gonna bother. I was just curious when I asked the question.

 

That about sums it up. Why bother posting?

[Eddie Rondack]

 

That about sums it up. Why bother posting?

 

Wow, thanks Hoss, I didn't notice that on the earler post... I guess I wanted one badly enough to figure it out... no regrets about that!

[bkharmony]

 

That about sums it up. Why bother posting?

 

Wow' date=' that seems more hostile than I took you for, Hoss. Or maybe "snotty" is more the word I'm looking for. Regardless, it was a really unnecessary comment.

 

But to answer your question,

 

Maybe someday I'll have another wad of cash burning a hole in my pocket and I'll give Fuller's a call' date=' but for now, I'm overjoyed with the experience of ordering a BTO Taylor. (Hope you're reading this, Gibson folks.)[/quote']

 

So let me be very specific and break this down for you:

 

1. Curiousity

2. Planting a seed for a year or more from now when I may have some money again

3. Complaining about Gibson's fall from grace

4. Hoping someone from the Gibson Corp. is listening

 

Fact is, I started this thread as a simple, "what exactly is the procedure here?" thing, since Gibson doesn't provide much in the way of information. But as I wrote it, I got more and more disgusted with the lousy customer relations plaguing my favorite guitar-maker.

 

Any other questions?

[bkharmony]

I guess I wanted one badly enough to figure it out... no regrets about that!

 

You're a better man than I. Smarter, and better-looking, as well!

[Eddie Rondack]

You're a better man than I. Smarter' date=' and better-looking, as well![/quote']

 

I seriously doubt that... good luck with your new Taylor... I would also wonder if Fuller's might be contributing to your bad experience... when you're ready, try somebody else!

 

Cheers!

[jgwoods]

I custom ordered a J45 from Fullers after I talked to Jeremy about a J45 they had in stock.I expressed what my "dream 45"

would be and he offered to call Gibson find out what "it" would cost and when he gave me the price it was very close to the 45 he had in stock. I ordered the Custom Shop J45 and it is a fine instrument with every thing I wanted and did not cost any more then what GC was selling their J45 for.

I am glad I told Jeremy what I really wanted and he made it happen. You don't find that kind of service very much anymore I'm sad to say.

 

AND this thread gives me another chance to show the PIC's!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tell me what makes it Custom?

 

 

 

Thanks.

[sjl200]

Well jgwoods ....... I'll tell ya....

 

First it IS a standard J-45 as far as wood and bracing goes.

The Custom shop then used a vintage yellow single binding and the three-on-a-plate tuners.

The 'large' style pick guard and a Tri-burst finish.That makes it a vintage looking "new" standard J-45

Then the Fishman Aura Pro electronics ,which are NOT offered on the standard J-45, as far as I know only the Gibson Super Dove has the Aura Pro installed at MT, getting the Aura Pro installed by Gibson at the factory keeps the warranty intact. Then of course the "Custom Shop logo" on the back of the head stock.

 

Also on the Gibson label : Style J-45, Gibson Fuller's Vintage and the serial number.

 

Its as Custom Shop as this working fool can justify!

 

 

;)

[J185-4Me]

There are any number of good dealers from whom you can order a custom Gibson -- many of them have been mentioned in earlier posts.

 

"Custom" can run the gamut from "one or two modifications of a standard guitar" to a "highly customized" guitar with non-standard woods, decorative touches and your name inlaid in lights on the fingerboard. A simple Custom order might be something like ordering a Woody Guthrie SJ, but in a natural finish. Or getting a Hummingbird with a red spruce top and gold Waverly tuners.

 

*If* you're lucky, and if your custom order only departs slightly from a standard guitar, and you get a dealer who does a lot of custom stuff with Bozeman, you may end up getting a Custom guitar for quite little above what the standard guitar is. Maybe. Maybe not. Not all dealers will discount off the Custom-Shop-build MSRP at the same level. That's where you do your homework and you get prepared to pay for your Custom order at a level that you are comfortable with. Or you decide otherwise.

 

I've bought four Custom shop Gibsons over the years. Lots of Custom Shop guitars seem to end up in dealers, having possibly been built by the CS 'on spec', perhaps someone ordered it up, and then had to forfeit the order, and it ended up being offered to the first dealer who comes along.

 

Fred