OPTIONS

Because I build each ordered guitar for a particular customer and make every part myself, I can offer a complete custom service. Here are some aspects I am commonly asked about but please feel free to ask about absolutely any other variations you are interested in.

Bindings and purflings
Standard decoration schemes are described in their own section of this website but any custom scheme can be specified.

Common additions are;

>Adding a purfling under the main binding, to complement the top purflings, which is generally supplemented with a matching rear purfling; both mitred into a backstrip and the tail inlay.
>The head can be bound to match the body.
>Many other woods can be used other than the standard options for both bindings and purflings. Woods suited to binding include; Rosewood, Bloodwood, Yew, Maple, Holly, Ebony, Satinwood and various fruitwoods like Pear or Plum.. Purflings can be made from any combination of woods available in knifecut veneers including all the listed binding woods and some softer species not so well suited to bindings such as Walnut.
>An abalone soundhole ring can be added to the 'Standard' scheme.
>Backstrip made from two pieces of the 'Deluxe' stripy purfling to form a chevron pattern.

Mitred side and back purflings: from £125
Bound head: from £150
Non standard binding wood: often no charge, I have many species in stock and easily used.
Non standard top purflings and rosette: depends on complexity, from no charge upwards!
Abalone soundhole: £100
Chevron backstrip: £40

Woods
Woods other than those listed as standard can be used for soundboard, back and sides, head facing, fingerboard, bridge, neck and bridgeplate. Please contact me for availability and prices. Some woods not held in stock may require some time to stabalised after purchase although common ones usually only require about three months. See Woods and Prices pages for some details.

Machineheads
Standard machineheads are Gotoh SG510 in chrome with ebony buttons with gold as an option. I find these work absolutely perfectly and I like the understated button shape which melds nicely with the style of my guitars. Waverly, Rogers, Schaller, Sperzel, Grover etc can also be fitted, ask for a quote.

Cutaways
See my new Cutaway options page for details.

Venetian (curved): from £250
Florentine (pointy): from £400
New 'Scoop' cutaway: from £250
Custom: ask for quote

Fingerboard dimensions and radius
These are my most common neck dimensions, but you can specify anything you like.

Standard radius is a compound 16" at the nut flattening out to 20". A tighter 12" to 16" compound can also be specified.

Neck profile
Standard neck profile is a soft C shape with slightly rolled fingerboard edges, increasing in depth from 21mm at the nut to 22mm at its maximum, gradually thinning out at the edges as it does so. I can go up to 1mm shallower than this or as deep as you like. Many customers bring in a guitar with a neck they like for me to copy if the standard option doesn't work for their hands.

Usually no extra cost for most neck profiles.

Fingerboard inlays
Besides the standard pearl dot inlays a plain fingerboard, snowflake, slotted diamond and faux turquoise dot patterns can be specified.

Snowflake: £250
Slotted diamonds: £200
Turquoise dots: £25

Head logo or signature
My new B logo is available in many different materials, including; awabi abalone, paua abalone and green malachite, it can be inlayed into any of the species of wood I usually use on my guitars. My old silver wire signature is still available but only into black ebony facings.

Custom inlays
Custom inlay work will be quoted for individually and can be undertaken in shell or wood and also the silver inlay technique I use for my signature on the headstock (please note this technique works best for flowing handwritten style script).

Fret size
I supply guitars with a nice hard medium fretwire as standard but any size can be specified. Please contact me for details.

Head shape
My standard flared head shape can be replaced with a tapered design for straighter string lines over the nut. This can improve tuning stability if you change tunings a lot and some people prefer the look. My heads now feature my new B logo aavilable in many different types of shell or stone.

Slothead
My slot head is an option commonly used on the twelve fret Treble 0. A rear facing can be used to increase strength and create an interesting feature.

With Schaller vintage style machines: from £200.

With Alessi handmade machines: from £300.

12 String Guitars
I would generally only recommend larger models such as the Jumbo to be built as '12-Strings' since a tighter, stronger soundboard and neck are required which can lead to an unbalanced and tight feeling smaller instrument. A 'Double X-Brace' system is used to increase soundboard strength and carbon fibre rods supplement the standard adjustable trussrod in the neck to ensure long term stability. A relatively short 635mm scale is also usually used to increase playability and compensate for the more rigid construction.

Add £350 to chosen model price.

Non-Standard shapes
I am generally happy to make other shapes and sizes, if there is a special design you have in mind, but there is a mould making and design fee if I feel it is a model that won't become standard.

Mould/design fee: £500 minimum