PRICES AND ORDERING

Prices, Additions, Special Order Woods, Pickups & Placing An Order, Terms and Conditions.

Prices

Prices are for any model, except Baritone, Nylon-String etc. (see below), with the stated forms of decoration and machineheads
and are subject to change at any time. A Hiscox Liteflite Pro II case is included.

Woods included in the prices:
Back and sides; Indian rosewood, Palo Escrito rosewood, mahogany or plain Black walnut.
Soundboard; Sitka spruce, Englemann spruce or Western Red cedar.

By buying direct from the maker every penny of the purchase price goes towards the production of the guitar -
no middle-man - no shop overheads - no sales person - in my case no VAT (my turnover is small enough to be
exempt) - no shareholders!

You are effectively buying a guitar at cost price - around 1 month of skilled labour - workshop rent - materials - nothing else!

Current prices (for orders taken after January 2009)

Prices for orders taken between June 2008 and January 2009

Prices for orders taken before June 2008

For details see Decoration Schemes page.

Specification includes; Gotoh 510 machineheads with ebony buttons, bone or horn bridge pins, french polished neck, clear
scratchplate (optional), strap buttons (optional), unbleached extra hard bone nut and saddle, tapered or flared headstock,
mother-of-pearl fretboard dots to your requirements, extra hard 'Evo' fretwire, neck and fretboard dimensions to your
requirements, Macassar or black ebony bridge and fretboard and shell B logo or silver wire signature

And of course each commissioned Benjamin guitar comes with a full and thorough consultation to ensure that you get exactly what
you want, with individual tailoring of strutting and design to suit your playing style, tunings and string gauges.

Additions

*NEW* 'Benjamin Scoop' cutaway, from £250.
*NEW* 'Percussion' strutting and pinless bridge, £200. Suited best to JOM, Mini-Jumbo or Jumbo.
*NEW* 'Manzer Wedge', body tapered on bass side to improve comfort as conceived by Linda Manzer, no charge.

Baritone model, add £200+.
Twelve String model, add £350+.
Terz guitar, special extra plain version £2950, otherwise same as main price list.
Nylon String model, see Nylon-String model page for prices and options.

Venetian Cutaway, add £250+.
Slothead, from £200, depends on tuners!

Paua Abalone or Awabi Abalone soundboard (or back) border, from £400.
Paua Abalone or Awabi Abalone back centre strip, from £150.

Nonstandard machineheads, Alessi, Schaller, Waverley etc, POA.

Calton case, from £250. Made to fit fibre-glass flight case. Please note a Hiscox case is included.

Nonstandard decoration schemes etc, see 'Options', POA.

Special Order Woods

Soundboards
Alpine Spruce, add £25-£100.
Adirondack Spruce, add £75-£250+.
Redwood, add £100+.
Lutz Spruce, add £100.

Back and sides
Brazilian (Rio) Rosewood, please enquire.
Cocobolo, add £300.
Honduras Rosewood, add £250.
Amazon Rosewood, add £250.
Ziricote, add £300-£400.
Macassar Ebony, add £300+.

Highly Figured Claro Walnut, £300.
Quilted Sapele, extraordinary figure, African mahogany-like timber, £400.
Quilted Bubinga, very deep quilt and beautiful wine red colouring, £300.
Quilted Maple, add £250+.
Flamed Koa, from £400.

Other woods and options, POA.

Many other species available to special order, including; myrtle, cypress, madagascan rosewood, flamed black acacia, other
figured maples and walnuts, FSC certified woods, etc etc. Ask for a quote!

Pickups

These prices are only applicable for pickups fitted at the time of making.
See 'Pickups' page for prices when fitted to other instruments and full descriptions.

*Pickup prices are subject to change due to the wildly varying exchange rates at present*

LR Baggs Active Element System (undersaddle), one of the best sounding undersaddle pickups around, £150.
LR Baggs Dual-Source System (Element or Ribbon undersaddle pickup plus internal mic with mini internal blender), for an extra degree of realism, £300.
LR Baggs i-Beam (internal soundboard contact pickup), very warm, real and lively, great for home recording, £170.
LR Baggs iMix System (Element and i-Beam with mini internal mixer), very versatile combination with a warm dynamic tone, £325.
LR Baggs M1 magnetic pickup (soundhole mounted), best sounding magnetic pickup around, very easy to use, £155.
LR Baggs M1 Active magnetic pickup (soundhole mounted), as above with built in preamp, £170.


K&K Sound I'm really liking these systems at the moment - many choices, please ask!

LR Baggs 'Para Acoustic DI' EQ unit, get the best out of your pickup, I wouldn't go on stage without one!, £150 (with guitar).

Others, please ask - Headway, Highlander, D-tar, Schertler etc.

Placing An Order, Terms and Conditions

A deposit of 10% secures a place in Mr Benjamin's waiting list, with a total of 33% required at least one month before
construction commences. A further 33% is generally payable 3 months into the build and the balance upon completion which is
usually after 6 to 8 months. Pickup costs are generally paid with the last installment. Time scales are not guaranteed by Mr
Benjamin and are only a guide (although usually a reasonably accurate one!).

When a deposit is received the price at that time (excluding any pickup costs) is fixed for that order provided that the order is
proceeded with in the position in the waiting list initially agreed upon. If a client decides to delay an order after having placed it,
then the price will be at the level charged at the new time agreed upon. Mr Benjamin reserves the right to withdraw from an
order if a client seeks to change details of the originally agreed schedule after having placed that order.

Waiting time generally varies around the two year mark (see below or Home page News), some special orders may require
longer if unusual materials must be sourced. Exact delivery date cannot be specified but I always give a maximum period after
which you are entitled to withdraw your order, this is only set at the point that building starts not when an order is placed.

The 10% deposit is usually non returnable. If for any reason you are not happy with the finished guitar or are unable to pay the
final installment. for whatever reason, you must wait for Mr Benjamin to resell the instrument to get your money back (minus the
10% deposit and any other losses incurred by him).

Unique or personalised orders which would be difficult/impossible to sell to someone other than the original orderer are not
rejectable unless there is a specific fault which cannot be remedied satisfactorily by Mr Benjamin.

For special order woods the extra cost is sometimes required up front in addition to the deposit detailed above.

Every Benjamin guitar is fully warranteed to the original owner against faulty materials and workmanship. This guarantee excludes
the possibility of cracks appearing in old Brazilian rosewood - this is due to this wood's brittle nature and current logging
restrictions which mean that most legal Brazilian rosewood is reclaimed from old buildings - if you want this rare wood then you
must accept that small cracks may need to be repaired from time to time during the life of an instrument made from it. Change
or damage due to humidity or temperature is the responsibility of the owner - Benjamin guitars are built in a humidity controlled
environment but this does not make them completely immune to damage by these effects. It is recommended that relative
humidity is kept between 40% and 65% to protect Benjamin guitars from damage as far as possible with about 50% being
ideal.

All goods remain the property of Mr N Benjamin until full payment has been received and delivery is accepted.

Mr Benjamin reserves the right to withdraw from an order without penalty to himself if he feels that the integrity of the finished
instrument will be compromised by requests made by the client regarding specification. Any initial deposit will be returned to the
client in this case unless construction of the guitar is already underway.

*WAITING TIME FOR CUSTOM BUILT GUITARS JUST ABOVE 2 YEARS AT PRESENT*
(Last updated May '09)

Buying a Ready Made Guitar

When purchasing a ready made guitar from Mr Benjamin full payment must be received and clear before an instrument can be
received. A banker's draft or cash are acceptable forms of payment for immediate purchase but cheques or transfers must
clear before an instrument can be received. Mr Benjamin does not accept credit card payment.

A prospective purchaser of a ready made guitar will be given ample time within Mr Benjamin's workshop to play and examine
the instrument before coming to a decision. Mr Benjamin prefers a prospective customer to test a ready made instrument
in person before purchase but if this is not possible then shipping and packing costs will be charged to the purchaser.
Normal legal approval times apply to a shipped guitar but any damage or wear to the guitar which occurs during this period
will be deducted from a refund plus any other loses made by Mr Benjamin. Return shipping costs and full shipping insurance
will be the customer's responsibility.

When sending deposits or payments please make cheques payable to 'N BENJAMIN', thanks!