It's Official: Placed Order for Custom Orpheo Bass Guitar

[ErikH]

That is gorgeous and I’m sure it is worth the wait. Beautiful work.

[Top-L]

It looks pretty cool, but a three year wait! It migh be helpful for other potential customers to know if that kind of wait is normal?

I can't wait for more than about a few months. I would freak out if someone had a 1K deposit of mine and there wasn't any progress. After six months, its impossible to file a charge back.

[GuitarStv]

Very pretty! That top really came out well.

[jeremy]

It looks pretty cool, but a three year wait! It migh be helpful for other potential customers to know if that kind of wait is normal?

I can't wait for more than about a few months. I would freak out if someone had a 1K deposit of mine and there wasn't any progress. After six months, its impossible to file a charge back.

its not overly unusual for a custom guitar to take more than 6 months, but three years is obviously way too long. if you read through the thread there were a bunch of extenuating circumstances that piled up to cause the crazy long build time, sucks for sure, but its done now and looks great.

[beaubrummels]

It looks pretty cool, but a three year wait! It migh be helpful for other potential customers to know if that kind of wait is normal?

I can't wait for more than about a few months. I would freak out if someone had a 1K deposit of mine and there wasn't any progress. After six months, its impossible to file a charge back.

Try buying a less-popular Rickenbacker model.

[orpheo]

It looks pretty cool, but a three year wait! It migh be helpful for other potential customers to know if that kind of wait is normal?

I can't wait for more than about a few months. I would freak out if someone had a 1K deposit of mine and there wasn't any progress. After six months, its impossible to file a charge back.

I already wrote about it, but I'll tell it again.

A few months into the build, my workshop was closed due to Covid restrictions in my country for roughly a year. I got hit by Covid myself, sunk into a severe depression, but once the shop was allowed to open again, I dragged myself to work. By the time the bass was almost done, (approximately 2 years down the line, of which I only could build for a 7 months because all the other months were necessary to acquire the parts, materials, drawings, CNC toolpaths, etc), a template f*ckup had me go back to the very beginning, essentially having me build a second bass from square one. In essence, I build two basses that both were extremely difficult for a myriad of reasons. And... fully bespoke, obviously.

It's not like I can grab a billet, slap it under a machine that spits out a brandnew bass out on the other side. E v e r y t h i n g was bespoke and custom. From the color to the shape of the tummy cut, to the wiring, the inlay color, inlay shape, etc etc.

I am the last person in this world to recognize the build took a long time. Too long. Even for my own sanity. But unfortunately, long lead times are a byproduct of
1) bespoke work
2) custom work (not the same as bespoke)
3) ordering from a one-man-shop

I'm grateful for every instrument anyone wants out of my hands, but the stresses are just too great. I want to deliver an AMAZING instrument to whoever orders, because every dollar that my instruments cost, has been worked for. It never comes easy. But because of the nature of my shop, my "brand", long lead times are all but inevitable. I want to keep a decent price for my instruments, but if I actually charged every hour I know I'll put into the process, the instruments will double in price. So my prices are just to cover materials, parts, and some contingencies. If the fretboard is milled and presents a huge crack, I need some monetary space to purchase a brand-new board.

And for full disclosure, I am so painfully aware of the delay of this bass that I waived the remaining 50% but that did lead me to pour in hundreds of dollars of my own money into this bass. And itś not as if I build 5 days a week, 9 hours a day. I work for a guitar factory in the Netherlands (who are specialized in artificial materials; not gonna name names but this should suffice ) fulltime, so I have to build outside of the 40hrs a week I am working already. All on my own, which is not necessarily a problem except that I have to know and do everything. I have to specialize in everything of a build instead of focus on 1 thing. In the factory, we have guys who specialize in sanding; others in painting; others in fretting; others in assembly; others in wiring. I have to know and do it all. That is part of the fun, I'm not complaining, but because I am alone, it takes longer.

If I could work on 'my' instruments solely, at this cost level, I perhaps would be a lot faster because I can combine processes, be more efficient in those, and not have to worry about placing making guitars in between my personal life.

And the worst part is? A satin guitar, a simple, carved top LP without a complicated triple dye finish with a contrasting porefill and complex inlay, I can squeeze that out in a few weeks. That is the frustrating part to me. It is all the little steps, simply because it is a custom-build with bespoke custom specs, that take time. Check check triple check, and then check again.

It all sounds simple, but I wish it were. Oh, and let's not forget that the only thing I do on a CNC is the inlay. Everything else is handwork. Carving the neck and body top, the tummy cut, the heel, headstock shape, aligning the templates for literally everything. At work we use a robot to mill and drill everything, which is insanely cool but if every instrument I make is unique, using a Robot is ridiculous (and by the way, financially totally not feasible; if I were to buy that robot milling machine instead of a house, my wife would flay me).

Years ago, I think it was 2003, I went to see a local luthier in my town. I'm still in touch with him, he's a great guy and an amazing luthier. His name is Richard Heeres and I urge and inspire you all to go check his work. During my visit he explained to me in clear terms what the purpose is of buying a bespoke guitar. It's not because it is cheaper; it is often an expensive experience, either in finances or time. Or both. But a custom guitar is what you order when whatever you need cannot be found in 'confection' guitars; guitars that are found in your regular guitar store. To many, a Gibson LP Standard, PRS CU24, Fender '52 style tele or '63 style strat is enough. But there are people who have very specific requirements. Those can be visual (inlay, color, materials), or tonal (materials, pickups, hardware). Or both. And a custom guitar fits that bill. I can make a 1959 LP Standard replica, sure, but why would I? Gibson makes a decent guitar, Panucci in the Netherlands makes great 50ies replicas of Gibsons. My guitars are unique and different by default. A semihollow LP with F-Holes, carved laminated back, with a matching neck, ebony board, and Star Trek inlay? Gibson won't even touch that idea let alone make it. A carved strat made out of a single piece of figured koa, with a floating Floyd, and an ultra-fatback pau ferro neck with ebony board? Doesn exist, other than in my rack, because noone had made it. Yes, koa, but then no ebony board. Or koa and ebony, but flattop. Etc etc. Sometimes you can find what you want via Warmoth, or modding an existing guitar, but what if you can't? Then a custom builder is your only option.

Custom work is always difficult. For example, I am waiting for over a year (almost 18 months) on a pair of boots from the Pacific Northwest, and it's likely going to be almost 2 years before I get them. It's a reputable bootmaker for sure, but my wishes are just too darned complicated, so it takes time.

Many people seem to believe that the world revolves around them, and that the person they hire for a job should have them and only them in their (professional) crosshairs, setting aside "life" just for their project, but it doesn't work that way. Especially for a one-man-shop, where hickups in emotional spirits and personal life can hinder the progress tremendously. That ties back to what I said earlier, where I have to do everything on my own. The pressure of performing every step of the way as well as what other big manufacturers are doing, is immense, but simply put, I cannot lacquer a guitar for example as efficiently as a Gibson can do that in nitro, or Cort with polyester/polyurethane. That's the scale of things I mentioned earlier as well.

I can make it fast and great, but that will be super expensive.
I can make it great and cheap, but that'll be slow.

If I make it fast and cheap, it will be garbage. But 'cheap' is still over 1500 bucks, which is a LOT, but not NEARLY enough to cover my hours or my stresses, because mind you, if I set aside everything in my life to squeeze out "your" (hypothetical) guitar in 6 weeks, you can bet your ass that my wife will want to see some recompense. But it also means that I have to hire someone to take care of my grandmother because I'm gone for 6 weeks. Fast, cheap, and great, is just an unruly burden in me as a producer and I don't think that's fair, or sustainable long-term.

I am not fast. But my guitars are good. Sometimes great, even. I think there are a dozen guys here on the forum who own a guitar of mine; if my guitars are junk, let me know. If not, let others know

[orpheo]

Try buying a less-popular Rickenbacker model.

Or an Aristides with a custom inlay in the fretboard, a custom graphic finish, a custom fretboard color, custom etched pickups, and a custom wiring... Stuff takes time.