Buying a Customized Guitar From AliExpress

ehdwuld

A Ficus
So it was asked in a PM
thought it might help someone else as well



Go to any item you want
message seller
If you want a similar model to what he has in stock
Ask if you can customize that
Be specific. Don't assume he understands what you want changed from his standard build


If you want something completely different
Ask him can he build .... what ever you want
Have pictures with arrows and dimensions in metric


Do not say soft v or Eric Clapton neck
They don't know what a SRV or Wolfgang neck shape is


Find specific dimensions on a website ..... somewhere in a picture


I sent them a picture of the body shape I wanted


Then a picture of a different headstock


An image of the control layout


an image of the neck with metric dimensions marked on it
the rest of the world is metric


They asked if I wanted the Chinese or Korean locking tuners
they know the Korean ones are better


Color of hardware


Finish . Very important to show images of how you want the finish to look

Cannot express enough how important pictures and images are
even if hand drawn and captured with your phone



Ask for pictures during the process of building


During one of these images they discovered a flaw and corrected it before it got too far along


Look closely at all the images they share


Ask for images before shipping


Look closely .......


I had one arrive with shipping damage
It was obviously the guitar that was shown before shipping
You will need these before and after when negotiating for shipping insurance


Be prepared to do some setup and adjustments when it arrives


If you don't know how
Watch videos and read up on these while you wait


Be patient
It takes a while to build and longer to ship


Don't get a copyrighted logo or headstock
Customs will seize it


Don't expect a Custom shop quality guitar for $400
That's just unrealistic
 
Back
Top