Re: Should I build a guitar?
First of all, welcome to the forum!
Now, whether your idea is good or not is a completely subjective thing, however having been where you are I have these things to say:
A custom guitar costs SIGNIFICANTLY more than a mass-produced guitar of similar specs. That's the nature of it so you have to be 100% sure than what you want can't be found in an already-made model and/or you are not willing to compromise on a model that is almost right but just not quite so (for instance doesn't have the spalted wings).
If you are 100% set on a custom build then you have to have gone over every single thing in the greatest of details. Really. When I commissioned the building of my custom guitar I had already put 2 years into figuring every detail that I could think of and yet, every other day or so I would get an email from the builder asking me for sth I hadn't even considered of.
In all honestly I wouldn't advise you to do it, especially since a custom-made instrument is sth that you build for the rest of your life and, due to your age, I am pretty sure that you've still got to figure out what you like, not to mention that as we mature as guitar players our tastes also shift.
I believe that the best advice I could give you is to use as much free time as you have to go around guitar stores, playing as many and diverse guitars as you like, figuring out what works for you and what doesn't in terms of feel, playability, sound, looks, everything.
Then, if you are 100% sure you know what you really want and you still think there's nowhere you can find it already-built then you can revisit the custom-build idea.
FWIW, that's what I did and let me tell you, the guitar I ended up spec-ing isn't even remotely close to the guitar I would have had had I done it when I started out. It also is my no.1 and the one I know I'll have with me for as long as I am able and willing to keep playing.
