www.KitGuitarsForum.com

you have to start somewhere and if you don't start you will never know what your capable of doing
go for it

My second guitar was built for a friend.
I bought two kits originally, so if I really screwed one up, I had materials for another go-around.
The first one turned out fine (I play gigs with it), so I built the other for a friend who is left handed. Changed the bridge, saddle, pickguard, and bracing pattern to suit. It’s in his hands now having a test run; I expect it back in a few weeks for setup adjustments.

I was asked to build #3 by another friend. It’s in his hands now for finish.
#4 (for me) and #5 (another friend) are on the bench now.

Then there’s the electric build for my brother-in-law.

But after that, I really don’t want to build for other people. Especially strangers.
So far the builds for others have included some interesting challenges (inlay, sun burst finish, etc) and the acknowledgement that I’m building my skills as I’m building their guitars. I used to build custom motorcycles, and the comment has been, “Well, I know how you work, the guitar will be fine”.

I have several more in my head and wood drying in the racks for them.
I’ll build them for me. If someone wants to buy one after it’s finished, warts and all, that’s fine.

I know my skills aren’t to the level where I can fully charge for my time.
Spending that much money, a customer is going to expect a very high standard, and they should get it.

I built my third guitar specifically for my brother-in-law. It all turned out very well, but I would not do it again. (For anybody. The fact that he was my brother-in-law is irrelevant.) He bought the materials up front -- a fairly expensive top and back/side set -- and the amount of anxiety I felt wondering if he would be happy with the result was just not worth it. If I ever build a guitar for somebody again I will tell them I will build a guitar on my own, and when it's done they can decide if they want it or not. I would sell a finished guitar to somebody, but but I wouldn't build a guitar according to somebody's requests.

I suppose if I did it a lot and got more confidence in my abilities, at some point I might be wiling to build a guitar specifically for somebody, but not yet.