Received a new commission today

[Kevin Sjostrand]

That is what I did Ken with my next build, a commission.
We talked ALOT about all the elements, and when it was said and done, it is determined. The only thing yet left open is whether there will be a pickup installed or not, otherwise all the materials are purchased, and the design is set and there won't be any major changes happening on my end. Hopefully my customer won't think otherwise!!!

Kevin

[enalnitram]

The guitar referred to in the title of the thread will probably be #7. the guitar I've been talking about in my last few posts is #3, and the lesson I learned from that one, is to not be too overly excited that someone has asked you to build a guitar. instead, be careful about whom you're building for, and also about what it's going to take to execute it. from now on, I'll be choosing owners, just as much as they are soliciting a maker.

[Darryl Young]

Good advice Martin.

[Tony_in_NYC]

I have been very lucky in that the three guitars I have made for other people were all very easy. My second guitar was for my brother and was a surprise, so there was no way to ask him outright what he wanted. I did ask him for his opinions on things from time to time, but under the guise of it being another guitar for me.
For my second and third commissions, the OM is for my cousin and he asked me to "make it cool" and all he has done is pick the wood for the guitar. Everything else was up to me.
The Koa dread is a commission as well and that guy knows what he wants and sent me a list before anything was ever purchased. He also sent me a deposit big enough to purchase most of the supplies. He has been great to build for was well.
It might be wise to choose whom you build for. You might end up with a nightmare client.
A guy I know on another forum has the following as his signature:

An artist has to deal with his inner demons. A craftsman has to deal with someone elses.

So true.

[Herman]

Well put Tony.

There were some people, who were excited about my builds, that wanted me to build for them.
But they only could play an A minor. I told them first to learn to play a guitar for a few years and them come back. And there is one who is a very neurotic person. I feel his demons already coming.....

It is not a good thing for our guitars to sit in an attic or in a viri doctrine.

Have fun
Herman

[enalnitram]

There were some people, who were excited about my builds, that wanted me to build for them.
But they only could play an A minor. I told them first to learn to play a guitar for a few years and them come back.

I think there's a lot to what you're saying here, and it's not at all about a builder having an ego or anything. a good owner/player is going to have know-how regarding humidity issues and all the other things that go along with taking good care of a guitar.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

There is caution for sure that must be taken when taking money for our work. I think first and foremost; don't over sell yourself. Only agree to do work you feel comfortable executing. Example: if you have not done abalone purfling before, you may not want to take money on a guitar where this would be your first time doing it, etc, etc. If you are comfortable with a certain skill level, then building a guitar for someone using those skills should be okay.
Now I think for us beginners, we have to be pretty humble and say to the customer something like, "If this guitar does not meet my expectations, or if you are not pleased with how it turned out, then I will not force you to buy it". I did this with my first commission and it was my BOSS who was purchasing the guitar. Scary! I have already taken in about one third of the $$ from the customer on the next one, so that is also SCARY, but I feel pretty confident about the project....it does not exceed my skill level at this point. I do know that I will have to set my own standards higher, and I will not be able to let the little errors go unfixed, I will have to get it right, so that is also a little SCARY. On the other side, it can stretch us to do better work, a higher standard to strive toward.
At least that is how I look at it. When you are taking this kind of money from someone, you have to not only please them, you have to please yourself with the finished project.
Just my thoughts on the subject.

Kevin

[Darryl Young]

Till I have enough experience to be very comfortable knowing what I can reproduce, I'll stick to building for family and close friends. I guess technically, my first commission is the resonator build I'm about to start that I'm building for a freind that was a former co-worker. However, I'm not asking for any money except to cover expenses (I've never built a resonator so why would I charge?). He has sent me $500 up front to cover expenses which is sufficient. He says he will "give me something for my time" but I don't want or expect anything. From his point of view, he had considered buying a cheapo import resonator that was $300-$400 so we both figure I can make one better than that.......so he thinks he has little to loose......and might get a nice instrument.

I told him not to expect anything fast which is the real downside of accepting commissions when you have another full time job. Frankly, if I had $500-$1,000 tied up in up-front expenses, it would be difficult 8 or 9 months later to hear "yeah, we just got back from vacation so I haven't done anything since the last time we talked.......". I'm a husband and dad first then I have a full time job I'm committed to since it's how I take care of the wife and beautiful daughters........then I get to play around. A humidity controlled environment would greatly speed up my building.

My opinion only, but I think the best deal is to build the guitar you're passionate about. Let folks play it and if it rings someone's bell, sell it to them as you will both know what they are getting. I want to build a bluegrass dreadnaught (my real passion and where I think I have the best chances of succeeding) but I have a lot of things I want to test and experiment with. Already my plans have changed due to the resonator buid for my friend. Not complaining as I really want to build it for him (he is an amazing pedal steel player) and I wanted to build a resonator one day anyway.......but starting my first dreadnaught could be up to a year away now.

[David L]

Very realistic philosophy Darryl. I have no plans on taking in commisions, but then I haven't completed a guitar for someone to hear and possible say, "hey, can you build me one" , not that someone will because my first one might sound like a total piece of crap. My take on all of this is that from what I've heard on this forum is that most people's first and/or second guitar projects sound pretty darn good and people that hear them realize that they can get a custom, hand-built, unique, one-of-a-kind guitar for a fraction of what it would cost to get one built by a "professional" luthier, anyway, that's my 2 cents and I could be wrong of course.

David L

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Actually I never planned on building a guitar to sell, it just sort of happened. The first one, my first scratch built (now that was scary) went pretty cheap, and the money from it bought part of a plane ticket to India.

The Maca dred I'm finishing now is a giveaway, and I would find it difficult due to a few "little mistakes" I made selling it, especially if it had been a commission for sale build. It is easier to dismiss the mistakes when giving it to someone even though I wish I had not made the mistakes.

And truth be known, I'd really rather not "build to order" as in a commission. If I build one and someone sees and plays, and wants to buy, that is a MUCH safer way to go and, on the other hand, at this stage I don't really want to go out and try and market a guitar I've made either, so it is all going to happen by chance I think. :>)
I'm look at this next one as an opportunity to finance a few more builds and pick up some highly coveted tools for the guitar making shop.

Kevin