Leaderboard

Forgive me if this seems like gloating, but I'M IN! I'M IN! I'M IN! I'm never in! But I'm in! My options were few and he was fine with them. Basically I'm looking for the Bubs burst ( ), bound and crowned! The wife is even excited about this! Check on it's way!

Congrats to all that made it in. "For the dude who wanted the doubleneck Scepter in "Wonderbread White with Primary Color Polka-dots", and the many faces of Emmett Kelley, Jr. inlayed in the fretboard...uh, sorry. Not happening!" Damn and i was SOOOO looking forward to that one! Hamerica

I sent a check, very easy.

Whooo hoooooo, looks like I got lucky. As soon as I know the PP address to send my deposit to the money will be on the way. It's not admin@shishkovguitars.hikarate.a2hosted.com is it ? Mine will be a all Mahogany Standard, Rosewood fingerboard, bound and crowned probably in a solid colour, (White or Black when I can make up my mind). If Mike is happy to do some small tweaks (at additional cost) I'd like the frets over the binding if possible, un-chambered, and with the smaller slot shaped control cavity (like the early Standards) a round Toggle switch route, old style ABR1- stop tail and an old style Truss rod cover. Not sure on the P/U's yet but as I've just copped a set of Gregwinds from the "For sale" section (thanks Currypowder) they may be the ones I'll use. I'll discuss this further with Mike once the builds start but if my tweaks aren't possible then I'll take what I can get and still feel bloody lucky to get in. Pretty much what I was hoping we could persuade Hamer to do as a final run. Considering the interest Mike has had it proves that there would have been plenty of customers for one but I guess they would have wanted a whole lot more then the very reasonable price Mike has set. Is the body shape going to be exactly the same as a Hamer Standard ? I'll also be interested in placing a second order when the "list" price for a custom order has been established. My first new guitar since I persuaded my Mum to sign the finance papers for a L.P. Goldtop Deluxe in 1977.

Sorry, Brian - I knew you just HAD to push the envelope!

Brent - if you get in the initial run, I call dibs for when you flip it a week later!

Got my confirmation email, too. I feel so fortunate to be involved with the inaugural run of Ultimates. I totally lucked out on this one... Chambered Ultimate Tobacco burst Klusons Dots Bound top Woo-effin'-OOF!

David B. ROCKS!

Did the exact same thing and realize real quick that I made a mistake and corrected it so fast I may have spelled everything correctly.

Got a confirmation but tried to reply my commitment and it was returned. Vintage Natural for me.

Got my confirmation today. Seems like one of these ends up in the land of the frozen ones. (aka Norway) 50`s burst with neck binding and crown inlays. May the next six months fly.

Fill out a quote form for exactly what you want. I'm sure the price will be fair. I just filled out the form for another quote.

Congrats to all you guys that got in on the first run. I'm sure you won't be disappointed with the results. I put in a request for a quote on a bass myself. I want a double cut and when it's done I also want a standard bass to go with it .

The bugs are being worked out now. PLEASE DO NOT post Mike's Paypal address here (or anywhere)!!!

Just had cracked my first Dew open so yeah. Still wondering about replying but I am patient.

Got my confirmation as well. Damn, this is cool. $ is on the way, Mike.

Really? What a dick. 7am a little early for you Gene?

Oh wait, the Woo-effin-OOF opton.

The Powers That Be have been made aware. I saw to that a few hours ago (because it happened to me too) - trust me.

Got my confirmation and will send the deposit in as soon as I get Mike's PayPal addy. I couldn't respond to his confirmation cause I kept getting failure notices when replying. I went through the website so I could reply. It was funny....I got scared thinking... "OMG, what happens if I cannot reply and Mike thinks I am not interested and moves on" LOL. Mule , you did get my email, right?

I am just obsessed with this body style! There will be more orders to follow at the non-discount price as well. Thanks for doing this Mike!

I did both. First sent a pm then sent a quote after I reread the offering.

Got my confirmation as well & deposit is on the way. I went with an opaque color.

Well, we have THREE vintage natural orders: you, Bubs n me. But all got our emails bumped back. Hey Mike! Sending a check yer way... don't bump me! I actually went with a color. I'll take any color I'm just so freaking excited its not even funny!

Damn. I used the contact link within three minutes of this thread being posted to say I was in. Overlooked the part that required the quote form. Reading is fundamental!

Same Here!!!! MIKE MONEY OTW MONDAY!!!

Woohoo indeed I just got my confirmation email and my deposit will be on it's way soon. Big thanks to Mike for being willing to do a lefty this early in the game.

Shishkov USA - Fuck you, Fender.

So when are the SFC shirts going to be available?

Like so?

Mike is spending some quality time with his family this weekend, but the contact emails will be going out as soon as he and his wife are back and able to get those out to everybody. Although the initial list was filled almost immediately, there will likely be some withdrawals or bumps, as there usually are when it is time to pony up deposit money. Requests that vary from the basic spec may or may not make the cut - while most requests have been very reasonable, there are some things Mike can't/won't be able to do (Hamer logos, boomerang or insane inlay work, nutty graphic finishes...). For the dude who wanted the doubleneck Scepter in "Wonderbread White with Primary Color Polka-dots", and the many faces of Emmett Kelley, Jr. inlayed in the fretboard...uh, sorry. Not happening!

Have you forgotten where you are?

There were over 80 people on the order list within the first 24 hours. Most of them in the first 12 hours that the site was live. Mike is pretty buried in filtering the requests for the limited run and pure custom instrument quotes, so is not able to respond back immediately. There's a LOT of work behind the scenes going on here. As mentioned by several other people above, the point is NOT to have a larger pool of orders at the special pricing. It's not meant to be exclusionary in any way, and the guitars he builds outside of that will be priced very reasonably, but assuming that it is a savvy marketing strategy to put out the lion's share of initial production at a loss or barely break-even point makes even less sense. Identical instruments will still be available after this first run, and in fact, are basically available for order now, just not at the introductory price. Nobody is being excluded from ordering, it's just that this is ultimately a business, so Mike needs to build in some kind of profit margin or it just isn't worth his time, effort and aggravation. I don't think there is a single person who could legitimately argue with that. I also deal with IPOs and private company launches on a regular basis - that's not the same concept as what Mike is doing here at all. There will be plenty of great stuff for everybody, and the prices will be extremely competitive for a custom instrument hand built in the USA by the best in the business. I don't think Mike's regular pricing will offend anybody here!

10 pages before the whining and bitching started? Not too bad. - Austin

^^^GETS IT^^^ Mike priced the initial run at the absolute bare minimum he could to be able to get enough orders to get his new business up and running. Remember, this is a guy who, after twenty five or so years working for a company that moved him 1/2way across the US, he had the rug pulled out from under him and needs to develop a source of income to live and support a family. 'Getting closed out' of the initial rock bottom offer isn't the way to look at it-people can still (and are and will) be able to order some of the finest custom instruments at prices well below what most other single person builders (of lesser quality) are selling for. Here is a guy who has to furnish an entire shop, purchase equipment, tools and materials and still be able to make a living at it. Mike is an artist and a hell of a craftsman so chaining him to a bench either by doing nothing but making slim margins or being tied to investor demands simply was not possible to allow him to operate at the high standard he holds himself to. Simply because this crazy low offer sold out within a couple of hours is not the issue. This will be awesome.

Nothing creates a buzz quite like Unobtanium. Mike should take it to the next level and get all Howard Dumble/Soup Nazi with it: Contact him for any reason before the guitar is completed, you lose your deposit and you're off the list forever. He'll be a millionaire cult figure in short order.

There are a number of Aboriginies in Australia who might argue that point

Dude you can run but you can't hide - when i get really swamped with orders I am going to drag your sorry ass back here

You guys are the best! Thank you so much for your support, encouragement and requests! I am working through the overwhelming number of requests that have been submitted and will be in touch with everyone in the next day or so. I am excited about this new venture! We will build some fantastic guitars together! Extra special thanks to Ted, Steve, Chris and Greg - Could not have made this happen without their help and support.

Geoff: Right now, Mike is working out the custom pickup concept and basic supplier. Obviously, that will be based not only on his vision/hearing and customer inquiry, but also by whatever makes economic sense for him as a builder. I wouldn't rule anything out at this stage, but having you do a video (or videos) would definitely be a cool thing to add as a site feature! Couldn't hurt to give Frank Falbo a ring at Duncan, Frank's a great guy. Custom pickups? Really? I don't think that's necessarily a good idea since there's a pickup for every flavor right now and the market is saturated. Cross promoting with an existing pickup manufacturer is a really good idea... Seymour Duncan is the only company that has a decent ground game and so that's why I mentioned it. Making pickups isn't as easy as everyone makes it out to be... better off benefiting from someone with years and years of experience. But I digress, my opinion isn't worth squat. Frank Falbo is no longer with SD, he has Falbo guitars and is working on a new pickup company called Flux. I'd love to do a video... not with me playing or anything, just guitar porn and Mike talking about his new company... designed to sell guitars and would be all about marketing. But.. I offered my services for free to Stike and he turned me down. I'm not trying to make money and have always offered my services without any compensation. Most people are too good to have me help them. It's their fucking loss, not mine. I'd love to see you do the video. Sounds like its time for the hfc version of kickstarter to get you there. I'd throw in.