cmatthes

Where are you seeing that? It's just regular old fingerboard binding.

Yep. Mike is focusing on finishing up some shop stuff and getting started on the first run. A little patience will go a long way...

Trust us...you don't!

To those who ponied up for the initial run, this shouldn't be a concern. Read the email you got from Mike...

It would be more cost effective to start with a few mahogany boards.

Unfortunately, not really. The actual pricing is still being worked out, and a lot of that will probably have to do with how the initial run goes. The cost (after the first ones) will be more than the initial offering price was, for sure (it will have to be!), but also still affordable.

More details will be forthcoming. A little patience will go a long way. Keep in mind that he is still finalizing a lot of things right now, including the setup of his shop. It would probably be better to keep the speculation down here for many reasons. Sometimes it is better to sit back and watch the artist create...

Awesome!!!!!!

Yes. There is a draft form of that, which will be tweaked as final cost figures come in from suppliers, etc. The initial Custom Order page was more of a placeholder, not a specific, all-inclusive listing. Mike will have that all locked down well before things truly open up for other orders.

Wow. Again.

** PLEASE NOTE!! ** Mike is still in the process of setting up his shop, getting some new equipment in place, and working out the details of his new business venture. In addition to that, he is a bit swamped with the HUGE tidal wave of orders and quote requests that poured in over just the first few hours and days. He's going to be replying to people individually and in turn, but please understand that this will take some time as he sifts through everything on his plate right now. Your patience is requested (and appreciated!) as he tackles this task. The intent of the initial run and opening the site was to get some early orders and deposits in so that he could start production in the next few weeks/month and get ramped up. The feedback has been fantastic, and very inspirational, however, Mike wants to assure that every order gets the attention it deserves. Please note that the first priority will be working through and completing the initial run, and then Mike will be taking on some custom order work and most likely, original designs in the very near future. Stick around - great stuff ahead over the coming months as things continue to take shape!

Exactly. That's why anything that deviated from the basic platform too far was pushed to later or as a "custom" basis. There is an enormous amount of time required for any scratch build v. a repeatable design, so I'd expect that Mike will have to prioritize based on this as well.

He's a MACHINE!!!

The CLASSIC look!!

Ha! I've just got to make a little room and focus on the projects I've got going. I've come to the realization that a lot of the cool stuff I've accumulated over the years would be better off in the hands of somebody who has the time to finish it! More stuff will be added, if any interest...

The official finish color of the Standard on the cover of the book is " '17 Burst".

Alright - I'll add some REAL Korina to the mix tonight if anybody's interested. I've got a rough cut out beautifully matched Korina body traced off of my 4-digit Standard and also a quilt maple billet that would fit to top it off, and a stupidly lightweight Korina Tele Thinline body with a maple top that'll appear in this space later. Prices & Pics will follow ASAP...

The initial run sold out right away, but Mike will be opening up for individual orders once he can come up for air!

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

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

Too obvious?

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!

Completely different concepts, Geoff. Both are great, both have business models that appeal to particular audiences, and each responds to a particular niche. I don't see any sort of conflict, and in fact, I imagine that each wants nothing more than to see the other succeed.

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!