Boutique builders and others you would recommend

[Bopcat]

Ok, so we won't name those who've screwed us. How about naming those who have delivered a product that performs just as advertised, at a fair price and on time.
For me the list would include David Allen (amps), Analog Man (pedals) and Ted Weber (speakers). I have to add Larry Miletich at Music One. While Larry is not a "boutique" dealer he does sell beautifully selected and adjusted Fender guitars. I've bought three from him and have two more in the pipeline.
Anyone else?

[mark norwine]

Ric McCurdy built my archtop.....I can't say enough good things about him or his guitars. Simply the best.

[Scotland]

Owen C. Duff !!
Lindy Fralin !!
Both deliver the goods on time and make a fantastic product.
Bob at Eurotubes.
Kevin Bolinskey. Makes the best guitars I've ever played and has a service better than I've had anywhere.

[dhdfoster]

I just got a pair of Van Zandt True Vintage Tele pickups from "Joe the Guitar Man" in Texas.

They were in my mailbox in 3 days. I'll just say they sound awesome.

I'll also mention WD Music's pickguard service. For a very reasonable price, they will cut any guard from a tracing and ship it fast.

I know these aren't boutique guys, either, but they are specialty items.

[Mark Davis]

For dealers Larry Miletich @ Music One Workshop has always went way over the top for good service products and even friendship.

For hardware Callaham does it quick and has great stuff excellent!!

Pickups OC Duff. I was the 1st person here to try the OC's. One of the boutique pickup winders took longer than I expected there was no $$ involved and no hard feelings so I looked around on the web found OC and got a good set made the way "I" wanted them. That was in Feb 2004 since then he has had several happy customers from here.

Those 3 people are the cream of the crop as far as my experience has gone.

Others who deliver great service but I havent delt with are Mark Jenny who does refinish work Rob D and Kevin.

[Dillon]

Mark Norwine built my amp...I can't say enough good things about Mark and his amps. Simply the best.

I have always had a good relationship with Scott Lentz. I own two of his fine guitars. He has strong opinions and is uncompromising is his quest to build the best instruments out there. I can respect that. I have learned a bunch about guitars along the way.

[Robin Nahum]

.... with US suppliers.

USACG
Warmoth
StewMac
Seymour Duncan
Angela Instruments
Eurotubes
Dr Spot
Callaham
Ted Weber
Custom Inlay

Good experiences with local people aside from one or two but let's not go there.

[boogaloo]

George Alessandro- Working Dog Amps and builder of "high end" amplification. Says what he means and means what he says. Built me a Bassman board to original specs (that I've yet to shoot pics of and post...) sounds great to me and done in just over a week.

Lindy Fralin- Great pups! Quality hand wound at a fair price- and they sound fantastic.

Robert Keeley- the epitome of customer service, great product, delivered on time, no B.S., VERY nice guy.

Eurotubes Bob-another customer service guru with an excellent product. Stellar human being to deal with.

Ted Weber- another nice and patient businessman/artist with a superior product.

TDPRI Bretheran- boutique information, tastes and flair that "runs the gamut". I love it!

Brian

[BB]

USA Custom Guitars: Tommy and the gang are the best.

Kevin Bolinskey: Quality, generous person. Quality product. Hell of a great guy to boot!

Jason Lollar: First class pickups. First class person.

Jon Moore: Fantastic pickups. Quick service. Excellent price.

Craig Vasily: www.awendamusic.com Great, low cost pedals backed by one of the nicest people in the business.

[ramblinmike]

those i've done business with and would gladly do it again:

USA Custom Guitars: what a pleasure. made sure i was getting what i wanted and then made sure it got to me alright.

Warmoth: these guys too. plus they make great pickguards, and they have a great taste in wood selection. got one of the most beautiful pieces of swamp ash from these guys. and they deliver when they say they will.

Callaham: they have really cool stuff and there were ZERO problems. and thats all i ask for.

Lollar: great pickups, great guy, great service.

and based on the praise all of you have given them, i hope to try O.C. Duff and Fralin as soon as possible.

[staxman]

Two of my favorites are local guys here in the Puget Sound area.

USA Custom Guitars- I've had the pleasure of visting Tommy and the crew at the shop in Tacoma. Folks, these guys really care about providing a world-class product and service. Buy with confidence,

Jason Lollar-- Outstanding pups and a pleasure to deal with as well.


Also, Rob D here at the TDPRI was cool to deal with on a neck I purchased from him. A wealth of free info on his website and in his posts here.

[jz63]

Jim Kauffman at Sunrise Pickups - I bought one off of him in the early 1990's and he was great to deal with. Quick turnaround and always there at the other end of the phone to help with any questions.

Paul Crowther of Hotcake fame. Excellent customer service, especially considering he is about as far away from here as possible (New Zeland). I needed a spare part for my pedal and it arrived within 3 days of my email to him at no cost to me.

Stewart Ward at Session. I use one of his gg-10 acoustic pre-amps. I was looking for one when they were out of production and he helped me track one down and offered great advice on usage and such.

[Tom P.]

Great products and interaction with Tommy @ USA Custom, Lawrence pickups, Callaham, Weber, Allen Amps.
A special shout out to Rob DiStephano - Fret Tech.com - craftsmanship, communication, super fast. I have total confidence in his work and he's a real pleasure to deal with.

[Tim Bowen]

Ed Rembold - Toneczar effects

Scott Peterson - Harmonic Design pickups

Bob @ EuroTubes

Bob McBroom - PedalworX effects

Bill Finnegan - Klon

George Blekas - PedalworX effects

Tim Larwill - RetroSonic effects

Mike Zaite - Dr. Z amplification

Robert Keeley - Keeley Electronics

Mike Pinera - Analog Man effects

Marc Ahlfs - Skreddy pedals

Many, many more. I've been treated right by good folks, I'm happy to say.

[Raymond]

Good thread Bobcat. I'm working hard to focus more on the positive.

Most of the ones I've had great experience with have been already named, but I guess that naming them again will help to reinforce their reputation.

In no particular order…

Kevin Bolinskey (TDPRI a.k.a. "Kevin")-He puts together great guitars with bodies that he makes and finish himself. He's got that magic tough that some of us would wish to have at least half of it. His good reputation is well known all over the net and his generosity is beyond this world. I'm lucky to call him my friend.

Rob Di Stefano- He must've put together over 5000 guitars in all the years he's been in business. A straight shooter and one of the most generous guys I've ever met. He's never missed a deadline, even the one time I asked him to stretch it beyond what would be reasonable. He's also a great amp tech who knows his stuff and refuses to play along hype, legends, and nonsense even if that means getting less work. I also buy parts from him and the service is just top notch.

He're in No. VA we're lucky to have Matt Baker. He's a hell of a tech and a great guy. I wish I could afford some of the beauties he's got in the store…

For acoustic guitar work here's THE guy J. Thomas Davis in Columbus, OH. My "secret" dream is one day to get him to make me a flat top... I just need 4 grand… I met him by chance when buying a cheap Epi PR-750 that played fairly decent but needed some work. I was broke at the time and that was the best I could afford. He took it to his shop and convert it into an acoustic machine. I took me like 4 months to pay him and he was happy that I was able to play guitar… a great guy. I hope he never retires.

You can't go wrong with Bill, Becky, and Shannon Lawrence. Great people who treat their customers like family. All my guitars and bass have BL pups. That's the tone I like…

[sparky]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

Others who deliver great service but I havent delt with are Mark Jenny who does refinish work Rob D and Kevin.

I have dealt with Kevin and can confirm that he is a gentleman, as well as a top quality maker and finisher.
Ian.

[Kingpin]

Tommy- USA Custom Guitars
Jason Lollar
Callaham
Bill Lester - ReRanch
Robert Keeley
Ted Weber

They've all given me excellent service. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again (and I have!).

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by Tim Bowen

Mike Pinera - Analog Man effects

Of Iron Butterfly?????

[TeleHawg]

I've had terrific experiences with the following:

O.C. Duff
Callaham
Ted Weber
Lindy Fralin
Warmouth

[ne4tt]

Amp Parts-

Fast service from these vendors:

Doug Hoffman -Online ordering only.


TrioDeel, Ned Carlson

Antique Electronic Supply

AES has Accutronics Reverb tanks at a great price point.
Can't say enough about the 3 spring tank I have in my Twin.
Very lush sounding, and a sonic improvement over the 2 spring that comes stock in Fenders.
For approx $25, it is well worth the money.

jamie

[John Harrison]

Our own Robbie Wallace, of RGW Electronics, maker of the amazing Bad Bob pedal, and Mike Pinera of AnalogMan. Not only do they do great work, but they're also very generous supporters of my middle school guitar program. Same for Larry Milletich of Music One Workshop!
Lindy Fralin has been extremely helpful and very giving with his time every time I've called him.
Geoffrey Teese modded my old Crybaby, was a pleasure to work with, did great work, and had awesome service!
Ted Weber is just plain amazing! Great products and great service! He also runs a great website.
Another plus for Callaham. Great product, quick service, and personalized customer service.
Tom "TV" Jones gets a BIG recommendation from me. He was like dealing with an old friend. His pickups are amazing!

Though I've run into a couple of prima donnas, most of my experiences have been very, very positive.

[Tim Armstrong]

I'll second recommending Uncle Ned Carlson at Triode Electronics ( http://store.yahoo.com/triodeel/index.html ) for tubes and such, along with Lord Valve/Fat Willie Whittaker (who's not really all that fat, just one big dude!) at NBS Electronics in Denver ( http://www.nebsnow.com/LordValve ). Both guys have great prices on great tubes, and really know their stuff.

Another really superb boutique guy is Peter Florance, who makes Voodoo pickups ( http://www.peterflorance.com ). I have one of his P-Bass pickups in my bass, and man, it's killer good. I've heard really REALLY good things about his Telecaster pickups, too.

I haven't done any direct business with him, but I feel perfectly comfortable echoing all the praise for our own Rob Di Stefano. A heck of a nice guy, and he really doesn't charge enough!

Cheers, Tim

[dean]

These folks have been a pleasure to work with. I started playing guitar when I was 50, and I needed a lot of help to learn as much as I have. These vendors not only create excellent products, they also love helping customers learn about what makes great guitars and amps.

First is Savage Audio - I just picked up my first boutique amp, and Jeff Krumm and the boys did a masterful job on my little Macht 6. It's a beauty!

Next is Tommy at USA Custom Guitars - Simply the best! He walked me through my first couple builds (a Tele and a Strat) and gave me some great tips on finishing.

Likewise, Bill Lester at Guitar ReRanch - I can't recall how many times I called Bill to see what would work best, how to finish something, or how to deal with a problem.

The guys at Weber Vintage Sound Technology - Every time I needed speaker advice, these guys were spot-on. They also make some of the best speakers on the planet!

Larry Militech and his brother George at Music One Workshop have gone over the top for me, too. Once when I made a short visit home in Montana, I dropped off my Tele for a setup - they had it done the next day. They stayed late during Christmas season to get it done for me. Larry also demonstrated all they different guitar sounds you can get on a Tele for my Mom - he spent a half hour showing her how a guitar works!

There are many others who have been helpful and who have great products and service - we're pretty lucky to have access to these decent and interested business owners!

Dean

[Paul in Colorado]

Dave Barber. I got a Direct Drive in a trade and it didn't sound like the one I played in a store. I e-mailed Dave and he asked me to send it to him to check out. He didn't think anything was wrong with it, but to be sure I was happy, he sent me a new one at no charge.

Jason Loller Rewound an ancient Mighty Mite Strat pickup from the '80's. Did a great job.

Bruce Collins He's done a lot of work for me. Got a '60's Epiphone amp running after others gave up. Always does great work and we always end up chatting for an extra hour or so when I go to pick up the repair.

[Tim Bowen]

Originally Posted by Tim Bowen

Mike Pinera - Analog Man effects

Originally Posted by David Barnett

Of Iron Butterfly?????

No! That other guy never sent me the "Inagaddadavida" pedal that he promised me. <|8^/

[Jef]

Bruce Collins at Missionamps

MJ Harnish... He did some pedals for me with great results and very friendly service. Anyone heard of him lately? He seems to be gone from the guitar/amp/effects forums.

Jef

[Walter Broes]

I've had a great experience with Andy, the "pickup wizard" from kent Armstrong rewinds in the UK. He rewound a set of Supro pickups for me, and they sound great, it went fast, not too expensive, and he was a nice guy to deal with.

[zane]

As far as guitar builder's go I deffinately second the SOTT LENTZ nomination. Scott picks out the best of his aged wood then builds his own pickups tuned for the piece of wood he has picked out. He does the best finish work in the biz IMHO.
I have seen, played ,& heard one of his NEW MODELS, & can say that they will be just as beautiful looking ,& playing as his old."S" ,& "T" models were.
Here are a few pix-o-my "S", & "T" models:
http://www.lilypix.com/photos/showal...=3287&uuid=719

[Telemaniac]

I'll add a vote for Kevin, great to deal with and a genuine gentleman.

Another builder question, has anyone had any experience with Victoria boutique amps?