Our custom design process starts and finishes through direct contact with Bob Rogers, guitar builder/luthier. We require a $100 non-refundable design deposit, which will be taken off the total cost of your story guitar. Our payment terms are simple, requiring a 50% deposit and the balance paid just prior to shipping. As of this writing our build time is 4-8 weeks. We will keep you updated with pictures and videos along the way and will provide you a USB drive that documents your build.
Our hand-crafted guitars start at $3,200. You’ll find that all the parts and features we include on our standard bopat guitars are typically more than what you would find on most custom guitars! Checking out our available guitars page will give you an idea of the work we’ve done for our clients over the past six years. Standard features include:
Gotoh locking tuners, headstock cap matching the top wood, Gotoh adjustable wraparound bridge, CTS pots, Switchcraft and CRS switching, Dawgtown Custom handwound pickups, Pau Ferro fretboard with 22 frets and 12″ radius, Nickel frets, 1-11/16″ TUSQ nut, bopat custom recessed wood pickup surrounds, magnetic control cover (no screws), custom wood truss rod cover (magnetic), bopat/Gator hard case, bopat new customer kit, black, white, pearl or abalone fret markers, strung with D’addario 009 or 010 strings, up to five laminations for the body and the neck. We also carve the neck and body joint for easy access to the upper register and provide a belly and arm cut where appropriate. The wood we use is important and we want you to be a part of choosing the wood for your guitar. Some woods are more expensive than others and we will work with you through the process to help you pick what works best for you.
You can begin your design by emailing bob@bopatguitars.com or through the contact form on our home page. Check out our bopatguitarsUSA YouTube Channel as well as our Facebook page for detailed build information and to get a closer look at the bopat shop.
Fulfilling Expectations:
We expect to develop a personal relationship with you throughout the entire design and build process. From the one-on-one design communications to strumming or picking your first notes, our commitment to you is excellence and attention to detail.
We ask questions:
- We are interested in who you are, what you do; what you like or dislike about the guitars you’ve owned or played.
- We would like to discuss your “dream” guitar.
- From this: We want to know what kind of wood you like as well as colors and knobs and switches and all the great parts that are available these days that will become part of your guitar.
- To this: We want to defer to your preferences when it comes to selecting wood types, hardware and accessories, and special touches highlighting your story guitar. Of course, we’re also happy to offer ideas along the way.
- We want to know what size neck works for you along with fret size and fretboard material. Standard inlays or custom? You decide. We can help to whatever degree you desire. In other words, if you don’t have an answer or do not have a preference we can help. To coin a phrase from my time in Hawaii, “no worries.”
- There’s more … let us know what you think. We’re interested!
- The initial step will take 3-4 hours of design time in order for us to get a clear picture of how we can create your story guitar. We do that by a one hour phone conversation and then working through details over the next week or two. Sometimes it is quick and sometimes it takes a little more time. We are not on the clock. We want to fully understand your expectations. This is truly a team effort.
Sending the email is the first step to getting your story told through a guitar built with great care and passion! From there we can get on a phone call or communicate through email, text message, facetime or any other form of communication. The key is that we communicate.
We are excited and honored to be a part of your story and truly love what we do.
Lets do this!