Policies
1. Email is my preferred method of correspondence. It allows me to communicate thoughtfully, and most importantly, at my own convenience (while no tools are running and no glue is wet and waiting to be set and clamped). It also affords the added benefit of having all correspondence in writing, and logged by date for my own reference, should you or I need to check on something we’ve discussed.
2. Average build time is 3-6 months, depending on the project. Once I begin a project, I work on it consistently until it is finished. However, building custom pieces is different than even small-scale production in that every instrument presents its own set of procedures and challenges. For this reason I do not promise completion dates. I do not rush or cut corners, or compromise anything to time—you will have this instrument for the rest of your life, so the first priority is to get it right.
3. For the most part I do not do copies. This is not a matter of pride or principle, but of practicality. Copying a vintage instrument spec-for-spec does present its own set of interesting challenges which are not to be undervalued, but in a way it transforms me from "artist" to "blueprint reader", and the passion lacking in the process will show in the final product. It is simply impossible for me to connect with a copy of something (read: someone else’s creation) in the same way that I connect with an original piece.
Of course, exceptions to this are instruments, or variations thereof, with which I am able to connect on a special level. Again, I am not trying to impose my own opinions or aesthetic values on others; it is simply a practical matter.
4. As far as I am concerned, a musical instrument is a living being. Just as any living being requires health care during the course of its life, so does an instrument require periodic setup and repair. All of my instruments are guaranteed for life with a full lifetime warranty.
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