FAQ (Q&A)

 

What kind of wood do you use to make your bodies and necks?

We mainly use aged wood that is indigenous to the state of Maine such as Northern Poplar, Butternut, Mahogany, Northern Maple and Northern Ash. Almost 95% of our necks are made with flamed or birdseye maple with rosewood or maple fingerboards. Most of our wood has been aged for over 40 years, especially our Northern Poplar and Butternut woods as we consider ourselves as a "Green Company" - we have enough wood in our warehouse to supply our guitar building for many years to come, we don't need to cut down any more trees.

 

Can I get my guitar body made out of Alder or Southern Swamp Ash Wood?

Of course, obviously these body woods are for the traditional player looking for exact specs of the original Fender(TM) models. We keep a number of wood billots in this wood in-stock however we had to buy them from suppliers and not through our local mill.

We always like to introduce players to using our select grade of  aged Northern Poplar and Butternut for vintage style guitars as we feel these woods have superior tone and presentation. Northern Poplar is very lightweight and dense wood up in northern Maine due to the colder temperatures and premium grade Butternut wood has the same characteristics of Southern Swamp Ash.

 

Do you make your own Bodies and Necks?

Yes, we manufacturer everything in-house and built by hand, no CNC machines. The same process of making guitars back 25 years ago. See our Video "Flashback"

We do not buy bodies and necks from OEM companies or from other vendors because the building process is important to us as we are tried and true to our product. We have genuine master-built luthier products - we are not an assembly shop.

 

What kind of pickups do you use in your guitars?

We actually build and wind our own pickups however will acquire other manufacturer pickups upon request. We've installed and tested almost every pickup on the market so we know what works best in our products.

 

Do you take custom build-to-orders?

Yes we do, please download our Custom Order Form and present to any one of our NECG Dealers.

 

What do you guitars normally cost?

The big question .... Our guitars and basses are priced right and are affordable for any professional player looking for a complete custom hand-made guitar. Retail prices generally range from $1,295.00 - $1,695.00 US depending upon specifications. Those that know the custom guitar market know this is a very good deal for such labor and supplies involved. Our "LapCaster" products retail price at $495.00 US.

 

Do you "Relic" or "Distress" Guitars?

The answer to this is Yes. In fact, check with a number of our Dealers because we have these products available. We also have a number of these guitars featured in our gallery pictures for your review. Since our guitars mostly represent the traditional Fender (TM) style built back in the 50's and 60's, we have several requests to make "Relic" guitars. We mostly prefer to build a "Closet Classic" style guitar as once we are done making a hand made instrument it's a tough thing to beat it up, unlike other companies assembling guitar parts and then rusting, aging to the guitar is unplayable and then dragging from a truck. We know most instruments from the 50's and 60's had road wear and were kept in good playable condition but time took its toll on it, not a but end of a screw driver or a belt sander. Our "Relic" Guitars have a truly natural aged feel - you should check them out.

 

What kind body and neck finish do you apply to your guitars?
All of our bodies are clear coated in Nitrocellulose, lightly sanded and buffed to a thin-skin, natural feel. Our guitars are made without any fillers and colors are mostly hand rubbed applied to bring out the true beauty of the wood. Our necks are applied with a natural hand-rubbed french-polished finish.