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Author Topic: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?  (Read 21293 times)

FernandoDuarte

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #15 on: May 12, 2010, 10:58:47 PM »
Well, if it's YOUR money and she's your girlfriend (not married, etc) I'd really think it's a bad idea using the moneyto it, if you both brake up someday, it's £2500 with her to another guy use, as Afghan said...

I don't know the guy, but people on work said there was a guy at work who spent his annual profit share from the company "shaping" his wife, for like 3 years in a row... They said on the 3rd years she was almight hot and kicked him out... And I doubt he'll ever see the money back... I'm talking even more than these £2500 per year :?

Alex

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #16 on: May 12, 2010, 11:12:52 PM »
Haha, well yes good arguments.  :D
Too bad for that guy, but I think 2500 is something I'd be able to live with loosing, plus she is really not the type of girl that would run away.
Well, I'll give it a thought. I love the finish on this guitar though:
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Dr. Stein

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #17 on: May 12, 2010, 11:19:17 PM »
Haha, well yes good arguments.  :D
Too bad for that guy, but I think 2500 is something I'd be able to live with loosing, plus she is really not the type of girl that would run away.
Well, I'll give it a thought. I love the finish on this guitar though:


Even so, a well made guitar ages infinitely better than tits. In 20 years she'll have cr@p ones anyway, and you could have had a Ran.

Actually that sounds a bit cruder than I'd expected it to...  :lol:

dave_mc

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #18 on: May 13, 2010, 12:25:53 AM »
yeah, i remember getting some quotes around the time i got my legra, seemed fairly priced, but i understand the prices have gone up a lot recently.

haven't tried them, of course.

I expect that there are a number of reasons for this :

One could be that since Poland joined the EEC the cost of living has risen there as the country moves forward

Or that so much of thje Polish workforce is in the UK and upon returning to Poland expect a UK standard of living

It could be that Ran had very low pricing to get established and get a good reputation but now needs to price what it makes in a way that is sustainable and will allow the company to carry on surviving and pay staff wages

It could also be that the cost of the bought in parts has gone up a lot (I can confess to this being true) and that the Euro has suffered against the dollar for a while and many partys are traded in $US prices (Floyd Rose for example - even though the parts come from Germany)

oh yeah, of course, i wasn't necessarily meaning that there wasn't justification for it. I just meant the prices had risen. as ben said, the pound has devalued, too.

Afghan Dave

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #19 on: May 13, 2010, 01:14:33 AM »
...she is really not the type of girl that would run away.

Ha,ha... yeah right... sure.

Maybe that's because you haven't paid for her new tits yet and she's knows she's onto a good thing...

I've got a letter from a man in Nigeria who only needs your bank account details to transfer some money. You want in?
 :roll: :roll:

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tekbow

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #20 on: May 16, 2010, 09:58:00 AM »
I just tipped off a quote form for something i've been thinking about for a while, will let you know how it goes.

tekbow

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #21 on: May 16, 2010, 11:06:03 AM »
he took about an hour to get back to me, thats incredible.

so he quoted 2270 euros for the following spec

> > No. of strings: 6-string
> > R or L handed: right handed
> > Scale length: 25.5”
> > Construction method: All access neck joint
> > Body shape: Standard Stratocaster
> > Body material: Koa
> > Top wood options: none
> > Body binding: none
> > Binding material: N/A
> > Body finish: other - Oil
> > Custom finish: none
> > Headstock shape: Standard Stratocaster
> > Headstock: regular
> > Headstock finish: natural
> > Headstock binding: none
> > Truss rod cover: At body end of neck
> > Logo: silkscreen Ran Custom Made
> > Neck material: 1P or 3P 3A birdseye maple. whichever is cheaper.***1P/straight headstock
> > Neck shape: offset C (musicman axis/peavey wolfgang)
> > Nut width: 1 11/16” (43mm)
> > Thickness at 1st/12th: Standard Strat?
> > Neck finish: natural satin
> > Fingerboard material: if 1P neck then none.***1P with fingerboard
> > Fingerboard binding: none
> > Number of frets: 22
> > Fret size: Dunlop 6105
> > Fingerboard radius: 12" - 16" compound
> > Fingerboard inlays (MOP): dots
> > Custom inlay(s): none
> > Fingerboard side inlays: plastic dots
> > Nut: locking
> > Hardware color: black
> > Bridge system: Original Locking Floyd Rose Tremolo
> > Tuning machines: Schaller M6
> > Straplocks: Schaller
> > Neck Pickup: BareKnuckle - Nailbomb
> > Middle Pickup: none
> > Bridge Pickup: BareKnuckle - irish tour neck
> > Pickup rings: metal
> > Control knobs: 1 x volume
> > Pickup selector: 3-way toggle
> > Other controls: other: push pull coil tap on volume for humbucker
> > Flight case: no

gingataff

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #22 on: May 16, 2010, 11:43:15 AM »
Sounds like my kind of guitar!
But you could get pretty close with Warmoth for probably a bit less (not sure what the what the price of Koa is these days though I know it has gone up lot in recent years)
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tekbow

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #23 on: May 16, 2010, 12:16:38 PM »
i was looking at warmoth but they don't seem to do solid koa (1 piece or otherwise) bodies, only tops.. :( warmoth was the first thing i looked at

i've been hooked on something like this ever since i saw a charvel in the 90's. it didnt have the fender headstock tho

they now do a natural series on this spec for the music zoo in the states, but a) won't ship them to the uk and b) don't have any koa ones in stock atm

Philly Q

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #24 on: May 16, 2010, 12:38:18 PM »
i was looking at warmoth but they don't seem to do solid koa (1 piece or otherwise) bodies, only tops.. :( warmoth was the first thing i looked at

Warmoth do koa bodies (not trying to put you off your Ran project though):

http://www.warmoth.com/Pages/ClassicShowcase.aspx?Body=2&Shape=1&Path=Body,Stratocaster&core=14
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tekbow

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #25 on: May 16, 2010, 12:44:21 PM »
you're definitely not, if i can do this cheaper i will, no offence to RAN because the guy email mailing me is excellent and i'm reading nothing but good stuff about them. how's the quality of Warmoth stuff, and do you get the bits and assemble or will they put it together for you?

Edit: they're all gloss though.. i did see that section of the site, but they seem to be pre made, take them as they are bodies. when i was on the page for custom bodies, it only offered koa as a top material, and i couldn't get an answer about a custom spec'd solid body.. i don't think they do the oil finishes either..
« Last Edit: May 16, 2010, 12:51:11 PM by tekbow »

Alex

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #26 on: May 16, 2010, 12:50:03 PM »
Normally you have to put all the parts from Warmoth together. I do find that they are quite expensive on all the hardware/pickups - better to order that separate probably. Also, it is not a "plug&play" affair, you will need to have tools, drills etc. and be able to "adjust things". The charme on the Warmoths is more that you have built your own guitar to a great part, but I would bet that the same guitar from RAN would probably play better, because they are professionals at putting everything together, doing it every day after all.
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tekbow

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #27 on: May 16, 2010, 01:03:31 PM »
ah.. not got the skill or time for that.. work offshore..

on the subject, anyone got experience with kahlers vs FRs? i put the FR in without thinking but i'm trying to read up on kahlers just now

Alex

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #28 on: May 16, 2010, 01:06:28 PM »
It's apparently a preferrence thing.


On a personal note:
I've decided not to go for a custom. Also, the girlfriend boobs op is postponed - she doesn't have the time for it at the moment.
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Philly Q

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Re: RAN custom guitars - anybody got some experience with them?
« Reply #29 on: May 16, 2010, 01:06:57 PM »
The quality of Warmoth stuff is excellent.  

All their unfinished (or transparent finished) solid bodies are two pieces at most (one piece usually costs a bit extra), the two piece bodies are centre-joined and they match the grain so well you can hardly see the join (Fender take note...!).  The neck pockets are tight-fitting, whether you use a Warmoth or Fender neck (again, much more accurately made than Fender stuff).  Their paint shop does nice finishes too.

The necks are great too, again extremely well made (CNC cut, so very precise).  My only complaint would be that the fingerboard and headstock edges are left a bit "sharp", I like them rounded off so I personally wouldn't buy a finished maple-board neck.

They do sell hardware too, although I buy mine from other places, and they'll also cut scratchplates to your specs (not too expensive either).

As Alex said, they don't sell assembled guitars, that's up to you, but most of the tricky stuff is done (including your choice of bridge and pickup routing, and they even drill the holes for the neck screws).  You could put everything together "out of the box" and have a very decent guitar, but I think they need a little more work to make them perfect - a fret dress, the aforementioned fretboard edges, and obviously a good setup.
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