Direct Dealings With Crump Guitars ...

[WJF]

Just wondering if anyone here has had any direct dealings (inquired about or purchased) an instrument from Crump Guitars in CA.

I'm interested in your experiences in working with them, were they good in keeping you updated, helping you with design choices, did they stick to schedule, prompt in returning calls or e-mails, would you buy from them again ... in short, the good of course, but also the bad and the ugly although hopefully the good will vastly outweigh the latter two.

Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[danb]

Crump guitars is Phil Crump. He's a top drawer guy, he's done repair work for me and also been to various concerts around SF with him. Bearing in mind he's just one person and not a company as you suggest, I'd have no hesitation whatsoever to do business with him

[jmkatcher]

I took delivery of my custom Crump 2-G guitar-bouzouki (a.k.a. the giant mandoloid) late last year. I'm very pleased with the instrument and with Phil's craftsmanship. My local luthier, whom I respect, is very impressed with it as well. The order process was very smooth with Phil's assistance. The instrument took longer than originally anticipated, but I expected that from a one-man shop. I'm glad I ordered from Phil and he fully deserves his reputation as one of the top builders of larger mandolin family instruments. I'll bet his guitars are just incredible, too.

[Jim M.]

I was lucky enough to win my Crump B-1 from Zoukfest, but I have called and talked to Phil about set-up, strings, etc., and he has always been helpful and accessible. I highly recommend his work. IMHO, if Phil made F5's, he could charge $10,000 for them.

[WJF]

Wow! Great accolades guys!! Thank you for the feedback!!! Your responses have eased my concerns about dealing with someone so far from home (NY vs CA). Now I guess I'll just have to find something to help pass the time while I wait to get my hands on one of his OM's!! I'm psyched!

Thanks Again!!

[steve V. johnson]

I have a Crump B-II and I am wildly, madly, deeply in love with it. Working with Phil on the details was great fun, and I've enjoyed a great relationship with him throughout the process and since. I've talked with him about getting oanother instrument from him, too, a bit of a radical modification of his designs, and he's been very open to all my ideas. My instrument, designed as a plain-jane but a real tone monster (IMO), has persuaded the order of four or five others, too.

Now... My instrument took fourteen months to complete. This is longer than either Phil or I expected, but not terribly long by custom-luthier performance, especially one-man shops with good, strong demand for their work. So, not really a problem. The problem is that Phil is sometimes very optimistic about his delivery schedule. I've heard from several other folks who have gone right up to the brink of madness because they thought they'd have their new instrument in X-time, then that stretched to X-times- ... well, just ... longer.

I've had several custom instruments built for me, and I think that this is not an uncommon situation with luthiers, esp. the one-man shops. But it's always been worth it, so take this with a grain of nice, sea-salt and, above all, be patient. You won't be sorry, and the more patient you are, the healthier and happier you'll be. None of the folks who wrote me to ask, 'Is he lying...? Will my instrument EVER be done?!?' were the least bit disappointed when they tuned up and played the thing.

Some of those folks said, 'Oh, I don't want to -bug- him...' meaning that they'd rather stew in their own frustration than to talk with Phil. <GG> But don't hesitate to communicate. He may not reply right away, but he's a great guy and you can do worse than maintain a friendship with an artist of this caliber.

All the best,

stv