Unique Choice, Worth It?

[rorycosgrove]

Hi, I've been planning my first build for awhile, and I've become quite accustomed to seeing the unique choice option. I was wondering, particularly for a flame maple body top, is the unique choice worth the extra money? More specifically, is the option just giving you the exact choice of a particular top, or are the choice tops also better than what they'd give you with the standard option? I'm not particularly concerned with the exact top I get, so long as the figure is clearly pronounced

-Rory

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

It depends how particular you are.  Some of the Unique Choice tops I've seen, they didn't look particularly any better, but the minimum $50 charge for the blandest one was surely just to cover photography, web programming, and inventory'n to satisfy those that just have to see it.  My one experience of ordering a flame piece sight unseen was satisfactory.  I knew it would be based on the volume of tops I've seen on the forum that weren't Unique Choice tops.  The higher $ value of $75 on up to $225+ has to be for truly unique pieces.  Regardless, their just plain spec'd, sight unseen flame is indeed flamey and excellently bookmatched.

 

[Cagey]

I agree. They don't turn out any crap; you're pretty much guaranteed to get a fine piece. The only reason to buy into the unique choice stuff is so you know what to expect. Sometimes, that's important. Other times, not so much. For instance, I've never seen a Canary neck from them that I didn't like, but I just bought a neck where I wanted to make sure the grain ran pretty parallel to the length. For $45, I could insure that. Considering the total cost of the thing, the unique choice was a small premium.

That doesn't mean there's any difference in quality. It will be the same neck they'd have made otherwise. It'll just have the appearance I want in this case. I've bought a number of necks from them where I let them have their head and was not disappointed in the least. Not to be too much of a fanboi, but those people know their business.

 

[rorycosgrove]

Thanks guys. That's what I was hoping for, cuz like I said as long as it's obviously a flame top I'll be happy. Would you say the same applies for a flame maple neck/fingerboard? Even the lower priced unique choice pieces seemed to have very little flame when I checked

-Rory

 

[Cagey]

There's no accounting for taste. Many of their unique choice pieces baffle me as to the reasoning for their inclusion in that rarefied place. Plus, some stuff defies photography. What looks plain or nondescript in a photo can sometimes be absolutely stunning in real life. Photos can't show the chatoyancy or 3D character of some woods, particularly the figured parts.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

If you have something you want, you can ask them if they have any that hasn't made it into the unique choice.  I wanted a Goncalo neck that had the look of maple, and they grabbed pieces that fit the bill.  I payed the upcharge, but it was what I wanted, and it came out great.
Patrick

 

[bbl4ck]

Plus, some stuff defies photography. What looks plain or nondescript in a photo can sometimes be absolutely stunning in real life. Photos can't show the chatoyancy or 3D character of some woods, particularly the figured parts.

If you want a perfect example of wood beauty that cannot be captured in a photo, look at the before and after pics of the LP Tonar finished for Hannaugh.  By looking at the pre-finish pics, I would never have dreamed that piece would look as stunning as it does finished.

:rock-on:

 

[stubhead]

They do say "unique", not "better." If you've got the trots for some really wide quilty pillows or some really tortured, non-linear flame, what I would do would be to contact them and ask if they had something, with the understanding I would pay an upcharge. It's a weird, jumpy subject. Gibson runs into repeated trouble trying to "top off" their really, really, authentically authentic 1958-1960 Les Paul Standard reissues - because most of the real ones had little or no flame, and a lot of them (including a certain Mr. Page's) weren't even bookmatched. So to "get real" they wanna charge you $10,000 for a guitar more boring than a $500 Schecter? Uh-oh.

Some of the woods that custom builders go really nuts with are the various types of "burl." But they're hard to cut and really hard to photograph in a way that makes them look good, and I've only seen Warmoth chatting up camphor burl.

 

[Cagey]

Plus, some stuff defies photography. What looks plain or nondescript in a photo can sometimes be absolutely stunning in real life. Photos can't show the chatoyancy or 3D character of some woods, particularly the figured parts.

If you want a perfect example of wood beauty that cannot be captured in a photo, look at the before and after pics of the LP Tonar finished for Hannaugh.  By looking at the pre-finish pics, I would never have dreamed that piece would look as stunning as it does finished.

That's an excellent example, and I'd wager that thing is even more stunning in real life.

 

[hannaugh]

I think if you're getting something like flame or quilt, the unique choice isn't worth it because in general they have really nice pieces to work with that are fairly consistent in quality and look. 

But if you're getting something that can vary wildly from one piece to the next, and you have seen pieces that you lover vs. pieces that you hate, then it might be worth it to at the very least ask them if they can find something that has what you want. 

Black korina and wild maple can vary a lot, which is why I did unique choice for my blue LP top.  I had seen some pieces that looked more like birdseye or were just straight flame pattern at off angles, and I wanted more of a watercolor look that I had seen in some of the unique choice pieces.  I think the results were great, but I probably won't do it again.  If anything, I'll call and voice a preference rather than hand-picking, as it was pretty expensive to get what I wanted.  Sure turned out great though. 

 

[Cagey]

Damn, that's a beauty! Be hard to follow.

 

[Re-Pete]

Depends on what you want out of the instrument. As others have said, it's more about the surety of what the top will look like - exactly.

There is, of course, a variance in what constitutes a 'quilted' top and also the amount of 'flame' one gets on a flamed top. But even at the lower end of the scales, Warmoth's tops are probably consistently better at giving folks what they are asking for than mainstream manufacturers.

G**son & PRS make a whole new vocabulary describing their grades of figured tops and it really borders upon elitism and OCD behaviour from both of them. And you pay a LOT for specific examples on your guitar from them.

I have gone the route of getting a Unique Choice Quilted Top once for a guitar that really needed a wavy quilt to have Tiger's Eye Dye put on it. The same grade of quilt from major manufacturers would have cost at least $1000 more for the total guitar ( 10 Top, AAA). But seriously, soundwise, it sounded no better than a more modest maple cap would've. To me it was just a case of aesthetics & the budget was there to do it.

 

[bagman67]

I agree with Hannaugh that if you have worries about your definition of "awesome" varying substantially from Warmoth's definition, yeah, do the unique choice.  But for some things you can pretty much be assured of getting a really nice piece no matter what.  Like Hannaugh, I was making a once-in-a-lifetime build, and getting EXACTLY what I wanted was the point - and it paid off (for me, in this instance).  But I'm pretty sure I would have wound up with something very beautiful if I'd left it to the shop crew to pick for me.  Anyway, here's how it worked out:

But this macassar fingerboard might be unique-choice quality, but just showed up in the showcase.  I don't think I'd have paid the extra 45 bucks.

 

[Cagey]

That Tele is a prime example of how photography doesn't do the piece justice. I've seen that one in real life, and you feel like you're falling into that quilt. People instinctively want to touch it, subconsciously thinking their eyes are deceiving them. Really a remarkable piece. Looks like a jewel.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

Four Unique Choice tops, one happy camper.  ccasion14:

 

[hannaugh]

Man, there are some insanely nice figured tops on this forum. 

 

[Cagey]

I never get tired of seeing those guitars. Absolutely gorgeous.

 

[mullyman]

What I would suggest is just telling the person on the phone, if you phone in your order, that you want the tiger stripe top with no bald spots. That is definitely one thing that can happen ordering without seeing AND can ruin your whole experience. With that said, I'm not 100% sure on why you'd want to custom order the body with the large selection they have in the showcase which you can see exactly what you're getting........unless there is something specific you're wanting to get that isn't offered in the Showcase.

I'd also like to add that Warmoth does add a disclaimer on their choice tops saying that what you see in the pic may not be exactly what you see after it's been sanded etc.... Even that little window would be enough for me NOT to do it.

Good luck with your build, you're gonna love it!!
MULLY

 

[mullyman]

Since we're posting pics in this, here's the top on my first build. It's not insane but I really think it's gorgeous.
MULLY

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Some fretboards, all of any given species are in the Unique Choice section, so there's automatically an upcharge.  Might as well get the one you want, unless you want to pay them to make that choice for you.