Your custom guitar is 3 steps away:
Step 1
Choose a basic model. Every custom made instrument I make comes to life
starting with the basic model shape. This is the “mold” in which the guitar will be
“cast”.
Step 2
Explain to me what the instrument should look like (hardware, finish, specs).
Once the customer and I have established a good mutual undertanding of what the
specs should be and most importantly, what kind of “feel” or “style” you want,
the build begins.
Step 3
Keep in touch! The customer is in the driver´s seat from the first sawdust
particle to the last stroke of the buffing pad but I take pride in giving advice along
the way, regarding either construction/build matters or look/appearance/style. My
experience is that communication makes for a better instrument that sometimes
not only meets but surpasses the design goals of the owner (and myself)!
What a Rahbek guitar is made of:
Two basic models
Cos-T (single cutaway)and classic (double cutaway)
Wood
I have stocked wood planks for two decades, including wood that has become nearly impossible to source. Exotic, figured or plain, I have it in spades in the workshop. Roasted necks/bodies is also possible to order.
Hardware
I use stainless steel fretwire in all sizes for long life and ultra smooth bends.
Quality tremolos/bridges/tuning keys from brands like Gotoh, Floyd Rose, Grover, Schaller, etc.
Finish
For clear coats we use Spice Hecker clear coat (used for Ferraris), and for relic finishes we use cellulose lacquer.
If you want one of those beloved, classic american car-colour finishes we can do that. Translucent colours and sparkle finishes we also do on a regular basis. If the customers want an oiled or waxed neck, we do this from heel to peghead – no laquer on the front of the headstock.
Neck
Choice of back shape, radius, scale length and nut width. Standard is a comfortable C-shape, 42mm nut and 10” radius, but compound radius is also possible.
No matter the resulting shape, you will end up with a beautiful hand finished neck, in ultra high grade woods.
Rahbek exclusive
For our neck joints we don’t use wood screws but machine screws with a special stud insert in the neck which creates a stronger neck joint.
Shaved-off/contoured heel for easier playing in the high registers.
Fingerboards on our maple-maple necks are cut from the same piece of wood as the neck. After inserting the trussrod the fingerboard are glued on from the top for better stability, and I use custom made roll-threaded stainless steel trussrods with easy “wheel”-adjust at the heel.
The Rahbek logo is CO2-lasercut into the wood for a beautiful and deep and 3D-like appearance.
Pickups
We recommend Lindy Fralin pickups for our Cos-T models and Lollar pickups for our classic design. Of course, we can source almost any brand of pickups for the customer if there are specific needs. Humbuckers, P90´s, Soapbars, Single-coils in every imaginable configuration.