What a commission is
I don't build models. There is no Sequent Standard, no options list, no configurator. Each instrument in the archive was a separate problem to solve, and a commission is simply that problem solved for you instead of for me.
So the first question isn't what you want it to have. It's what you want it to do.
How do you actually play — not just what you admire, but what you reach for at eleven at night. What music is this for? What should it feel like, how should it balance, what should it make you feel when it's working? Those questions don't get answered one at a time and in order. Character, feel, shape and material are tangled together and they resolve together — sometimes the design demands a particular grain or colour, and sometimes I'll pull a board off the rack that's been waiting two years for exactly this instrument.
That's why a commission here isn't a menu. A 34-inch fanned-fret five-string with a slotted contrabass head
stock, a hollowbody with a carved ebony harp tailpiece, an eight-string that weighs less than your Les Paul — none of those started as a spec sheet. The specification is what we arrive at, not what we start from.
When it's finished, your instrument gets the next number in the register, a full spec sheet, and a permanent place in the archive. Yours is the only one.
How it works
Phase one — Design
No cost. No commitment. Takes as long as it takes.
We talk — call, email, or in the shop if you're in Toronto. About how you play, what you're chasing, what you've never been able to find, and what you want the instrument to feel like.
Out of that comes a design: outline, proportion, balance, ergonomics, scale length, neck construction, hardware, electronics, and the wood. Not in that order — all of it at once, circling until it settles. You'll see drawings, and you'll see photographs of the actual boards before anything is cut. We revise until the thing on paper is the thing you described.
This phase ends with a drawing, a full specification, and a fixed price.
Phase two — Commitment
You approve the design and the quote. The first payment books your place in the queue and buys the materials — wood, hardware and electronics. From this point the instrument is yours and the price doesn't move unless you change the design.
Phase three — Build
About three months, from first cut to final setup.
Bandsaw, jointer, planer, hand tools. I photograph the build as it goes and send updates at the milestones that matter — the bookmatch reveal, the carve, the neck joint, first assembly. Most clients say this is their favourite part.
Then final fretwork, nut cut, action and intonation set to your preferences. It ships insured, or you collect it in person and we plug it in together.
Pricing
Commissions start at $4,000 CAD.
What moves the number is material and labour, not markup. Instruments in the archive range from $3,500 to $7,250 CAD, which is a fair map of where a commission is likely to land. You get a fixed quote with the design, before any money changes hands, and it doesn't move afterwards unless you change the design.
What adds to the cost
| Factor | Why |
|---|---|
| Premium hardware and pickups | Gotoh, Schaller, Fishman, EMG and the like cost multiples of the generic equivalent |
| Rarer and more exotic woods | Some boards cost more than the hardware on the whole instrument |
| Extensive body and neck laminations | Every additional ply is another glue-up, another joint that has to be perfect |
| Dyes and layered dye colouring | Built up in stages, sanded back between passes |
| Binding and inlay | Hand-laid, and unforgiving |
| Steam-bent hollow bodies | The most labour-intensive thing I build — the forms themselves have to be made first |
What doesn't
Neck-through construction isn't automatically more expensive than a set neck. It depends entirely on the details: a set neck with a 4.5º tilt and binding takes considerably more time than a five-ply laminated neck-through with a bevelled body edge and a smooth rolled-edge fretboard. Complexity lives in the details, not the category — which is why the quote comes after the design rather than from a price list.
Payment
- One third on design approval — this buys the wood, hardware and electronics, and books the slot
- One third once the frets are installed on the fretboard
- One third before delivery
What every Sequent comes with
- Rare and exotic hardwoods, chosen board by board
- Set-neck or neck-through-body construction — no bolt-ons
- Low-VOC, non-toxic hard wax oil finishes — no polyester, no plastic
- Stainless steel fretwork, dual-action truss rod, carbon fibre reinforcement as the design requires
- A full written specification and build record
- Setup to your string gauge, tuning and action preferences
- A free setup any time in the first year, once the instrument has settled
- A lifetime warranty on workmanship to the original owner
First-year setup, on me
Every new instrument settles — the wood moves, the neck finds its equilibrium, the frets bed in. Bring it back any time in the first twelve months and I'll re-set it at no charge: relief, action, intonation, nut slots, whatever it needs. If you're not within reach of Toronto, I'll cover the return shipping one way.
Warranty
Every Sequent carries a lifetime warranty on workmanship and structural integrity to the original owner. If a joint fails, a neck twists, or something I did turns out to have been done wrong, I'll make it right for as long as I'm able to hold a chisel.
What that doesn't cover is ordinary life with an instrument:
- Normal wear — finish wear and ambering, fret wear, nut and saddle wear, hardware oxidation. Hard wax oil is a maintenance finish by design; it's meant to age and to be spot-repaired, and that's a feature rather than a defect.
- Seasonal movement — action and relief shift with humidity and temperature. That's routine setup, not a fault. Keep it between roughly 40% and 55% relative humidity.
- Accident, abuse, neglect, or storage outside reasonable conditions.
- Third-party hardware, pickups and electronics — these carry their own manufacturers' warranties, which I'll help you claim against.
- Work by others — modifications or repairs by another luthier end the warranty on what they touched.
Currently accepting commissions
I'm taking commissions now. Builds run about three months once started, so if you have a date in mind — a birthday, an album, a tour — tell me early and we'll work backwards from it.
The design stage is unhurried on purpose, and it costs nothing. Start the conversation before you're sure.