I have found that I am not physically capable of building instruments fast enough to fulfil every order request, and at this point I’m not able to take on an assistant. To avoid burnout and an ever-growing order list, I have instituted a two-stage waiting list. The first stage is a list of people who have told me they are interested in placing an order at some point in the future. The second stage is a list of firm orders where I have discussed the project in more detail, estimated the price and build date, assigned a serial number, and taken a deposit. Periodically, when the second list is looking short enough, I will ask somebody from the first list if they wish to convert their statement of interest into a firm order. If they are no longer interested I’ll drop them from the list and ask somebody else.
There is no obligation to being on the first list either way; you should expect me to contact you at some point but it will probably be several years in the future. I will generally work through the first list in chronological order, but I reserve the option to shuffle requests around slightly if it makes more sense (e.g. I might decide to build two nearly-identical instruments in parallel to save time, or if I don’t want to build two large duets in a row I might try to slot in a quicker small Anglo build between them).
When you are on the second list, I will contact you a month or two before I am ready to start your build to make sure you still wish to go ahead and to discuss the detailed specifications. Deposits are refundable as long as I haven’t yet started work on your instrument or bought in special materials for it.
If you are still interested in placing an order at some point and willing to wait a few years, feel free to drop me an email with a brief description of the instrument you would like me to build.
I no longer do restoration work other than the occasional repair or tuneup, mostly for my existing clients. I occasionally sell spare parts, though new instrument builds are my primary focus.