Interesting topic. I'm dealing with this issue right now. I ordered a custom build from a very reputable builder at the beginning of the year. January 25, to be exact. Had to plunk down 50%, and within a day he sent me pix of woods I was to choose for the top, fretboard, inlays, the whole kit and kaboodle. I selected the materials I wanted and asked what he expected the wait time to be. August he said. 7 months give or take. I was cool with that. Dude builds everything by hand himself, old school building techniques etc...so no prob. 3 months go by. No updates or anything, so I send an email, just to see how things are going. Going good he says. No pix, but that's fine. It's only been 3 months. 3 more months go by, haven't heard a thing. I send another email just to touch base,,,,he says that he has been swamped with orders from some 'high profile' clients. Says things are going good though,,,no pix, no detail as to whether he's even started it or if I've gotten pushed back because of the influx of demand,,,but hey, I'll let the dude keep building guitars. So yesterday, after pretty much forgetting that I have this build going on, I start thinking. It's now been 9 months, and this guy hasn't proactively send me a single email, update, pic, anything. Mind you that this is a really expensive build, and I really don't want the dude calling or emailing me out of the blue with ''its done' , please give me the balance immediately. I need a little heads up so I can make sure funds are appropriated. Also, I haven't a clue as to if he's even started the build or not. I've had builds done by 5 other top notch builders over the years, some taking almost a year, but the kept up a good correspondence either thru the occasional email, a pic or two now and then. I'm at 9 months and I don't have Shit and don't know shit. So, I wrote an email to him. I was very nice, didn't go off the handle or anything, but just plainly asked if he could give me some info on how things are going. Something a bit more than 'going good' and 'it's coming along'. Maybe a pic or something,,,fuck, I'll take a pic of a pile of sawdust he shaved off of the neck. I told him that I do t really care if the build is going to take much longer, just want to know How things are looking on my guitar, , anything would be appreciated. So, I get an email back within minutes from his secretary or whatever, who happens to be his wife or girlfriend. It's all filled with piss and vinegar. In a nutshell, she said he doesn't do pics of the process, that's just how he is. Basically said that I need to chill. I had mentioned in my email that the other builders I had worked with, had kept me in the loop every 3 or so months with how things were progressing, and that the customer loves this kind of stuff. I referenced the 'Bone' les Paul I had built by Gil Yaron a couple of years back. What a great experience that was. It took a year to build, but I got pics every 3 months or so with an update on the process. The dude lived in Israel at the time and was still able to keep me informed on how the build was going.
Anyway, I finally got a response from this builder himself and he sent me a couple pix and kind of apologized for his secretaries heavy handed email to me. I told him all is cool, let's just move on I guess. BTW, the pics he sent of a rough cut neck from a couple different angles. It looks like there is a very long way to go. Also, the Brazilian fretboard I chose back on the 29 of Jan doesn't look like the one that's on the neck.