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Frequently Asked Questions
Kavanagh Customs > Shop >Frequently Asked Questions- How Do I Purchase an Item Online?
- What Payment Methods do you Accept?
- What Are the Shipping Options and Charges?
- Do You Ship Internationally?
- Do Your Prices Include VAT?
- What do I do when the Parcel First Arrives?
- How can I Tell if the Item I'm Interested in is in Stock?
- What if I can't find the Part I Want?
- How Much Work is Involved in Installing Your Parts to my Guitar?
- Why Don't You Supply Your Bodies and Necks Ready-Drilled?
- Can I Have a KavanaghCustoms Logo to put onto my Project Guitar?
- How Can I be Sure that Your Body/Neck will be Compatible with the Rest of my Parts?
How do I purchase an item online?
Purchasing from our online store could not be easier! Our online store cart and checkout system are all supplied by PayPal so you can be assured of your details security.
Once you have found the item you are interested in, click on the "Add to Basket" button which will automatically update your shopping basket with your chosen item. You can view and edit your PayPal shopping basket again at any time by clicking on the "View Basket" button from the top of the left bar on any shop page.
From here you can remove any items you may have changed your mind about, proceed to checkout and send your payment.
You do not need a PayPal account in order to purchase from us. If you do not own a PayPal account, please click on the "Don't Have a PayPal account?" section and complete your details. Please ensure that all information you submit is accurate to ensure a speedy delivery. If you have any ordering problems, please feel free to contact us, we will be more than happy to help.
What payment methods do you accept?
All of our payments are controlled and processed by Paypal. This doesn't mean that you need a PayPal account to order from us though. We can accept all major forms of credit and debit card payments through our checkout system:
We can, of course, accept payment via the more traditional methods of personal cheques and postal orders, although we do have to impose a waiting time whilst this sort of payment clears and this isn't implemented in our shop checkout system. If you want to pay via either of those means, please contact us and we'll be more than happy to help.
What are the shipping options and charges?
Please see our shipping page for full information on our shipping charges and methods. In a nut shell: we use specialist reinforced packaging and fully trackable shipping options (courier and Royal Mail Special Delivery). We've not had a single one arrive damaged or go astray yet!
Do you ship internationally?
Of course! Simply select your area from the drop down-list when adding an item to your basket will be updated with correct shipping costs accordingly. To see more information on our shipping tarrifs, please see the question two above and the shipping page.
Do your prices include VAT?
No! The price you see is the price you pay - we fall beneath the threashold for charging VAT in the UK and as such, it isn't added onto the prices we charge and the amount you pay. This means cheaper items for you, although that may change in the future.
What do I do when the parcel first arrives?
Many of our items, particularly those finished in nitrocellulose are susceptible to sudden temperature or humidity changes which can cause cracking, splitting and hazing/checking in the nitro finish. To avoid this please be sure to avoid opening parcels from us immediately. As a guide, parcels should be left for at least four hours before opening to allow the guitar to adjust to room temperature inside the parcel.
All our items are thoroughly checked for faults prior to shipping - we are proud of the items we offer here and do not accept responsibility for any of the above faults to any of our items if you do not leave it to adjust to the temperature change before opening the packaging.
Please ensure that you thoroughly inspect the items thoroughly prior to using them and raise any concerns you may have with us via email. Once the item has been modified, we will be unable to offer refunds or replacements.
How can I tell if the item I'm interested in is in stock?
Availability information is listed on each individual product and is updated manually at a minimum of once daily basis. As such, it is possible (although unlikely) that items may still appear to be in stock when they have already sold. We run on a "first come, first served" basis and if Kavanagh Customs cannot fulfil your order, your payment will be directly refunded to your payment source. You will receive an email explaining this in the event that it occurs. Kavanagh Customs accepts no liability for losses as a result of items being out of stock and it's always a good idea to email us prior the purchasing to check availability for that day.
That said, we are usually very prompt with updating item availability when items are no longer available and try to keep a large stock of all items available.
What if I can't find the part that I want?
With the nature of our workshop, stock items change frequently and we are also more than happy to accommodate custom orders, allowing for the amount of other work we currently have on. If you can't see exactly what it is you're looking for, drop us a message and we will be more than happy to discuss options with you.
How much work is involved in installing parts to my guitar?
We adhere to Fender's standard dimensions which makes our items fully compatible with 95% of the rest of the guitar parts market - always feel free to ask if you are at all unsure.
We always advise that work should be carried out by a professional luthier or guitar technician, although none of the processes of building a custom project guitar are particularly difficult. Please see our Help section for articles and "how-to"s for installation of all major components of your project.
We are also more than happy to offer any further advice you may need via email, so feel free to drop us a line if you get stuck!
Apart form that there are three things you should bear in mind:
- Our non-finished neck fretboards (mahogany, rosewood and ebony to name but a few) are left raw to allow you to get exactly the feel you're after from the neck ("raw" does not mean unplayable, it simply means we have not applied any oil to the board, it's finish is otherwise complete and smooth). This only means rubbing a small amount of lemon oil into the fingerboard (if, indeed, you don't want to leave it raw as many players do!).
- Our bodies and necks are not supplied drilled (please see the question below for more information on why), so you will need to do this. We have a detailed (with photographs) article in our Help section on how to do this).
- All of our necks are shipped with frets already installed and in a playable condition. Some players (particularly those who favour a low string action) may find that their neck would benefit from a fret level, crowning and polish to reduce fret buzz and improve playability. This is not considered a defect of the product. There is, of course, also a detailed article about this in our Help section, although it is recommended that a qualified guitar luthier carry this work out for you if you are unsure about fret dressing the neck yourself as it can be a time consuming and requires a certain amount of knowledge and skill.
- Although we build our necks to exacting dimensions to be compatible with Fender instruments (see the question below), environmental factors such as heat and humidity, as well as the added minor addition to width dimensions due to the finishing process, can increase the heel width very slightly. In most cases this won't be true but it is possible that in a very small number of cases the heel will be ˜ <1-2mm too wide, this isn't considered a manufacturing defect and can be rectified by using a fine sandpaper to rub down the areas on either side of the heel. This can also be caused by inconsistencies in the neck pocket of the body you are mounting the neck onto (as no two neck pockets are absolutely identical).
Why don't you supply your bodies and necks ready-drilled?
We've found that there are so many variations in vital mounting-hole placement positions in different manufacturer's parts and hardware (even different batches of the same manufacturer's items!), that we are unable to drill our replacement bodies and necks without risking it not being compatible with the rest of the parts you want to use in your project. There's nothing worse than drill holes that aren't quite in the correct position, so we leave our parts undrilled so that the customer (who will have access to all the other parts/hardware that they will be using in the guitar), is able to ensure that the holes are placed correctly for their instance - this isn't a difficult job to do from your own home (as the Help section of our website will show).
Because of this inconsistency in manufacturer's mounting-hole placement positions (even often extremely slight), we are also unable to offer a drilling service for customers.
Can I have a Kavanagh Customs logo to put onto my project guitar?
Sadly, no. The Kavanagh Customs logo is only to be found on the headstocks of guitars which we have built in their entirety ourselves right here in Manchester. Guitars made up by our customers from our parts don't fall into this category.
How can I be sure that your body/neck will be compatible with the rest of my parts?
All of our items are hand-crafted right here in the UK to exacting standards and dimensions to ensure a perfect fit for Fender, Squier and 98% of the Fender-copy market. Our bodies and necks comply with Fender's own dimensions, in particular (and most importantly) the neck pocket dimensions:
Stratocaster neck pockets:
Telecaster neck pockets:
Despite this, environmental factors such as heat and humidity, as well as the added minor addition to width dimensions due to the finishing process, can increase the heel width very slightly. In most cases this won't be true but it is possible that in a very small number of cases the heel will be ˜ <1-2mm too wide, this isn't considered a manufacturing defect and can be rectified by using a fine sandpaper to rub down the areas on either side of the heel. This can also be caused by inconsistencies in the neck pocket of the body you are mounting the neck onto (as no two neck pockets are absolutely identical).
If you are under any doubt over the origin or compatibility of your items with ours, please firstly compare with the dimensions given above, and if still unsure, please feel free to drop us an email - we've dealt with an awful lot of guitars in the past so may well already know the answer for you.
Don't see exactly the part you're after?
We can build it for you to your exact specifications - nothing is too weird or whacky!
Contact us for a totally free quote and a chat about your requirements, and click here to see our price lists for custom-builds.
We can also supply all the parts you need to complete your guitar project, from fretwire and string trees to custom-wound pickups and polishing cloths! We will be expanding our shop in the near future so that you can conveniently purchase all these items at once but for the moment, contact us and tell us what it is you're after and we will happily arrange or source the parts you need for you.
COMPETITION!
Send us your photographs and sound clips for the chance to have KavanaghCustoms pay for your guitar. Entry is free so you have absolutely nothing to loose!
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