What makes Dowina unique?
Regardless of how you buy a Dowina - One aspect remains constant. You are buying a truly hand made guitar, produced in Dowinas traditional guitar workshop.
There are no elements of mass production and each guitar is produced with love, care and precision.
At the heart of Dowinas philosophy is for their guitars to be produced at the highest levels of quality whilst ensuring they remain aspirational, affordable and accessible to as wide a range of budgets as possible.
Not only is a Dowina of the most incredible quality - and affordable - but are truly individually crafted works of art.
What I love about their guitars is the genuine human spirit that runs through their company - They actually care about the end users experience. They care about each individual guitar itself. They want to be the best version of themselves by remaining true to their ethos and have no interest in becoming the next industrial level, mass-produced Brand.
They believe - as do I - that what makes their instruments unique is the human connection - with the attention to detail that only a human eye and touch can master.
Like myself - they want to remain proud, enjoy their work and most of all enjoy the pleasure of making other people happy.
In my 26 years in the industry, I know of no other acoustic guitar builder that comes close to offering this unique experience to every player.
Pricing
Dowina produce a range of guitars for me some of which are totally exclusive to Richards Guitars. The base prices are shown within the catalog
Each model can be considered as a sum of its parts from specific bindings, back wood, logo, 12 fret inlay design, fret markers and so on. To make this easy for you to understand, we have created what I call an "inspiration palette" for each model to show the key differences between each model.
Any model can be purchased - at the price shown for that model.
Custom options can now be selected here: https://rguitars.co.uk/pages/search-results-page?q=dowina+custom+options
A summary of which are shown below...
"Dowina Inspired" : £200
For just £200 you can totally personalize your choices.
Swap and change any "inspiration palette" (key cosmetic details) from any other model for one that is found within the model you are ordering. Cosmetic detailing does not include gloss (which is either included or you pay extra if not included in your model) and doesn't include the back wood. If you want to change the back wood then you would select the guitar with the back wood in line with your personal preference.
At this point you are now creating your Dowina Inspired guitar.
For example...
You love the look of the Walnut at £999 but you would like a fuss free fretboard with no markers - No problem. You would take this feature from "Pure" palette.
You also like the look of abalone around the sound hole. There are two or 3 designs available in different palettes but for argument’s sake lets say you like the Acero inlay. That is now part of your design too.
Rather than think "how many extras can I squeeze in?" - think "What do I like cosmetically?". Focus on what would make that guitar your dream guitar and if it can be done through mixing and matching different palettes - go for it!
So your own uniquely specified guitar - made for you - is the price of the main guitar palette design plus £200.
Some further details on Inspiration Palettes...
What is an "Inspiration Palette"
Choice of Top Wood
Within reason, choices and types of spruce & cedar are personal and are currently no extra charge.
Torrification / Thermocure : £100
Torrification is a process of drying / heating the spruce in a kiln. This process turns the spruce to a more golden hew, accents any grain characteristics (which when combined with gloss can give some wonderful 3D / Translucent effects) and tonally adds a beautiful sweetness to the spruce chime. Saying "warmer" would be slightly misleading / misrepresenting it - Its hard to totally put your finger on but I would say the spruce takes on a stronger presence, with a sweeter "warmer" overtone. You could say tonally between spruce & cedar but this would also be undermining the great character of torrification. A very popular upgrade among players and most brands only offer this at a great premium.
Neck & Headstock Binding : £100 (Your choice such as flame maple, padauk, etc)
Gloss Top : £100
Gloss Back & Sides : £150
Headstock Additional Inlay work : £100 - £200
Depending on the design work, materials & complexity most headstock work can be estimated between £100 - £200 and can be confirmed before work commences. Once again please remember - Dowina want you to be more focused on enjoying the process than bumping up the cost of the project. Like myself - we need to all pay bills - but trust me - their focus is on the human & creative element of their work. You will LOVE the process and the journey and at no stage will costings become an issue - trust me. In fact - the sooner the money side is out the way - the better for everyone so we can all focus on getting your guitar in your hands.
12 Fret Inlay : From FREE to £100
Dowina already provide a number of 12 fret designs that they produce within each "inspiration palette" so any of these can be utilized at no extra charge. As long as the palette you are working from has a customized logo - you can swap it to another at no extra charge. For £100 Dowina will produce a custom inlay at the 12th fret for you. If you need any support with this, I personally have a designer who can help directly too.
Fretboard inlays that include 12th fret but also extend across frets : £200
If your design extends across frets or down the fretboard then a charge of £200 will be a good guide to work too - again, depending on complexity and materials used.
3 Piece Back : Free or £200 (see video below)
As shown with the cocobolo 3, Silk Road & Amber Road models, the 3 piece back can create some stunning visuals. If you would like to create this effect within your chosen palette, the centre panel can be interchanged for a wood of your choice or you can split the same piece into 3 to create dramatic visuals.
Personal selection of top, back & sides : £100
You know that feeling when you see one of my nicest looking Dowina guitars online and then when you call me you dont feel the one in stock is "quite" as nice as the one you saw online? Thats because every single piece of wood has its own personal characteristics. Tonally and visually. This option enables you to look at the best of the best pieces Dowina have available and to choose the one that suits YOU. Different people want different things from a guitar. One may love sap wood - another may hate it. One person may love additional grain details or strange patterns - another may like something more simple. The cost of this option covers time in communication, selection process and confirming / allocating personalized selection of tone woods - including the top. The wonderful people at Dowina (I have a video on Zuzka below) will artistically match woods that work / compliment each other visually throughout the build.
