Tell us about Inferno Hand Crafted Guitars, how did it start? etc..

I first became interested in working on guitars when I bought a new electric to play at home. I took it back to the music store because it played poorly, so their luthier set it up and crowned the frets for me. Once I understood this concept, I bought some guitar repair books and a few new guitars to work on myself. I had trouble understanding the technical wording of the books so I took the guitars to the music store to get worked on, only these guitars had more serious problems and the repairs were expensive. Over time I became friends with the luthier and he has taught me a lot, as he continues to do. My friends liked my guitars so much, they started asking if I would work on new guitars for them. Some time after, I started selling my new handfinished guitars on ebay – having 100% positive feedback over several years. This is where Inferno Guitars started but a lot has changed since then as we now focus on handmade custom guitars for professional players. Having said that, some of our endorsers play our lesser-priced handfinished guitars built from premade parts and are quite happy with them.

You have a few endorsement deals with guitarists and bass players around the world. Who are they and why were they selected?

Our endorsing artists include Australian metal legends Mortal Sin, Disdained (Serbia), Fantasy Opus (Portugal), Daemon Foetal Harvest (Australia), Alfredo Herz (USA), Shaun Hague (USA), Masque Of Betrayal (Serbia), Thyresis (Brazil), Scott McClellan (USA), Earth Died Screaming (USA), The Gallery (USA), Hellfraction (USA), Falling Dusk (Portugal), The Victim’s Diary (USA), Forgotten Tragedy (USA), Dissidium (Brazil), Slaughterbox (USA), Johnny Carona (USA), Beyond The Shore (USA) and Violent Hill (Australia). Of those mentioned, only Mortal Sin were approached by us, the rest simply wrote to us and applied. We generally don’t approach bands anymore, they need to apply to us in writing. There is specific criteria the artists need to meet although any truly professional band with a good sound would qualify. We only started accepting endorsements twelve months ago so we have come a long way in a short time, yet it’s still “early days”.

How do endorsement deals work? What do companies generally supply and what is expected from musicians with endorsement deals?

Endorsing Inferno artists receive up to two custom guitars at 50% off standard price plus free merchandise and promotion. In return we simply ask the artists to help promote us. I understand that other companies such as Dean and Gibson offer 40% off but you already need to own one of their guitars plus meet other criteria.

There are a lot of musicians who would love to get endorsement deals from companies. What advice would you give to people who want to approach companies for these deals?

The most important thing would be the general image of you and your band. Mostly the musicianship, sound and overall professionalism is what I look for. With bigger companies it’s more important to already be somewhat famous but that is more in the company’s best interest than the artist’s. The artist has already done the hard work to become known so respectfully (for example) Kirk Hammett helps ESP sell guitars but I doubt ESP influences the sale of many Metallica albums, as Metallica are already well known. My advice is try to get recording label support first, even if they are a small independent firm. Get yourself steady live work and a sincere supporting fanbase. Have a great demo CD to offer. Last but not least, be loyal to your band! Sometimes people leave their band for various reasons, thus they become an unemployed musician and this will not help your endorsement quest at all.

What is the main difference in standard store bought guitars and custom made ones?

Every guitarist I talk to finds the same problems with any premade guitar. They really like it except for one or two things they wish they could change. Common examples include: the neck is too wide, the neck is not wide enough… the scale is too long, the scale is too short… it only comes in five colours and I want something unique… the inlay is too plain, the inlay is too fancy and distracting… too many dials, not enough dials… I want a third pickup, I only want one pickup… I want a locking tremolo, I hate locking tremolos… I want more frets, I want less frets… I want one pickup for death metal and one for jazz fusion is the latest one among many – the list is endless. With Inferno custom guitars the client can  design the guitar themselves to their specifications including body and head shapes, timbers, colours, fret inlays, pickups, bridge, nut
width, neck profile, body graphics, machine heads, etc. This way the client gets the guitar they really want and will love forever.

How do your prices compare with music stores?

Very well actually because the client is purchasing directly from the supplier. For example, a Fender USA custom alderwood Stratocaster (which is premade so how custom is it?) retails in Australia for AU$5499. For a comparable guitar, made to the same high standards with the client’s choices of parts, we would sell it to the client for around AU$2899 depending on options chosen. A Jackson USA Soloist guitar retails for AU$4899, again we could produce a comparable custom guitar for under AU$3000. These would be some of our most expensive examples as our custom guitars start at AU$999 and the average is around AU$1599. Some handfinished premade examples are still available between AU$350-$599 however these were not handmade by the Inferno custom luthier, rather they are new guitars handfinished by myself as mentioned previously. I just wanted to clear that up as some people get confused by the differences in pricing.

How do you see the heavy metal scene in Australia as it stands mid 2009?

Personally I think its cool. There are some very talented bands making some great sounds from Mortal Sin to the band down the street. I really like all ages shows, as this opens up a larger audience potential and a second generation of fans can be part of the scene. I’m pleased to say that most of the bands I see play original material too, as obviously original musicians have potential to go further with their careers. There is a fair blend of styles although death metal bands seem to out number the others four to one! Sadly poker machines have turned most venues who previously hosted live bands into gaming lounges so there are even fewer metal venues than in the past, which is a shame with so many bands eager for work. All in all the metal scene is great but I must humbly say that there are some artists I see on stage that could use some more musical theory tuition. Knowledge is power after all. I don’t mean that they need to play faster, I mean they need to play music.