I build a guitar to a set of priorities. I think about why the guitar exists: it exists for people to make music. Music that is made with a poor sounding instrument is like a photograph that is out of focus or distorted because the camera's lens is poor. So, sound is first. People need to easily play the guitar in order to make the music. Otherwise, it is like a camera that makes the photographer miss a good shot because it is clumsy or has poor controls. So playability is very important. The guitar needs to be well built, for sound, and so that it will have a long lifespan without physical failure, or its sound and playability amount to nothing. This is like a camera that is flimsy, and falls apart when you take it out to use it. Less vital, but not unimportant is the appearance of the instrument. I want to execute all of the woodwork as carefully as possible and I want a good finish that is durable and practical; after all, the player is always looking at the instrument. So I strive for a nice appearance, but a beautiful guitar that sounds lousy isn't doing its job. In the same way, I will always want a camera that gives me the freedom to take the best pictures, over a camera that is pretty but awkward and has a poor lens and loses parts. Few people in a room or concert hall can see the physical beauty of the instrument. They are there because they want to hear the music that the player makes with the instrument. Almost no one knows what the guitar on a recording looked like, but multitudes know what it sounded like. So a Gilbert is conceived for sound first, playability alongside sound, physical durability supporting sound and playability, and finally finish and appearance.
I work to close tolerances. I think of .015 inch (about 1/64") as coarse. I routinely hold tolerances of 0.002 inch for numerous parts of the instrument. The idea here is consistency. I am striving to build instruments of consistent quality and sound. I record over thirty pieces of data for each instrument. How can I know where I am going, unless I know where I am and where I have been? I am always seeking to improve. Just because something works well does not mean that something else might not work better. Consistency and reproducibility also enhance playability. By controlling such variables as neck shape, string spacing, action height and a host of others I can make the instruments share a family nature or feel while remaining unique.
I build guitars one at a time. Though I may work on certain common subassemblies like necks in multiples, the instruments are not built in "batches". I prefer to devote my time to one instrument and perform each task one time, rather than have to do an operation twice or more times in a row. I am not operating an assembly line; when I only have to do a task once, I believe I am much more inclined to do a quality job.
I accommodate (within reason) requests for variances in a few physical characteristics like neck shape and size, and string spacing. I say within reason, because there might be requests which would compromise the structural integrity of the instrument, or its resale value. An example might make this clearer. Suppose someone asks me to build a guitar with a very short string length, and a very small neck. I could accommodate them, but some problems may arise in the future. I would want them to keep the instrument "forever" but things change. Suppose they want to sell the instrument. Instead of having a standard size instrument, they have something strange. Now their pool of potential buyers is much more limited. Or the neck is so small that it is not strong enough, and it bows. Where is the playability then? Potential buyers might see this strange instrument as well and think that it is representative of my instruments. No one wins.
I accept commission designs only if I think I would like to be associated with them. If someone wants to tell me in detail how to execute the design, I would advise them to save the money and build it themselves. Again, I am looking ahead for my customer as well as myself. If I build some wild design because someone has a unique idea we may both suffer. The customer suffers because he can't get rid of a strange instrument which he wanted and now doesn't, and I suffer because my label is in something that is not in demand.
I do not accept requests for someone else's sound. I don't build any models that are intended to be an emulation of another design. I am sure that Fleta built the best Fletas, and Hauser the best Hausers, and so on. In fact, I am pretty sure that Gilberts build Gilberts best. If someone wants me to look at an unusual physical feature of another instrument to incorporate it into one of my instruments, I would look at that as a commission design.
In short, I am open to new things and new ways, within reason. I have reasons for why I build guitars the way I do and if I change, I do so for a good reason.
I am striving to build an instrument that I would want to own and that I want my customer to own.