• General BlacKat
  • Ordering
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  • 1. What’s BlacKat story in short version?
     

    Blackat Guitars brand was founded by Tomek Slawinski in 2011. In the beginning guitars were ghost built by other companies to Tomek’s specs and design.

    In 2014 Marcin Badenski joined Tomek and production was moved to company’s own workshop in Warsaw. Guitars are currently built by Tomek and Marcin.

  • 2. Where are you based and can I visit you?
     

    We are based in Warsaw, Poland. We are happy to welcome guests but due to nature of our work (big loud woodworking machines) and location of our office and workshop (next to Tomek’s house) it is possible only with prior appointment.

  • 3. Are your guitars ghost built by another company?
     

    No, since 2014 we are completely independent.

  • 4. Do you accept endorsements?
     

    We don’t do formal endorsement contracts but are happy to work with artists on less formal rules. We expect that artist who wants to promote our brand either already owns one of our guitars or at least has played them. Please include information about BlacKat gear you own or have played, short artist/band bio, links to social media and website, links to music. We reserve the right to not answer all endorsement requests.

  • 5. How do I tell if BlacKat Guitar that is offered to me second hand is legit?
     

    Look for it in pictures gallery on Facebook and here, there you can almost all BlacKat Guitars that were ever built except maybe two instruments. If in any doubts, you can send us pictures.

  • 6. There’s no serial number on my BlacKat, is this normal?
     

    It’s normal. On first few BlacKat guitars we used to put serial numbers on electronic cavity covers, after that for few years there were no serial numbers and we brought them back in 2016 – hand written on back of the headstock.

  • 7. How do I tell where my BlacKat Guitar was made?
     

    First 8 singlecut prototypes were built by Malwood in Poland, 6 with ash top and black or black/red finish, 2 with flame maple tops and piezos. You should find pictures of all of them on our Facebook.
    Many Classic Doublecuts and Singlecuts were built by Skervesen. The easiest way to distinguish them from current production is looking at neck joint – current production is 5 bolt, Skervesen builds are 4 bolt.

  • 8. Are your guitars handmade
     

    Depends on definition. For quality and consistency we've decided to use CNC for almost all routing and shaping. This includes things like top carves, neck profiles and compound fretboard radius. However routing is only about 10% of whole guitar building. We do many time consuming and demanding parts of the process by hand like sanding, finishing, fretwork and many more.

  • 1. How do I order a BlacKat?
     

    For custom order you need to fill in and submit order form available here.

    If you would like to buy one of the guitars from our stock, please check In Stock section on the website.

  • 2. How long does it take to build a guitar?
     

    Typical manufacturing time is 7 to 12 months depending amount of guitars in production queue, spec of guitar, time of the year and many other factors.

  • 3. What is the payment schedule for custom orders?
     

    Deposit (40% of total cost) is required to put guitar on production queue. Order is not put in production until we receive prepayment. Final payment is required when guitar is completed and you receive pictures of finished product ready for shipping.

  • 4. I would like to cancel my order after deposit was paid, will you return my deposit?
     

    We reserve the right to keep part or whole deposit to cover our costs. Exact amount depends on level of completion of the build and how “typical” spec of ordered guitar is. Minimum is 25% of total value of the guitar.

  • 5. Can I change specs after I place the order?
     

    In general no. Please make sure that you send us final spec before paying deposit. Once deposit is paid, guitar is put on production plan and no changes are possible. We sometimes make an exception but under 2 conditions: every spec change must be sent in e-mail to orders@blackat-guitars.com with subject SPEC CHANGE. Estimated production time is changed and starts from moment of spec change.

  • 6. Can I send you my woods or hardware so you could use it on my build?
     

    No.

  • 7. Can I order non complete guitar (without some parts of hardware, non finished etc)?
     

    No.

  • 8. Can I get some discount?
     

    We offer discounts to returning customers and when you order more than one guitar at once.

  • 9. Do you provide progress pictures from production process?
     

    We post progress pictures on our Official Facebook Group from time to time when there is significant visual progress in builds. Please remember that we build more than one guitar at a time and it is normal that for some periods there’s not much visual progress so these updates are not regular.

  • 10. What’s VAT and do I have to pay it?
     

    VAT stands for Value Added Tax. All orders that are shipped and billed within EU must include VAT. All orders shipped outside EU do not include VAT in price but you might pay VAT or other taxes in your country to customs office.