Deciding to build my own guitar

I know the tone and feel of the guitars I regularly play and I've noticed a gap. I know what tones I'm looking for and I can't find a production or boutique model guitar with those tones. I don't want to alter the guitars I already have, I'm happy with them as they are and I really don't like the idea of devaluing them with a modification. So I'm left with a few options:

1. Buy a production guitar and modify it
2. Order a custom model from a luthier
3. Build the guitar myself

Modifying a Production Guitar

This is the quickest option. It allows me to audition guitars and have a better idea of what I want to achieve. It's also an easy option, involving little-to-no woodworking, minor electrical knowledge for soldering and maybe a few other minor skills. The problem I have with this option is that I would spend money to get the body, neck and basic electrics, and then have the guitar devalued by the modifications because they would take the guitar away from being a stock guitar. I could buy a guitar that has most of the parts, but for it to be cost-effective, the bought guitar would have to be very cheap. That means I'd be looking at cheap components and potentially ill-fitting wood.

To get the quality of guitar I'm looking for, I would have to spend a lot on the off-the-shelf, stock guitar before I even get around to modifying it. It's worth saying that I'm not looking at an esoteric guitar with 3 necks or a built-in Kaos pad. I'm just after an mix of features that doesn't appear to be on the market.

Ordering a Custom Guitar

I partly like the idea of this option and may go that route in future. I have ordered custom amplifiers in the past and that's worked out well. First of all, I'd have to interview/review luthiers, understanding their build process and where I, as the customer, would fit. I'd have to consider their build times, their skills, their past builds and find as many references as I can. There's a lot of bad press on the Internet and it's easy for one irate customer to present a very bad image of any business. I believe artists and craftsmen including luthiers are susceptible to this. So separating the reviews and getting a feel for the company and luthier is important.

The one real issue I have with this option is how you'd go about accepting or rejecting the guitar. It's not the same as buying a car where there are known specifications and warranties in place. More importantly, rejecting a car because of a defect, whether perceived or real defect, shouldn't affect the manufacturer much because of the large volume of cars involved. However, reject a guitar from a luthier who makes only 20 guitars a year and you could make a massive difference to their cashflow, if not their livelihood. No matter how real the defect, it's likely to be an awkward conversation at best.

DIY Guitar

Before I'd properly consider ordering a custom, bespoke guitar, I'd want to try building the guitar myself. My initial rationale is that, whether the guitar ends up being a success or failure, I'll have learnt more about guitar design and what I could end up paying a luthier for.

Additionally, I've noticed that if you buy wood blanks and not bodies or necks, then the major cost of the DIY guitar is in the electrics and hardware (pickups, bridge, etc) rather than the wood. The positive here is that the electrics and hardware can be sold on or used on other guitars if I mess up the guitar badly. I would have liked to have bought a body and neck and put them together, however I can't find a good enough pairing for a decent price. I don't really see the point in spending over $500 on a body and neck when I can buy a stock guitar for $1000. I can get cheaper parts than that, but the reviews aren't great. That leaves me with buying the wood in blanks and cutting the guitar to fit. I know I can find what appear to be some great body and neck blanks for less than $100. That gives me more than 5 attempts before I should have bought pre-cut bodies.

I may change my mind on that depending on what's available at the time I start looking.