I understand why, but I think that since we're all eager to mention builders and companies we are happy with, we shouldn't be reluctant to name builders we are dissatisfied with. With increasingly higher prices for custom ukuleles, critical feedback is very valuable for other potential buyers. There is definitely an imbalance on the forum when it comes to recommendations for and against luthiers. I have never seen a negative review for more costly instruments, except for the guy who threatened to sue UU and forced negative posts to be taken down. But yes, I understand the various reasons. It is awkward in all sorts of ways.
My own experience:
I have a custom uke from Barron River that was already built when I bought it. My experience with it taught me a few things. First, I don't think I was ready to buy a (for me) expensive instrument at the time when I did. At $1200 AUD it was actually very affordable, but it was a substantial expense for me. When I bought this tenor, I think the purchase was fueled by a desire to put an end to the going back and forth about sizes and woods, and I think I wanted to have something cool, too, for various reasons. Janeray touched on this: the forum can give the impression that if you want to belong, you have to have something unique. That isn't actually the case, and I believe this impression is mostly born from some kind of insecurity, but I think it played into my decision. Mostly, though, I wanted to end the indecisiveness and start playing instead of searching.
That didn't happen. The tenor came and it was lovely. Light as a feather, loud, a refined sound, stunning to look at, unique, distinctive, and it had character. But I didn't get on with it. First, I was intimidated by it. High gloss, beautiful, irreplaceable in a way. And there was I: clumsy, inexperienced, and pretty broke now. I didn't feel good enough for the instrument, I felt I made it sound worse, and I worried about damaging it. Then I also returned to not knowing what I wanted and sort of regretted the purchase and my impatience, and set out to try other sizes. Now I had tasted quality, so I focused mostly on higher mid-range ukes, like KoAloha and an upper end Pono. I did feel more comfortable with production instruments because there was less of a surprise factor and overall lower costs (lower risk of regretting it).
I didn't sell the tenor, though, and after I fell in love with the baritone and the linear tuning, I revisited my custom tenor. Now equipped with a bit more experience and more able to identify why I like or dislike something. What I realized was that reentrant tuning, which I had clung to, probably doesn't work for me on a tenor. I think it's tonally too narrow for me on that size. I'm not entirely sure about this, though, and may revise my views again. I find that the more I improve as a player, the more appreciative I become of aspects I didn't understand properly before. So when I eventually learn more re-entrant techniques, my appreciation for it may kick in and the tenor goes back to being re-entrant. But at the moment, low-G opens it up to me.
I had tried a non-wound low-G before, which was downright awful (so I had dismissed low-G for a while), but from the baritone I had learned to appreciate wound strings. I put a wound low-G on the tenor, and it really transformed. Or rather, it was a sound I loved. Before the baritone, all tenors sounded muddy to me, but now with my adjust ears the tenor was so beautiful. I didn't want to like low-G, but the difference was striking, so I couldn't deny that it was, on this uke, nothing short of delicious. I had tried various strings, but I think the key was really the wound low fourth string. In fairness, though, due to the baritone I now know more linear-based pattern than I do re-entrant ones, which plays into the whole sound experience as well.
I had also learned to play a bit better, more able to touch the instrument in ways that made it sing just the way I want. Plus, I generally had developed a better posture, a better handle on holding the bigger instruments. Over the past few weeks, this tenor has been played a lot, and the more I play it, the more I treasure it. Where there had initially been some regret (unrelated to the instrument, only with myself and my perceived incompetence), there is now deep satisfaction.
So what I learned from this is that I had gotten a custom too soon, before I knew what I wanted and could really appreciate it. I also think my reasons for wanting a custom when I did get it were not optimal. But I also learned that initial impressions aren't necessarily reliable, that preferences may change, even drastically, that tuning and strings matter, that patience really is a virtue, and that I should have invested spare money into improving my skill as a player before trying to sort out the instrument question. I had put the cart before the horse. It's hard to remember for me because money can buy instant gratification, but it can't ever purchase a shortcut to learning and putting in time as well as work.
It all worked out, though. I want to say I'm glad I had the patience not to sell my custom tenor when it crossed my mind, but the truth is that this wasn't patience. It was reluctance and fear (of regret) to make the wrong decision. I now love this uke, and the builder has been fantastic to work with even after the purchase. Even now when I have a question or concern, he takes the time to answer within a few hours and is very helpful. Great builder and great person.
I'm glad that I came around to falling in love with this uke that initially I had a "You're sexy as hell, but I don't love you." relationship with. It really was me, not her. It's good that ukuleles are very patient.