Hand built or factory?
 

I have been pondering on this for a while, what is the real definitive difference between a handbuilt guitar and a factory built one? What makes a guitar truly handbuilt?

Surely both use similair processes, some requiring machinery and others luthier bench like work.

Is it simply a case that a factory built guitar is piece work, e.g one person is in charge of making the necks etc. And a handbuilt guitar is a single luthier taking the guitar from start to finish?

Just wondering....

It is a good question. I'm not sure there is an equally good answer.

There are relatively few things these days that are truly "hand made". Most manufacturing, large and small, uses machinery of some kind for at least some processes. More modern processes are often computer controlled (CNC), with even less contact between maker and raw material.

The term "handmade" conjures rosy pictures of old-world craftspersons plying their skills over a workbench with some handtools. However, just because something is made by hand, with little or no machinery, doesn't guarantee a high-quality result. History is full of less-then-stellar examples.

An interesting concept was put forth by David Pye called "the workmanship of risk", "workmanship using any kind of technique or apparatus, in which the quality of the result is not predetermined, but depends on the judgment, dexterity and care which the maker exercises as he works." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pye_(furniture))

Much can be said about the concept and it implications for things "handmade". For a guitar maker, it might include making a guitar top thickness just on the edge of failure - one more stroke or two of the hand plane, sanding block, electric orbital sander, etc. and the top is too weak or not the right response. That isn't done in most large factories where all guitar tops of a certain model are all made to the same, uniform thickness.

It's a potentially long discussion. And many have discussed it.

In the end, it probably boils down to "quality". Quality can be a difficult thing to define and identify. That is, each player wants the best "quality" guitar, however each defines it. Add in "for the money paid" and the concept of "value" enters into it. My perspective, having made guitars for three decades, is that if one can't find what one wants - features or "quality" - in an off-the-rack instrument, - or one wants to support a particular individual and his or her approach to making instruments, be it handtools the old fashion way, or modern CNC equipment - then commission a custom-made instrument. "Custom-made" isn't necessarily the same thing as "handmade" and handmade isn't a guarantee of anything. With the right hands, handmade can be spectacular.

Factory built could also be hand built, with or without the help of some machinery. For instance Martin guitars are mostly hand built.

I completely agree with Mr Tauber, and as soon as you start discussung what constitutes quality, things can get very 'sticky'. All I can say is that both my Martin and my Gibson probably fall into the 'factory built' category and I am fantastically happy with both of them every time I play them. My Brook however, it really is a class apart. I honestly don't know why, but I feel a connection with that guitar that I don't (quite) get with the others. Check out the Brook website to see a tour of their workshop, a converted farmhouse I think in Devon. Pretty much the definition of handbuilt these days I think, and making fantastic guitars.
And at a very reasonable price considering the company......*meant to say 'competition'*

The fork in that road not only diverges, it also converges. When it did I chose factory as the pragmatic choice. About that time I'd managed to repossess my sense of logic about the whole of the art form and what it's all about. It isn't about the instrument to the extent that sound necessarily comes at a premium so lopsided that it surely represents the better artistry.

Tempering that to illustrate the player's dilemma, where melody of a slower tempo is the norm the highly resonant sound box can mesmerize him and coax his decision-making logic out the back door while his saliva glands pick-pocket his wallet. And, once experienced, factory becomes the vassal's lot.

Taylor and Ibanez rely heavily on CNC. Hands down, best playing guitars I own. The problem with big companies and CNC is that small changes get very complicated/expensive, which is when I go with other builders.

Good question.
We know that we can define larger builders as Factory but where do we draw the line on smaller builders?

I have my idea but others will have differing opinions
I will only list American builders for this discussion.

Factory Builders
Martin
Taylor
Gibson
Guild
Collings
Santa Cruze
Bourgeois

This probably isn't a complete list but it's all that I can think of right now.

If I build a kit guitar, is it factory or hand built?

.......Mike

Well it usually goes like this the hand built solo made guitar is the best, but is it?
The other crazzzzy idea is a guitar made in a factory is made mostly by people who are just stamping out guitars as fast as they can , being they really don’t care anyway , after all this is a factory built guitar with very little human talent.
That my friend is hog wash!
Martin guitar that still stands heads above all the other guitar makers in the world in the eyes of many makes their guitars in their own factories. There are pros who work together to create guitars. Than there are the solo builders who
put there all in their guitars as well. One of my favorite guitars was built by a solo builder from Oklahoma. Aren’t you glad we have both types of production
building what we love quality guitars? If you get a quality guitar regardless of where it was made a lot of skill and many hours were spent on that instrument before you played it.

the difference between handbuilt/custom is that a target sound is going to be achieved more consistently because individual luthiers work with consideration to the properties of the materials in hand whereas a factory guitars are largely built to dimensional specs, which creates wider variations in the tonal results.

I think hand build is a misnomer carried from the past when every piece of wood was shaped by an individual. Factory built was when a bunch of people built something, usually different parts of that end something.
Handbuilt today to me means an individual builder cause almost all builders use some type of powered tool from band saw to cnc.
Handbuilt doesnt insure quality. What it does is to allow the builder to vary specs. Alternately it can cause the quality to go heavens high. I had a Kronbauer guitar that looked better than any Martin Ive ever seen.
I have two handbuilt guitars. One was built entirely by one person and the other by two individuals. Both are excellent instruments with different specs that for different purposes.
I buy handbuilt because I want specs that I cant find in factory guitars.
I think a person should by a factory guitar if you can cause you are assured of what you are buying.
Handbuilt is a gamble for many builders unless you buy an Olson etc which has great consistency. His shop is a great illustration of my first statement. He is so mechanized that he almost could be called a machine operator.
I prefer the word custom as it avoids the implications of the word handbuilt.

I wouldn't make a distinction between factory and hand built, but between choosing timbers on looks compared with choosing timbers on their acoustic properties, and then voicing the guitar to the timber. I don't believe that there is any useful relationship between price and performance (as I hear, see and feel it) in factory guitars, and I have very little experience with small builders, but I chose Bourgeois because of what I had read about his experience with and attitude to voicing.

As a consumer who had a luthier, John Arnold, make me a 12 fret dreadnought in 1989. I feel I can address the OP's question with some experience. truly "handbuilt" instrument takes in the desires and/or wants of the player with the skills and ability of the maker to produce the product.

Factories in general build to dimensions based on material average properties and the receiving client’s goals are not known prospectively to the team making the guitar. Luthiers build select sets prospectively knowing a client’s goals and build based on individual material properties vs. dimensions.

That said, luthiers are quite heterogenious in their build philosophies and methodologies. Some fabricate and finish nearly everything sans the truss rod and tuners (Some even make their own Truss Rods). Some build in batches from 2 to 20 guitars in parallel. Some have apprentices or helpers. Some are less vertically integrated and purchase linings, bindings, purflings and inlay. Some even purchase pre-made necks ready for final refinement. Many also do not do their own finishing.

So “luthier built” can mean many different things.

If you had a budget that would allow you to purchase a hand built guitar from an independent luthier then you could ask for certain specifics that you might not be able to find from a mass producer.

However, with so many models and so many different options that are available out there, you may end up paying a lot of money for only one or just a few things that you could not find in a mass produced guitar. The downside of a handbuilt guitar is usually you can't try before you buy and once you commit to buying there is either no return or a large restocking fee.