To my other luthier Sponsor friends:
Don't hate me!
Please don't think that I consider you in
any way to be a second class builder! I am confident that I would enjoy a guitar built by any one of you, from those with the lowest base price to the highest. I mean that! And if I ever have opportunity to put in a good word for you, based on my limited, very fast "education," you know that I will consider it an honor.
If fact, I've been pointing people your direction all along - now I just know a bit more of what I'm talking about! I am VERY grateful that you help keep the AGF "on the air" with your financial support, and I love seeing so many of you sharing your wisdom and experience in our threads. Even the finest of guitar magazines can't give the kind of nearly real time conversation that happens here every day, and your participation makes the AGF a more enjoyable, informative place to hang out.
To my friends who have never considered a custom guitar:
I really think you owe it to yourself to get to know our luthier Sponsors, what they build and how much more affordable they are than you may have assumed. We all hear about those builders whose guitars cost enough to live in or ride around on, but in the right hands, a wonderful instrument can emerge from a small shop for about the same money as we could spend for a quality factory-built guitar.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not disrespecting guitars by the "Big Boys" or the smaller, "boutique builder" companies. They produce some absolutely wonderful guitars. I still love my Taylors, and still would love to own an example of a number of fine "factory" guitars! I've just been pleasantly surprised to learn that sometimes a fine custom guitar can be had for about the same price range as one that is being produced in large quantities.
cotten