Manufactured guitars vs. handbuilt

[Kevin A]

Originally Posted by Jeff M

When you buy an acoustic guitar, whether it is an Estaban or an Olson, you are buying it to please one person ......yourself. As long as you are pleased with it, it's "worth it".

I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. It sort of diffuses the arguments that often spout up about what makes a 'good' guitar, why Guitar Brand X is better than Guitar Brand Y, or what makes a guitar 'overpriced'...



Of course without these 'arguments,' there wouldn't be much of a forum left...

[Brent Nelson]

Originally Posted by Jeff M

When you buy an acoustic guitar, whether it is an Estaban or an Olson, you are buying it to please one person ......yourself. As long as you are pleased with it, it's "worth it".

I think these are sage words too.

Brent

[Cornerstone Guitars]

this is a Timex versus Rolex argument.
I can actually argue that a Timex is a far superior watch in time keeping....
Why are certain paintings worth so much money? are they prettier?

The variables are innumerable.. however, there are many positive benefits in a custom build as mentioned before.
Sure, factory guitars are great and some are truly exceptional....but I do belive there is a difference. Tonal? Visual? Emotional? Its up to the player to decide.
Some of my best friends now are people I built guitars for! Could that have happened in a factory setting? not likely...

Bottom line, you have one person to please....yourself.

Happy New Year,

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

...A lifetime warranty has more meaning coming from a 175 company than a luthier who may get sick, go out of business or die.

Hi Rich...
To me guitars are similar to cars - especially in the warranty department.

Lifetime Warranty only covers original owners and manufacture defects, which tend to surface rather early in a guitar's life. I've never purchased - nor avoided purchasing - a guitar because of the warranty, lack of warranty, nor the risk of a builder becoming ill, going out of business, or passing away.

If a luthier or manufacturer built it, a different one can repair it.

[12 string]

Originally Posted by woodruff

in the end, if price were no object, meaning i had the money to buy either a handbuild or a gibson bozeman acoustic, i'd still take the gibson. which, in the grand scheme of things, you could then label me narrow minded. then i go home and play either my h-bird or my wife's j-45 and come away thinking i am a genius.

i know there a point in there somewheres....

Woody! Good to see you again! How's the wrist, how's the playing? Is the Guild gone now?

David

[HHP]

As others have stated, this is more about the player/buyer than any real objective difference that would matter to a listener. I say buy whatever makes you feel good when you play it.

While custom lutherie is a fairly recent development, I would also note that if you listed the 10 most significant American acoustic guitar recordings, probably none would have involved a boo-teek made guitar.

[wthurman]

I haven't taken the time to read all the posts. What IS my impression is that factories worry about meeting a specification that worked well on a number of prototypes. This was Taylor's main contribution, IMO. They were able to quantify and reproduce specifications that worked well most of the time, somewhat well some of the time, and exceptionally well some of the time, while maintaining a signature tone. Martin has basically done the same thing. The good thing about this is that sometimes, you get a killer guitar, many times you get a very good guitar, and sometimes, you get a guitar that is "just okay".

A smaller factory, custom luthier, etc., is much more likely to take the individual characteristics of the individual pieces of wood into account on one particular guitar. This means that you are more likely to get the best the wood has to offer, assuming the luthier has that intention. In my experience, that is generally the case. It is also no guarantee that it will be a killer guitar. I've played Olsons that rocked me to death and some you could not pay me to own.

In the end, as others have said (assuming here) it's what feels and sounds good to YOU and not anyone else.

I have a Taylor GS-RS. Factory. I have Beneteau Concert Standard. Custom. I don't plan on ridding myself of either, because in their own rights, and to who I am as a player, both are incredibly amazing.

[joegator81]

My two cents???

- A manufacturer strives to produce a multitude of consistently good instruments at a certain price point. 85% or so will sound very similar, will be considered good by the desired customer "group", the rest will either fall into the great or poor category. The thing is you are buying the Martin tone or the Taylor tone or the Gibson tone.

- The individual, small, private luthier/builder strives to make each guitar GREAT for the specific customer buying the guitar... how could they afford not to??? Much of this depends on the customer doing his or her homework and finding the right luthier, and the luthier asking the right questions to determine whether their unique aesthetic/tone will suit the customers needs thus rendering an instrument this particular customer considers great.

- Basically, i think large manufacturers are happy to produce a consistently good group of guitars, while the individual luthier strives to build a great guitar consistantly for each individal customer. Each has there place.

[wthurman]

Originally Posted by HHP

While custom lutherie is a fairly recent development, I would also note that if you listed the 10 most significant American acoustic guitar recordings, probably none would have involved a boo-teek made guitar.

What would make you reach that conclusion (including a babied sig or standard model from Taylor, SCGC, or Martin made in a way that none of us could reasonably expect)?

And who exactly defines "significant"? And yet another question: would they have had a boutique guitar (as you put it but a term I truly dislike because it isn't a boutique... it's skill in building) had they wanted one? Many I would consider in this category went on to one, and while I agree that the guitar doesn't make the musician, there's nothing wrong with the musician wanting a guitar that he or she feels expresses what's inside better.

[AndrewG]

I guess Wade beat me to it-a great guitar is the one you have played and it doesn't matter how stellar the luthier and his reputatiion might be but you cannot guarantee that the guitar you have commisioned will sound the same as the one you fell in love with; THAT'S the one you should be buying!
I know this from expensive experience and no more commisions from me-if I can't play it first I ain't buying.

Andrew

[Kevin A]

Originally Posted by HHP

While custom lutherie is a fairly recent development, I would also note that if you listed the 10 most significant American acoustic guitar recordings, probably none would have involved a boo-teek made guitar.

Just curious as to why that list would be important to me as a potential guitar 'acquirer' in my making a decision to purchase or commission a guitar?

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by HHP

...While custom lutherie is a fairly recent development, I would also note that if you listed the 10 most significant American acoustic guitar recordings, probably none would have involved a boo-teek made guitar.

Hi HHP...
First of all, I don't see the correlation between popular recordings and the instrument I want to play for life.

Second, many artists don't necessarily record in studio with what they play in public. I know a lot of guitarists who show up with 5 or 6 guitars for studio projects. What people record with has little to do with the discussion of the differences between handbuilt and manufactured instruments...

Third, I don't think we could get most people to agree on what 10 are the most significant American acoustic guitar recordings...if you take my list, most of the ones I consider significant were recorded on handbuilt guitars.

[AndrewG]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi HHP...
First of all, I don't see the correlation between popular recordings and the instrument I want to play for life.

Second, many artists don't necessarily record in studio with what they play in public. I know a lot of guitarists who show up with 5 or 6 guitars for studio projects. What people record with has little to do with the discussion of the differences between handbuilt and manufactured instruments...

Third, I don't think we could get most people to agree on what 10 are the most significant American acoustic guitar recordings...if you take my list, most of the ones I consider significant were recorded on handbuilt guitars.

Indeed; and surely the significance is in the song-not what it was played on.

Andrew

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by AndrewG

Indeed; and surely the significance is in the song-not what it was played on.

Hi Andrew...
I've deliberately chosen inferior instruments for recordings occasionally, just for the ''funky'' sound they sometimes add to a track or two.

[JohnRII]

Thanks a lot everyone. I've just spent a healthy amount of time over the last few months compiling a spreadsheet of winnowed luthiers from extensive research to determine with whom I'd like to work on a sight unseen and unplayed custom guitar. I have specific materials of construction, dimensions, nut width, string spacing and etc. I want from this guitar. I am currently finalizing the details with a luthier suggested in this forum. His pricing is very competitive with even the higher end models from the mass manufacturers. I'm also enough of a realist to know that someone like Bo Diddley can make a cigar box guitar sound great. So it really is more the talent of the player than the instrument. I'm spending money to help me SOUND and play better in hopes of helping me compensate for my vast deficiency in talent.
So perhaps I shouldn't have upgraded from the Yamaha FG-365SII to the Taylor 910 in the first place. And certainly I shouldn't be spending even more money on a customized guitar. All I really have to do is practice several hours a day (which I don't have) and maybe in a couple of decades I'll actually be a somewhat better player. Evidently, I'm laboring under the delusion that spending money on a guitar made by a small production luthier will help me overcome these shortcomings.
I don't care. I'm buying the guitar anyway because I can afford it, I want it and it's going to be fantastic.