#16
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If a luthier was building 2 batches a year, that would possibly mean that he had one batch in progress but he could put you in the next batch. My one custom guitar was with John Walker. We started talking about it in November. I think that he started my guitar in June and it was delivered in January of the next year so was a little more than a year.
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#17
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I think that if you are looking at the upper range of Martins, Taylors, Collings, etc. not even going into the special editions, you are well within the range of a luthier built guitar for most luthiers.
I am not that demanding of special specs even for my one custom experience. Most of the luthiers seem to build spec guitars for the shows and you can pick one of those up with no wait at all plus getting to play it before you buy. I also like the idea of supporting the small craftsman. |
#18
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Indeed. Plus Martin, Taylor, Gibson, Yamaha sell hundreds of thousands of guitars a year. There’s the less than 1%ers that buy single luthier guitars so the threads should indeed be mainly about production company guitar manufacturers.
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#19
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[QUOTE=WildBill82;6182648]I don't follow the market for used insanely expensive luthier guitars but, if there is an economic canary in the coal mine, that is where it will most likely announce itself.
I couldn't see paying ten or twenty grand for a guitar that might be worth a fraction of that ten years from now, but that's what makes a market. This discussion brings up a broader question for me: if there's this huge market for expensive custom stuff, plus the mainstay makers are selling tons of their expensive models, why has the guitar been virtually disappeared from popular music? Quite a disconnect there.[/QUOTE How many guitars can one of these little shops build in a year? Is it a smaller group who are buying them? Collectors, generally are not the makers .😅 of popular music that is followed by the masses. |
#20
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I haven't switched from luthier made to store brands. Gibson, Taylor, and Martin all make good guitars and have good qualities. My main issue is that making changes gets extremely costly. Luthiers can allow you to have elements of the popular brands and allow me to tailor them to my needs. I generally pay more than a stock instrument, but far less from store brand custom shops.
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#21
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Couldn't say (no empirical evidence demonstrated to show this is true) but you get what you pay for. For $200 you get a great $200 guitar. For $2,000 you get a great $2,000 guitar. For $5,000 you get a fantastic Martin Authentic, Charis, Huss & Dalton, Collings and many others. For $10,000 you get great Kinnaird, Charis, Henderson, Santa Cruz, Martin . et al.
If you want to spend X thousand dollars, you can find it from Martin and every other custom builders. I have many top, top-tier guitars and they all start with Martin (at any price point) and go on to solo-builders and small-shop guitars. Collings drops out of small-shop guitars as they are great factory manufactured guitars. Last edited by ManyMartinMan; 10-10-2019 at 11:28 AM. |
#22
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I have done a lot of exploring in guitars this year and did my first foray into a single build Luthier with a lightly used Kronbauer that I picked up off the forum.
Even at full custom price it is slightly less in cost than the street price for the Masterclass Breedlove I picked up. It is easily the equal in my eyes. They are both beautiful well built instruments with great sound. I actually have a slight preference to the Kronbauer at this point although I love both of them. Earlier in the year I was comparing and trialing some 2-3k Martin's and Taylor's against the 2-3k Breedloves and while they all had their strong points I felt the Breedloves were more guitar for the same money. Long story short I feel that the Kronbauer I picked up is more guitar for the money at it's price point. It is in that 3.5-4k range new from the Luthier and came with a nice cutaway and soudport, gorgeous wood and finish, beautiful details in the wood like inset rosewood strips lengthwise in the fretboard a fantastic setup as well as what I perceive as great tone. Short of it is I think there are at least some Luthier builds that can be comparable or better value. On the used market it was an even better value. |
#23
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How do you measure value? There are a whole host of variables. Sound? Playability? Looks? Fit and finish? Resale value? Name association? Etc etc then add in the taste, ear, and ability of the purchaser and their financial situation.....
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Chris Stern Guitars by: Bown Wingert Kinscherff Sobell Circa Olson Ryan Fay Kopp McNally Santa Cruz McAlister Beneteau Fairbanks Franklin Collings Tippin Martin Lowden Northworthy Pre-War GC Taylor Fender Höfner 44 in total (no wife) Around 30 other instruments Anyone know a good psychiatrist? www.chrisstern.com |
#24
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Thats a good point I was judging it solely by my perception of the sound playability finish quality and aesthetics.
From my point of view I am defining it as the best guitar for me for the same amount of money. |
#25
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Quote:
And where is the evidence for your assertion that the guitar has virtually disappeared? Ed Sheeran, Kacey Musgrave and numerous other acts are doing well and playing guitar with many older acts still playing, James Taylor and his generation for example.
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Chris Stern Guitars by: Bown Wingert Kinscherff Sobell Circa Olson Ryan Fay Kopp McNally Santa Cruz McAlister Beneteau Fairbanks Franklin Collings Tippin Martin Lowden Northworthy Pre-War GC Taylor Fender Höfner 44 in total (no wife) Around 30 other instruments Anyone know a good psychiatrist? www.chrisstern.com |
#26
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Quote:
A lot of it has to do with many luthiers such a Bourgeois, Tom Sands, Jason Kostal, and Ray Kraut who are putting out quality content and advertising of their work to folks on several social media sites - consistently. I'm sure as a luthier its near-impossible to find time to take nice photos of your guitars to share online but I'd venture to say it makes a huge impact! Folks will share the photos and all of a sudden you have a guy on Instagram who owns 3 Taylors and a D-28 going "what in the world are these guitars..wow" and if they're really passionate - they will research and get something nicer in their hands. I'll never forget buying an OM-28 off reverb when I first had $ for a good guitar, then 2 months later got a preowned Bourgeois Vintage OM for a few hundred more to compare...it was like a $7 ribeye vs. a nice Wagyu tenderloin you'd get at a 5-star restaurant.. You definitely get what you pay for, all comes down to your priorities. I think it's wonderful to see so many luthiers with their build slots filled up, chiseling away to the tune of the years they put into their craft. EDIT: Lets not even talk about Mr. Ed Sheeran, playing that Wee Lowden in the Beatle's movie "Yesterday" and just playing a handmade guitar, in general, as a pop artist. Then proceeding to start his own line with Lowden. I love seeing really good luthier's work in famous peoples hands....John Mayer with Traugott, Dave Matthews with Rockbridge, JT with Olson, Jason Mraz with Rockbridge, Ray LaMontagne with Bourgeois....etc.
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Dustin Furlow -Award-winning songwriter/guitarist, Visual storyteller -D’Addario, G7th and K&K Sound Artist -Music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube: www.youtube.com/dustinfurlow -New album "Serene" (Oct '23) and tablature available at www.dustinfurlow.com |
#27
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Is there a shift away from luthier-built guitars happening?
No.
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stai scherzando? |
#28
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What popular music are you listening to? I’m a pretty avid consumer of new music, and there is more being released every week than I can keep up with from artists I’m interested in, all of it guitar-based.
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Martin CS-00-18 (2015) Martin OM-28V (2011) Northfield Model M mandolin |
#29
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I dont agree at all with your view. Faactory guitars are merely assembly line products made according to a standard template without any individual voicing at all to take into account the character of the wood sets used for that particular guitar that can wildly vary from set to set, and while there may be some customisation of aesthetic features accommodated by the factory, there is no customisation of tone that is possible.
Whereas a guitar made by a solo luthier is usually voiced by him to the stiffness and tonal potential of the wood sets used for top ans back and therefore there is skill exercised in shaping the tone consciously. The luthier seeks to build the most responsive and best sounding guitar for every guitar to the maximum of ts potential that he builds For me, I havent owned a single completely factory made acoustic guitar since my first steel string and I have no interest in any brand of factory guitars. Furthermore most luthier made guitars are not "insanely expensive". When you consider that a factory guitar can be made in as little as a couple of man hours in total for the really cheap factory guitars on one end of the spectrum, and that it can take 150 to 300 plus man hours for a solo luthier to build each guitar, the prices of most luthier made guitars doesnt seem so high. You can get base prices of less than $5,000 to the most in demand luthiers who charge more than $20-30k per guitar. But for the luthiers charging between 5k to 10k or so there are many who do not even make 12 guitars a year. While the luthiers who charge the highest tend to have been working as luthiers for more than 20 or 30 or even 40 years and have spent a lifetime to develop their reputation and to create the market demand for the are guitars.
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In the end it is about who you love above yourself and what you have stood for and lived for that make the difference... Last edited by gitarro; 10-10-2019 at 04:56 AM. |
#30
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Quote:
And the comparable boutique guitars are quite often far more expensive... |