what does Boutique mean in ref to guitars

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by jaymarsch

And then there is the word bespoke, so if we are splitting hairs...

According to Wikipedia - As adjectives the difference between bespoke and boutique is that bespoke is individually or custom made while boutique is specialized in bespoke or custom-made products or services for a clientele in a niche market.

I personally never say boutique or bespoke to describe my luthier-made guitars. I just use the name of the maker and the model. It is kind of like the difference between used and pre-owned. They are really the same thing but the latter implies and is usually used to present a higher-end product.

Best,
Jayne

Mmm, so I do have a bespoke McAlister. However, all of my guitars are taken to my Tailor for fitting...

[rokdog49]

I looked Boutique up in the "Jamie Guitar Dictionary for the Common Man"

It said Boutique /bu'tik/ Not affordable by guys like you pal

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by Dustinfurlow

In the context of guitar’s I just consider it a midway point between factory built and luthier-built. Doesn’t mean the quality is a midway point though, and that’s where it can become confusing. Using the term “Boutique” is just meant to add a perception of quality to the subject because of limited supply and demand.

Factory: Martin
Boutique: Lowden
Luthier: Marc beneteau

Except that on guitar forums, "boutique" is often applied to anything not large factory built.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by DesertTwang

I agree that the term is not well-defined, but I think for practical purposes, it does mean enough to be meaningful in most contexts on this forum.

A "boutique" guitar is a guitar not mass-produced, but built by a small shop, by the same person. Small quantities, higher prices.

Yet a Collings or a Santa Cruz is built by a team, with people at different stations doing different tasks. No different than Taylor or Martin, except scale and attention to detail. Are Collings or Santa Cruz "boutique?" On the other hand, even renowned single builders such as James Olson or David Webber often will have an assistant. Are they "boutique?" Froggy Bottom has multiple people building guitars, under Millard's supervision. Are they "boutique?" Even true solo builder may have someone else do something specialized like finish or inlay work. Are they "boutique?"

At some point the word means so many different things that it ceases to mean anything distinctive.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by Willie Voltaire

Like it or not, as an adjective, it's an appropriate use of the word:

• of, designating, or characteristic of a small, exclusive producer or business
  
• used to describe a small fashionable business that sells a particular product or service
  
• (of a business) small and offering products or services of a high quality to a small number of customers
  
• referring to a business that is for a small and sophisticated client base

Here's an interesting article about the word's connotations: https://signalvnoise.com/posts/1807-...tious-boutique

And when it comes to guitars, I'd agree with three of four. Unfortunately many folks only think of the one...

[Dustinfurlow]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

Yet a Collings or a Santa Cruz is built by a team, with people at different stations doing different tasks. No different than Taylor or Martin, except scale and attention to detail. Are Collings or Santa Cruz "boutique?" On the other hand, even renowned single builders such as James Olson or David Webber often will have an assistant. Are they "boutique?" Froggy Bottom has multiple people building guitars, under Millard's supervision. Are they "boutique?" Even true solo builder may have someone else do something specialized like finish or inlay work. Are they "boutique?"

At some point the word means so many different things that it ceases to mean anything distinctive.

Interesting points.

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

Mmm, so I do have a bespoke McAlister. However, all of my guitars are taken to my Tailor for fitting...

I guess maybe it is a factory-built guitar that you take in for a set up and for a bespoke guitar you must schedule a custom alteration appointment.

Off topic - One of my uncles had a fancy watch given to him when he retired and it had to be taken in for a free check up appointment every year or it voided the warranty. Trouble was the only certified watch tech for that brand was over 70 miles away. He took his chances, never did take it in and the watch did outlive him. I think that his son still has it.

Best,
Jayne

[hat]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

Except that on guitar forums, "boutique" is often applied to anything not large factory built.

Wow - so my 'handcrafted guitars' are now 'Boutique' too? WooHoo...all that work coloring in the frets with a sharpie finally paid off! lol

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Dustinfurlow

In the context of guitar’s I just consider it a midway point between factory built and luthier-built.

+1. To me, this is a functional definition of a boutique guitar, as it is used on this and other guitar forums. Those guitars that are built by a small company (team) with a relatively small yearly output, as opposed to the much bigger companies on one hand, and a single luthier on the other.

At least that's what I think of when I hear the term.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by jaymarsch

I guess maybe it is a factory-built guitar that you take in for a set up and for a bespoke guitar you must schedule a custom alteration appointment.

Ah, but my other McAlister was also bespoke, but for someone else. When I wound up with it I still had to take it to my tailor for fitting...

Originally Posted by jaymarsch

Off topic - One of my uncles had a fancy watch given to him when he retired and it had to be taken in for a free check up appointment every year or it voided the warranty. Trouble was the only certified watch tech for that brand was over 70 miles away. He took his chances, never did take it in and the watch did outlive him. I think that his son still has it.

Best,
Jayne

Watches need checkups? Oil changes? New timing belts? NOW we are talking about a universe that I know nothing about. My $250 Timex doesn't exactly equip me for it...

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Mycroft

"Boutique" means so many different things to so many different people that it really doesn't mean anything.

This ! I the luthiery context, Does it mean one luthier working alone? Or two -ten working together, A small "factory?" I honestly don't know.

I'm pretty sure that most luthiers started on their own or as an apprentice to another.

Dana, Bill, Richard, Bob, and many more probably started this way. How many work at Collings, SCGC, Bourgeois etc., -I dunno.

I think that "boutique" at least, implies the opposite to mass or uniform production.

I suspect that all the above "build to order" - i.e, their retailers order what they think they can sell or to fulfil individual customer orders, whereas the mass producers like Gibson, Taylor, Martin "build to plan" i.e, build large batches and send them out to retailers who are compelled to take so many per month ... AFAIK!

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by hat

Wow - so my 'handcrafted guitars' are now 'Boutique' too?

Uh oh. You mentioned the other overly-used, utterly meaningless word in our time: "handcrafted" or "handmade". It means whatever you want it to mean since very, very few things these days are actually made without the assistance of machines at some stage in the making.

Yeah, somewhere in-between the vacuum-clamping, the thickness sander and the robotic arm spraying on a finish, someone used a chisel - by hand - to shape a brace: "handmade".

I agree with Mycroft that the term "boutique" doesn't really mean much but for appearances intended to invoke exclusivity and "quality".

Originally Posted by Mycroft

Yet a Collings or a Santa Cruz is built by a team, with people at different stations doing different tasks. No different than Taylor or Martin, except scale and attention to detail. Are Collings or Santa Cruz "boutique?" On the other hand, even renowned single builders such as James Olson or David Webber often will have an assistant. Are they "boutique?" Froggy Bottom has multiple people building guitars, under Millard's supervision. Are they "boutique?" Even true solo builder may have someone else do something specialized like finish or inlay work. Are they "boutique?"

At some point the word means so many different things that it ceases to mean anything distinctive.

Just because there are degrees of boutiqueness, it doesn't render the term meaningless. Fortunately, we have a rich language that allows us to modify and clarify, so we can say things like, "a one-man boutique builder," or "a small, limited-production boutique manufacturer." You can take the word "boutique" out of those descriptions and they're still accurate, but its inclusion further connotes exclusivity, sophistication, quality, etc.

So even though the term is often applied more broadly than you'd like, it does help to convey that the guitar is of high quality and not mass-produced on a large scale, and I think for most people, boutique makes that point with fewer syllables.

[rokdog49]

I like that..."degrees of boutiqueness"
That's a keeper.

Ex: "Francis had recently experienced varying degrees of boutiqueness with his guitars"
When combined with the varying degrees of uniqueness, he now felt completeness.

With apologies to Willie.

[Tnfiddler]

I’d say Dana would be considered a Boutique builder in direct comparison to Bob Taylor, but even at 400 guitars a year, Dana’s guitars could be considered mass-produced if compared to a builder who turns out 10-20 guitars a year.