Gore Gilet Design and Build books

[ken cierp]

Yes a little off track -- but interesting just the same, since "Gore's guitars" are of the root of the topic.

Happy you are able to purchase yourself a Christmas gift. However, many will ever read his books and less can afford to spend the $250 or so for them. Actually I'd like to hear more comparisons of Gore engineered guitars versus traditional stuff. Perhaps than guys/gals would hear such a quantum improvement they would have to own the books -- or maybe not?

[John Parchem]

To be fair Gore guitars are not the root of the topic, his books are. These books are not method books to produce a Gore guitar. If one accepts the material in the design book the information is just as useful if you want to produce a Collings sound guitar, a Smallman classical sounding guitar, a Hauser sounding guitar or a Gore guitar. I think a better question rather than a subjective comparison would be can Gore consistently make a Gore sounding guitar. Secondarily can he modify his sound based on customer requests and needs. Obviously he is making tradeoff for the sound he wants.

What he tries do in the books is to provide a well researched (he did not make it all up himself), well presented books that allow one to make their own tradeoff for the sound they are trying to hit.

I get that the books are expensive and they are not required if one wants to build a guitar. For me personally, the books allow me to go into a bit more depth into the study of what is going on for each of my builds. As I do this purely for the enjoyment of a hobby, that added depth increases my interest and the enjoyment of the whole process. I can clearly see others that build guitars would have no interest, yet still make guitars that are as good and better than the ones I am making.

[Dave Bagwill]

Can't separate the books and the gits, really. If the guitars sounded so-so it would be hard to trust the book. s
So I'm glad to hear some Gore guitars and especially in comparison in the same shop and player etc.
In fact, I would gladly do such a comparison :-)
That Gore, that Collings, maybe a 1929 00-12 Martin and a few boutique ones as well. Yep, I'd be glad to do that.

[John Link]

I think JohnP puts it well. We don't really know if Trevor Gore builds his guitars according to the ideas found in the book in the first place. And if he does, we can ask how well he implements those ideas. It is entirely possible a third party might build a better "Gore" than he does. Nor do we know if Gore is revealing everything he uses in the book. In the end, the book must be taken for what it is, and his guitars for what they are.

That said, it does interest me that his guitar does not sound that different from the Collings. It suggests there is more than one road that leads to the same place. Myself, I found the Gore slightly "louder", which is consistent with the book's emphasis on the monopole.

Regarding cost: I don't know from personal experience, but imagine any of the several guitar making classes I've seen offered would cost many magnitudes more than the $228 it costs to get the Gore/Gilet set delivered to the USA. I also speculate the book includes more information than one would acquire from many of the instructional offerings. On the other hand, it is clear the pricing will put off many who might otherwise be interested. That's always sad, but it looks like an expensive book to produce.

[ken cierp]

Not too shabby -- give a listen

http://www.goreguitars.com.au/main/page ... sound.html

[Dave Bagwill]

Sounds good. To my ear, not any better than well-built x-brace or ladder guitars, though.

[John Link]

Thanks Ken.

The "shed wood" git sounded thin on my system, compared to the other two, which was not a surprise. The wood one uses does make a difference, all other things being more or less equal.

I like the sound of the blackwood git the best, with the bloodwood close behind. Could just be the songs or the players though - the difference is that small. Gore's idea of locking down the sides so they can't vibrate much and therefore divert energy into the top and back is one of the more interesting found in his book.