The $999.00 hand made guitar

[John Link]

I just got back from a visit to the local Guitar Center in Kalamazoo. Talked with the guy in charge of the acoustic room and he was very generous with information.

1. Males prefer dreads unless they are buying Taylor. Virtually no one will buy a Taylor dread, even though they always keep one in stock. Males complain about the fat waist because the instrument tends to slide around too much, but they buy dreads anyway.

2. Females are more inclined to the OM style with its narrow waist.

3. Everyone complains about thick bodies and many will buy some very thin models despite the compromise in sound. He showed me an Ibanez with a more or less rounded back that featured a lot of roll off toward the heel. Even though the butt was still pretty thick, he said many found the thinner heel end compensated adequately for that.

4. The sell a lot of Mexican Martins, because the Martin "name" that was previously priced out of reach, now is not. And many who buy the Mexican model return and upgrade to an American model. He says the solid top on the Mexican models saves their sound and they come quite playable out of the box. (Bodies are that strange HPL stuff.)

[John Link]

I measured the remains of my Harmony 1260. The body is 16" wide in the lower bout and 19.5" long. Am considering reducing the width to 15.5 or 15.25 and tightening the waist slightly to address the slip and slide problem. Might be a plan.

[Dave Bagwill]

The Manzer Wedge idea would be a help in addressing that thickness issue; but it's a real pita especially if you're tr;ying to hit that $999 (includes case?) figure.

[John Link]

There is no way this is going to include a case. Nor a wedge, nor an arm rest, nor a cutaway. I'm not even sure about a pickguard.

I asked the guy at Guitar Center about cutaways and he said their absence is seldom a deal breaker. Most people don't play that far down the keyboard and those that do, don't do it that much. He also said older customers - as in older than dirt, I gathered, like me - were likely to be put off by cutaways.

[ken cierp]

Interesting about the cutaway -- I get a lot of requests for cut kits but I do discourage new makers and suggest that it be saved for a third or forth project since its easy to get the geometry out of whack.

I happened to be at the Martin factory years ago when they were just getting ready to release the "Formica" guitars. The samples were pretty impressive, never played one since. But there in is the problem for the small shop -- I think most potential customers would much rather be sporting a "Martin" or "Taylor" logo, and it simply does not matter where or by what means it produced.

I have to be honest (Bagwill can attest) I've rolled the "Spartan" approach business plan around and even with my all my automation and volume discounts I cannot get the economy of effort to work out. At the risk of sounding like "Mr. Obvious" its the $7.00 an hour labor that makes these good entry level instruments work out in the financials.

A little premature -- but I do (hopefully) plan to have neck and block packages available that will set a new price point standard -- stay tuned, October?

[Dave Bagwill]

A little premature -- but I do (hopefully) plan to have neck and block packages available that will set a new price point standard -- stay tuned, October?

That's excellent news!

[John Link]

Very excellent news indeed. I offer two suggestions for consideration.

1. Include a slot head design. It can be used for gypsy and ladder braced steel strings, 12 fret models of all kinds, and even 14 fret models.

2. Take a look at the heel. There is no compelling functional reason they should be as tiny as they are except to give room under the keyboard. I flare mine once there is clearance and it gives some pizazz to an area that often looks pedestrian, somewhat in the Spanish tradition. See the pictures:

001_Back_800x335.jpg (23.14 KiB) Viewed 740 times

001_Top2_800x533.jpg (38.45 KiB) Viewed 740 times

Of course I have no idea what the tooling and setup issues are. But I will say, a lot of people like the way I do heels. It adds some drama to the back, which otherwise gets short shrift compared to the top. It adds some "meat" too, to an area that is where necks begin to detach from straining against the pull of the strings. My heel cap prevents detachment, of course, but the sheer presence of extra wood might seem reassuring, sans heel cap, that this normally weak appearing part of the instrument is strong.

It also provides a stronger anchor for attaching a strap pin.