O'Brien video - what people are buying

[Dave Bagwill]

Just take this for what it is worth - Robbie O'Brien interviewed a professional acoustic guitar player who also runs a high-end acoustic guitar shop, and asked him what people look for and are buying. A couple of things stood out:

Dreds are not selling near as well as they used to: the smaller bodies are going strong

The first thing most customers look at, when looking at a wall of guitars is: the headstock. They really like a little sumpin' to add spice or color or distinctiveness

High gloss - outsells the satin 10:1 or so, except for classical guitars

Again, that guy's experience. You can see the 3 parts on the Luthier de Jour vids - youtube.

Comments?

[TonyinNYC]

My dreads are selling like hot cakes. Guess that's because Brooklyn, New York is the heart of bluegrass country. Or because I only sell 2 guitars a year. Either way, hot cakes. Another way to say it is they sell like crepes in Paris or like sun block in Chili (one of the holes in the ozone layer is over Chili. They often cancel school due to high UV days so sunblock is a hot commodity.)
Keep in mind my analogy only works if you have mental illness. Like me. And my hot cake dreadnoughts. I also make hotcakes in the shape of dreadnought guitars. My kids seem to love them. Terrible tone though.

[ken cierp]

I'd say that the single most popular style kit sold by KMG is the "OM" -- followed by the "D." But the combination of those two is dwarfed overall by L00's -- J185's-- J200's -- J45's -- "0012th" -- "0014th" -- Ditson 12th fret "D's" are hot now --- We have been getting requests for the 12th "000" so we'll be releasing those kits to bump against SM sales.

Good point about the head stock -- starting soon we are going to send out all necks in rectangular paddle head-stock form rather then the Martin taper (we'll still supply a template). I agree makers seem to like to display their artfulness and personality using their own head-stock designs. As it should be Luthier's have long made the HS a signature detail.

[Dave Bagwill]

Thank you for that sober and well-thought out reply, Tony. You have a way of getting right to the heart of the matter, and you refuse to get sidetracked. Okay, okay, you made me laugh, you rascal. :-)

[ken cierp]

I was wondering if Tony grabbed something other than coffee this morning?

[Dave Bagwill]

LOL. I think Tony comes by it naturally - I got a dose of it myself..


Another thing from that interview - tuner knobs: people like to see them integrated with the theme of the guitar, that is, wooden knobs that have a color that blends with the instrument.

Keep in mind he's talking about instruments selling for $7500 and up. IMO those are 'collector's' guitars, and I will never be at that level of blingmanship - but aesthetically it makes sense.

[Tim Benware]

Dave, I watched those before. Did you get the impression the guy (Steve DeVries) was talking the headstock shape, the logo, or both?