Selling your guitars

[TonyinNYC]

I really enjoy building guitars. I enjoy it more than any other hobby I have ever had. The problem with that is that I need to get rid of them from time to time lest I upset my wife with the pile of guitars building up around here. Posting to this forum is great and I get the feedback of pros and amateurs which helps me build better guitars, but nobody here is interested in buying anything I am building because pretty much everyone here is building their own guitars and are encountering the same issue I have with the pile of guitars. I began posting at the Acoustic Guitar Forum a while ago and I posted two build threads. One for the black limba dread, and another for the walnut cedar dread I finished recently. The black limba guitar was spoken for before I started it, as was the walnut git. However, the guy who commissioned the walnut guitar backed out and I was stuck with a second walnut and cedar dreadnought which were made from sequential sets of the same walnut so they look identical from the back. During the build thread for the walnut guitar, I received a few inquiries about purchasing it. I also received an offer. I took the offer. It is less than the price on my website, but it was more than I would have made if I had simply given the guitar away. Plus, the guitar had some finish issues I was going to fix but the buyer said he didn't mind them and was happy to get a discount. He had been to my site and looked at the other guitars I have there and was impressed. So, I wanted to say that if you would like to sell some guitars, maybe you should post a few pics at a player's forum from time to time because nobody at a builder's forum is going to buy your stuff!
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
This is the guitar that I sold. It was the first that went to a total stranger and not a family member or friend of a friend.

All the pics of the guitar are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49539199@N ... 862976512/

Tony

[Dave Bagwill]

It may look different in person, but I think it's purty. In fact, dang purty.

[TonyinNYC]

Ahhh...I did not mess up the soundboard. I dug into the finish at the waist on the treble side. Left some marks. I also had a sand through, very small, near the neck. Overall, the guitar looks great and you can use the back plate or soundboard as a mirror to shave with. The point is, I normally would not want my work out there with a flaw, but the buyer didn't mind the screw up so I left it.

[Kevin in California]

It is a sweet guitar, congrats on the sale. Selling our guitars is probably not as easy as we would like it to be. Not because there is anything wrong with what we produce, but because a potential buyer may be looking for one; that factory look, and two; they might want a known name guitar. It will probably take some time to get the word out about your guitars, one satisfied customer tells another, etc, etc, etc. Then hopefully one day the buyers will come looking for you.

I've been making custom knives for over 20 years, I've made a couple of hundred and sold most of them. I use to have people asking for my knives, but that was when I maintained a presence in the knife making world. I have not been "out there" for a few years now and no one is looking for my knives anymore? Sniff sniff.

So keep building, keep posting, and if you sell one occassionally and the are well liked, it will pass along and one day you will be a famous guitar builder.

Kevin

[John Parchem]

Tony,

I am certainly not surprised that you would get offers for your guitar. The guitar you sold is gorgeous with a distinctive look. Especially the rosette and the bridge.

John

[TonyinNYC]

Wow. Thanks guys! Such nice comments.
Kevin, I would buy a knife from you, but I spent all my money on guitar stuff.
Initially, after the first buyer backed out, I was going to do a give away at the UMGF or the AGF to get people interested in my guitars. Then a guy made an offer. I much prefer taking money than giving my stuff away.
Some guys over there will buy a guitar in hopes of finding a diamond in the rough. Others only want name brand stuff. (That rhymed!)
I was lucky enough to find a guy who wanted to test out a new builder because I was in the right place at the right time.