Acoustic Guitar Construction

I've been reading it - boy, that guy cuts through the BS, doesn't he??

Where might an interested person find this blog?

Perhaps in this general area:
http://dolcecano.blogspot.com/search?up ... -results=7

If I were a 20 year old (don't I wish), and wanted to attain a reasonably adequate income making guitars (Cumpiano's first question), I would build "authentic" pre-war Martin clones. The niche he talks about of 10-15 people who want something "different" than a good factory guitar is indeed difficult to locate, as he suggests. But so many people crave the pre-war Martin and regard it as a "sacramental fetish object", that the prices for the few that exist have penetrated the stratosphere. The fact there are so many in adoration, is in itself is an indicator that this market may not really be a "niche", but a rather large one.

My fantasy product would be a copy of a 1930s D-28 (other 30s models as I expand the offerings), with shifted scalloped braces, "hand selected" adi top (torrified?), hide glue, hog neck, ebony belly bridge, dovetail neck joint, maple bridge plate, everything lightly built, nitro finish, etc. In short, everything that tickles the fetish focus of those who worship these instruments. There would be an issue concerning Brazilian rosewood. It can still be had, and would be necessary for the best adaptation of the original design, and would drive the selling price up by some constant. But there could be other rosewoods, some of which look darn near the same. I have some Honduran that looks pretty close to the typical "old timey" straight grained BRZ, and by "hand selecting" such sets (another fetish satisfied), I could offer close to the same original specification without the extra delta in price. And Honduran rosewood has quite a ring to it.

Of course I would listen to as many of the originals as possible and study their history to pick up the details of deviation that could "date" my clones to a specific year for the well informed devotee.

While the large market of committed fetishists is an essential part of my potential financial success, so is the fact my clones would sell at a mere fraction of the price of the originals. Martin, of course, clones itself too, which would require my prices to be at least somewhat lower than theirs. Fortunately, their self-clones are plenty pricey enough that I could sneak under them and still make enough to reach the goal of a decent living, maybe as much as a good car mechanic makes. And I could claim that I provide more of the "hand made" sacrament that Martin "used to use", as opposed to the way they make them now.

The only problem is how much "art" goes down the tube when I dedicate myself to making copies. But I suspect it would take quite a bit of "art" to create the effects of aging in a new instrument.

WOW. I just checked Martin's website, and found that their clone of a 1930 OM-45 Deluxe retails for ... $99,999! And a 1936 D-45s clone goes for $59,999. There is a lot of room underneath those prices for my fantasized 20 year old entrepreneur to offer something sacramentally satisfying at an "affordable" price, say, $7-10k? For a style 28?

The "street price" of the 1930 OM-45 is $79,999.

I have no words to name the emotion I feel when thinking about $100K for a replica guitar.

The rest of his blog is good as well, agree with him or not. He de-mythologizes a whole slew of topics, and for cutting through BS he reminds a lot of our resident Forum Meister, Ken. He(Cump) asks many of the same questions.

That was good reading. Thanx for posting it Dave. I will be 90 when I'm a master guitar maker