Acoustic Guitar Construction

Great tour. Good tips.
Challenging also. Given the exact 'same' materials, and building the 'same' guitar - what could a small shop owner do to improve on what the factory is doing? And competing with that price?

Really - what does the small shop or one guy operation do to make that guitar better than the factory? any ideas?


BTW - I missed what kind of neck joint they use - was that a M/T or a butt joint?

Here is Somogyi's take on the difference between factory and luthier-made instruments. A good article.
http://www.esomogyi.com/handmade.html

I do repsect some of Mr. Somogyi's views on guitar construction --- however, his views regarding todays USA factories is complete nonsense. I won't publish my resume but in this arena I do have much experience. Perhaps twenty five years ago a fews of his statments, to a degree would be valid. The quailty standard at the Martin factory like Stienway (is second to none even the custom makers) the notion that one can somehow repair quailty into an item (as seen on so many youtube videos and read at the forums) has been proven without a doubt to be the road to mediocrity. Now, can the custom maker tweak a given instument to play and sound better -- yes some can. Can a custom shop provide more artistry and selection -- yes some can. I will point this out one more time --- all the vintage instruments that so many try to duplicate are simply old factory made guitars -- so how does that work?? Just because today's factory workers are productive does not mean they are not quality minded and most importantly does not mean they are not skilled -- some folks (ES) let their egos get in the way of facts. I needed to set the record straight. Sorry to pontificate

No, I totally hear you. I do think that some of the things ES brings up are good answers for 'why should I buy from the little guy?" which is not an easy question to answer, so the article gives a little ammunition.

I've got to admit, Godin may be a factory, but his machines do a much cleaner and repeatable job that I am able to. What I CAN do, is build a guitar 'for you' - in other words, a custom job.

You know its the most odd thing ---I do my best to point my kit buidling customers in the direction of a unique (to some degree) personalized custom guitar not just a D28 or what ever look alike -- but so many are focused on somewhat of a clone. So part of the problem is understanding what the buyers want as opposed to what we want to sell.

It would not be a bad gig if a makers reputation was good enough to say -- offer an Eric Clapton play alike, look alike for a $1000 less then Martin. Notice the bold print, that is the key and I just don't know how one makes that happen?

I went to the Elderly website to take a look at the price differentials of the high end factory guitars vs the customs shops Fox, Ryan, Colling etc. to my surprise I see none of the latter -- perhaps stocking such high priced merchandise has become a futile practice. Again, its knowing what a customer really wants and is willing to pay.

The player knows their skills -- unfortunately in the hands of the "average Joe" a $10,000 Fox is not going to sound any better then the $300 Yamaha.

Moving up the skill chain we can all relate to playability, Zager has made a niche for himself selling guitars that are a little easier to play then the ones on display at "Guitar Center" I had one these in our shop -- no magic -- extra light strings, well adjusted truss rod/ relief, slightly wider nut/string spacing and very good action -- not a gimick, just common sense and it works! Imagine how cool it is for a player to finally play a full bar "F" chord.

As I see it the challenge is for the small shop to have evidence that they can indeed make a guitar that "looks like" a customers dream instrument and will be easier to play then the stuff on the rack at "Guitar World", have perfect intonation and also save them a few bucks if they are willing to wait. And customers are not willing to pay jack for a guitar that has poor fit and finish -- they want the observers to ask where they got that neat looking guitar -- not "did you make that yourself"

Personally consignment building is not for me -- If I were to sell instruments again (I have no plans to do so) I would merely work at both ends of the spectrum -- All solid woods sparse appointments and super glitzy, full Abalone trim, inlayed FB etc. I do not see how there is any way to compete with the zillions of standard Martin/Gibson look alikes. $.02

I think that's one of the reasons that drove me to build what I build. If I wanted a martin, I'd buy a martin. Sure, the first few mimicked a tried and true design as a learning experience. And not to say I have learned all I can, nor am I even able to say I am a high quality builder, but a departure from the norm is one of the attractions to building your own. No on else has done one QUITE like this, or in some cases, even close to this, depending on the instrument. THe fun part is partially "What can I come up with?", and partially "Holy crap! Now how am I gonna do that?"