Thread: Factory builds or Customs

i like replica's because a lot of the bits you buy and bolt on
its a good way to start learning by working within the framework of a design that works
buy what you cant make etc etc

most people start building a guitar they cant afford to buy
for me it was a tele and if i hadda went out and bought a usa std tele it woulda been a lot cheaper

but well i wouldnt have had all this fun and got all them nice tools now would i plus i always got a new guitar coming

Its an age old argument and one that I dont get too involved in. In the case of acoustics here's my ten cents worth:

Pros of a handbuilt acoustic:

1. You get exactly what you ask for.
2. One person builds the guitar and gets to know the instrument intimately during its construction.
3. there are some things an experienced luthier can do that a CNC router cant do (eg tune a top).
4. You get a unique instrument that's not just one of a batch of several thousand instruments.


Cons of a handbuilt acoustic:

1. Higher cost.
2. Having to wait for an instrument to be built.


Pros of a mass produced instrument.

1. Cost to the consumer.
2. Higher profit margin (for the luthier) on a mass produced instrument. A CNC shaper can pump out a hundred necks in the same time it takes a luthier to hand build one.

Cons of a mass produced instrument

1. Isn't always going to be exactly what you want.
2. Quality of build often has to be sacrificed for speed of build.
3. Its going to look exactly like all the other instruments in the same batch.
4. The people working on the instrument arent always either trained luthiers or guitar players. This is not to denigrate those people who work in guitar factories. A trained luthier costs more than someone who can operate a CNC shaper.

Now, let the arguments begin!!

For me personally, as I'm building for myself, I prefer to build guitars of my own design, or an amalgam of many features in the one build.
And there's nothing better than building the whole thing yourself from the ground up as opposed to buying a pre-made body, a pre-made neck, etc.
I'd class that as assembly, not building.

It's about trying different things for my own learning experience and enjoyment. Always perfecting and trying new things.

It's got more to do with the fact that copying a design to the millimetre poses no appeal to me.
If I wanted a certain factory-made axe, I would have bought one long before now. And like Ray, hell knows I've spent more on tools, machinery and timbers than I would have spent on buying factory-made guitars.

cheers, Stu

My build as it stands will be a guitar I love, shape-wise, but improved. My own choices in wood and construction, upsizing, with a few of my own modifications. The cost for buying from ESP what I plan to build would be around 18 months wait-time and 6000 odd dollars. Buying a cheap version of the guitar and customizing won't do, because you can't customize wood choice on an already built guitar.

On the learning side of things, even if you do decide to build your own completely unique guitar, you're still going to be learning for the most part from other guitars for the first few until you get the hang of it - so if you love a particular model, and have the accurate building plans for it, why not stick to a design that's been tried and testing, and works?

Originally Posted by AwDeOh

On the learning side of things, even if you do decide to build your own completely unique guitar, you're still going to be learning for the most part from other guitars for the first few until you get the hang of it - so if you love a particular model, and have the accurate building plans for it, why not stick to a design that's been tried and testing, and works?

i think changing the shape a bit is always a good way to go, enough that it isnt recognised as a copy of a certain guitar atleast. thats just me though, and i love designing things that i will use. if you dont know much about it, you might be better off not changing any of the structural elements, but the shape is just a trivial thing, and making on that suits your tastes and is original is always nice. i like to trace out what i want and start adding lines to replace others, and get things to join up suitably. works well

I'm kind of with Ray, I love the tele, and frankly I think it is the best solid body guitar there is. But I don't care to "replicate" the exact dimensions, or "relic" (as the saying goes) the look. I'm learning a hell of a lot about my tools, my timber, and myself in this build - and the parts I have bought in - I'm thinking here about the the bridge mainly - I get to hold in my hand and see how I will fabricate the next one I use. Some, like the control plate and the jack cover thing plate, I haven't even bothered to get because they are bits of metal with holes in them, and I can do that. The nut you'll have to wait for.

But just because I'm bothering to work out how to do this one, I have people wanting "something like a Gretsch Jupiter" and "whatever you can do that's like the Ricky I lost in 1975", who are happy to PAY, even though they know it will not be a "clone" or "replica".

And I got my new eyeglasses script, so in a week I should be back on it, in the meantime I'm just getting vicarious pleasure from the rest of you working.

Well I have a Fender 1970's Made in Japan dreadnought and a 2005 Chinese Epiphone ES335. Both are fantastic guitars and my meager talent in no way does either of them justice. But I love playing both of them.

I still plan to build at least one guitar one day. Why? Because I want to and it's an area of woodwork that I've always wanted to explore.

I'm never going to be a luthier but I think the process of building a guitar would be very interesting from a woodwork perspective and also very satisfying.