We consider the pros and cons of buying a guitar from a small independent maker. It’s not for everyone…
Many of us wince when we see guitars with four-figure price tags, let alone when those four figures start to become a very noticeable chunk of your annual earnings. And yet you don’t have to look very far at the mainstream electric market from key players – such as Gibson’s Custom division, PRS’s upper-level core models (let alone its Private Stock division) and, increasingly, Fender’s Custom Shop – before £3k to £5k seems the going rate. But around and above that is a whole level of über-guitar, invariably made in small workshops by solo makers or small teams where that sort of figure might barely get you entry. This is a different and well-established world centered firmly on the art and craft of guitar making, and about as far as you can get from the factory-build business model with its distribution and retail mark-ups.
Once known as ‘custom’ guitar makers, individuals would invariably ply their trades repairing, refretting, refinishing and creating the occasional new build; others would concentrate on new builds, their own designs or replicas of more classic designs. And while many custom makers have turned into large-scale concerns, just as many have returned to their roots.
So, why would you want to enter this world? The first reason is quite simply because you can’t find a guitar of the style, specification, and quality you want. You might want to add your own flourish (or even discuss a completely new design/ concept with the maker) that the bigger custom shops won’t entertain. Some makers are certainly more ‘custom’ than others, although the choice of woods, hardware, finishes, and inlays – not to mention more specific things such as fingerboard radius, fret size and neck dimensions – will be wider than most high-end mainstream builders. In many cases, you’ll be able to choose the exact woods that will make up your instrument.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Summer 2019 من Guitarist.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Summer 2019 من Guitarist.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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