Members You and Me Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 it seems there a so few companies that do everything by hand with their guitars these days.. are there any good affordable handmade guitar companies.. like under 1000? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members larry50 Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I would say not likely, at least not located in North America or Europe. Most custom builders start at at least $3,500, and that's for "stripped down" models. Most seem to come in around $5,000 with options, and a many much higher than that (a Kevin Ryan goes for about 10K, for example, and a good Somogyi or Kathy Wingert are more than that). Most acoustic guitars under $1,000 are manufactured in Asia, with some notable exceptions, and are mass produced, not handmade. One of our forumites, Marcellis, lives in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and regularly reports pretty nice "handmade" guitars there for under $1K, although I don't know about shipping etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members peachcowboy Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I know I'm pimping, but this is a good site... www.dreamguitars.com Larry50 is on the money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Buck62 Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 Check out Yamaha's "L" Series guitars. They're handmade in China and excellent guitars for the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamesp Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 Last I heard, the Eastman factory had a bandsaw and a couple belt sanders. http://www.eastmanguitars.com/workshop/tour.html There were also a couple of factory tours on YouTube, but is the only one I'm finding now. Skills, he has them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kendallhadden Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 These are a couple of the cheapest american hand-made I have found- http://www.worlandguitars.com/Models/Prairie/Prairie%20Page.html http://www.greenmountainguitars.com Not under $1000 but......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigald18 Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I'm going to stick my neck out and I'm sure all the professional luthiers on this forum are gonna jump all over this, but I really doubt if any guitars are totally hand made anymore. People have bandsaws, jointers, etc to make life easier. I cut channels for the binding on one of my guitars with a violin purfling cutter once. What a tedious job. Dremel tools and routers work a lot better. Maybe in Mexico some of the luthiers don't have electricity. Then it would all be hand made. BigAl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tincob Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 Check out Yamaha's "L" Series guitars. They're handmade in China and excellent guitars for the money. Mine's available for sale. It'll require some work but it would still be way under your budget. (my apologies for the SPAM everybody) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Florida_Gator Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 The leather label in my Yamaha LS6 says "Handcrafted"... is that the same as "handmade"? It was $500. I am NOT exagerating when I say it's on-par with many guitars I've looked at for double- or even tripple-the-price (Larrivee, etc.) in terms of materials, build quality, fit-and-finish, etc. Even the all-solid LS16 is only $750. So I guess as long as it doesn't have to be hand-made in N.A., yes, you can get excellent "handcrafted" guitars for under $1000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChiyoDad Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 Ignore the labels "handmade" or "handcrafted". Unless the instrument came from a one-person workshop, they're rather meaningless these days. [YOUTUBE]04jfQK8I54I[/YOUTUBE] Just play, compare, and judge if the price is worth the sound. Here's how the L series (models 26 and up) are made. [YOUTUBE]dP0d18tFjSY[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bert Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 So you want a hand made guitar. Augustino LoPrinzi and his daughter Donna make some very affordable steel string, classical and ukes in their shop in Clearwater, Florida. Check out his webpage. You will notice that one of my guitars is an Augustino. I've had it for over 20 years and I will put it up against anything! Go to page 32 of the show your gear thread and scroll down to Bert and click on the thumb picture for a larger picture. Don't forget to maximize the picture after clicking....Bert Delap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar_stringer Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I'm going to stick my neck out and I'm sure all the professional luthiers on this forum are gonna jump all over this, but I really doubt if any guitars are totally hand made anymore. People have bandsaws, jointers, etc to make life easier. I cut channels for the binding on one of my guitars with a violin purfling cutter once. What a tedious job. Dremel tools and routers work a lot better. Maybe in Mexico some of the luthiers don't have electricity. Then it would all be hand made. BigAl Hmmmmm. I confess, we do use some power tools (jointer, planer, bandsaws, tablesaws, drillpress, thickness sander, several different routers, fret press, buffing wheels, etc), but no lasers or CNC. We use alot of hand tools too (chisels, hand drills, spoke shaves, files, etc). It's still the labor that is the major cost, as even with the aforementioned power tools, it takes us upwards of 200 to 250 labor hours to build one acoustic guitar. Since these guitars are not machine made, and the work is done and guided by human hands, this fits the criteria for being handcrafted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bjorn-fjord Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I personally karate chop all the wood down to size in my shop. I "rout" the binding channel with my teeth. I do all my clamping by placing the boards on the floor and standing on them. This can get quite tedious when using 24-hour epoxy. I cut the fret slots with a specially sharpened eye-tooth and I hammer in the frets with my forehead. I can only complete about one guitar a year due to the time I need to spend in the hospital but hey, my instruments are completely hand-made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamesp Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 Chainsaws are fake mojo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Broadus Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 it seems there a so few companies that do everything by hand with their guitars these days.. are there any good affordable handmade guitar companies.. like under 1000? I have no idea how many hours of labor are involved in building a guitar, but I cannot imagine $1000 beginning to cover the cost of labor on the American scene. In addition to the two Kendall linked, I would look at Woody Brackett. BTW, Jim Worland has this mint OM for $1250. Looks like a great deal on a hand built guitar. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar_stringer Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I have no idea how many hours of labor are involved in building a guitar, but I cannot imagine $1000 beginning to cover the cost of labor on the American scene.Bill I just told you above, 200 to 250 man hours, unless it has lots of bling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gthom Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I just told you above, 200 to 250 man hours, unless it has lots of bling. Seriously?!? I don't know much about guitar construction, other than watching some of the build threads here, but I had no idea it took that long. Even at $10/hour you're looking at $2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar_stringer Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 Yes, seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Broadus Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I just told you above, 200 to 250 man hours, unless it has lots of bling. Oops, didn't see that line! $4-$5/hour---what's not to love? Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bjorn-fjord Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I can do a fairly plain guitar in about 120 hours, not including finishing. Lacquer is about 40 percent of the total time required. I hate finishing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 Every guitar is hand made to some extent. Automation and machines are not all bad. Taylor uses more CNC machines than any other acoustic guitar company. One could argue that keeps their quality control at a high level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Melodeous Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I'm going to stick my neck out and I'm sure all the professional luthiers on this forum are gonna jump all over this, but I really doubt if any guitars are totally hand made anymore. People have bandsaws, jointers, etc to make life easier. I cut channels for the binding on one of my guitars with a violin purfling cutter once. What a tedious job. Dremel tools and routers work a lot better. Maybe in Mexico some of the luthiers don't have electricity. Then it would all be hand made. BigAl And by candle light with a rag around your face as the dust from your shark skin lingers thick in the dim light? There's no such thing as a purist anymore. I have another hobby - building 1/4 scale radio controlled planes - and these days you can buy them as "ARFs" (already built ready to fly) at a cost that renders the thought of scratch building one or building a kit ridiculous. If you're an ardent flyer building comes second. If you're a builder, flying comes second. When I started, "scratch building" meant drawing up your own plans and cutting and shaping each piece of wood needed. These days it means buying a set of plans and proceeding as before. Definitions change, new generation rules apply and yesterday is forgotten with eyes rolled. I doubt anyone is going to become 1800-compliant for the sake of keeping the guild pure in heart and method. Stew-Mac be damned, right? I doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar_stringer Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 And by candle light with a rag around your face as the dust from your shark skin lingers thick in the dim light?There's no such thing as a purist anymore. I have another hobby - building 1/4 scale radio controlled planes - and these days you can buy them as "ARFs" (already built ready to fly) at a cost that renders the thought of scratch building one or building a kit ridiculous. If you're an ardent flyer building comes second. If you're a builder, flying comes second. When I started, "scratch building" meant drawing up your own plans and cutting and shaping each piece of wood needed. These days it means buying a set of plans and proceeding as before. Definitions change, new generation rules apply and yesterday is forgotten with eyes rolled. I doubt anyone is going to become 1800-compliant for the sake of keeping the guild pure in heart and method. Stew-Mac be damned, right? I doubt it. Here, you're getting into apples vs oranges. We build guitars for a living, not a hobby. Hobbyists can afford to do things differently than professionals. "Purists"? I don't know how to answer that, other than saying that if we were doing this just for the money, we'd surely be doing something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 Here, you're getting into apples vs oranges. We build guitars for a living, not a hobby. Hobbyists can afford to do things differently than professionals. "Purists"? I don't know how to answer that, other than saying that if we were doing this just for the money, we'd surely be doing something else. I believe you. Your prices are very reasonable. There is no way you are going to get rich at your prices, but you do get to do a job that you love. It's impossible to put a price on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bigald18 Posted March 10, 2009 Members Share Posted March 10, 2009 I personally karate chop all the wood down to size in my shop. I "rout" the binding channel with my teeth. I do all my clamping by placing the boards on the floor and standing on them. This can get quite tedious when using 24-hour epoxy. I cut the fret slots with a specially sharpened eye-tooth and I hammer in the frets with my forehead. I can only complete about one guitar a year due to the time I need to spend in the hospital but hey, my instruments are completely hand-made. I think the guy that started this thread wants you to make him a guitar for under $1000 then. But it really sounds like you work more with your head and teeth than your hands. Do you finish sand with your beard? BigAl :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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