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xpost: Lowe Custom Guitars goes OEM


BeeTL

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I've stumbled on a little known "secret" in the Made in the USA guitar industry.

 

Perhaps it's just something that most people don't give much thought to, but for the little guitar builder with big dreams, it's like being given the keys to the kingdom.

 

So, what is it?

 

A builder like me can produce a product FROM DAY ONE that competes directly with the best of the best, simply because many of them buy their parts from the same place, Best Guitar Parts.

 

The problem is, because of non-disclosure agreements, BGP can't talk about the work they do for other builders.

 

But I don't intend to have them sign an NDA, so I can talk about them and, if they like, they can talk about what they're doing for me.

 

I think this could be a LOT of fun!

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I really respect it when builders are honest about things like this, because I think a number of small builders are less than up-front about the sources of their parts.

 

Like any other manufacturing industry, it doesn't always make sense to vertically integrate every single aspect of production in-house, particularly if you're operating at a smaller scale. Like you said, many of these suppliers do great work, so in many cases it's a GOOD thing.

 

The key is to show people what you ARE doing to add value and take a unique approach to the instrument. It has to be more than just putting together some prefab parts, particularly if you are using a source like USACG that anybody can get their hands on. Ron Kirn has some neat stuff on his website - he's totally up front about the fact that he uses necks from other suppliers (unless otherwise requested), but he really illustrates all the extra steps he takes to refine the neck. He's not just dropping the neck on there and calling it a day.

 

http://www.ronkirn.com/how.htm

 

http://www.ronkirn.com/neck.htm

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The truth is that I've spent a fair bit of cash over the last few years aquiring tools and materials in order to make the guitars I wanted to make.

While I did everything I could to do things economically, in hindsight I would have been MILES ahead of where I am today had I known about BGP then.

I'm just trying to pass along what I've learned.

To me, that's what makes these forums really fantastic.

:)

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