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I hope you have enough fine feelings about luthiery and this forum, to stop advertising your finetuning business here. Its totally out of place. And I think its better that you draw the limit yourself and that its not something that someone else has to take care of.
Anders, I think you're being a little melodramatic here. As generous as you are with your counsel Tom has advertised about 1/100th as much as you have. So far I've seen exactly one picture of his work displayed.
For me, the issue is the price. I hope I do not offend you Mr. Blackshear. Not my intention and I in no way am anyone to tell you what you should charge. I just think an 8k price tag is high for a guitar not built by the maker. For this price, I would expect to see the maker's name on the label. If I am not mistaken, a guitar built by you is not that much more correct? so why would I pay this for a guitar built by a factory instead of your hands? Unless the price I saw on the link you posted were for your guitars and not the factory built ones.
You ask a good question and it rightly deserves an answer. The top of my line is about 15,000 dollars and this new model is about half that.
made in spain by ?? and then fine tuned in texas? oh come on, why not just say blackshear estudio or something to that effect. brune did it with asturias guitars and those guitars are well revered. ramirez has done it with success.
why not a label that says: built for tom blackshear and then fine tuned by blackshear? as the label reads it does appear you went to spain to make the guitar.
by the way, i did not see a price for this guitar.
Thanks for your thoughts, I'll send them to Mr. Sayage for consideration.
There's no way the builder's name can be used, as that is proprietary
Therein lies a problem, for me. I would want to know about the luthier. If the price is in the many thousands, why would a decent luthier stay nameless? Happy to consider a Bernal 'made under supervision' for £500-£1000 but one of unknown provenance, made to a plan, I assume and exported to the US for 'fine-tuning' is horse of many colours.
I value highly the conversations with the luthier before construction, during construction and after construction. That is not particularly expensive, even in these tough times.
I'll try to state this clearly. The factory made guitar is made to my specifications by the owner, plus several of his master builders who help build the guitar. The factory set up is such, that they have a worker who does nothing but make bridges, etc.
Then the guitar is shipped to my shop in Texas to be fine-tuned by voicing the sound and bringing the articulation/pulsation into correct balance, then it is shipped back to the sales agent who sends the guitar to a person of his choice to be finally polished and set up with the action, etc.
Then the guitar goes to a music company which buys it for resale. Things similar to this are done, and have been done years before this builder. This is just one of many ways to perform a legitimate business.
And if less expensive guitars are your interest, then that's fine but I'm striving to present a higher quality instrument and service, to players who are seeking my name and expertise in a guitar.
I think you will agree that high quality can just go so far with the cosmetic value, and then it becomes the voice that is the attraction. This is my expertise and my calling.
Tom Blackshear and I have gotten on each others' nerves a number of times, but in this instance I ask all to be fair to him for two reasons:
1. If he is advertising his guitars and construction technique, is not doing anything than other luthiers don't already do here, from Stephen to Anders, form Peter to Andy.
2. He is being blatantly honest about the instruments, and I sugget we welcome this rare type of disclosure which gives consumers a clear understanding of the origin and manufacturing of the product. There has been an ongoing discussion as to whether Conde Hermanos [and now the sole remaining brother, Felipe] really build [can they?] themselves all the guitars they produce, or rely on third party manufacturing and subcontractors to churn out their famous Conde [the allegation being that Carpio and/or his sons produce them].
However, I believe Tom Blackshear has selected an ill-advised marketing formula which wil ultimately hurt is reputation, because:
As everyone points out, no prudent buyer would purchase a product without clear indication of its source, particularly at $8,000; and Because is associating his name to what wil be perceived as an attempt to confuse consumers or even as a scheme.
What Tom is doing is a License: gives permission to someone to build under his name but promises quality control. Many products we buy are produced and distributed under this simple yet very effective arrangement.
But Licensing is inherently an arrangement for mass [or at least in large scale] produced goods. Most clothing designers would not even know how to design, produce and distribute handbags or cologne, hence they may often license these classes of product.
Guitars are quite a different product. When priced above the $3,000 threshold, consumers expect a guitar to be single-handedly made by a luthier, or a small team of luthiers.
Kenny Hill is pursuing a similar strategy with his New World Series [approx $2,000 average which is advertised as: "a wide variety of excellent lower cost imported guitars that are designed, developed and distributed exclusively through Hill Guitar Company." The Label reads: Made In China, and does not even mention his name. The introductory note spells it out, 'developed and distributed through Kenny Hill" but he does not associate his name with it. Smart man.
RE: FINE TUNING A GUITAR (in reply to gj Michelob)
quote:
Guitars are quite a different product. When priced above the $3,000 threshold, consumers expect a guitar to be single-handedly made by a luthier, or a small team of luthiers.
Kenny Hill is pursuing a similar strategy with his New World Series [approx $2,000 average which is advertised as: "a wide variety of excellent lower cost imported guitars that are designed, developed and distributed exclusively through Hill Guitar Company." The Label reads: Made In China, and does not even mention his name. The introductory note spells it out, 'developed and distributed through Kenny Hill" but he does not associate his name with it. Smart man.
My two cents...
Thanks for your comments:
First, this proprietary factory makes some top of the line guitars for Spanish houses, $10,000 plus, so the implication that it applies only to lesser expensive instruments is not correct.
Also, the higher priced subcontracted guitars do not carry the factory label but the guitar house from which it was contracted for the factory to build.
Secondly, Kenny Hill does not have a working luthier's part on the building process of his Chinese guitars, to my knowledge, and this sets him apart from having to list his name on them, if he chooses not to.
I have a working part in the guitar, as a guitar maker, and I finalize the "part that is art," the sound, top tension and equilibrium, etc, with additional time....didn't mean to make it rhyme :-)
This working relationship puts me right onto the label as contributing builder, if I so choose. And I might add that this allows me to produce the best guitar I can at a much lower price margin than my own instruments. Believe me, I've done a lot of thinking on this project... Let the factory do a quality build and then I add the voicing, etc.
First, this proprietary factory makes some top of the line guitars for Spanish houses, $10,000 plus, so the implication that it applies only to lesser expensive instruments is not correct.
So you contribute to and by offering this guitar essentially support this factory that makes guitars that end customers pay top dollar for thinking they are being made by the luthier represented on the label. Hmmm. Sounds like you have to decided to join the dark side and start scamming with the best of them. At least you have confirmed the suspicion that many labels in Spain are not what they claim to be.
Support local luthiers.
_____________________________
Flamenco Guitar is a percussion instrument. Start acting like percussionists.
This working relationship puts me right onto the label as contributing builder
Query: How will the label read? 1. Made in.... Spain? 2. On...........the year of our Lord 2013 3. By: ..........????? 4. Fine Tuned in the USA 5. By: Tom Blacshear
I understood that Item n. 3 [the name of the luthier or factory who built the instrument will not be disclosed, and not reflected on the Label. Am I correct?
quote:
... Let the factory do a quality build and then I add the voicing, etc.
Query: Haven't you granted the factory a License, the right to produce under your name, subject to your quality control?
Finally if both of these premises are correct, I suggest that you will inexorably compromise your reputation, and -more unfairly- the value of the guitars you built until now and are in the hands of your unjustly affected fans.
This is 101 licensing, Tom.
If you were diversifying by producing either a 'second' line [a cheaper student guitar] or accessories... Cejillas, Strings or Baseball Caps then I would have nothing to object. But to license out your core product, your $8,000 guitar, is a formidable mistake.
Your honesty is what punishes you, really. If you had outsourced production and told nobody, you could possibly 'get away' with it. I praise you and respect you for your honesty, but it will cost you dearly to 'conceal' the name of the 'factory' [as you defined it] giving rise to the perception of a 'factory churned out copy' of what a Blackshear once was.
Think about it: even a 'Manuel Reyes (Hijo)' is not a 'Manuel Reyes' but at least one knows who made it !!
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RE: FINE TUNING A GUITAR (in reply to jshelton5040)
Tom if you just change your name to something a little more Spanish sounding you won't catch any flak; Ramirez would be a good choice.
Ten years from now players will shine lights inside their guitars, compare bracing patterns, and try to figure out if they have a Tom Blackshear, or a Sanchis Blackshear; it'll give them something to do other then play them
I don't see any reason, for getting all emotional about this.
Anders, and I am sincere, (and it is none of my business) you should relax and use Mr. Blackshear as one of your personal goals to reach a 'higher state of mind' (don't know how to put it) and just let it go; to one day, be able to read this stuff and completely not care, breath faster, or get a hot flash. In the big scheme of things, and in your personal life, does all this really matter... Really don't want to offend, but I dealt with that type of thing on another subject and it has changed my life for the better (in my case it was part of my daily life).
Rogeliocan, Thank you (and you´re not offending. On the contrary). I follow what you write and I agree. I just wrote what I meant. I think there´s nothing wrong with that. I write the way i do, because I´m a very passionate person. And I´m not going to change that. Thats what makes me live and what makes me build the guitars I build. I let things go, but every time I visit this foro I get reminded of the fact that I dont belong here anymore. So I should maybe let the whole thing go.....
So I repeate myself: This whole subject has nothing to do with luthiery. Its smoke and fake and a lot of lousy money.
And please, TomB... Stop writing "my friend" when you reply to my posts. We all know thats its fake and false. ( you may call me "old sport" )
Posts: 401
Joined: Mar. 5 2010
From: Caves Beach Australia
RE: FINE TUNING A GUITAR (in reply to jshelton5040)
I think you definitely belong here Anders Whilst we may occasionally disagree, I always find your contributions worthwhile, sometimes challenging. And the concept of a factory guitar being "fine tuned " then polished and set up by someone else and sold by a third party, somehow being a "Thomas Blackshear" guitar does not sit right with me.
RE: FINE TUNING A GUITAR (in reply to gj Michelob)
quote:
Finally if both of these premises are correct, I suggest that you will inexorably compromise your reputation, and -more unfairly- the value of the guitars you built until now and are in the hands of your unjustly affected fans.
Thanks for caring but this issue is either going to increase or go to the wood pile. Time will tell how successful it will be. And there is no way to tell unless I try it out.
I no longer can build guitars fast enough to keep up with customer demand, so this warrants some kind of shift from a total build in my shop alone. Whether this will work or not, depends on the market. The first prototype was successful and is advertised at Savage Music Company.
My sales agent told me that Rich Sayage could hardly put it down, he liked it so much. So, I think this is a good start. I had another builder inquire about my business connection, just last night, to see if he could find a way to work out a solution with a factory project.
There have been other US builders do this, although mainly for student guitars, and and it has been fairly successful. However, things do change for time to time.
The market shifts back and forth and I suppose that timing is an important part of any new business venture. The opportunity has presented itself and I took it, so let's see where it goes.
Either way is fine with me but if I didn't try it, then I wouldn't know if it would work. And I don't mind mentioning this venture to others, as it already has prompted one builder to ask about doing it for himself.
And to mention Kenny Hill and his Chinese connection; he decided to bring back his main construction jobs to California, as per an article in a news release, and this is a progressive and realistic move for him, based on having better controls for his working schedule. But I feel the time is right to at least give the Spanish connection a try, to see if it has merit to be successful with my participation in it.
And remember, this is not a unique business venture, as it is done all the time in Spain and perhaps to a lesser degree, in other parts of the world. This information may be new to this list but not to those who are, or have been, involved with this type of commerce for a long time.
If you succeed, then you might end up being even more famous than you are now.
Instead of being the one who saved the mystical secrets of the old Spanish masters, including salting the braces, you may now end up being the one who made the final move to end luthiery as it has known untill now. End of lonesome grumpy old men trying to survive in a cruel world. End of slavery.
This might make us all much more happy. Because then we dont have to do this hard and poorly paid job that making luthier build instruments is.
Now we can all be free and have big factories make the guitars.
Its just like when machiney started taking over the work of human beings, we were told that this would lead us to a new world, where the human being would have less stress and more time for himself.
And please, TomB... Stop writing "my friend" when you reply to my posts. We all know thats its fake and false. ( you may call me "old sport"
Anders, I don't think you know my heart but "OLD SPORT" is duly noted. And I don't care to use this list as a home base for everything concerning the guitar, as you do, as I have other things to do. So I would appreciate you allowing me a small segment of this list's news outlet to talk about some things that matter to this builder. There is plenty of room for diverse dialog here. And if this list is to grow, then it will have more dialog from new members, as time goes by.
This might make us all much more happy. Because then we dont have to do this hard and poorly paid job that making luthier build instruments is.
I hear you Old Sport, as I have built guitars for 53 years, so now it's time to work smarter than try to work harder. At my age, my brain goes faster than my feet, so the brain work is pulling at the leash to expound upon a portion of the guitar that doesn't require so much hard work:-)
For example, my son works for a research company that uses its people as brain trust. Most of its employees never retire without being called back to give their knowledge and expertise to new projects that come on line. This is vital for this industry and knowledge is an important part of its working plan. So, how best to put my knowledge and learning into something that would benefit my family and others?
First, this proprietary factory makes some top of the line guitars for Spanish houses, $10,000 plus, so the implication that it applies only to lesser expensive instruments is not correct.
Cool. I am familiar with several builds from valencia.
Which one of these is doing this for you? If you don't want to say, why not??? We could call em up and ask pretty easy enough. I would say if it is one of the last 3 on the list here, you probably don't need to waste anytime with the fine tuning cuz they do a very good job (at least one guy in the shop does) after the guitar comes off the belt sander.
if your list is full and your guitars are going for $15k I totally understand why you are interested in doing this thing.
Which one of these is doing this for you? If you don't want to say, why not??? We could call em up and ask pretty easy enough.
Ricardo, I thought you would have understood by now that my building days are going slower and slower with a total build. This is the reason I have to look at other alternatives for my living. And when you find out who the factory owner is, please let me know.
I'll say this, my sales agent is coming with the factory owner to my shop sometime in August for the owner to learn how I fine tune guitars. He will pay the price and I'll be happy to show him the process.
My sales agent said that the owner heard the guitar after I fine tuned it and he said something I can't repeat but he is definitely of the mind to come learn how I do it.
RE: FINE TUNING A GUITAR (in reply to jshelton5040)
I'm not getting involved in this thread, but I can tell you at the end of the day hand made things will always be around.
Surfboards, ceramics, sculpture, custom bike frames, violin....you name it there s always a user who needs it to be handmade for it to have value, quality and the right attributes for performance, for them.
Trends and styles in marketing are the things that come and go; hand making things will be here as long as civilization worth being in exists. Culture is made, not sold. People who make things by hand or with machines they guide by heart mind and hand are the creators of culture. Marketing simply packages culture to be sold to those who have not had enough experience yet to curate a particular culture subject for themselves. In its most altruistic form, marketing makes selections and choices for those who are still learning about a particular culture so they make hopefully fewer mistakes getting a product.
But the culture of hand making of certain objects will always have a demand, an audience, and marketing will fluctuate and trend in and out. The sticky part is that the survivors who make things by hand are the ones who keep going no matter what marketing is doing.
Threading the eye of the needle, not everyone is suited for it. Selling the needle is easier.
I'm not getting involved in this thread, but I can tell you at the end of the day hand made things will always be around.
Surfboards, ceramics, sculpture, custom bike frames, violin....you name it there s always a user who needs it to be handmade for it to have value, quality and the right attributes for performance, for them.
Absolutely, but you just got involved by giving your opinion :-)
Please feel free to give more. This is an open forum and it needs to be fed to succeed in making dialog worthy of its valid qualities. No one person has all the answers.
Anyway, this was brought to me, I didn't go searching for it. But I think the idea has merit, otherwise we wouldn't have so many endorsements from people who have made their position in society well known.
But this is not just name recognition, as it has a viable connection to an actual finish out with art, as it is, and this is what I would be connected with, if this becomes an ongoing reality
How many guitar houses in Spain utilize the approach, to make guitars in the name of someone who never touches the instrument? I would venture to say that there are many that do this, even world wide.
But I totally agree with you about the independent artisan, there will always be a place for those who express themselves through their art, whatever it may be.
I've had 53 years in this business to realize that.
And if I may mention the guitar maker Arcangel Fernandez. His position in the work place, before his retirement, had been to hire two apprentices and let them do the basic work building guitars, for many years. And then Sr. Fernandez would finalize the voicing in his instruments after the guitars had been made.
So, this is a viable way to conduct business without destroying a makers label, even though he doesn't build the entire guitar. And I just heard that his apprentices/co-partners are continuing to build, possibly under his house label or another name?
So, I think that the basic concern I've read here is that guitars made under this situation shouldn't cost more than 3000 dollars. Who said this and what does it actually mean?
Perhaps it's that many of those who say this are confusing their place, as buyers, due to their own preference of wanting a high quality instrument for a little cash.
This is certainly understandable but out of place, when guitars are being made with the cost of 1000's of dollars for factory made instruments.
Ricardo, I thought you would have understood by now that my building days are going slower and slower with a total build. This is the reason I have to look at other alternatives for my living. And when you find out who the factory owner is, please let me know.
I played a couple of your guitars. They are quite good actually, high quality instruments. I totally understand why you are in high demand and it limits your ability to produce fast and affordable instruments on your own. I don't think anybody has an issue with your idea to contract out and get hands on the instrument such that you can justify a significant mark up over (perhaps) the standard factory guitar price. (untouched it's 3 k...after YOUR personal adjustment it's value is 8K?). For only half what you charge for your top model, it totally sounds fair. (Although I am sure I can find a fantastic Reyes and other collectable master pieces for 15K, infact did so for a student! But it's not my place to dictate your own fee). The ISSUE I think, with ethics, is that you want to keep they luthier you use A SECRET FROM US!!!! It is kind of "cold" considering how open most of us are on the board. Only reason I can see for keeping it a secret is this.
Lets say it's Esteve hypothetically helping you. So I can take a cheap but comparible quality esteve and play it next to your blackshear model, and see literally what the fine tuning is doing, and decide if it justifies the price difference. Yes or no? I would think that your confidence in your abilty would allow it to be a none issue to simply state "yes esteve is building to my design if you must know...". So it would pretty much make everybody cool off on the "smoke and mirrors" stuff I think.
I played a couple of your guitars. They are quite good actually, high quality instruments
Ricardo, thank you for your kind words but the guitars you played were dated compared to what I produce now. I think its fair to say that my work in voicing instruments has gotten quite mature and their quality demands careful consideration for anyone who chooses to critique them.
To make this short, the amount that you are suggesting for the guitar's cost is more than you state. In fact, I earn very little money considering that the music companies take the greater margin with their mark-ups. In other words I make a fraction of their profit. But this is fair and I understand commerce with this ideal in mind.
But what concerns me is that this might be too much of a competitive move against my regular builds to where I'll loose orders to a lesser priced instrument, due to my fine-tuning skills.
I'll offer this to you, to fine tune one of your personal guitars that might be called a factory guitar, that is fan braced, and you would incur the cost of $1,000 prepaid plus shipping both ways, if you are interested.
And BTW, there is no guarantee that you will get a cheap transitional guitar equal in value to a $10,000 quality instrument sent back to you, as it is always a risk in the art of fine tuning. But I've done about 10 guitars for the sales agent with no failures, so far. And this keeps the wolf away from my door
And as to the "NAME" of the Spanish factory that my sales agent deals with, I have agreed in principle not to talk about it; and you know that the only credible thing all guitar makers should have in common, is their word.
And what this alludes to is that I have no direct dealings with the Factory but with my sales agent who handles all the business for me. And I won't be in touch with the Factory owner until he comes and takes a fine tuning class from me, perhaps in August of this year.
(untouched it's 3 k...after YOUR personal adjustment it's value is 8K?). For only half what you charge for your top model, it totally sounds fair. (Although I am sure I can find a fantastic Reyes and other collectable master pieces for 15K, infact did so for a student! But it's not my place to dictate your own fee). The ISSUE I think, with ethics, is that you want to keep they luthier you use A SECRET FROM US!!!! It is kind of "cold" considering how open most of us are on the board. Only reason I can see for keeping it a secret is this.
Lets say it's Esteve hypothetically helping you. So I can take a cheap but comparible quality esteve and play it next to your blackshear model, and see literally what the fine tuning is doing, and decide if it justifies the price difference. Yes or no? I would think that your confidence in your abilty would allow it to be a none issue to simply state "yes esteve is building to my design if you must know...". So it would pretty much make everybody cool off on the "smoke and mirrors" stuff I think.
Ricardo
So after all this BS about Conde all these years, everybody who gets older like Felipe is now doing more or less the same thing or what? :D just kidding, no hard feelings.
Here is probably how it works:
when you buy that $8000 "fine tuned" guitar from the dealer, your money is probably devided more or less this way:
3000-4000 to the dealer 2000 to the factory 2000-3000 to Mr. Blackshear for fine tuning and his name
The same is by the way when you buy a Felipe Conde or whatever. The dealers gets them probably around 4000.
when you buy the 3000 euro guitar from Anders or anybody else who does it the same way (direct + everything done by himself), you pay 3000 to anders, or 5000 to stephen, etc. etc... nothing for the middlemen.
now at the end of the day, all that matters is:
- how much money you have and want to spend - which guitar you like most - if you care about the pension/annuity of Mr. blackshear, Conde or whoever , if you care about the things Anders mentioned,,,, if you care about all this stuff (If at all)
Now if i personally had to involve these kind of feelings and issues, i would be more concerned about people like Anders who are so passionate and very concerned about the art, do everything theirselves, have a hard time making a living from it, etc. and also at the same time give a very reasonable price ..... instead of Mr.Blackshear and his 15.000$ guitars and his new idea with the factory or Felipe Conde, Mariano Conde, etc. There are people who have nothing to eat, so if i should care about these things, i would care about those people first.
But i prefer the sound of a conde and Sanchis. and at the same time i don't have much money. So i buy a Sanchis or a used Conde. simple as that. If people have 15K and like the Blackshear guitar, or $8000 and don't care that they were partly outsourced, why not.
However, I would say that the resale value of the "fine tuned" guitars (outsourced to factories) will be low (and i don't mean the amount but the percentage compared to what they paid) in the future compared to those which he made himself, if the owners should decide to sell them again. but who knows....
However, I would say that the resale value of the "fine tuned" guitars (outsourced to factories) will be low (and i don't mean the amount but the percentage compared to what they paid) in the future compared to those which he made himself, if the owners should decide to sell them again. but who knows....
Arash, I don't think you really understand life in general. I spent 53 years in this business with a sharing and giving attitude to those who wanted to learn the guitar building trade... usually for free.
I've always been open to share my techniques with others, but now, I have to charge for my teaching, as the source of my income is becoming of less value as we speak. The US dollar is practically valueless and getting less everyday.
I'm paid under a $1000 for my tuning of the factory guitars, and they actually cost more from the factory than what you suspect, and then the retailer marks them up for his profit, which is an acceptable business for all stores that need to earn a living.
And then we have the general populace that buy instruments according to the value they place on any builder's product, which my $15,000 Miguel Rodriguez style guitar is placed significantly below other master builders guitars on the market today.
By the time I get through with each instrument, taking approximately 300 hours to build and finish out with the fine-tuning process, most carpet cleaners make more than this per hour....no joke.
So, this is the reason I don't think you understand today's business practice with guitar builders. If a builder wants to try and build a guitar in 50 hours, then that's far better than I can do......with my own hands.
If the market chooses not to buy my guitars for the price I ask, then the prices would have to be adjusted for the market. It's very simple to understand, one makers art is judged differently from others. Not all guitars are the same. And let's face it, one builder could not handle all the high end business, nor even 10 builders, for that matter.
And to make it clear, I don't post here with the thought that any list member will purchase my guitars, I do it because I love the art, and to let people know I'm still alive
And when you say: "Now if i personally had to involve these kind of feelings and issues, i would be more concerned about people like Anders who are so passionate and very concerned about the art, do everything theirselves, have a hard time making a living from it, etc. and also at the same time give a very reasonable price ..... instead of Mr.Blackshear and his 15.000$ guitars and his new idea with the factory or Felipe Conde, Mariano Conde, etc. There are people who have nothing to eat, so if i should care about these things, i would care about those people first. ..................."
When you use Anders as a competitive factor here, I think you misuse the terms of better business practice. We all have and are struggling to made a living, some with more responsibility than others, but nonetheless we all struggle. In other words, this should not be about class warfare but genuine caring and concern about all builders who ply their trade with the world. Each one of us shares in responsibilities according to what is given to us.
Posts: 4516
Joined: Aug. 9 2006
From: Iran (living in Germany)
RE: FINE TUNING A GUITAR (in reply to jshelton5040)
Ok, so
4000 Dealers 3000 Factory 1000 Tom
I would cancel this crap deal immediately before your name gets "diluted". If you really get paid under $1000 and they use your name and make huge $$$$. You have to sell 10 or more of these $8000 guitars to make 10K. What kind of a deal is that .... really sucks imo. Instead offer your tuning, etc. lessons for $xx.xxx but keep your name out of this business, maybe build 2 or 3 guitars with the help of an apprantice, make a waiting list, etc. and relax and keep your name on top.
After 53 years of experience this deal really sucks imo.
I've always been open to share my techniques with others, but now, I have to charge for my teaching, as the source of my income is becoming of less value as we speak. The US dollar is practically valueless and getting less everyday.
A lot of the luthier stuff is not quantifiable and I always take it with a grain salt at the tip of my finger, but the above statement is completely wrong, and that is verifiable, the US is not getting less everyday, quite the contrary.
The US dollar is practically valueless and getting less everyday.
Your statement that the US dollar is practically valueless and getting less everyday would certainly surprise any reputable economist. Please provide the evidence to substantiate your claim. What is the basis for your claim?
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
RE: FINE TUNING A GUITAR (in reply to jshelton5040)
Back on the topic of fine tuning a guitar (factory made in this case)...
Ive gone inside 2 guitars with sandpaper on my hand. The first one is now wrecked after soooo much experiments and changes but what Ive learned, from feeling the inside of guitars and how much the top flexes, gave me enough confidence to "fine tune" my 2 or 3 months old guitar.
First I played the guitar a lot and tryed different strings (changing just one or two at a time so I could understand and predict differences).
I decided that I needed to drop the main frequency a bit because it had worked before on the other guitar, the problem was that eventually I went too far on that one... so this time I must have loosen strings/sanded/tighten strings five times or more in the course of a week.
I only sanded a bit at south of the bridge and a considerable amount on the treble side fans (3 plus a closing strut if thats what it is called). I also sanded the middle one although I noticed that this one had a different effect on the outcome.
Now it has the perfect "EQ" I was looking for and the top jumps and breathes more.
Anyways, you need to be patient to do this or else you'll know that you've gone too far... I mean, you'll REALLY know and think "oh s#it, why didnt I stop before?".
Before anyone criticizes me for doing this, Iam not in any way recommending that people do this to their luthier made guitars, only to factory made guitars for the obvious reasons.
BTW, while you're in you can clean bits of excessive glue.
I would cancel this crap deal immediately before your name gets "diluted". If you really get paid under $1000 and they use your name and make huge $$$$. You have to sell 10 or more of these $8000 guitars to make 10K.
Well, I'm not into endorsements like these big basket ball stars, so I take what I can get. Every little bit counts.
RE: FINE TUNING A GUITAR (in reply to Sr. Martins)
quote:
Now it has the perfect "EQ" I was looking for and the top jumps and breathes more.
Congratulations for giving the fine tuning a try. Obviously, you have found that things can be improved by this method of tuning fan braces. And as you work with this technique you will find ways that improve the voicing, even more. BTW, I tune my braces by leaving the strings at concert pitch. I get a closer synergistic communication and balance between the braces with each session.
I use a small wooden jig to separate the treble and bass strings at the 12 th fret so that I can get my hand inside the guitar.....not an easy task if you have big hands.
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