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The head carving is very crude, not at all like a real Barbero. It actually looks more like a copy of a Shelton-Farretta guitar head except we would never make something that clumsy. Of course our lowest priced guitar sells for about $500 more. In fairness I've played some really ugly, poorly crafted flamenco guitars that sounded great.
Personal opinion, Hippners are very hit and miss and yes I've owned a couple and talked with plenty of other players about theirs. His goal is to get as many guitars out the door as possible for a reasonable price (very factory-esque even though it's just him). I wouldn't buy without a trial period.
Then they were not poorly crafted. Many builders know how to make a guitar look good. 80% of those good looking guitars sound like, and have the responsiveness of, a log.
I considered not responding to this absurdity but couldn't resist.
Good craftsmanship does not necessarily result in a good guitar but it's much more likely to result in an acceptable guitar that is worth the money. Perhaps the 80% of good looking guitars you're referring to are factory made rather than hand made by luthiers. I suggest that 80% or more of hand made guitars are superior in virtually every way to factory made. Attention to detail is one of the hallmarks of good craftsmanship...details like runout in the top and weight of the bridge, thicknessing, etc. This is not to say that occasionally a really good instrument pops out of a factory but when it does it's more accidental due to the numbers of units thrown together rather than any attention by the "builders". Poorly crafted guitars can occasionally produce a surprisingly nice instrument but when it happens it's an accident. 99% or the poorly crafted guitars that I have seen in my 46 years as a luthier have been pure junk.
I have no antipathy to Mr. Hippner and haven't even seen one of his guitars. I like the idea of streamlining production to produce a reasonably priced guitar that has good quality but if I were doing what he's doing I would spend the extra 15-20 minutes with a sharp chisel refining that clumsy head that is supposed to look like Barbero.
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