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Andy Culpepper -> RE: Guitars with flaws / B grade stock - do luthiers just bin them? (Feb. 22 2019 23:29:33)
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quote:
Very hypothetical as I'm not a luthier. Miscarved headstock? Problems or ripples in the guitar sides where bending has left cracking that could be braced but isn't -perfect-. Gouges on back due to workshop mishao? Splinted crack in top? Neck issues that can be patched up but would be noticable.
In a world where every guitar is unique since every raw piece of wood is, a percentage surely mustn't pass muster?
Just feels a bit odd tht you never see as a guitar sold as 'not one of my best visually, but plays okay'.
Ah, sounds like you're describing my first dozen or so guitars there [:D]
When I started building, I placed a high priority on just finishing guitars and getting them out the door for cheap even though they may have cosmetic flaws. I wanted the experience and mostly just wanted to see what they sounded like, and sold them for student level prices. My guitar #3 was an Indian Rosewood classical and the sides came out rippled. I was too broke and impatient to just throw them out so I used them. The guitar came out fine and I ended up keeping it for a while and then selling it for I think $900. Every guitar was basically a prototype/experiment at that point. Minor cosmetic or finish flaws were par for the course.
Gradually you make fewer and fewer errors as your workmanship naturally improves, and as you charge higher prices, major flaws become simply unacceptable. Don't want to jinx myself but I've never done something really boneheaded like dropping a guitar, leaning on the top until it cracked, leaving a big gouge with a chisel or anything like that. I suppose if some kind of serious flaw were to manifest, I could sell the guitar for cheap but it would still feel pretty bad to lose $1000 in a day or whatever it ended up being. Better to be present, mindful and attentive and just not **** up [:)]
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