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How consistent is quality of guitars made by the same luthier?   You are logged in as Guest
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nikgogl

 

Posts: 42
Joined: Jul. 4 2011
 

How consistent is quality of guitars... 
Obviously this is hard to answer in a general way, but in your experience, how similar are guitars made by the same luthier? If you pick 10 randomly (assuming made at roughly the same time) will they be pretty indistinguishable? Or is it likely that a couple would be noticeably better, a couple might be duds etc?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date May 13 2019 5:23:42
 
Echi

 

Posts: 1132
Joined: Jan. 11 2013
 

RE: How consistent is quality of gui... (in reply to nikgogl) 
This is a good question.
Firstly It may depend from the luthier as some makers are more consistent than others.
Guitars made serially are often quite inconsistent because the top wood is not assessed carefully.
Guitars outsourced are often inconsistent because of the different luthier’s hand: Robert Ruck claimed to keep no secret about his guitar making with people helping him as the final result of the latter would be anyway different - no matter how faithfully they tried to follow his directions.

Regarding the one man shops, I think you may get similar guitars (with a clear imprint of the maker) and yet each guitar will be slightly different. There are always small or big differences in “pulsacion”, clarity, punch, within a common clear identity. Guitars are like similar daughters of the same parents.
But I guess the guitars will be as different as you are fussy.
A relaxed listener will catch little differences while a fussy one big ones.
A direct comparison, in the same environment, make the differences pop up clearly while distant circumstances dilute the differences.

It’s famous the anecdote of Ramirez having always 5 guitars ready to try in his workshop in Madrid.
The guitars used to be made with the same plan and materials and yet they sounded quite different for those trying them.
In one case a top player praised and picked a certain guitar (among the 5) and despised quite heavily another one, to the point that Ramirez thought not to sell the latter. Few days after a second pro player came in the shop and Ramirez had just 4 guitars ready for the trial plus the “unfortunate” guitar, which ended up being considered the best of the bunch by the second player.
I have tried many nice guitars in life and yet in my case it took me months to understand if a certain guitar was what I was originally looking for. Eventually I came to terms with it as no guitar is perfect.
I think to have 3 particularly good guitars (a ‘74 Pepe Bellido a Ramirez and a Conde) and for years I used to dislike the last 2 brands. Even now I cannot say if it was I changing my tastes throughout the years or it happened to me to pick the right guitars among a genre of in instruments I usually dislike)
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date May 13 2019 7:25:00
 
Ricardo

Posts: 14799
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: How consistent is quality of gui... (in reply to nikgogl) 
The more guitars they have produced, the more similar the defects.

No I have never played a perfect guitar of which one could try to find consistent copies of.

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date May 13 2019 12:02:26
 
etta

 

Posts: 341
Joined: Jan. 20 2010
 

RE: How consistent is quality of gui... (in reply to nikgogl) 
I have four guitars by the same American builder and regret that I sold a previous one. I have #13 and others up to #96. They are all a little different in tone quality and maybe slightly different under the right hand. However, they are the strongest, best projecting guitars I have ever played. Some are Brazilian with cedar or spruce and some are cypress with cedar or spruce. As you might expect, the workmanship has improved somewhat from #13 to #96 and the price has also gone up considerably. But, the consistent quality is always there. I have given up finding any guitar that is better in sound or playing ease, and I have owned or tried many others both Spanish and American. Of course most of us have different tastes; some like brunettes and some like blonds.
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date May 13 2019 15:45:58
 
nikgogl

 

Posts: 42
Joined: Jul. 4 2011
 

RE: How consistent is quality of gui... (in reply to etta) 
Etta - if I may ask, which American maker are you referring to?
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date May 13 2019 16:49:24
 
rombsix

Posts: 7807
Joined: Jan. 11 2006
From: Beirut, Lebanon

RE: How consistent is quality of gui... (in reply to Ricardo) 
quote:

The more guitars they have produced, the more similar the defects.


How encouraging LOL

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  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date May 13 2019 17:01:09
 
szvarga

 

Posts: 58
Joined: Mar. 11 2019
 

RE: How consistent is quality of gui... (in reply to nikgogl) 
I think, the word "similarity" is not a concept exact enough if talking about instruments.

What kind of similarity? Similar design, similar shape? Similar weight or materials used? Similar sound, action, volume, dynamic range? These all are important attributes of an instrument (and much more). It is impossible to make even two "similar" instruments by all these attributes. Especially handmade by natural materials.

The only attribute I find "similar" by the same maker is the quality of workmanship. Like winery. A bottle of wine from a master winemaker is always the top of that year. But there are no similar years, and so are no similar bottles.

Sz
  REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |  Date May 13 2019 17:26:00
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