Phillip’s Blog

I was asked to speak more about the topic of “recessions and guitarists” so this little not is a bit of an extension of my last post.

One of the major themes of my last blog was the idea of pricing for a hand made guitar. Last night I was out at a local jam and I had the opportunity to converse with a young aspiring guitar maker. One thing he had e many times throughout the conversation was the cost of building the instrument. Also something that I have a little bit of experience with from having been repairing and rebuilding guitars for the last 7 years, or so.

Materials for building high end quality instruments are NOT cheap! In tough economic times things can get even harder. More so as the more desired woods become even harder to find. A relatively plain and simple looking set of Indian rosewood for the back and sides of a guitar can often cost upwards of $500. A nice spruce top can cost sometimes cost as much. The more exotic and higher quality the wood the higher the cost. A chunk of mahogany for the neck can cost easily $200 bucks. So before the guitar is even touched by the builder you looking at about $1000 for the instrument. Not to mention the costs of other materials for bindings, perflings inlay work, frets, strutting material and so on. With that in mind now think about the labour involved in constructing the instrument. The hundreds of hours spent designing (and usually not using a computer program) and carving, cutting, sanding, shaping and fitting. With the work involved in making the guitar , as one builder commented, they probably make often less then $10 an hour.  Unless you are charging a real premium on you instruments then you are not doing it for the money.

So next time you see a guitar that is a little out of your price range and start cursing the guy who put that price on the instrument remember what kind of costs and the work that goes into it’s creation.  Also remember that if there were no guitars there would be no guitarists. I hope this gives you a little more insight on general topic. Until next time. Take care and keep playing good song.

So lately I have been chatting a little with an acquaintance of mine who owns a high end guitar shop (the best in my opinion) in Toronto Canada. He mentioned that surprisingly, even though there is a recession, their profit for the last fiscal year was down only a small percentage from the previous year, which was their best year yet. I guess that it’s safe to say that guitarists who are serious enough will get what they need regardless of the state of the economy.  Business is not down much from before this recession occurred.

Now with the above in mind and with the rising Canadian dollar now is a good time to buy a guitar in Canada.  Not so much for Americans, but guitars are often cheaper down there any way. And there are many builders out there who know that one cannot afford guitars that cost tens of thousands of dollars, so it is achievable for the average joe guitar player to get a really nice instrument made for them at good price.  I was visiting with G.W Barry, who built one of my guitars, about the issue last month. From a builders point of view there are some out there who seem to feel as if they have the right to demand a $25 000.00 price tag for their instruments. Without having the rep to back up the investment. From what I’ve heard through various networks those builders don’t  get many customers.       Gord (G.W Barry) on the other hand, and may other guitar makers, who truly love what they do who charge reasonable rates and make an instrument that is often just as good, if not better that the “high price” makers. I do want to make it clear that there are certainly some builders out there( like Manzer and Laskin, on the Canadian side of the border)  who sell at a high price, but have been around longer than almost anyone. They have withstood the test of time and their works speaks for itself. They are great builders.

As more ideas and personal notes regarding the guitar come to mind I will post more. If anyone happens to come across my little blog and has any questions regarding any of what I have said please feel free to respond and ask. I would be glad to answer as soon as I get the chance. Take care guitar players and I will see you next time.

Phil