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Ok you folks who have made a bunch of guitars.

I'm at the stage where I have enough guitars in the house (or so SHE tells me!!)

as I keep building, I SHOULD be making better instruments and I'll want to keep some of them, and so have to clear a bit of space down the line.

I've given some away, and I've sold a few, but what about the "it works well, plays like a dream, but really LOOKS like a dogs dinner prototypes."

I can't even start to imagine breaking them up for parts..........

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I you cant keep them and you don't want others to see the cosmetic issues then_____ Get over it!!! salvage the parts you can. There will be many great playing guitars down the line

If you cant keep them and you don't want others to see the cosmetic issues then_____ Get over it!!! salvage the parts you can. There will be many great playing guitars down the line    

What Michael said. Or use them for a bonfire. But that's wasteful.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I like to hang 'em on the wall (I'm talking about all kinds of prototypes here, not just guitars). It makes for a good ambiance in my Frankenstein lab machine shop.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Heck, I'll take one...I know several people who would like to learn to play guitar, and could care less what it "looks" like. And the fact that it's hand made. Wow.

A buddy of mine (an awesome musician) teaches children to play guitar at a local church's "family life center", every Thursday afternoon. He could find one of those a home in nothing flat.

There's probably something just like that where you live. Can't be too hard to find, right?

Bill

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Yeah, give 'em away....I'll have one!!

Ebay or Craigslist sell em for what you can get, pay for next guitars.

I for one do not think you can ever have to many guitars so if you have this problem pull the tuners and pins for your next project and then send them to me.

Ugly, I still have my Kay classical Dobro conversion with a chevy air clear lid coverplate.

Problems, most do not matter much if you convert it to play lap style.

From the yard sale plywood to a D Aquisto, as long as they dont implode when strung up they all have something to offer.

even Ovations and Backpackers.

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"It's a Tone Faerie thing"
"Da goal is to sharpen ur wit as well as ye Sgian Dubh"
"Sippin Loch Dhu @Black lake" ,Kirby O...

Them guitars will be worth a fortune if your name becomes as collectable as some custom builders have - could you imagine having a prototype of a Taylor model or a Loyd Loar?
Them one of a kinds are very special to collectors...all you have to do is just become famous, thats all..
and ea one of those proto's will buy your kids a house!
Cheers
Charliewood

keep in mind he said he was not able to keep them and made the point that he had rather not have the cosmetic flaws in others hands or they would be part of the guitars he has already given away.

If he had not made that fairly clear I would have also told him to donate them.

Disabled vets and their kids, or other low income kids with some promise is where mine have gone. These folks play, but can't afford the upper end stuff and cosmetics if that is the problem for you and others, sure isn't a problem to most of them. Check out Vet Centers, VA clinics, schools etc.

You will be infringing on my clientle for most part, GOOD INFRING ALL YOU WANT, HOPE MORE DO. .

I'm blessed after some arguments in the Corps oversee's with other side and sucking Agent Orange (nitro, polys not a problem now)I am now retired 100% VA. and law enforcement and made good investments in my business life have the ability to have a shop which in process of again building, which as stated is blessing. I don't have to depend on selling to work full time and make instruments. I have and will though as noted above.

Those that do the real pros building for a living to support families, can't got most part (having worked in such shops)do this NOR SHOULD THEY take away from their shops to do this.

I think however, some of the hobby guys or those building now and learning and hoping someday to go full pro can. Again thinking of those who hang onto them because not feel good enough to sell due cosmetics or whatever. You can judge for yourselve's why keeping or taking apart as you build to get better or just a hobby, not my or anyone else place to do that.

I do believe in whatever one wants call it,fate or whatever, that what one sews one reaps. Who knows, the guitars you give in that spirit, may go to the next Chet, Tommy (fill in your favorite)and be the person who makes you a name.

I have and may sell some down the line, as I have to pay for some of this. Not everyone has my oppurtunities, but if taking them apart and think not good enough for others, your wrong.

I have given several of my earlier guitars away.

These were mainly built out of EIR and mahogany, so I really didnt have a lot in them.

 I was learning, and even though they played well and sounded ok they looked awful to me. The ones I gave away were to young people just learning how to play. In time, I have no doubts that they will come back to me wanting a better guitar.

It is a good investment to give..

 

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Reguards,

Ken H

A friend of my son who loves to play was oogling one of mine this summer. I heard he sold my son an ipod, in good working order, for $10, kind of as a favor. Well, a few nights after that, I was just sitting at home strumming a bit and he walks in and says, "That sounds real nice." So I says, "You got 10 bucks?" He looks puzzled and looks in his pocket and pulls out 10 bucks. I take the money and hand him the guitar. You never saw a bigger grin. And I can make more.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

I looked twice at post, before posting and still screwed up. You get the gist of it anyway. Sorry and will be nice when get the edit button back.

I looked twice at post, before posting and still screwed up. You get the gist of it anyway. Sorry and will be nice when get the edit button back.

[QUOTE=SteveCourtright] A friend of my son who loves to play was oogling one of mine this summer. I heard he sold my son an ipod, in good working order, for $10, kind of as a favor. Well, a few nights after that, I was just sitting at home strumming a bit and he walks in and says, "That sounds real nice." So I says, "You got 10 bucks?" He looks puzzled and looks in his pocket and pulls out 10 bucks. I take the money and hand him the guitar. You never saw a bigger grin. And I can make more.[/QUOTE]

That's what I dream about doing. Finding people, those gospel singin' road warriors, who pound it every week in and week out in the small churches, but without the high end instruments...and give guitars to them, or build it for them. Like Rick Turner, and others, have said, I have to earn my building chops first, but I'll get there eventually.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Martin the other thing you can do with those guitars that no one else has mentioned yet is to get your repair chops up some more.

If the only thing wrong with them is the looks than fix them, than give them away or sell them.

If the issue is the binding, route if off and re-do it till it's right.

If the issue is the way the neck is set on the body, pull it off, make it right.

If it's the finish, strip it off, re-finish, make it right.

I think you get the picture.

We can't always leave the ugly ducklings ugly, there is always beauty in that wood, you just need to bring it out


Steve Courtright, I want to be just like you man

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

    I always sell my prototypes. They are offered at deeply discounted
prices...like well under half of my base price and without my typical
limited lifetime warranty.

    Well, I should say that a warranty does accompany some of the
prototypes depending on what factes of the model are being tested or
revamped.

    I have eight protos here in my shop, several of which were my test
pieces for the conversion to the UV cured poly finish. They llok really
good and will play and sound as good as amy that i build, but may have
some slightly quirky indications of a new finish being tried.

    They'll all be available for sale soon at very reasonable prices and some
with and without warranties.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

[QUOTE=SteveCourtright] A friend of my son who loves to play was oogling one of mine this summer. I heard he sold my son an ipod, in good working order, for $10, kind of as a favor. Well, a few nights after that, I was just sitting at home strumming a bit and he walks in and says, "That sounds real nice." So I says, "You got 10 bucks?" He looks puzzled and looks in his pocket and pulls out 10 bucks. I take the money and hand him the guitar. You never saw a bigger grin. And I can make more.[/QUOTE]

Fanstastic!!

(TYPO alert)

I mean...fantastic!!

If your prototype turned out really bad and you don't want people to be able to identify it, don't put a name on it. Just put handmade and maybe a date. Then you can give it away, or if it's good enough sell it at cost maybe on ebay.

[QUOTE=SteveCourtright] A I take the money and hand him the guitar. You never saw a bigger grin. And I can make more.[/QUOTE]
Way COOL Steve

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

They find there way over to one of my freinds houses to get their opinions, and generally they ask if they can keep them for a while for an extended test drive. They rarely ever make it back home. I don't sell my guitars, so I don't even think about that aspect(I figure it is my hobby, and my value is in the process of making them).

Peace,Rich

Have you seen the guitars from Martin's store that are bandsawn in half lengthwise? They look cool and give you a clear view of how they are constructed.

Unless the flaw is tone related, I would repair them and sell them, as Kevin said at a greatly reduced price.

An interesting anecdote about the late Spanish guitar builder Paulino Bernabe who passed away a few months ago that had been related to me by someone who worked for him back in the 70's

Paulino was always experimenting with his bracing patterns and other aspects of his construction to differentiate his guitars from that of Ramirez where he had started. Not all of his guitars were successful and he kept a closet full of his experiments.

If someone came in and Paulino felt that they wanted a guitar only as a collector, if he didnt like them or did not feel that they would appreciate a fine guitar, he would say, "I may have something special for you" and would go pick out one of his experiments and would polish it and sell it to them... He felt that if all they wanted was his name, then all they deserved was his experiments...