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Actually, I have to disagree with this. 30-40 years ago, there were very few small shop luthiers making a living at building guitars. There were no books, no internet to help one fast track the learning curve. It was easier to sell a decent small shop guitar 30-40 years ago, compared to today.

But look at this here forum. Look over the "this is my first" threads over the past 3-4 years and I'll tell you, there are many many here who can make a great looking guitar, right out of the gate. Marketing one self is really the hard part IMO. Just like make a great sounding guitar, it takes a lot of time, knocking on doors so to say to become a house hold name. Competition for the small shop luthier is rather steep these days, and you have to have your ducks in a row otherwise you'll easily miss the boat.

Over the 6 years that I've been on this forum, I've seen this question come up probably 50 times by now. The allure of a cureer of luthier or guitar maker is certainly on theminds of many here, even me, but reality says that it's a relativly small market and I shoudln't rush the process.
I've also seen a few guys progress from first to 10 in less than 2 years time, and getting them out there to see if they can make a go at this. I wonder where they are now some of them...

I think if you can make something that you can be very pround of, something that can stand up to the other makers in your prospective price range and you feel confident that you can repair anyting that migh go wrong with them (support your product) then I say go for it.

A saying I heard once that has stuck with me; We may fall down on our face, but as long as we fall forward, we're making progess.

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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

Your biggest marketing weapon, especially in the beginning, is word-of-mouth. You want people to talk about your product - and you obviously want them to speak highly of it. You have to build a reputation in the small custom guitar world. Advertisements, websites,... can all help at some point in time to get your name further out and expand your market, but first and foremost you have to build a 'brand name'. How do you do that? Build a top-quality product and get it into the hands of capable players (opinion leaders) in a public venue. Those are the guys who have the power to influence others. If you give the guitar to your buddy who knows how to strum three chords and only does so in perfect solitude obviously won't help you much (although it's of course a nice thing to give your instruments to your buddy...it may just not help you very much in marketing your product...).

Christian

I have found that taking four to six guitars to guitar workshops really helpful. I leave them out for people to play, test, jam, and abuse. A week long workshop with two hundred people including the teachers provides lots of exposure and great feedback. When the amateurs see the pros playing one of your guitars - and making it sound good - they get really interested. At a summer workshop this year Wayne Henderson played on of my steel string small-body guitars for an hour. That kind of cred is most useful and I got four orders from people at the workshop.

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GEO
perpetual beginner

Rod, I don't see how we really disagreed. I'm only saying that if you build a guitar, be it your first or hundred and first, and someone likes it and wants to buy it then sell it to them. If you can't fix it just say so. If you still want to offer a warranty but you can't fix it then offer to pay somone who can until you get your repair chops.
Jason

Long range planning, I'm no help.
In the short term though, be honest, be fair. Don't build a three and sell it as a nine. As long as all parties involved are completely informed about a transaction there can be no fault. Lots of people want nines but have a pocket deep enough for three. Know what I mean? Many people would rather have your early effort, even with the gaps in the binding, the 14 1/4 neck joint and the gluey insides etc. than they would a laminate Yamaha. As long as it plays well of course. Just make sure you price according to results and are completely up front about where you're at. You'll be able to make a few change hands and slowly inch your way forward.

This topic came up over at the Acoustic Guitar Forum. Kevin Ryan posted that he built his first, and someone offered to buy it. From that point on he's never built a guitar that wasn't already sold. So, if you have the chops, and someone wants to buy your work, sell it! Be realistic, though, and tell people what they are getting. I was looking at Greg Byers website the other day, and he gets $9500 base price for his guitars, and offers a 1 year materials and workmanship warranty.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

You don't have to use a $200 piece of figured maple or whatever. You can build a nice guitar without spending a ton of money on wood. Building a guitar is just too much of an investment of time and energy to use unsuitable materials. There are reasonably priced woods you can use that are easy to get. Walnut or cherry for back, sides, and neck are easy to get, are inexpensive, and can make a great looking and sounding guitar. Get an inexpensive AA spruce top from one of the OLF sponsors, find a good straight 2x6 at lowes for bracing, and so on. Go for it and enjoy.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"