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I've been on kind of a classical kick lately. I've sold two, and built two more. This one is my first "real" commission.

It's got a western red cedar top, curly maple back and sides, ebony binding, spruce and cedar bracing, ebony fingerboard, rosewood bridge, ebony headstock veneer. Poplar solid laminated linings. I used asymmetrical fan bracing. The neck is mahogany, and bolts on, with the fingerboard extension floating. Schaller tuners.

Finish is Seagrave nitro lacquer. I've been much happier with it than the Sherwin Williams I had been using...















I don't know if we're supposed to discuss pricing here (I'm not trying to sell it), but if it's ok, what do you all think I should ask for this one. (It sounds great, btw.)

Thanks for looking,

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Beautifull Work !

I dont think you should sell it , I think you should donate it to the " Wudwerks Old Folks Retirement Village" Just think of the write off on your taxes !

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v ..

That's a very nice instrument and some beautiful wood. I always expect maple to look great--even the plainer figured stuff. But yours is so nicely flamed and beautiful. And that cedar! WOW! All brought together very nicely. I'd love to see a 3/4 front view showing the top color against the side color. I'll bet that's very interesting. You deserve to be hugely proud of this one.

That looks great. That top looks really nice as does the maple. Nice job. You don't already have the price worked out on a commission?

thats a great looking guitar.
the woods are beautiful.
when you say the fingerboard extension floating do you mean it does not make contact with the soundboard? the pictures have high contrast on that area and i can´t see what you mean.

Sweet little guitar.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Lovely!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Stunning! I would love to hear it.

Ha ha! I think I'll sell it and put the money towards the "Help Phillip save up enough money to get married Fund".



Yep, this is some nice maple. I think I got it from LMI. The cedar came from Menards.

I'll take some more pictures for you.




I quoted a minimum price ($2000) but said that the final price would depend on how well it turned out. Pricing is always difficult for me. I don't want to gouge the customer or myself...




The FB extension does contact the top, but it's not glued down.


Thanks for all the kind comments, fellas! I'll try to get a sound clip posted soon.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Doesn't that lend itself to a potential spot for vibration noise? The extension should not touch the soundboard if it is not glued down. What type of connection are you using between the neck and body ?


By the way - that is an awesome looking guitar - and I wish I could find some cedar like that - is that 4x4 cedar post ? or deck plank ?

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Very nice guitar. With respect to pricing, my own personal guide has been that I have to charge an amount that lets me maintain my own self respect. That means both not charging too little and also not too much. This approach is a personal thing that only you can decide.

Pat

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There are three kinds of people:

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those that watch things happen,
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If it were me, I would at least lightly tack that fretboard extent ion down. I think Todd mentioned a couple of thin lines of elmers glue would do the trick, stopping any potential buzzing, while being weak enough to fail in the event the fretboard shrinks and cracks the upper bout. That sounded like sage advice.

Great looking guitar! I love the contrast. I'd not flinch at sticking with your $2000 price. I would personally never ask for more than previously discussed, barring some extraordinary circumstance. And as a purchaser, I'd rather have my builder ask for the full price we discussed than tell me it's not his best work and give me a discount. Obviously, if I saw or heard something that was below our expected standard, I would say something. But we builders tend to be much more critical of our work than the "typical" purchaser.

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Aaron Craig

Beautiful! Love the top and back and finish and.....

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PMoMC

That is a fine looking guitar.. love the top.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Love the top. Is it four-piece?

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
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Theoretically, it does, but I've made three guitars with floating extensions, and haven't noticed any buzzing.
I'm using a bolt on neck system.

Yep, this top was actually one of those premade fence post things. I sorted through a lot of wood to find this. It's not hard to find nicely quartered cedar, but I much prefer stuff with this kind of coloring.





Six, pieces, actually. I could have used just 5, but then it wouldn't be symmetrical.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

It does none of us any favours to undercharge for your work, so don't go down! We all know how much work goes into making a good guitar, not to mention the cost of all of the materials, scrounged cedar fence post notwithstanding!

If the tone and the playability are there, charge properly for it. The quality of construction is self evident. (Even though your heel is still too chunky )

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I'm certainly not going down, I'm just wondering how much higher I should go than the minimum I quoted.

_________________
Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

It depends upon how much this guitar exceeds the specs for the minimum guitar that amount of money would purchase.

The trouble with stating a minimum cost is that it become the purchase value that stays in the mind of the buyer. Now your buyer is expecting to pay $2,000 and you will have difficulty asking for more because the value hasn't been previously set, and you don't know the comfort margin of the buyer. Its a tough spot.

This provides you with an excellent opportunity to develop a price/spec sheet. Start with a description of a "standard" guitar, basically the minimum guitar that you would feel comfortable putting out. Go through all of your steps and processes and add up all of your costs. What value does this determine? Now, describe any significant variation to this "standard" that your work would encompass. It gets easy to be encyclopedic, no need for that now, but do deal with the obvious.

_________________
Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/