Official Luthiers Forum!

Good afternoon everyone:
Having built 20 guitars now I'm curious to know whether I could possibly sell just one to just maybe validate my efforts. I think everyone wonders if they are "good" enough to sell one. This summer we will be having a local bluegrass festival at the big park down at the lake. I can rent a booth very inexpensively and show a guitar or two. Not being a musician myself I really don't know what specifically appeals to a bluegrass player. Does he want a narrow neck or wide, high action or low, loose top for more bass "thump"? The one they all want is a Martin D28 but what's in second place? Competing with a name and a tradition like Martin has seems counter productive. What would you do?
Thanks........... Mikey

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The Biggest Little City, Nevada
www.hammondguitars.com
I love building guitars!

I am much in the same boat. I have almost run out of people to give guitars to, sure would be nice to sell one or two.

In any case, bluegrass players tend to play in an ensemble. They also tend to play with a pick, and to play long quick melody lines. That would all lend itself to a loud guitar, with good note separation and brightness.

I think of guitars being on a continuum from the sweet mellowness of a classical nylon string to the punchy bite of an acoustic archtop. I am not a bluegrass expert (I tend toward country blues) but if I were making a guitar for one of my bluegrass friends I would shoot for a guitar closer to the archtop than the classical.

The other thing I would suggest is that most of my musician friends are very traditional in their tastes. The all want that pre-war Martin dred. Not being Eric Clapton, they can't afford one. What I can offer them is a custom pre-war Martin copy. It might not be the same as a vintage guitar, but it is customized to them. You can compete with Martin because you offer your potential customer choice. The inlay of their bass boat or dog, the use of their grandfathers old cherry tree in the bindings, a slotted headstock on a 14fret neck, etc.

Of course, so far I've been building these things as gifts or for the cost of materials. So what do I know? Still, my guess is that any guitars you take to the show will be advertisements for the custom guitars you can build, not so much guitars you are going to sell.

As a bluegrass player I would try to build a "prewar" Martin-type dread but it would probably end up looking a lot like my HD28.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I’d concentrate on fit, finish, playability and intonation.
I wouldn’t try to complete Martin or the hundreds of folks out there building D28 knock off’s;
It is a fairly crowded nitche, I’d say.
If you’re not well known, you’ll have to offer a reasonable price too.

If you have your chops down ( i.e. fit finish, playability and intonation) and expose your guitars, you’ll probably sell a few.
A booth at a bluegrass or fiddlers convention is a good place to start.
good luck

Being a bit of a bluegrass picker myself, what is important is loud, loud, loud. Try competing with a mandolin or banjo without any amplification and you'll get the picture real fast. Also, a strong attack with notes that are clear, distinct, individual and trail off. Too much sustain and the machine gun flatpick runs bleed together too much. I wouldn't be too concerned about copying or building "dreads". You can put your signiture in the details. Bluegrass pickers love pre-war Martins. I would give them what they want. Also, don't forget about the D-18. Hope this helps

bluegrass sound is punchie, load and quickMost like higher tension strings and listen for a brassie sound

Bluegrass folks and flatpickers (as in competitive flatpickers) are a funny bunch. Myself included. Volume is definitely a big deal. Not to muddy or tinny sounding though. I know a lot of professional pickers and don't know of any that use anything less than medium guage strings.

Fit and finish is huge and don't have a bunch of glue mess showing when you look in the soundhole. Build one that looks and sounds good and plays like a Taylor and somebody will eventually want it. I've been lucky but my one goal has always been detail, detail, detail and mine still doesn't compare probably to some of the "big boys" on this forum.

Rent a booth and try it thats what I did about 4 years ago and it paid off. Mainly by getting to meet some real pros and eventually that led to some good friendships with some of them that has really helped my networking...bigtime! Besides it will be fun and you'll meet alot of good people.

Best of luck.
SR

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"We might not be big but we sure are slow"