Official Luthiers Forum!

Traveling luthier show, kind of like that Food Truck competition. Go to various music meccas around the country, build custom guitars, max $$ sales wins. Ya think my wife makes me watch too much food network?

It would be a hoot, no? Grand prize is a fully outfitted shop. Including the building. I really like the backstory elements. Yes, The Padma could deal with the Zen aspect of building. Todd Stock could clarify the engineering aspects. Yes. All trucks would have to be outfitted equally.

Given the rather "compact" nature if guitar building, it could all fit on a midsized panel truck. What an opportunity for tool vendors to advertise their products!

Another way to do it would be to let the builder choose the materials, and then at the end, the guitars are sold in a blind auction, where the bidders can't see the instruments, only hear them. All the guitars would be played by a professional once before bidding started so people could make up their minds, and people would bid on the instrument they liked best, highest bid winning that instrument and competition. That takes materials out of the equation leveling the playing field, the luthiers could spend as little or as much as they wanted. It would also introduce an element of risk, as a luthier who spends a lot of money and then potentially comes in last would look pretty unskilled.
The instruments would be displayed to the bidders before being hidden and played behind a curtain so people could see them.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

We could borrow a bit from Iron Chef, where at the beginning, thus secret ingredient is revealed...

Yeah, a theme ingredient would be awesome

So the luthiers all go to the same town, right? Not each going to a different town?

The 2 auctions would definitely be interesting, but I think to be fair you have to let them see it. Especially important if creative design around the theme ingredient is involved.

Materials are tricky because it should be whoever makes the biggest profit that wins, but usually the best materials are the ones that were bought long ago when the dollar was worth more and the good wood was more plentiful. So whoever's been stashing wood the longest gets an advantage, and may not remember what they paid for something anyway. Maybe all materials must be bought after the competition starts? An interesting twist on the theme ingredient could be that all materials must be bought local. Say, within 100 miles of the town for the episode. Would make for good reality show style drama, following the guys who stress out because can't find what they want And fun watching the guys who adapt their design on the fly as they explore what's available in the area.

The traveling workshop theme is cool, because it opens the opportunity for building in a public place, where people can watch and become interested in buying your particular guitar at auction time. Or you could just hide out in your truck outside of town and build in peace, letting the guitar speak for itself at the auction.

Find a sponsor and do it! I'm in if noobs are allowed. My shop's about the size of the back of a van anyway, and if I can get wood already cut to usual guitar set size and bindings and such, then I don't even need electricity

Display them first before playing them behind a curtain, that way they see them, and then hope the one they like listening to is the one they like seeing.

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Old growth, shmold growth!