Discussion: What makes a guitar "hand made"?

[Johnny Mac]

Nice 'Seafoam Green' wouldn't you say?

[FernandoDuarte]

Nice 'Seafoam Green' wouldn't you say?

Yeah, but don't like HSS :P

If that's your taste in women you would probably want this hot chicks phone number too?

<--------------------------- OWNED :lol:

[MDV]

Pah, she aint bad looking, and is probably 1000 times more interesting and fun than the pretty-but-moronic birds you pick up on a night out!

which one are you talking about? :?

:lol:

Cheeky sod!

[FELINEGUITARS]

There is nothing wrong with CNC at all
It is the only way to go for any kind of volume production these days
Even Suhr guitars are all CNC  machined

We use jigs and routers and woodworking machines but always guided by hand and proper "old school" luthiers would frown on that - you are supposed to just use a chisel that your grandfather passed  down to you on his deathbed.

There are good and bad handmade guitars - it isnt always a guarantee of quality , although it is  a sign of making a one off when dealing with small operators like myself.

Companies do like to use old fashioned imagery when advertising though - they will always show a senior or older craftsman in an apron and lots of old fashioned handtools and lots of curly woodshavings -it always creates what they call "warm fuzzies" in people looking at the adverts or brochures - a sense of this is how it used to be done and how it should be done

It is a bit like a major bakery showing someone dressed up as an old fashioned baker - putting loaves of bread into an old style oven - indicating that some degree of care has been taken over your white sliced loaf , whereas if you saw the factory production of bread-making you probably wouldn't want to eat it.

I would love a CNC machine to be fair , and a laser cutter too, and a clone of myself so one of us would have time to play with the machinery properly

[FELINEGUITARS]

I mean, there's barely a human hand touches a Fender, Gibson, PRS, Gretsch, Ibanez, etc etc until that hand is holding a duster!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T_tXP0W2zU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzxV1_ZGj4w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERV5E5uhLAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRsr8QN-0BI

Lots of hands!!

 8)

Leo Fender was a freaking genius
He devised a guitar that could be assembled by relatively unskilled Mexican labour (therefore affordable in the 1950s)
There were clever people who worked at Fender, and a lot of the "unskilled" labour would over time become very good at what they did.

Forest WHite (Fender General manager) wrote a great book about it.

There is a lot of hands on contact - no matter what in all guitar making - even if just selecting wood and loading into machines.

The CNC is a great help, but it doesnt do it all without a human at all ....yet anyway!

[Lew]

Totally  8)

[hunter]

I mean, there's barely a human hand touches a Fender, Gibson, PRS, Gretsch, Ibanez, etc etc until that hand is holding a duster!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T_tXP0W2zU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzxV1_ZGj4w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERV5E5uhLAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRsr8QN-0BI

Lots of hands!!

 8)

Hmmm, seems most of the work is rubbing. Maybe that's why people say there's a relation between Sex and playing guitar?

[Ratrod]

I have seen how the Terada factory in Japan makes gretsch guitars. The rough stuff is cut by a CNC machine. At that point the neck doesn't even have a profile yet. The rest is done by hand. Of course they use jigs, routers and other power tools but I would considder it a handmade guitar.

On the other side of the spectrum there's my Squier CV Tele. This was made by a five axis CNC machine. The workers only have to bolt it together. It's still a very well made guitar.

Both factories use a Plek machine.

[hunter]

Both factories use a Plek machine.

Good example. Manufacturers (e.g. Gibson) use PLEK as a marketing tool now, to say it's more expensive and more effort to use the machine, but the result supposed to be superior to the one that can be achieved with 100% human effort.

[FELINEGUITARS]

Both factories use a Plek machine.

Good example. Manufacturers (e.g. Gibson) use PLEK as a marketing tool now, to say it's more expensive and more effort to use the machine, but the result supposed to be superior to the one that can be achieved with 100% human effort.

The Plek machine is a good tool
What it offers is consistency as all guitars will have pretty much the same settings and setup

It also means that the factory can use semi-skilled labour to ensure the guitars are all setup just right rather than needing  highly skilled (and expensive) technicians. Thre machine will have been calibrated by someone who is skilled but once the program is in place, the "ordinary staff" can operate it.

It also looks great in the company literature and website  etc - impresses potential buyers (and quite rightly so)

With enough cash and enough space I would have one, and a CNC machine and a laser cutter
I would use all three to enhance what I offer - wouldn't diminish anything I do, but would allow me a whole lot of extra options, and free up time once it is all set and running

[PhilKing]

Not sure I'd want a hand made engine in my car..........

I would if is was an Aston Martin - the older ones have the makers name engraved on a plate on the engine.

[MrBump]

One can learn a lot on this forum.

Just Googled Plek.

[Twinfan]

Not sure I'd want a hand made engine in my car..........

I would if is was an Aston Martin - the older ones have the makers name engraved on a plate on the engine.

I'd have an old Rolls Royce engine too, no problem  :)

[hunter]

Not sure I'd want a hand made engine in my car..........

I would if is was an Aston Martin - the older ones have the makers name engraved on a plate on the engine.

I'd have an old Rolls Royce engine too, no problem  :)

What would be the guitar counterpart of that? A '59 burst?

[Philly Q]

With enough cash and enough space I would have one, and a CNC machine and a laser cutter
I would use all three to enhance what I offer - wouldn't diminish anything I do, but would allow me a whole lot of extra options, and free up time once it is all set and running

Sounds like good sense to me. 

I don't know why people talk as if using technology somehow makes the product worse.  I couldn't care less if something has been cut out by a computer-guided laser or by a band of Tibetan monks using miniature chisels made from ferrets' teeth.  It's the end product that counts, as far as I'm concerned *.

(* so long as the relevant workforce aren't being cruelly exploited in a ropey sweatshop somewhere)