Trent Guitars

qawsed

As someone who placed an order for one of these recently I’m wondering if it’s helpful for me to document my thought process and what led me to purchasing - feel free to ignore if not!

For context, I owned 6 electric guitars before ordering (but have probably bought and sold around 40 over the years) with only a very small number of these being brand new. I’m at my limit for the amount of money I’m personally comfortable having tied up in music gear, so any new acquisitions require me to sell something I already have.

I initially saw the Model 1 on Instagram (potentially in a sponsored post if I remember correctly) - thought it was very cool and 100% up my street, but I wasn’t in the market for a new guitar. 

I then ended up seeing some discussions about them on the forum which reignited my interest, but again, I wasn’t in the market for something new. 

The finish on the Debut models really caught my eye, as I’m a big fan of open-pore satin finishes. This, along with the NGD posts here, the positive press and appeal of ordering an instrument that’s been built specifically for me made me seriously consider purchasing one. I started looking at my guitars, assessing how a Trent could fit in my collection and offer something different, whilst ultimately trying to figure out what I’d have to part with to justify ordering. 

After messaging you initially I sat on the decision for a few weeks, with the 2 guitars I’d earmarked for selling to raise funds put away in their cases to see if I’d miss them. Once I was sure I was prepared to sell them I listed them online. 

The final push that convinced me to place an order was actually the posts and video from @TTony and @monquixote. I’m new to this forum so have no connection or background knowledge of either, but hearing two people who didn’t actually own a Model 1 objectively discuss and positively review the guitar sealed the deal for me. I wouldn’t underestimate how useful this sort of content is for people “buying blind”. 

I suppose the point I’m trying to make is this was quite a major decision for me and required a lot of time to really consider before pulling the trigger. I’m not comfortable making major purchases on a whim, so I really needed to weigh it up before placing an order. The fact you got me to sell 2 guitars I really liked and place an order “blind” for a guitar that’s only existed for a few months says a lot - I think there’ll be plenty orders to come in the future, but it might be slow and steady until more of them are out in the wild. Hope that’s helpful! 

Blueingreen

TTony said:

TrentGuitars said:

The non-refundable deposit and then let them decide whether they like it or not once they get it just isn't something I think is good for anybody. I see that as the same as Asda putting 'Love it or your money back' on their products, it works for food and low cost items but not sure so much on a guitar. It's worth noting if someone really wasn't happy with their guitar, if it was entirely not what they expected, I'd refund them.

Given how many people proudly proclaim that they ordered 5 guitars, only intending to keep 1, and return the other 4 under DSR (etc), then an explicit money-back offer would be too open to abuse, IMHO.

My non-refundable deposit suggestion was completely off the top of my head and maybe not well thought through.   @TrentGuitar's opinion is the one that matters, and if he doesn't think it's a good idea, that's obviously the end of it. 

But I'd been thinking of a chunky non-refundable deposit - say £200 or £300 - on bespoke guitars.  I think that would avoid the kind of abuse you're talking about. 

TrentGuitars

qawsed said:

As someone who placed an order for one of these recently I’m wondering if it’s helpful for me to document my thought process and what led me to purchasing - feel free to ignore if not!

For context, I owned 6 electric guitars before ordering (but have probably bought and sold around 40 over the years) with only a very small number of these being brand new. I’m at my limit for the amount of money I’m personally comfortable having tied up in music gear, so any new acquisitions require me to sell something I already have.

I initially saw the Model 1 on Instagram (potentially in a sponsored post if I remember correctly) - thought it was very cool and 100% up my street, but I wasn’t in the market for a new guitar. 

I then ended up seeing some discussions about them on the forum which reignited my interest, but again, I wasn’t in the market for something new. 

The finish on the Debut models really caught my eye, as I’m a big fan of open-pore satin finishes. This, along with the NGD posts here, the positive press and appeal of ordering an instrument that’s been built specifically for me made me seriously consider purchasing one. I started looking at my guitars, assessing how a Trent could fit in my collection and offer something different, whilst ultimately trying to figure out what I’d have to part with to justify ordering. 

After messaging you initially I sat on the decision for a few weeks, with the 2 guitars I’d earmarked for selling to raise funds put away in their cases to see if I’d miss them. Once I was sure I was prepared to sell them I listed them online. 

The final push that convinced me to place an order was actually the posts and video from @TTony and @monquixote. I’m new to this forum so have no connection or background knowledge of either, but hearing two people who didn’t actually own a Model 1 objectively discuss and positively review the guitar sealed the deal for me. I wouldn’t underestimate how useful this sort of content is for people “buying blind”. 

I suppose the point I’m trying to make is this was quite a major decision for me and required a lot of time to really consider before pulling the trigger. I’m not comfortable making major purchases on a whim, so I really needed to weigh it up before placing an order. The fact you got me to sell 2 guitars I really liked and place an order “blind” for a guitar that’s only existed for a few months says a lot - I think there’ll be plenty orders to come in the future, but it might be slow and steady until more of them are out in the wild. Hope that’s helpful! 

Really appreciate the detailed insight into your journey! 

This is invaluable to me, truly grateful to hear this.

Just to reiterate to all my current, previous and future customers I have no intentions of letting up - I’m just taking an unconventionally transparent approach to market research 

PD1598

IMHO - your website isn't very good. There are no videos of them being played, the photos of the guitars I think look fairly amateurish. There is a list of colours to choose from, but no examples of what the colour actually looks like, either on a guitar or anything else. Probably enough to make a more casual buyer with a grand go to GG instead and get a Strat pretty quick. I'd probably spend some time, and perhaps cash, looking at that.

Whitecat

PD1598 said:

IMHO - your website isn't very good. There are no videos of them being played, the photos of the guitars I think look fairly amateurish. There is a list of colours to choose from, but no examples of what the colour actually looks like, either on a guitar or anything else. Probably enough to make a more casual buyer with a grand go to GG instead and get a Strat pretty quick. I'd probably spend some time, and perhaps cash, looking at that.

Side scroll through the pics on mobile and you’ll find an image of colour swatches (as “headstocks”). 

My immediate suggestion would be to do a proper Facebook page too. Facebook sucks but a lot of people are still on it, and having a “personal” page isn’t the best approach (and is in fact against Facebook’s ToS). 

Not sure if this is still valid info but worth checking out:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.jonloomer.com/convert-facebook-profile-to-business-page/amp/

markblack

My day job is in advertising, so I'm no guitar builder, but i do know a thing or two about brands etc.

I'm a big fan of fidelity guitars (but i only own a prototype from the early days) what i think matt and novo have done well is make instruments that are not just really good, but are social media friendly, the finishes are very striking, the setlarosa is out there (even though its inspired from 60's guitars) while i like your design, and please don't take this the wrong way, i wonder if you did a few heavy relics, sparkle, crazy pick guards etc. Just for 'likes' as the kidz would say... It might drive awareness in the 'hipster offset market' (you mentioned the guitar nerds fans...) i do think your design looks smart, but the classic colour ways date it a little. Butterscotch and black guard is done to death, hard to be 'thumbstopping' (god i hate that phrase but its true)

FYI I know doing a good relic is hard, and time consuming/costly. But half of the Novos i see look like they've be done with a hand sander, but for those who like them they look the mutts (I'm in that camp)...

You seem to have almost tried to make a traditional crowd like your guitars (the guys who only buy fiesta red strats... It's hard to shift them away, thet get their knickers in a twist over the sliver sky but the hipster pound is a bit more open minded. Look at pedals... Half of the people buy them cause they looked good on Instagram (I'm a bit guilty of that).

Just a thought... And I agree with other replies, you've gone further than most! Chin up.

Best Mark

markblack

PLEASE DON'T TAKE THIS THE WRONG WAY



Ropey as f**k photoshoppery... but just to illustrate the point - some will love this kind of stuff, some with hate it - but it sparks conversation - Novo do out there crazy... they also do butterscotch and black - both of them are $2k + (if you can get one)

I'd love to see a Trent X @GoldenEraGuitars guitars mash up... make it happen

soma1975

I don't like the idea of judging something on what it isn't, but rather appraising it on what it is. 

Trent guitars is not Novo, which has been established a while and has the full weight of Fano behind it plus a network of dealers. I'm not sure the two levels of operation and staffing and budgets are comparable (yet). 

markblack

@soma1975 amen. But novo have done a good job on hype building. And you can learn from that. It also means you have to jump on a band wagon just to make cash. I'm not sure that's the right thing to do either. My point was only about raising awareness, not trying to be something else. Most great companies have strong beliefs and stick to them, some make money, some don't. Some blatantly rip off others and cash in

Nothing I said was supposed to be a critical of the OP. More just something new to think about. I think he's done a hell of a lot more than most, I didn't do a start up, i just work for the man and get paid

I'm all about selling stuff and making money so I'll always try to see where the cash could be

On a side note Novo only sells direct now. They pulled all dealers, maybe to make more $ ? Maybe they can't make enough to supply? I'll be honest I don't know enough about their business model.

TTony

When everyone’s doing relics, because that’s the fashion of the day, doesn’t doing something different stand out?

And it’s easier (quicker and cheaper) to do a good - proper - finish, than to do that finish and the relic it realistically.  

soma1975

TTony said:

When everyone’s doing relics, because that’s the fashion of the day, doesn’t doing something different stand out?

And it’s easier (quicker and cheaper) to do a good - proper - finish, than to do that finish and the relic it realistically.  

Yeah. To be honest I'd happily play this but have zero interest in a Fano or Novo. This actually reminds me a bit more of the Asher guitars' ethos for some reason. If they want to do a Mahogany body one with a 'veritone' and aluminium knobs then phwoar...

markblack

I agree, but i think the OP has nailed the more 'traditional with his own take' my question was do you try and play to another crowd? I'm not saying stand out, I'm saying play to market that's there? 

It's really interesting, I've worked on brands with great ideas, never swayed, people came and they were successful. I've worked on others who made what was fashionable, cashed in, then binned it and went onto the next thing

GoldenEraGuitars

TTony said:

When everyone’s doing relics, because that’s the fashion of the day, doesn’t doing something different stand out?

And it’s easier (quicker and cheaper) to do a good - proper - finish, than to do that finish and the relic it realistically.  

You see, people say that.. but artificial guitar ageing has been around for 30 plus years. So calling it “fashion of the day” is a bit lazy. It’s just a finish type but it’s one that bankrolls fender custom shop. And people are happy to pay (the ludicrous amount of) £3799 for a tele or strat that looks like it fell to Earth from the International space station. 

Here’s a Kithara I recently finish and aged recently 

https://i.imgur.com/LGPYNwQ.jpg

If you know what you’re doing then a well aged finish can be achieved in the same time scale as a flat and shiny finish. 

Here’s a LPB tele I finished last week, just to show some balance 

https://i.imgur.com/ytSqICL.jpg

We’d all love to do something “different”. But sometimes that doesn’t pay the bills. 

Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

markblack

@GoldenEraGuitars that Kithara looks very nice. They maybe illustrate my point, they seem to do a good mix of relic, slight spin on traditional, some 'instagram friendly' stuff. But you'd probably know better than me. I wonder if it's working for them? 

Jonathangus

Whitecat said:

PD1598 said:

IMHO - your website isn't very good. There are no videos of them being played, the photos of the guitars I think look fairly amateurish. There is a list of colours to choose from, but no examples of what the colour actually looks like, either on a guitar or anything else. Probably enough to make a more casual buyer with a grand go to GG instead and get a Strat pretty quick. I'd probably spend some time, and perhaps cash, looking at that.

Side scroll through the pics on mobile and you’ll find an image of colour swatches (as “headstocks”). 

I'm not sure that someone about to drop a grand on a guitar could be termed a 'casual buyer'.

Given that the finishes and colours are one of the USPs of the range, I think they deserve their own section, though.

monquixote

To be contrary I hate modern guitars that come reliced like Fanos

Do your own thing.

I like that you make them on a CNC without fake mojo bullshit.

EricTheWeary

Small builders often have basic websites and sometimes nothing at all (I think Dave Dearnaley for example). People who are interested in those kind of products where you are effectively paying for the skills of one person aren’t going to worry too much about the lack of an all singing and dancing website. 

I do wonder if some repair and modding work might help. Off the top of my head Ivison, Feline, J Davey all do some repair work and I suspect that also drives orders for their own builds. Presumably having more guitars through their hands also helps develop their own ideas of what works and what doesn’t. 

Bigsby

monquixote said:

To be contrary I hate modern guitars that come reliced like Fanos

Do your own thing.

I like that you make them on a CNC without fake mojo bullshit.

That's how I feel too - I saw a lovely Novo recently, beautiful colour, but to me it was just crying out for a refinish. 

My reaction to the 'add relic' idea was how much will that add to the cost, and does that balance any extra desirability in the eyes of some customers? It would be a shame to go to the time and effort of a relic job and only find it's harder to sell. 

Would someone with the relic-ing skills want to buy a semi-finished Trent, relic it, then sell it on? If so, clearly I'm wrong to have doubts, and idea is a goer!

Fiftyshadesofjay

First off let me say I love your guitars! I was initially interested in getting one (still am) but honestly it’s a lot of money for a guitar that can’t be tried out until it’s built. 

They look the business in pictures but most people will have no idea of the neck profile, fretwork quality etc. Its just a bit of a risk currently. Maybe having a showroom or getting them into specific small dealers would be a good idea?

As far as promotion goes, get them into the hands of cool bands. I guarantee that a young hyped band seen playing one of these on the BBC Reading / Glastonbury footage and eulogising about them online will be worth much more than getting them into the hands of forumites.

wesker123

Lend one to Youtubers like That Pedal Show, Mary Spender and perhaps Pete Honore. 

Send one to Guitar Magazine. I think Chris Vinnicombe is on this forum @chrisv ;