How good can a guitar be?

BigPaulie

YorkieBarre said:

In reply to two different conversations in this thread:

I bought my Fylde as a retirement present to myself in 2018, at a time when my skills were pretty basic (‘plus ca change’!). At the time I was so self conscious about owning a work of true craftsmanship, I asked Roger whether he minded me buying it. he replied that the only thing he objected to was folk with lots of money buying them to stick them on a wall or in a display case and never play them. Mine gets played every day and is a very treasured instrument. I feel privileged to play it. I still feel as though the guitar deserves better however….hey ho.

Turning to the provenance of my guitars’ tone-woods: The Fylde is clearly documented from good sources. Likewise a little mahogany Taylor I play lots of blues fingerstyle on. I then have three Chinese made acoustics: a cheap Lava Me 2 carbon fibre travel guitar for our caravan trips - no issues with provenance there. A Yamaha ‘silent’ guitar for amped up band gigs and my insomnia practice and a Tanglewood Master Design for strumming - both made in China. The Tanglewood uses ‘Tibetan Spruce and Indian Rosewood’ and the Yamaha is unspecified Mahogany. I’d never considered the provenance. I wonder whether Tanglewood or Yamaha perform the necessary checks? Hmmm, makes you think!

https://www.yamaha.com/en/sustainability/related-information/policy-type/guideline-timber-procurement/#:~:text=We will not procure timber,of High Conservation Value Forests.&text=We will not procure genetically modified tree species.

stickyfiddle

I'm a bit late here as it's been a weird week. My 2 acoustics are a Bourgeious aged D18-alike and an Atkin LG-2 ("47"), also torrefied. Before that I had a Martin HD28, Gibson Dove and Taylor 214. 

The Atkin was around the 2k mark, and the Bourgeois was $4k bought used on holiday in Charleston a couple of years ago (is admittedly would be a little more in the UK, and god knows a new one is a lot more these days). I don't think I'd find better acoustics instruments than these even if I paid a lot more, as the Bourgeois in particular is as good as any vintage Martin I've played and also the best sounding modern-built guitar I've ever played, including several that cost far more that I tried on my way to finding this one. I'm sure I'll add another couple of acoustics to the stable eventually (Atkin J45 and another Dove or J180) feel most likely, but that's more about getting some variety than any idea that I'll find better. 

I don't read much about wood if I'm honest - aside from the basic tonal vibes you get from mahogany vs rosewood vs maple I've always found it's more about the specific guitar. Case in point - the day I bought my Dove I also played a walnut J45. It was an ugly pooburst thing with nasty hardware, and I've never played another walnut guitar I liked, but that specific instrument sounded absolutely heavenly. I'm quite sure if it'd be in a better colour I'd have bought it and would still have it 10 years on. 

As for the 30k luthier, it's v v much a Veblen thing, and fair play if it's working. Why make yourself 50k a year building 20 guitars at 2.5k profit each if you have the ability to sell 2 for 25k profit each. I haven't tried one and doubt I will but I won't knock it as I haven't seen anything misleading in the marketing; just lots of heavy romanticising of the process and outcomes, but honestly that's no different to what Fender & Gibson & Martin & Taylor do, just presented through a different lens. 

strtdv

I remember Taylor using streaky ebony around 2016 to reduce deforestation, and I see now their ebony is bought from a supplier who market themselves as sustainable (though I suppose whether that stands up to scrutiny is a different matter).

In one sense it's better from an environmental perspective to have one or two really good quality instruments (ideally second hand) than lots of lower quality instruments