Cpt Matt Sparrow wrote:NoQuattro wrote:I'm still waiting on his Les Paul to get the treatment from the Custom Shop. Not that I'll buy one, but I would love to play one.
I am a little cynical with the marketing of Gibson USA and the custom shop division of Gibson. Cynical, not because I doubt their good quality; but because I think the 'cookie cutter' techniques used to build the instrument and also the team of people that build them, don't ethically warrant them to be called 'hand made'.
I don't know, maybe I have been spoiled as a classical guitarist. If you buy a hand made classical guitar, it is made by usually one man. Each instrument he builds has loads of love and care put into it; as a result each instrument is very different.
Matt
For the sake of fast production and quality control
most of the instrument is cut and shaped by CNC for the majority . Some shaping of the neck profile , body /neck assembly , fretting , binding , electronics , painting and buffing , set-up ( CS ) , ageing or relicing , are done by hand . This also applies to Gibsons non - CS line also except for set-up is now done on a plek machine ... it's argued that the Plek is crap and that a set-up needs human hands , eyes and know -how to have it set-up great ( guitar tech's ) ... while others think it does a great job at mass setting up in a production enviroment ( companies ) .. either way an instrument should be set-up to suit your own likes anyways .. but I digress .
Matt you will find that the Classical guitars you own are "hand made " becuase the luthier that builds them probably only makes a few instruments a year and has time to do so , you will find that the Asian manufacturers will use both ways of building using hands and machines as ..like Gibson they have production schedules to meet and a budget for the cost of the instrument to keep as low as possible . Most folks equate mass production as low quality .. maybe 10 - 15 -20 years ago that was the case .. these days makers are smarter and machinery is better and while the term you use "cookie cutter " does somewhat apply , the majority of players customise thier own guitars to personalise them anyhow.
I have played and seen absolute pieces of hand made crap , where the tolerances where bad , the fret ends were poor , the paint job was terrible etc etc and I have seen the same from cheaper mass production and also vice-versa .. so at the end of the day .. you makes your choice and you pays your money .
