Rabs

Well thanks for that. But sadly its not just that, its also the fact that my hands are pretty screwed up. I have to be pretty careful these days and give them time to rest. Like I did some fencing for my mum the other week. About three hours working with my hands and I paid for it the following few days after. Then theres also what to make. I have looked at all sorts of things over the years. Recently I had the idea of making really nice wood cabinets for speakers. Like build an equivalent cab and just like fit someone's amp into it, that sort of thing. BUT these days with the mini CNC machines you can buy, almost any idea you can think of and theres already people set up and doing it. And then you have to work out if its worth the time to do that and be able to sell it for a reasonable profit. There arent many things you can build out of wood that can do that. So some might say well build them anyway. But I did that once before and then if I cant sell them you just end up with a load of guitars that no one wants and just sit in a cupboard. I do still want to finish the last few guitars I started building for personal reasons but its not a business. Its a weird world we live in at the moment.

And this is why I think Gibson and Fender do what they do.. The market is way over crowded. Its why I havent gone back in to making them. With the likes of Harley Benton and many other cheap makes these days, I cant compete.. There also seems to be more luthiers than ever before and while I always liked my guitars, I cant really pretend I can offer anything really different. Maybe some different wood selections and some variations on body design and hardware but thats about it. Where as Gibson and Fender almost sit alone in the historic and high end. So thats where they live these days and actually I cant say I blame them. It is a shame though. It didnt seem that long ago where I was buying new Gibsons for like £750 (like my goldtop studio and the LP DC Special Faded, even the Gary Moore BFG I had was like £850).. I doubt we will ever see those days again.

Let the moaning begin 😄 Some have sold already (of course).. Actually while I dont really care for the guitars, I do REALLY like the amps (the straps are quite nice too). Master Artisan Collection - Rickie Hinrichsen (gibson.com)

Well from what I understand, there are no holes drilled in the back of the neck for the usual tuners so, if say you were replacing current manual tuners, the only thing I would want is to match the positions of the holes already drilled. But as said that shouldnt be an issue. All you have to worry about is the size of the tuner post hole. If its the standard size then you can use any tuners that will fit a USA made model. Cos say the Chinese made ones, they use the metric measurements where the US ones use the imperial system.

They dont talk about price but you get a good look at it and he talks about the guitar a bit. If its a USA made one it will probably be what 3k?

That would be the Custom one.. This new one is the USA Standard version.

Hard to say exactly from the pictures. But it depends on the neck angle. If there is one. From the pictures you are using a wrap around bridge or something like it which will mean you would need the neck to be at an angle for it to work.. This sort of explains it. And if you have a neck angle then you want the bridge pickup to be angled too or at least taller than the neck surround.. But if its a flat top which it looks like it is then you want a flat bottomed pickup surround.

Didnt mind these so much. Just a bit different, its not like they made many of them and had to have an excavator drive over the top of them and destroy them all...

Everyone knows Homer is a bass player Plus Zakk already did it for him.. No need.

Didnt they do that already? 😄 It was like when Homer designed a car

Yeah cos the custom shop ones were so popular... Sheesh... Ugliest Gibson since the dreaded Firebird X. I dont really care if it was from an old drawing, Theres probably a good reason he decided not to make them in the first place. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Lol... No, I did my own shape and my own headstock... It also had custom made pickups from an old member (Searcy)... So do your Gibsons smell like fried rice?

When it comes to multi neck guitars.. This is still my favorite.

Still have the pics. Started off like this.. and ended up like this, nitro finish an all.

No.. I did several guitars and the first one I ever got paid for was to convert a 59 LP Junior to a John Lennon copy with the Charlie Christian pickup. Duane has done some stuff like that too yes.

Yup.. That was me...

Well firstly its not really a problem at all... I just wouldnt pay that much just for a guitar.. I dont actually care if people want to buy them, we are just discussing it. And actually thats why I started making guitars in the first place. I really wanted a Gibson with a P90 at the neck and humbucker at the bridge which Gibson have only made a few of and there was nothing else in the line that had that so thats exactly what I did.. Made my own 😄 But that in itself doesnt stop 50k for a guitar being bonkers if anything re-inforces the fact that its a crazy price cos I know exactly how much it cost to build a guitar.

Ha.. I was looking at the Gibson page and saw this guitar.. I reckon thats what he is playing. So I was sort of right I reckon, a replica 64 335 Custom 1964 ES-335 Reissue, Bigsby, Custom Made Plate, Murphy Lab Light Aged, Vintage Burst | Gibson

Well I hate to be one of those.. But I do think the prices are absolutely crazy. Imagine what you could buy with that money like a really nice car... I donno.. Im sure they will stupidly all sell out too. Its just a mad world when a guitar cost $50k. I dont care whos signature is on it or if Tom Murphy worked on each one himself.. Still no where near worth 50k.. Madness I tell you. The profit margins on these must be crazy.

Whats to say.. Even without looking I know it will be ridiculously expensive.. Well way more than I would ever spend on a guitar anyway.. They are cool instruments but very niche..

Well it has been done before....

You know, I never really thought I would say this but I miss the Henry Juszkiewicz days.. Up until the last five years or so when he went around buying up random electronic companies and tried to turn Gibson in to a "lifestyle" brand. But I always got the impression he did actually care about the guitars and getting lower end models in the hands of young players...

Yeah. I donno. Slash I would imagine just does what he wants and uses the guitars he wants. I was looking to see what sort of model 335 he was playing and it looked a lot like an original 1964 custom in which case he is paying tribute by using a period correct instrument on the track as it were. Now, do I think that Gibson would see that as an opportunity. Well yeah, I guess thats why I asked in the first place but it sorta seems inevitable.

Well apparently outside of the US, Japan is Gibsons biggest territory.. They have often released stuff that only gets released over there. Some really interesting stuff too over the years like the Tak Matsumoto double cut.