I’ve been making cbg for a little of a year now, have 22 under my belt, a website, etc, getting better and better with my craft but I have seemed to get uninspired and not wanting to get in the shop and make them anymore.  After my 8th one I started making them to sell and maybe that what got me in this slump.   Since January I’ve only made 2 which is the second one is only 75% complete now it just sits there and I don’t have the inspiration or “will” to want to build anymore.

I’m asking all those that make tons to sell, what do you do to keep inspired and keep going, money is always a good push when one sells, but how to get out of this slump???

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I have never been in this for the money, it is a nice bonus to what I do. A hobby with fringe benifits.

 I always challenge myself to do something different, off the wall stuff. When you stop challenging yourself to do new things then the machine effect kicks in and you are nothing more than a producer of cigar box guitars instead of a builder unique roots instruments. 

You asked all those builders who make tons to sell what keeps them coming back for more. i'm not one of those people. I'm on the other side of the equation, which for maybe many builders here, IS the answer to that question. I've been in a building slump for two years now. Two builds stare at me, unfinished, while neck blanks, parts and boxes slowly pile up. I'm more a player and composer, and fully realize that I have gravitated towards that aspect of this hobby / pastime / obsession. I feel guilty, a little, about not getting cracking on the builds. Looking at and reading about other people's builds here causes me shock and awe moments that nearly always result in me at some point communing with a builder to the point of a customized purchase. This leads to a slowly-growing collector mentality, and away from finishing those two builds sitting mutely on my workbench, waiting for me to incorporate one or more of the myriad ideas presented here daily. But my endorphins really rise every time I pick up one of those unique gits built by someone else, because I wanna try out a new tuning, or look for other chords or fingerings, or have something knocking at the inside of my skull that wants to come to life. Within a week of fiddling around, I have strung together notes and chords into something recognizable as a composition, and each box has something different to offer in terms of tonality or playability. Then, i spend a week, or even several, playing them into a groove, enough so that, sometimes, I even feel like posting a video or audio track to share. They may not be appreciated, or even liked by many, for what they are, but they make me happy. They have caused my fingerpicking to get better, allowed me to cop thematic and technical ideas from some of my favorite bands and songs, allowed me to learn a lot more about recording and producing, and working with others to turn out a finished-to-a-certain-level product whose main motivation was not money, but some vague idea of beauty. Each one of these represents a jumping off point for the next one. I am proud of these little noodlings, but under no illusions of them ever replacing my day job. They are done literally for my own amusement, and shared with this community as and when the mood trikes me. All that has resulted in one collaborative album of songs from one of my favorite songwriters, original compositions featured on a couple of CBN collections, one album of original material that is finally "out there," redeeming a promise made to myself a quarter century ago, and another collection of original tunes well on its way to completion. It's more about the music that wants to come out of my DNA, mingled with the individual tonalities and playability characteristics of the various boxes that rather strongly influence the end result. I know that several builders here are fine players, better than me especially when it comes to slide playing. One more thing to work on. We could take this down to the simple false dichotomies of players vs builders, supply vs demand, cowman vs shepherd, hunter-gatherer vs farmer. But it's simpler and more subtle than that; whatever aspect you approach it from, I think it's about the endless search for knowledge, love and beauty. Blah blah blah, hippie New Age bullshit, Oily's full of it. Maybe. But honestly check your motivations every once in awhile, and if dollar signs aren't the first answer, then I'd happily bet one of those dollar signs that its one of those 3. So, as others have said, take a break, try something else. Build for somebody else, to build for yourself.

a lot of work in a short time, maybe you ought to take a break, sit back and think of a theme or marketing strategy image, look at the way your working and change things, study the market, see what's selling....inspiration will come! (-:

Everyone is different...so if you've made 22, then you've obviously developed some sort of interest. A lot of people slide into the situation of selling their guitars, but it can put you in a difficult position, and suck out what fun you have in doing it.

It is possible to make serious money, but loads of people make a few guitars, see the prospect of making some cash and sort of slide into a fantasy land when they sort of regard themselves as being a serious guitar maker, but in reality they are just tinkering about at it. If you are any good at it, and your enjoyment comes through in what you make, then people might want to buy your stuff..but there's no guarantee. Tinkering about is just fine, that's what a hobby is, pasttimes come and go, it's no big deal, loads do people do this, so don't beat yourself up about it.

If making guitars for money really motivates you, or if you really would like to make some money out if it, then that becomes a different ball-game...you have to start looking at whole load of boring grown-up serious stuff, and it's very difficult to do that and balance the drive and creativity in order to succeed.

You obviously still have an interest in them, so that's not the issue. However, like a bunch of people have already said, money is not really a reliable, or creatively healthy motivator. While there are times you have to buck up and focus to finish one up because you promised it have it done by a certain time, you still have to have a little time to just let the juices flow.

You say you have one 75% complete? Is it for someone? Do you like it? Most importantly, how similar is it to the last one you built?

You might consider allowing yourself to put it on the back burner. It will wait. Start another one. Hell, start three more if you want to. Maybe you have an idea, but that 75 percenter just sitting there keeps you from "starting something else". Go for it! Don't let this, or any other creative outlet become a taskmaster.

C.B.John mentioned getting out and playing live. I will promise you this. It doesn't matter if you know 3 chords, or are a virtuoso, if you go somewhere and play, something is going to happen. Firstly, someone is going to walk by and think your guitar is the coolest thing since sliced bread. Secondly, you are going to get excited about what you are doing. As a result, you are either going to go home and build your a** off, or you are going to practice it off and maybe never build again. Either way, you win.

Built over 2000 in the last 20 years...and yes, I've had many periods of total burnout.  Take that time to PLAY the instrument.  Put the tools away and plug the instrument in an amp.  Visit an open mic.  Learn a few songs.

Thanks guys.  Yea, I picked up and started playing them, try to start learning some new song/writing some new songs.

Thanks for the advice, time to start playing more less making for a while, get that grove back.... the main reason I fell in love with cbgs, get that "old time sound" back, love the old time sound they make.  Maybe even get back into producing, hell, I got over 2k worth of recording equipment, maybe get back and record a song or two.  Get back to my roots.

Thanks everyone, I can feel to music coming back, building may take a halt for a bit.

I'd like to say I have an answer to your problem Josh, but I build for my own pleasure and have only sold one of my builds which was a commission from a friend who fell in love with one I had built as a gift for another friend. I'm retired, 67 years old and build things for fun and the personal enjoyment of creation and as a way to keep active and prevent turning into a couch potato. My take on the problem is that whenever you turn a hobby into a source of income it ruins the "hobby" part and turns it into work and we all know that work can be a painintheass.

Not everyone is the same, some people find their niche and stick to one thing.  My niche is woodworking but I have never been able to stick to one thing to build over and over.  I have to try different things.   Nothing wrong with that.  Have some other things to trade off working one and switch back and forth.  I'm just now finishing up a CBG I started 2 years ago for my Grandson.  He started bugging me again to get it done, he's been good so I will.  Maybe you are just not the type personality to mass produce one type thing.  Don't worry about it.

I think that I'm the slowest builder out there. I can make about 1 per month if I really put in the time. I have made a few copies of some of my guitars, but even then since I use broken and discarded old parts, they still come out different. I totally agree with the advice given here. If you're not totally loving what you're doing - stop. I've had to back away from projects and wait for the muse to strike again. Or, I could just be ADHD and be seriously distracted. :P

Wahaahahaha! Gott have one of those!

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