Hello all,
I have always been pretty good at crafting things since I was a little boy. I've always tore things apart just to see how they are put together. I’ve built a few CBG’s back in High School in the 80's and started building them again a few months back since it’s been a bit easier to pick up cheap cigar boxes.
When going to a few local music’s store in my area to try and pick up parts, (New Jersey) I seem to get the same reply from some of the store owners or employees when they ask me what I am using the parts for.
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“Why do you want to build that for, they all sound like crap” or a get the old eye roll.
I firmly disagree with them and usually thank them for their time and walk out. It seems to me that CBG’s are look down on. I work at a school and even the music teacher here gives me a look when I mention it to him. I have bought one in and even he said the my craftsmanship is very nice and professional, he tells me I should just save my money and time and buy a nice guitar. Has anyone else run into this kind of behavior, or is it just a north-eastern thing.
I have many interest including playing the Bagpipes, Guitar, and Drums, but having a wife and 4 wee ones have been taking up a majority of my time.
Replies
One reason: Lack of Imagination!
We have our local CBG meeting 4 time a year at a music shop, The Strum Shop in Roseville, CA, in fact our next meeting is 1 pm on Sunday, September 28th, 2014. Everyone is welcome!
I'm up for a car pool. Come get me. Just a short drive from CA to Wichita Falls, Tx., ain't it? I need to be home for supper though, as my Missus don't take excuses these days. :-)
I have reccently been to just almost every music store in Wichita Falls, myself. I noticed that none of them has a single CBG on their racks and vitrually none of the sales folk seemed to know anything about them when questioned. It was not a bit different when I asked about a lap steel guitar, as well. Virtually the same comments as you listed, One store sold pretty much nothing except high dollar stuff and the store was empty of customers each time I went by. Another sold mostly drums and had vitrually 50 different sets on display and very, very few guitars. It is really doubtful the guy is selling boat loads of drums in a town as small as Wichita Falls.Most that were set up in his store were an off-brand to begin with. His guitar guy only worked one day a week, according to the owner, so speaking to him about anything related to any guitar was almost worthless. I believe that I saw a stand where CBG's were being sold when we went to a swap meet in McKinney a while back, but I was not looking to make one at the time and I am working off an old memory bank, so it may have been somewhere besides McKinney.
I was surprised that no one here seemed to have much info on a lap steel either, but the owner of the last music store I was in yesterday did tell me that one of his customers goes to Oklahoma City for guitar lessons on his. That is a pretty long trip for a 30 minute lesson though. His assistant at that music store theaches banjo, but seemed to have zero interest in CBG stuff when we discussed that. It is a bit odd, as Texas has such a country and western background, especially in these smaller Texas cities. However, I noticed that most of the guitars tended to be along the lines of what you would see at a heavy metal show. You know, in the shape of a flame or such. The stores are a far cry from the music stores I grew up with. The tastes have changed and just like most pawn shops these days, much of the inventory sold at these stores is vastly over-priced. I guess it is sort of like going to an AutoZone and expecting the pimple-faced service guy at the counter to be able to discuss anything beyond 1990 or find anything without looking it up in a computer. Not all music stores are like this, I am sure, but the ones I have visited here so far sure are. Every drum set in the store I mentioned above had a sign saying not to play on the drums. There is a mean-spirited part of me that always tempts me to do exactly the opposite when I see such. :-)
Oh, well, I am still in the looking process, so there may be one or two stores I have overlooked and have yet to have visited down here. I sure hope so, any way.
My 2 cents on the subject is this. I only recently bought a 4 stringer off evilbay and love it, but what's more important, it showed me the simplicity of making a stringed musical instrument. I'm now the proud owner of a 6 string resophonic and every time I even look at it, no less play it, I'm amazed I made it and have to smile. I'll probably never make another but I'll always have this one and everyone who hears it is impressed, (not so much by my playing). The thing is it's singularity, there will never be a chance to run into someone who has the same thing and that's the beauty of ALL CBG's ! A well made CBG is a thing of remarkable originality, beauty and history, not some off the shelf " Mac-instrument" (you know, like MacDonalds). That's the way they should be offered to stores and private parties alike and piss on anyone who looks down on them cause they're not the norm. These are definitely not made for the masses, but for the select few that think outside the "box", pun intended.
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I run into that a lot. Especially at the local music store but those guys have a long going rep of being snobs and jerks about everything. They seem to think that since they are the only music store in town for a few decades now they can charge whatever they want and treat people like dirt and they'll keep coming back because they have no other choice. I tell everyone I meet to try online music stores. You can pay shipping on a pack of strings and still save $4 or $5 over what they charge for the same thing! But I think a lot of the disdain is they don't understand it. I get a ton of people telling me I'll never sell mine for the price I;m asking because its just a toy. They've arrived at this conclusion after looking at it for about 30 seconds from across the room. But I sell a lot of them and mostly to guys who are ineradicable musicians and many people tell me I should charge more for such a quality piece. So I just ignore the nay-sayers and feel pleased in knowing how wrong they are. There are really more people out there who like CBG's than don't.
I live in New York state very close to the Jersey boarder. In my experience the reaction has been mixed.
The owner of a local Mom and Pop guitar store commented that " home made guitars often sound good but the finish always falls short of a factory built instrument". I would have to agree with that statement. My guitars and ukes function great but even the cheapest Chinese guitar has tighter manufacturing tolerances then any cigar box guitar I've ever seen. Lets face it the boxes are designed to hold cigars not make music.
Keep in mind, most of us never build the same guitar twice. We aren't automated factories pumping out hundreds of the exact same product. We're resourceful craftsman building one of a kind works of art.
I was selling CBGs at a Rock n Roll Flea Market and my booth was placed next to a owner of another Mom and Pop guitar store. At first I got the looks but at the end of the day he bought a three string from me for his personal collection.
You never know about the quality of the instruments that people have played in the past. So folks draw conclusions based on there personal experience.
The people who buy my guitars want to own something unique. The primal look of an instrument built from spare parts is 80% of the appeal for people who like that sort of thing.
If you want CBGs to be respected by musicians, never put inferior product on the table. Our guitars have to be comfortable to play and sound good. The Lo Fi sound is great, but buzzing frets, poor action and fragile instruments make us look bad.
I love looking at what people are building on this site but in some rare cases the instruments are beautifully creative but look like make music is secondary to the artistry of the guitars embellishments. I still enjoy looking at them and admire their beauty.
I hope I don't sound to judgmental. I really do believe in the "No rules" philosophy of this site.
Good reply.
I may print out your last 4 paragraphs and hang them on my wall (next to the canjo.)
Incidentally, I handled a beautiful but heavily lacquered CBG at a festival last weekend. It felt odd. I much prefer shellac or antique oil finish for that "loved but earthy" feel.
They don't make money from CBG's most don't sell them and there is no mark up. They want to sell $2000 Martins and Taylors. Most CBG's are not fine crafted instruments.
You have to play the crap out of one to get anyone's attention.
If a music store haven't seen a CBG before (still happens), they think it's a craft item. If they have seen a CBG before, chances are the quality was less than good (new builders strutting their stuff before they're ready...Ive done this.) The other issue is control. With a factory built item, the price and quality is controlled. CBGs supply, appearance and quality are not uniform. This is scary to a music shop used to thinking in selling many of exactly the same item over a season. Even if they like it, they might think "What if I sell a good sounding CBG, can I get 20 more just like it?"
Then, some don't want to foster competition in a limited market. They think CBGs compete of the same $$'s that the squires of the guitar world.are after. This is their bread and butter.
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