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Why do Music Shops dislike CBG's?

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.

“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.

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on June 5, 2014 at 6:41am

Bone nuts and saddles, eh? Okay, now it's time for a little reverse snobbery!

Originally, I refused to use anything except bolts and screws for nuts and bridge saddles. I thought the Ace Hardware look was part of the CBG mystique--along with tarp grommets. Then a buddy of mine sold me an instrument with a bone saddle. When I inquired about the obviously unbleached bone he used, he reached over on his workbench and handed me a couple of femurs. (I hope they're from legally harvested whitetail deer.)

The new rule around my shop is that you can only use bone if you shoot it yourself.

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on June 5, 2014 at 10:27am

I was wondering about antlers even as I was writing about the bones. Male whitetail deer shed their antlers annually. So do other deer varieties & similarly horned animals. (Those guys with rooms full of deer horns don't shoot 'em; they just pick 'em up off the ground in the late winter.)

Wikipedia claims that European Red Deer also shed their antlers naturally in late winter.

Be careful, however. Scrounging discarded racks is apparently illegal in parts of Canada and possibly in Europe as well. You could get into trouble with the anti-poaching folks unless you carefully document your source (as you did with the antlers you have.)

In any case, antlers might be a whole new, more humane, material. Now I gotta' see if I can cut a bridge saddle that still retains its shape as a "point" on an antler so everyone can see what the source material is. Shouldn't be too hard to do if you file grooves to level out the strings.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Lindsay on June 5, 2014 at 12:16pm

The guy to talk to on this subject is Randy Bretz. He's forgotten more about bone and antler/horn for building than I've ever learned. I do know that he builds with all of them, but he specializes in bone. The man is a true artist, and his carved bone creations are legendary here.

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Permalink Reply by Amy O'Donnell on September 9, 2014 at 12:03am

They sell antlers as upscale dog chews at fancy pet stores. They are wicked expensive, but heck, you can get a lot of bridges out of one. What you'd use to carve it with though . . . My Lab can't make a dent in it.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Lindsay on September 9, 2014 at 3:50am

Again, check with Randy Bretz. If I'm not mistaken, he uses a diamond cut-off wheel in his Dremel to cut bone and antler.

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Permalink Reply by Sawbones on June 5, 2014 at 2:43pm

Yeah I've been thinking about this bfore I posted.Theres no money in it,they see it as a tramp guitar.As in said previously something to be sold at craft fairs,which is probably a better market.

The mark up wouldn't work,theres no one(ehem china) selling them by the thousands,plus who wants a CBG made by a 7yr old.My buddys dig them,but they wouldn't pay $100 for one.

Also most GC workers are wannabes or never has beens,so theres a bit of snobbery if you don't play Yngwie 1000bpm.

I may bring in a reso if I get them finished and theyre playable.They wont give me shit,I walk in looking like Zakk Wylde,plus I've spent a lot of $$$ there.I only buy strings and picks there now,so I don't even mention CBGs.I do way better on ebay believe it or not.

Bottom line no one is mass producing them,so theres no $$$ to be made.And I don't think they'd be selling a $1500 Mojo Daddy next to a real Gibson LP.

Most of these great builders on here and around the internet may sell 300-500 a year at most.More like a few dozen.

Just my bullshit view on this,I had to break this down to my uncle,I simply cant make any $$$ off them.I'd have to invest in material and chances are never make my $$$ back.If I could get cheap or free boxes,that would help,but I'd have to get all my parts wholesale,retail=no profit after time and investment.And then proper tools.Even the basic ones are expensive if you want to do it right.

And my builds don't hold a candle to some of the "first time" builds I've seen on here.I'd give a couple away for presents or something,but my ingrate buddys don't deserve shit.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Isherwood on June 6, 2014 at 8:31am

Yup, we get a bit of this attitude in the UK too!

Particularly when trying to buy bits, or more recently when buying a small amp to fit into a box. "Seasick Steve's got a lot to answer for." said the guy in the shop.

Fortunately, we've got a couple of good ebay shops, & for anything that isn't too important, there's always the far east.

Buns to the detractors, I say. I'll take my custom elsewhere.

There's a great deal of enjoyment to be had in the building of CBG's as well as in the playing.

Keep Sliding!

CGBill.

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Permalink Reply by Peter J Thorne on June 8, 2014 at 4:46am

I had a very similar experience in a music store. I walked in and asked the store owner if I could demo my 4 stringer,he looked at it, chuckled, and said sure, plug it in. I played it for maybe 30 seconds.When I stopped, he asked if he could play it. Before I knew it he was playing it like there were no limits. Of course he's an excellent guitar player to begin with. I guess putting all snobbery aside the thing a person needs to do is exactly what Wayfinder suggested. Prove it, some people just need to hear what these instruments can sound like! And I also don't think its a good idea to compare a C B G to a traditional guitar, they're not the same thing.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on June 7, 2014 at 8:04pm

made in China

made in USA

Musical instrument shops have been opening and closing for years in my corner, there are a few up in central London that do good business and scattered around but they are struggling, I think most use a shop to play with the guitars and buy online from regional stores cheaper with less overheads, and they order them in.

As somebody mentioned CBG's are considered craft or folk art and have nothing in common with mass produced guitars from the east, but if they saw them being made they might think differently!

Are there still Strats and Gibsons being made in the USA ...?

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 7, 2014 at 9:19pm

Yep. Higher end Strats are made in Corona, California, and various LP, SG and other model Gibbys are still made in Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee.

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Permalink Reply by Slowpaw Steve T on June 8, 2014 at 1:40am

well thanks for that info Ron....but they're $$$$$$$$$$$$$ !! (-;

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 8, 2014 at 2:46am

Of course, they're priced in dollars! ;-). But the Squiers are still cheap at $100. Only problem for you is shipping cost; doubles or triples the bill. Hack a Squier with expensive pups, and it's still 1/3 the cost of a Standard or Deluxe.