Customs replacing Big companies?

[Haunted Cereal]

I was thinking about how custom guitars are becoming easier and cheaper to get a hold of and how luthiery(sp?) seems to be becoming more and more popular. In the near future there could very well be a shift to more personally crafted instruments as opposed to buying something from stores with a brand name on it. I'm not saying that would disappear completely, at least not for a very long time if ever. There's always gonna be that guy that wants a Gibson because it says Gibson on it or a Fender because it says fender on it etc. Anyway, i thought it was interesting and figured some other people might wanna discuss it. Thoughts?

 

[WarriorOfMetal]

I think you're confusing the relatively small number of gear nerds on forums with the general guitar-playing population, most of whom are either totally happy with some sub-$500 thing, or are brand-name snobs.

 

[MFB]

Full on customs aren't becoming cheaper, SEMI-customs are and as for the quality of them being great - well, take a look at how some of the Roter semi-customs turned out.

I don't think it's at all possible for luthiers to overtake big companies as the turn arounds would slow down to a crawl due to the high volume of orders, and luthier sanity would dwindle over time due to customers nagging for the order status and that would probably lead to full refunds for waiting customers and those who's guitar is being worked will be finished then have it be the end.

 

[Asrial]

The companies will never die.

Ibanez, ESP, BC Rich and Schecter are creating revenues and reputation on sponsors (KoRn, Metallica, GHPh3nom (yes, he is sponsored by BC Rich ), Loomis, Kerry King, A7X, Dragonforce and so on, all got something with those companies).
Kids sees what their heroes are playing, and buys a budget-model from the company, and grows accustom to the brand.

Custom guitars on the other hand, are very high end instruments, that requires alot of work, effort and planning to make the desired instrument, that suits the customers needs.
Custom guitar builders are for example RAN, blackmachine, Illustrated (retired) and some more. Those are the ones I can mention from the top of my head, I know there's plenty more.

Gibson is dead.

 

[Unknown Doodl3.2]

Gibson is dead.

Their sales figures say otherwise.

 

[JohnIce]

Indeed, I think the OP confuses SS.org with the real world I'd be very surprised if the big companies have lost anything at all to custom luthiers.

 

[Prydogga]

Gibson's far from dead. Their ideas may well be. But I'd say over 80% of the mainstream music world is saturated with Fender and Gibson.

Big guitar companies aren't going anywhere.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Gibson's far from dead. Their ideas may well be. But I'd say over 80% of the mainstream music world is saturated with Fender and Gibson.

Add to the fact that most guitarists in general are quite frankly stuck in the past and fear change.

 

[loktide]

will never happen.

custom builders might appeal to the the boutique gear enthusiast, while 99% of the guitarists out there just won't drop >3000$ on a guitar they won't get to play before buying it. let alone spend so much on one single instrument.

luthiers/custom builders also don't have the capacity or machinery to build guitars at a large enough scale to keep things cost-effective for the 'average consumer'. so even IF most people were willing to spend the cash for custom built instruments, builders wouldn't be able to cope with the demand (blackmachine?).

the amount of people getting custom build guitars on this page is completely misleading and doesn't reflect the 'real' demand. we wouldn't be posting here if we weren't the small fraction of gear enthusiasts among guitarists.

 

[Prydogga]

Here would be one of the worst sites to reflect on mainstream buying, seeing as we're (by definition) against the grain in buying guitars, I mean it is Sevenstring.org, plus it's been months since I've seen a Gibson or Fender, and anything else production sans Ibanez, Schecter, Suhr, PRS etc. seems very few and far between.

 

[vampiregenocide]

Full customs aren't cheaper than before, if anything some luthier's have had to bump up their prices with the economic climate being what it is. Semi-customs are making hand-made guitars more accessible to others but they still are as expensive as a mid-range production instrument such as a prestige Ibanez. Both luthiers and large companies have their place, and neither are going anywhere anytime soon.

Some people like hand-made customs, some people prefer production guitars. There will always be a market for each and the fact of it is that production guitars, infact anything made in a factory, is going to sell more than a few guitars made by one guy at home. And the fact is production guitars become iconic, look at the stratocaster, the Les Paul and the telecaster, those are iconic guitars. People buy those because the classics used them, they've been tried and tested over decades and they have a stigma attached to them that a small unknown builder simply can't replicate.

 

[Disco Volante]

People on SS.org, the JP forums, Jemsite, etc are in the 1 percentile of the market for guitar players. The vast majority of everyone else in the world still buys their name brand guitars from an e-tailer or a douchebag named "Bob" at Guitar Center (No offense to any Bob's on here) who will tell you virtually whatever you want to hear in order to make that commission.

The proof is in basic supply/demand economics. Small time luthiers simply cannot keep up with demand for their hand-made instruments. Obviously a CNC mass produced guitar can ensure a relatively consistent product at significantly higher production rates. Luthiers cater to a small boutique niche market.

The big companies such as Fender, Gibson, PRS, ESP, Ibanez, and their subsidiaries to name just a few are big for 2 reasons. 1. It works! They are efficient at mass producing a product. 2. Marketing and brand recognition. People are just naturally wired to seek out some sort of brand recognition when purchasing a product. It's no secret to forumers here that a company such as Gibson can sell their product purely on brand interpretation and high brand awareness amongst the general population -- even amongst non-guitar players.

 

[RideFour15]

Go to a local show and see how many people are playing high-end instruments (let alone customs) and how many are playing budget instruments.

Around here I occasionally see someone with Ibanez Prestige models or a Gibson, but most dudes seem to spend most of their money (if they spend a lot of money at all) on the amp and not guitars. I've seen guys with $3000+ Mesa setups and ridiculous amounts of pedals play $300 guitars with stock pickups.

 

[beneharris]

People on SS.org, the JP forums, Jemsite, etc are in the 1 percentile of the market for guitar players.

yeah even take a look at forums like UG. Custom instruments are very much a niche thing, most people don't want, or need them

 

[MaxOfMetal]

It'll never happen. Ever.

 

[4Eyes]

although the custom instruments became more popular in the past years and I personally own one, I don't think that custom guitars from small luthiers will replace the branded instruments. it's too small market in comparison to the market with branded instruments. there are still thousands and thousands of cheap guitars from Asia, there also thousands of guitars produced by top brands. for people who want something special there are custom shops of top brands which produce also another appreciable quantity of instruments and so on. let's compare this mass production to the small luthiers who produce few instruments, maybe 10-20, or slightly more.. it's totally disproportion

 

[darren]

I'm glad to see that my "cheap customs are not economically viable" arguments are reaching a receptive audience!

 

[TemjinStrife]

I'm glad to see that my "cheap customs are not economically viable" arguments are reaching a receptive audience!

Thank god. I was getting really sick of everyone saying "Get a custom! They're getting cheaper!"

They're definitely not.

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

I'm sorry OP, I fear you may be mildly retarded.

 

[SirMyghin]

Given the oppurtunity I generally look for semi customs to suit my needs over production models. I have not however gone full custom. Semi customs will still never replace the big markets either as people associate the 'good feel' and 'good sound' with the big names. They think that is how a good guitar feels, no exceptions so to speak.