Official Luthiers Forum!

The opposite of this sentiment would be HEDGE Apples and Osage Oranges. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Here is what is in the bag. Inspected prior to disposal by the master inspector

As long as it's not road apples......

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

That's not your LOGO is it??? Oh the humanity!! You better photo shop that out now lest this picture appear some time in the future and wreak havoc on your reputation.

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Thank You and Best To All

I don't build for sale or for the money, just for my own pleasures and fun so no worries

Maks, did that soundboard break like that or was it sawn? If it broke like that, I would be interested in seeing the bracing side of the soundboard. Did the UTB pop off or did you remove it?

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

With this thread as evidence, it is obvious that this is a very personal and emotional decision for a luthier. That being said, the two points I'd like to make are:

A) It seems that it would be very easy to make the donated guitar anonymous. So many comments seem to be hung up on a flawed guitar "coming back to bite you" but that is easily remedied. Remover the label and headstock emblem, donate it without leaving your name, and you are done. Or take up the offer of the previous poster who is a teacher. No future problems to worry about.

B) While I agree that your attitude toward those less fortunate is noble, it isn't practical. And thankfully the supermarket chains and restaurants don't share your opinion. Tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people in this country are fed every day by expired food stock. Regarding guitars, I think it would be tough (though possible) for a working luthier to donate a perfectly good (and valuable) instrument. And as you said yourself, you have never donated an instrument. Perhaps if there had been an unsellable but perfectly playable one in your past, there would be a youngster out there somewhere with a love for music and and instrument to play it on rather than having nothing.

Just my opinions. Others are certainly valid.

Thanks for the conversation. To address some of your concerns....
The analogy to feeding thousands of hungry people is again IMHO apples to oranges. We could get all the active builders here to donate a guitar and not come close to that number. We're talking about a very small segment of the population there. And no one's going to starve to death over a guitar. Sooner or later, if they have the desire to play, they'll find a way. But another part of that is this, to my way of thinking. If I were to gift someone in need of a guitar to play, I would want them to be proud of it, and to not have any self consciousness about the instrument when playing with others, especially starting out. We all know the musicians' world. Instruments are regularly scoffed at as being inferior, and we're talking factory instruments here. I don't wish to give anyone any ammo to embarrass or hurt a young player just starting out. I want him/her to be confident in their instrument.
As to the reasons I have not donated an instrument, it's not because what I've made is unplayable. My very first was imminently playable and sounded great. But cosmetically not up to snuff. I've never built a GSO. I haven't gifted one yet because my instruments don't meet my standards yet for giving to someone else. Period. I have a young man in mind, but he's not getting one until I can build one worthy of the regard in which I hold him.
About not being able to afford to give better guitars away, IMHO that's a misnomer. I have yet to build a guitar cheaper because I thought it wouldn't come out good. The cost to build is the same, whether it comes out good or not. Again, I would rather strip the bad ones of anything useful and start over with new wood and gift the very best I can. The wood is the least expensive part of the build unless you're building with some crazy expensive zoot, and if you've gotten that far, you should be able to come to a predictable outcome to start with. And if I can't afford to donate a guitar here or there, I can't really afford to be doing this anyway. MHO.
Too many people want to give as long as it's something they don't really want or that doesn't cost them anything. I believe a gift should say something about who you are. I don't want mine saying that I thought so little of the person that I used them to get rid of junk I no longer want, or that they're not worthy of anything better. I want it to say "I think highly of you".
Again, all of these comments are directed at how I believe I myself should think and act, and not directed at anyone else here. I'm not asking anyone to share these convictions, nor denegrating anyone who sees things differently. Just stating what I believe and what motivates me concerning this topic.
Thanks for the discussion.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I honestly don't remember everything about the destroying process. This was my very first build, without any prior woodworking experience besides high school shop class. I believe the soundboard broke like that when I was prying it off. Nothing was cut or sawed, everything was broken off. The x brace and the UTB popped off, they were obviously not glued that well, everything else seemed pretty solid. Another note, I sanded the radius into the braces on a sander by eye, so the gluing surface was really uneven