Official Luthiers Forum!

By and large, I'd say no. If it was someone I'm a crazy fan of, then I probably would, just for the geeky awesomeness of working with them on the design and seeing them play it afterward. Friends and family are another matter as well, particularly as I build my first guitars that I'll be keeping myself otherwise (although I do want to keep most of them).

But for strictly advertising purposes, it seems a little excessive. If it works, you have more customers than you can keep up with. If it doesn't, you 'wasted' a bunch of work. I might give a discount if I suspect they would play it where people would see it (too many customers is better than not enough, of course), but if they're that famous, they probably can afford to pay for it, and may very well appreciate it more if they do. Plus it gives them a chance to relay what it's like to work with you as a regular customer, rather than getting special treatment. And I think it gives a better impression to your future customers if Big Famous Person is no more special than they are.

One thing to consider is how much do you believe in your guitars. Do you know or believe your guitars are something special, and that giving this particular guitar to this particular person will motivate him/her to play the guitar, in concerts, on recordings, or writing songs, etc. Or is it just an attempt to become a famous luthier, or sell more guitars. These are not mutually exclusive ideas, but I think this is worth thinking about. As a beginning builder, you might think you build amazing guitars, and maybe you do, but you have to think about how this person will perceive your guitar that you are giving away to them. They may not like it, maybe they'll just give it to a friend or treat it like crap because it doesn't mean anything to them, and that may have more to do with the fact that the guitar does not speak to them then the fact that it was free.

I would give a guitar away on the basis of how much I believe in my guitars, and how much I believe in this particular musician, and also yeah, how well I know this person. I wouldn't walk up to a random famous musician and just say, "I built this guitar for you", and then hope that this is a good marketing ploy. I really think with selling guitars, marketing is a factor, but I feel it really boils down to how good are your guitars??? If you give a guitar to someone, will they love the instrument to the point that they feel the need and the honor to speak of the person who built their beloved instrument. I think you better believe that your guitars are something special if you are going to give one away.

Thanks for this wonderful discussion. So many good points here that I don't even know where to begin to reply. So I'll let your posts speak for them selves and just say thank you. I will say this though, I've been building guitars on and off for about 18 years now and I've made some really good ones and some really bad ones. I am now at the point where I can make a style of guitars that have reasonable precision in tone. But the few guitars I have made that have that perfect accuracy in tone are hard to get again. So as most of us know no two guitars sound the same (accuracy) though through experience we get them to be close (precision). That is why I have always preferred to have a handful of guitars in stock that players could try out before they buy. Building one as a custom job for a certain player always makes me nervous, but it's getting better.

regards

I'm not sure that I would build a guitar to someone's specifications and then give it to him/her. To me, that is pushing the envelope more than I am willing to do. I have given several instruments away, mostly to family; but I have given two guitars to artists whom I admire. One, a friend of long standing as a surprise birthday gift and another to a very-much admired artist and someone I always pay to see in concert. That one, I presented to him after one of his concerts, while he was signing autographs. Neither of these two guys had any idea that the guitar was coming. It gave me a good feeling to know that these guys would play an instrument that I made, maybe once, maybe a lot. I wasn't seeking endorsement or anything in return. And, as long as I am wishing, I can hope that when and if one of these guys play his instrument, he will admire its sound and maybe even the workmanship.

As I write this, I must point out that I am not necessarily building guitars to make a living or even for some profit, here and there. I am doing my building for fun of it and for those feelings of accomplishment when everything works out just right..

Tom

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I spent most of my money on women, guitars and whiskey, the rest I wasted.

I'm just finishing a free build right now, so I thought I'd add my 2 cents:

This guitar is a gift for a friend who lost his son in Iraq. I had a picture of his son engraved for the headstock. In my mind, any price would lessen the value, and I consider it a privilege to give something to someone whose family paid such a price for my freedom and security. I know it's a different scenario than building for a well known player, but I imagine there are many things in common.

While I'd gladly donate my time for something like this, there are definitely some things you think about differently, like tuners. I still bought good quality tuners, but I didn't choose the gold Waverly ones I really wanted. Also, I thought of adding electronics, but decided against that too. I'm still trying to figure out a good case, but I know I can't afford a Calton or Ameritage.

I think John Hall makes a lot of sense though -- very few professionals give away instruments. I was only able to do this because I had a day job with a consistent income. If many pros make about 10-15 instruments per year, it is much more of an investment. How many occasions are there where you would take 10% of your salary, and give it to someone in one lump sum, just because you like their music? By the time someone becomes popular enough to influence guitar sales, they have already come to the point where they have already bought many expensive instruments. It does make sense to spend money to make money, but it doesn't seem right to give a millionaire something that is a huge portion of my total family income when they pay for other quality items.


Lee

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https://www.facebook.com/lee.nunes.35

Wayne Henderson was a famous builder long before clapton asked him to build a guitar.and I would bet Fernandez was building world class instruments long before he had an opportunity to build one for segovia
there is an article about this very subject in the american luthery summer 2010 issue , by john Calkin... in a nut shell he says( paraphrasing by memory) ... if your work is good enough that a virtuoso would want it, you should'nt need to give it away, if its not, you probably won't get the opportuinity anyways .... along the same lines he does advocate selling your early work " at a discount' to support your hobby, and to get some of your work out there.

I had a world class picker play my first solo build,after it had been strung up for a year ( and a day, to be precise) he liked the action ( it was realy a bit low for him, as I play with a soft touch, I set it up for that ) and the tone. there was one small thing he didnt like, and I greatly appreciated his being straight forward with me.I will definatly have the next guitar I hand to a pro to play ready to take a pounding !
he didnt offer to buy the guitar . why would he when people are paying him to play their guitars ? and I didnt offer it to him for free either ! Jody

I have been asked to build a guitar for a very good player who is prominent on the acoustic guitar show scene and does demo playing for several guitar makers and has for me as well. He wanted me to build a guitar for him using his materials and to do so at no charge to him. He already has an exclusive representation with another well known luthier but promised some visibility for my guitars anyway. I elected to pass on this but I see that he has other guitars by luthiers that I know and I assume they took him up on the offer as he had told me that it was not his practice to purchase guitars.

Now move to a couple of years later and I get a call from a musician (touring professional) interested in my guitars. I was in LA at the time and made arrangements for him to play my guitars. He was impressed by the guitars and wanted to purchase one. I was also highly impressed with him as a singer/songwriter/player and wanted him to be using one of my guitars. I decided to offer him a nice discount in order to guarantee that he bought one and asked if he could do some demos for my website in exchange. He also demoed my guitars at a show last year. We have a great relationship now and both have gained from it. Last time he came thru on tour, he stayed at my house and I got a great free concert and good feedback on several guitars that I had lying about. I have also sold more than one guitar based directly on his recommendation.

So I guess it all depends on how you feel about the player. If I thought I was being taken advantage of, then I wouldn't do it and I probably would not do it without some substantial (it doesn't always have to be cash either) in return.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

If the guitars were good enough, the musician (through contract) agreed to a defined visibility, and they had the right audience, heck yes.