Boutique vs mass produced guitars

I agree with quality over quantity but boutique is just a buzz word, doesn't necessarily mean quality. Plus their designs are often based upon the timeless classics by Gibson and fender. Can you beat originals? I would defo only look towards the custom shop range with their instruments now. If you want a les paul the only place to look are gibson custom shop imo. i dont feel as strongly with fender designs. i love my lone star but I really would like a Tom Anderson at some point. it would have to be utterly mind blowing For me to write off my strat though.

At the moment I have 6 electric guitars. I'd happily get rid of my les Paul standard and ibanez rg and buy a single great guitar - prob a TA or Strandberg. But my les Paul custom, limited edition custom shop explorer and fender lone star (not expensive but sound great) are going nowhere. And my musicman, well that's something of a workhorse.

Everybody assumes that custom built guitars are way more expensive than stock guitars, which isn´t necessarily true.

This is the guitar that was buit for me by the small german manufacturer called "unicut guitars". The video is of my "pre-KPA" time, so it does not really reflect the tonal qualities...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBcli0Rvr5A

The feature list is quite nice i think and the quality is outstanding. However it cost me less than a standard off the shelf Les Paul (not even a special one like a Les Paul Custom).

Without the spalted maple and the Piezo it would have cost even less than a standard ESP...

Of course there are those big names when it comes to custom guitars. But if you invest some time looking for smaller companies you can get the same individuality and quality for the price of a higher priced stock guitar...

For me personally it's about having guitars that you can knock about and not care about.

I have two American PRS guitars as well as two PRS SE guitars. I use the SE versions more for gigging and noodling around and the American ones more for recording.

They all get abuse, but the cheaper ones I don't have to worry about so much, whether they get knocked about or if they need to be replaced in the future etc.

Plus an extra guitar is another option right?

Hi ,

I like mass producted guitars since they almost all have a good quality control & finish now , see the classic vibe Squier Series for instance, I used to hate the squiers, but this serie, based on real Fender vintage gear is the most valuable instruments you can get for your money. I remember the crappy stuff I got when I was a guitar noob in the 80's LOL

I mean the stock tele I got is playable with stock pickups , very light , confortable , great neck , records really really good...And so easy to replace , upgrade because they are compliant to US standards for parts.

Another example is the Vintage brand by wilkinson , mighty great value for your money while 'Boutique' in the finish & look.

Hendrix used mostly stock Fenders , He really relied on mass producted strats, to his last days.

All my other vintage stuff from the 70's & 80's became collectable and very expensive (Ibanez artist, Yamaha SG 1000, US strat ) , I would'nt get them on stage.

That said, I wouldn't buy any US Fender or Gibson because they are so expensive for what you got, I'd much prefer giving my money to a luthier with my own specs.

BTW thx for following me on souncloud, Rescator ! Listen carefully to 'Carol Ann Blues' recorded with a 200€ Vintage Les Paul (the brand not the age ) , and Mellow Tweeds , recorded with my 250€ tele , all those guitars are 2nd hand. My US /JP vintage stuff does not sound better recorded. Good stuff to the masses !!

R

For me , guitars are like tools to a cabinetmaker, like brushes to an artist.

If a musician is inspired by an instrument, it doesn't matter if it took a craftsman six months to build it, or if it was one of a thousand guitars completed in a day by a computer controlled assembly line.

Boutique instruments are great - and mass produced instruments have never been better - they are much more consistent in quality today than 50s and 60s Fenders and Gibsons.

Some of my Soundcloud clips are vintage USA guitars, and some are a beat up '90s Squier that was included for free with a pickup I bought.

So, different tools for different jobs. That free Squier sounds more "Hendrix" than my stage strats. But, the stage guitars aren't noisy

Quote from paults

For me , guitars are like tools to a cabinetmaker, like brushes to an artist.

If a musician is inspired by an instrument, it doesn't matter if it took a craftsman six months to build it, or if it was one of a thousand guitars completed in a day by a computer controlled assembly line.

Boutique instruments are great - and mass produced instruments have never been better - they are much more consistent in quality today than 50s and 60s Fenders and Gibsons.

Some of my Soundcloud clips are vintage USA guitars, and some are a beat up '90s Squier that was included for free with a pickup I bought.

So, different tools for different jobs. That free Squier sounds more "Hendrix" than my stage strats. But, the stage guitars aren't noisy

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+ 1!

Even the greatest innovators of the guitar, think Hendrix, think EVH, didn't use anything special.
In fact they used what was readily available. They didn't need special or expensive instruments to come up with something very special.
I think that's the goal of anything that has to to with arts. To come up with something special.
OTOH there is beauty and potential inspiration in a good instrument.
So all in all, I don't see any vs. here.
Boutique or mass produced, it can all be potentionally inspirational. Or not.

If I ever feel the need to get another guitar, I'll definitely go custom again, simply because there's no point for me to get a mass produced guitar. The guitar that would meet my spec requirements (baritone scale neckthrough 7-string) costs more as a mass produced model (think ESP) than ordering a custom job from Skervesen for example. And I'd get a nice looking quilt top and my choise of pickups on it instead of an all black ESP with EMGs.

Quote from AlexanderDoyle

If you want a les paul the only place to look are gibson custom shop imo.

...

All the Gibson "Custom" shop does is have better QC than the regular Gibson USA factory.
The Custom Shop uses the correct long tenon neck joint, the vintage correct bridge/tailpiece, etc.
Why doesn't the USA factory use a long tenon neck joint and vintage correct parts (every Tokai does)?
I'll tell you why, so Gibson can charge twice the price for Custom Shop models.

One has to wonder how that place works...
The regular USA factory tells you they build masterpiece works of art Les Paul Standards, the Custom Shop then tells you they also build masterpiece works of art Les Pauls for three times the price of the USA factory.

I'll put a Tokai LS160 up against any Gibson Custom Shop LP any day of the week...and it costs less than half the price.

Most of my guitars will be boutique guitars after a while - since I mod them

I always had stock guitars and it took me 25 years to realize that the necks just don't fit my (classical guitar trained) fingers and that after a while I always exchanged the pickups to get my sound and all of the pots and switches and tuners to rely on them. So last year I finally calculated:

buy a stock Strat 700 Euro
exchange pickups 300 Euro
==========================================================
total: 1000 Euro for a guitar with a fretboard that still does not fit my fingers

The same price bought me some nice computer routed Warmoth parts with a wide fingerboard and with exactly the woods, pickups and hardware that I want. I assembled it myself and now this guitar for me feels just like coming home after 25 years!

Personally I see no substitute for a custom built guitar, but I don't have one because I just can't shell out the dough to get what I really want. For those who are going the custom route, I'd advise the following:

1. You have to really know what you want and why. There is a solid reason some design choices have stood the test of time and some have not. Don't give in to internet hype. If you personally don't have a reason to use a certain wood or pickup, be very careful. Because you might get exactly what you ask for and end up with a dud.

2. A real luthier is not simply some guy who's built a couple guitars in his garage. Choose carefully. There are countless stories of people going with a hot new builder they heard about on a forum and being very disappointed in some cases never getting the instrument they paid for. If you can't speak with the builder directly and play a sample of their work, be very careful.

3. A good guitarist can make anything sound good. Remember that the majority of great players out there played off the shelf guitars. A custom guitar will not make you a better player nor guarantee any better tone than what you can get out of any off the shelf axe. This kinda points back to number one, if you can't specifically identify what it is you want out of a custom axe, be very careful. There are no guarantees.

All that said, folks should spend their money however they see fit. I see beginners opting to spend thousands on guitars and seasoned vets paying hundreds and vice versa. Do whatever makes you happy.

Quote from Will_Chen

1. You have to really know what you want and why.

Ay! That is the biggest problem of custom made guitars. If I had ordered a custom guitar 25 years ago it would very likely have been quite a crap, definitely not what I ordered now.

Quote from Will_Chen

3. A good guitarist can make anything sound good.

Even a bad guitarist can make good music. This is very icy terrain.

But still I am not quite certain, that Mr. Jimy H. really was given totally unaltered stock guitars by his guitartech. Also: the quality standard for "stock guitars" was quite different back than to what it means today.

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But still I am not quite certain, that Mr. Jimy H. really was given totally unaltered stock guitars by his guitartech. Also: the quality standard for "stock guitars" was quite different back than to what it means today.

It is well documented that Hendrix literally bought guitars off the walls of music stores. There were no after market parts in those days like today. And actually the quality in terms of consistency for stock guitars was much worse then than it is now. The vintage craze would have you believe differently, but it's simply not the case. They did not have the means to manufacture with the tolerances we are able to today. Seriously, read up on some of the stories of the early factory days of electric guitars...

Really?! Well. I remember someone played me a rusty fieldrecording of a jamsession with really boomy, boxy drums and some yelling guitars sounding really drunk and one guitar really shining bright and sounding still like Jimy H. So there must be something in it. Yes.

got today my new custom bass...its superb, one thing i learnd for live don't pay attention to any brands... only the guitar makes the sound not the brand

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Really?! Well. I remember someone played me a rusty fieldrecording of a jamsession with really boomy, boxy drums and some yelling guitars sounding really drunk and one guitar really shining bright and sounding still like Jimy H. So there must be something in it. Yes.

While he preferred a Strat, Hendrix always sounded pretty much like Hendrix no matter what guitar he played.

SG

Flying V

Who knows what was wrong but video #1 is not really a good example for a good inspiration and a skilled hand meeting just the right instrument at the right time. First thing he did after the title is over is go and swap the SG for a Strat.

I agree, even then you can still hear who is playing. But if he perfomed all his gigs like that, where would he be?