Having just completed guitar #12, a classical in the style of José Ramirez from the 1960s, I wanted to share some updated thoughts in general about guitars, the guitar market, and custom guitar building. Here I go . . . .

In a time where so many factories and builders are producing guitars looking for players, my current approach is this: I am building one guitar at a time for that player looking for a special instrument. And so what is truly special anymore?

I got to thinking about this a while back when I repair client of mine was talking about having owned many fine instruments from the past, as well as budget instruments from the present, concluding that he "loved them all"--and especially his latest finds from an Asian manufacturer overseas, whom he'd discovered on Reverb.com. He finished his musings with the statement that were he to order a custom instrument,
". . . I really wouldn't know what I'd ask for." I appreciated his honesty (with himself and with me).

I really think that many people truly do not know as well, although they think they do because they've spent hundreds or even thousands of hours on the internet reading about what others think about ideal wood combinations, models, bracing styles, etc., and so they fall into a consumer mindset about what is "best," versus being open-minded to what may be simply different, and surprisingly wonderful (or, wonderfully surprising), when they actually try something new out. I've seen this happen so many times, that it simply becomes a fact associated with the experience of a serious search for a "true love" type of instrument.

Through the years, I’ve watched as we have moved into a period where the consumer/client/customer will place an order for a custom-built instrument, perhaps agreeing to a waiting list of many months to even years, only to finally receive it, then turn around and try and sell it on the used market—sometimes within weeks after it finally arrives. Oftentimes it appears that this happens not because the guitar was not a great one, but because, in this era of “FOMO,” with a myriad of instruments floating around out there all the time on the open market, and given the ease of pulling out the card and getting that shiny new (or new-to-you) thing dropped off by a big box truck . . . well, where does this end?

As highly-trained and practiced consumers of products seeking “value-for-money” churning through commodified items or “offerings” we find (mainly on the internet), we don’t make the effort like we did in the past to search for and find something that we can be thrilled with, commit to, and genuinely enjoy for decades as it gets better and better with use. Instead, we use the fast-paced world of internet forums, auction sites, and retail outlets to burn through branded items and carefully crafted creations alike as if they were boxed products on a shelf to be run through so that we can settle on a what turns out to be a temporary favorite—only to find ourselves burned out due to having been spoiled for choice for so long now that we end up not really knowing what we want after all—or else we burn out and end up with 25+ instruments telling ourselves that we don’t really have a favorite . . . until the next new thing comes out and so we get it and eventually burn out on it, as well. It doesn't matter if it's seen as either "top shelf" or the latest budget production bargain--following the trends just rarely seems to satisfy.

Sure--people pursue "the classics" from bygone eras, but then they often come to see these as "investments," such that they will put up these "special" instruments, afraid to play them for fear that they will scratch or damage them, de-valuing them for "when it comes time to let them go" (an actual statement I've seen people say on the internet).

Why would you ever let go of a truly special instrument?

And then there those situations wherein you've owned and played dozens or hundreds of guitars throughout your lifetime, only to discover that you love that what is truly special to you is that budget Asian import that spoke to you in the music store all those years ago . . . and so that 's why you've hung on to it all these years because when you get down to it, it still speaks to you even today.

I am calling back to a time when finding a unique and custom-built item of any kind was special, because you had not seen anything like it anywhere before, and because when you encountered it, and took it into your hands, and investigated it for yourself, then you made the decision whether or not this thing was going to be yours, and yours to keep (and perhaps hand on to the next generation in your family sometime down the road). You trusted your experience, and you committed to making music on this instrument that you fell in love with. You bought it for life ("BILF") because it was valuable to you from the start, and you foresaw that it could remain valuable to you and others for a lifetime.

Be it a classical or an acoustic guitar; this is what I endeavor to build for you.

A word about classical guitars in 2025:

I recently completed a long survey of the current state of the market for classical guitars, as I completed guitar #12, and considered purchasing a high-end ($10,000.00+ USD) instrument for study purposes going forward. To make what could become a long story short, among the vast array of talented makers both young and old of traditionally-braced, double-top, and lattice-braced instruments, the ones that (still) truly stand out to me (and apparently to the dealers and demonstrators of these instruments, judging by their own reactions in their high-quality video demonstrations and reviews) are the traditionally-braced guitars, hands down. In fact, it's been interesting to me through the years to poll the classical guitarists who bring their instruments to me as to what their preferences are when it comes to the newer designs, and I have yet to hear anyone tell me that they prefer a lattice or a double-top. In fact, they make it a point to say that they do not like them at all.

Oh, and don't get me wrong, I've handled and heard a few that sound really nice--but
then they end up doing only one nice sound well; they lack the dynamics and lyricism that the traditionally-braced guitars--when done well--almost invariably have. When you hear this, it is unmistakable. When you hear the more modern guitars, however, after a few seconds you cannot stop hearing their little "peca-peca-peca" attack sound of the notes, as the strings' vibration dances around in all kinds of places inside the guitar that are different from the places that this energy goes to inside the traditional guitar. The modern instruments have basically been well-thought-out and designed so as to produce an overly-disciplined sound spectrum, which--while pleasing in some frequencies--are not able to produce the fuller spectrum of what we want to hear from the really great classical guitar.

So why do people seem seem to prefer a more modern guitar? Because it's popular, that's why. Because just as it can be with any popular product, a group dynamic sets in, and people will "oooh!" and "aaah!" and revel in the notion that the naked emperor's clothing is just the best thing! People like to belong to a group. People have trouble trusting themselves when a majority of any kind loudly, efficiently, and attractively organizes itself. Hmmmmm.

What are the traditional designs that I am talking about? Torres-inspired. Santos Hernandez. Manuel and Jose Ramirez. Robert Bouchet, and his deep thinking about the Torres designs, and what he was able to accomplish as a result of this.

A word about acoustic guitars in 2025:

I'll get into this more in-depth soon, but suffice to say, almost all the modern custom makers appear to be copying each other, and their bracing designs amount to a guitar that is either too "tinny" or else too "breath-y." Judge for yourself, but in my experience, people still want a guitar that will speak with authority as well as in a delicate whisper, and not everyone plays "Celtic-inspired" music, which appears to be what these guitars are all designed for. People want to be able to strum with abandon, and finger-pick with dynamics, nuance, and passion.