What Makes a Great Guitar

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Written by Frank J. Pasquale

There are plenty of good guitars on the market but there are very few great ones. I am often asked what it is that makes a guitar “great”. This question inevitably  becomes; “What makes your guitars so great”?  My answer is always the same… “Everything and Nothing”. When I say this I usually get the same response that you are thinking right now…”that doesn’t make any sense”.

The truth is that there is no single factor that makes a guitar great. There is no magic trick, no spells to weave and no voodoo that  makes it great. It’s the right combination of 1000 small things that makes a guitar great.

There are factors such as wood choices, body shapes, neck contours, weight , musical styles, hardware, pickups,  finishes, amplification and affordability that all factor in to a great guitar and all of these decisions have to be made before a single cut is ever made.

Once the manufacturing process begins every single cut and rout has to be made in perfect conjunction with every other cut and component to ensure proper intonation, vibration and tuning stability.  It is this attention to detail that sets us apart from other companies. It is the craftsmanship of the builder that makes a guitar great.

I have been told that the manufacturing process of the average guitar made on a assembly line of a major guitar manufacturer takes approximately 8 minutes from start to finish. The components are all cut by robotic CNC machines which require almost no human skill or craftsmanship. Once these components are manufactured  they are finished in bulk quantities and they are off to an assembly line where a factory worker is required to assemble them in a span of eight minutes. That is approximately 7.5 guitars made per hour or 60 guitars per day per employee.

Now that’s not to say that they didn’t make 60 good guitars that day but the odds of making a great one are few because so many crucial variable can get overlooked. The average manufacturing time for one of our guitars is about 12 weeks with a total of 40+ hours from first cut to final setup. We not only control all of these elements in the manufacturing process but we help guide the buyer in making the best possible choices for their particular playing style. Our clients know what they want in a guitar it is our job to help make it a reality.