Looking past the name on the headstock

I see it everytime I walk in a music store.  Rows and rows of nice new shiny instruments with a name painted in white on the headstock.  Fender, Gibson, Takamine, Yamaha, Washburn and the list goes on and on.  There was a time when you could see a name and know whether it was worth its salt or not.  That was back when shops were run out of people's backyard sheds, when deals were made on handshakes and when you couldn't send mail to somebody instantly with a touch of a button!

Nowadays many guitar makers don't really resemble their namesake.  If you read about the history of some of these makers and compare it to the present you'll realize that the past is truly the past.  Many shops have closed down and moved production to Asia and Indonesia and all that's left of the history and tradition of the past is just a name.

You really have to dig deeper than the name.  You have to look past the name on the headstock and find out what types of woods are being used, if they are solid or if they have certain types of bracing.  You simply have to pick these instruments up... play them and listen to them.  You have to look at them to see if they have quality fit and finish.

If you are looking for a truly high-end guitar you have to look at the year the guitar was made.  In some years, better wood was in supply, or timber was cut in a certain area of the world that made wonderful sounding instruments.  That wood may not be available anymore.  You have to look at  luthiers on staff at companies, you have to look at production rates and ask the question can they produce a high quality product with x amount of guitars going out the door each day?

I can't stress enough that you just have to pick the instrument up and play it.  I've bought instruments in the past just for the sake of value.  I thought I had found the best instrument on the market in terms of wood, craftsmanship and price... only to get it home and play it for 6 months and realize the fret work was terrible and the neck wasn't setup properly and could probably never be fixed.

Marketing and advertising greatly influence us nowadays.  We'll hear about so and so playing a certain instrument.  We'll see somebody wearing a shirt advertising a type of guitar or see a vintage instrument which was at one time handmade by a master luthier in America... then we'll apply that marketing and knowledge to a new instrument with the same name that might be mass produced by unskilled workers in Asia.  We'll bring it home and play it and find out rather quickly that it doesn't represent the vintage instrument with the same name we saw at a jam at all.

There is a huge difference in instruments with many factors influencing their sound.  Don't just buy based on a name alone.  Take time to play your instruments before buying them.  Be patient and don't let a slick marketer make you think that what is mass produced in Asia is representative of the history and tradition the maker may have had in the past.

- SD