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I was walking through the Minneapolis Airport last night and was struck by a glass display case that had a unique and gorgeous handmade acoustic guitar within. ....McPherson Guitars
http://www.mcphersonguitars.com/

Inside of the display case, behind the guitar was a professional advertising poster showing the unique features and benefits. Attached to the outside was a box with take-away brochures.

I checked out the website and was equally impressed with some very unique features related to soundhole placement, bracing and fretboard extension. The sound clips are also impressive.

Does anyone else do this type of marketing...I'm sure it's not cheap! I only have one brochure but if anyone wants it, PM me.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

McPhersons are handmade?

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I think I know what you meen Howard, but to clearify...

Are McPherson's mass produced or just a small shop with a couple of builders, or just a one man shop?

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Matt has alot of money Take a look !
http://www.fastestbows.com/press/2002/pearson_mcpherson_merg e.htm http://pentecostalevangel.ag.org/conversations2003/4649_Gold enrule.cfm

Lance

nothing there Lance

can you try again.

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

http://pentecostalevangel.ag.org/conversations2003/4649_Gold enrule.cfm

This software has a way of sometimes putting spaces into a webaddress and it doesn't work. I went back to the root and worked my way out, just look at the address carefully and you can do it too. BD

Thanks Lance, more to this guy than meets the eye. Thanks for sharing it with us. Interesting.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

The soundbites are good but the guitar does nothing for me estethically.... Some of the woods are very nice, however, and those back braces are pretty funky.
   I just wonder what kind of effects went into the recording.... They don't mention anything. Easier to get a good soundbite with a studio full of equipment....

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

That's a very nice looking guitar! I always thought many of the best luthiers were way better builders than marketers (I guess that's the way it should be). I think for luthiers to make a full time go at it, they really need to improve the marketing and business side of their skills. That McPherson guitar sells for $5,000. I'm sure he's spending some of that on his marketing--and it's money well spent.

Cheers!

John John Elshaw38769.9637962963

The reality is when you price your guitars out, you SHOULD make an allowance for marketing. I agee with you John, there is a lot of room for improvement for luthiers to market their wares.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

But can you buy your way into the guitar market?
Lance

Is there a consensus of opinion on the performance of these guitars?...among performers?...among luthiers? Seems like marketing is nice but won't the market really determine worth in the long run?...especially opinions from demanding professional performers.

I'm reminded of the hype surrounding Ovation Guitars...where are they now?

BTW, I only assumed these were handmade since I hadn't heard of them. Are they?

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

JJ, I see that guitar at least twice a week in my travels as a NWA pilot...man, the times I've thought of taking a brick to work with me and OWNING that thing! (TSA won't let me take a glass cutter!)...But, they'd revoke my deaconship over to the church if they found out about it....oh well, back to the shop and maybe I can build a guitar for ME someday!

PS, the photo of Amy Grant hugging the thing probably doesn't hurt sales either!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

There's nothing wrong with being a good builder and a good marketer...it can take you a long ways (see Bob Taylor). But it seems like a lot of builders view self-promotion as a distraction and a chore and would rather not spend any more time on it than they absolutely have to. Ideally, that seems to be the situations where a dealer relationship is mutually beneficial. That being said, however, word of mouth is the best advertising and some builders have shot from relative obscurity to the top of the heap mainly on the buzz their guitars (and/or the people who chose to play them) generated.

When viewing the whole marketing/promotion thing, it helps to have a clear picture of where you want to go as a builder. I talked to one builder who simply said - I don't want a dealer because I don't want to sell any more guitars than I'm selling now. It's enough work for me and my wife and I don't want to hire other people, so any more sales are more trouble than their worth. A very valid perspective, and I was impressed that he had his business goals well defined enough to be satisfied when he achieved them.

Andrew Wright
Managua, Nicaragua

Lance McCollum, This is completely off topic, but didn't you make Dominic Gaudious's guitar ?? He did a little concert near where I live a little while back. There was also a jam session afterwards. His guitar was awesome!!!

I think it is a given that you have to make a great guitar first. There are more and more luthiers building great guitars. Now, that being said, there are many who build great guitars but will never make a decent living at it because they either ignored or were unaware of many of the business implications. It's hard enough making a living as a luthier as it is. Now add poor business practices and it's a formula for doom. I think that's why you see so many part time luthiers. This community could definitly benefit from something like the small business association or some other helpful group.

John

I think you guys are right ( IMHO )...marketing is important. But equally so is knowing how to price your product. Many of us shy away from numbers and calculating things because it seems intimidating. HOWEVER, many of us forget the true cost of producing the instrument( supplies, electricity, ins., other utils, opportunity cost/lost) and then ask for (sell- price) very little because we simply want to sell an instrument. I don't think this is a good practice. If you worked long and hard enough to produce an instrument that's worthy of being sold in a public forum then by golly ask a decent/deserving price. I see so many beginner's and seasoned luthiers both, selling their products for too low/so little. I think they realy do an injustice to themselves and to others who then lower their prices to " compete". Sure the sophisticated player will know the better, from the not as good builders, but it hurts everyone to charge too little for your art. I know some will disagree with me and say "you have to start somewhere". O.K. but does it have to be at the bottom...? I a not saying charge "x" regardless of quality. I am saying charge "x" because of quality and also because you deserve to get paid for your hard work ( and recover costs).

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

That's a hard row to hoe....
You still have to factor in the consumer end of that equation, which is "will they pay x dollars for a product made by someone they've never heard of?". Few will take a risk on an unknown builder, unless the price is so attractive as to motivate the consumer. If that is the case, usually ne builder forfeits any pay for the actual building of the instrument, unless cheap materials are used.
Example:
I was on the Martin website the other day looking at the only OO model they make. It has Brazilian Rosewood back and sides, and an Adirondack Spruce top, and style 45 appointments, with a nice tree of life inlay up the fretbaord, and a funky piece of tortoise plastic with pearl inlay in it. It's a nice instrument, and sells for $25,000. It just so happens that I have all the same materials on hand, and could conceivably build one virtually identical to it. I doubt I could get $7,000 for it. I would easily have thousands in labor into it, not to mention the cost of the brazilian, the addy spruce, and all the shell. But nobody is going to pay those huge dollars for a D.E.Williams.
Don Williams38770.5419791667

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

You know, I hate to agree with Don - :-) - but he's right. I chose Don to build for me partly because he was Waaaaaay easy to talk to, and answered all my questions promptly for fully...but let's not kid ourselves, his prices were more than reasonable for what he was willing to do for me related to my/his guitar and a big factor in my decision to purchase from him.

Now, that said, I have become one of his biggest proponents and, I think, a friend. I'd do anything I possibly could to help him sell/market his guitars...if that's what he chose to do (which it isn't). But, he's right...taking a risk on an unknown builder is something most players just won't do. On the other hand, I'm aware that if I buy another Williams guitar, I'm not getting the same kind of price I did originally. It's a tough business.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Personally the religious fundamentalist credentials would be enough to
permanently turn me off, besides the fact that the instruments look
disgraceful and sort of pretend to be handmade when we all know they're
most probably not, but that's just a personal opinion… Ooops…
That being said I get the feeling reading all this that all a luthier needs is
good marketing, beyond excellent skills at the trade of course. I think it's
simply not true: there's no cornucopia, no infinite supply of potential buyers
and never will be, especially in societies where declining wages are now the
norm. Talented and fortunate makers found their niche after much struggle,
it will be increasingly hard for newcomers to find theirs and compete with
factories and advertising power.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

[QUOTE=laurent]... I get the feeling reading all this that all a luthier needs is
good marketing, beyond excellent skills at the trade of course. I think it's
simply not true: there's no cornucopia, no infinite supply of potential buyers
and never will be, especially in societies where declining wages are now the
norm. Talented and fortunate makers found their niche after much struggle,
it will be increasingly hard for newcomers to find theirs and compete with
factories and advertising power.[/QUOTE]


I certainly am not saying that you don't have to have the quality. I think that is the price of admission. All the marketing in the world will not turn a pig into a race horse.   

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Don,
I agree and disagree with you. I think you mis-understood me. You are right, 25k for a Martin braz...A lot of money. But they have their own loyal "army" that believe that they (Martin) are the beginning and the end. If I were looking to spend 25k for sure I would be looking at Somogyi's, and Rebecke's, and other's that build on/in that level. I might pay that kind of money for a "Williams" box if I 1) could afford it 2) understand that your box in all likely hood would have attributes/benefits/customizations that the Martin (for many reasons but I won't go into them here)wouldn't have. Your's, in all likelyhood not have the resale market Martin enjoys and that also might be a factor. I personaly don't buy guitars for investment/resale. I buy as a player.

The new market( and certainly the re-sale market) for 25K is much smaller than the 5k market which is smaller than the 2k market and so on down. Fender sells a lot of $99 guitars...

What I was talking about is the guy who is just starting out or has been doing this for years but only charges say 2K for a guitar. His/her skill level ( forget about experience for a moment) is such that the guitar is really worth 4K. Why sell the guitar for 2K? "Because I want to get known"...O.K. so you are willing to sell product at a severe discount to build a reputation. But when does that philosophy become self defeating? When do you raise your price and advertise instead of discount? I am not saying that discounting is bad. What I am saying is that if you are "in the Business" you need to know your REAL cost of producing the item and then make the decision what to charge. If you want to "give away" your hard work because you feel you will sell more guitars that way... that's up to you. I personally think that's a bad way to do it. I think if the product is of a certain quality level it should sell at or near that level. No, you won't sell as many, at first, but I think you will sell at a level you deserve. Of course you should have promotions and special sales etc. and advertise them too. Marketing is the manipulation of public perception. Sometimes you sell more at a higher price than at a lower price because the market equates the lower price with lower quality. You can't market successfully if you don't know your real cost.

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

Dave, what you say is correct, to a point.

But some costs are fixed, so making more items, even at lower price points, makes sense.

For example, all my operating cost are the same, regardless if I build one guitar per year, or 30. My property taxes, gas and lectircity bills, , all that, don't change. Therefor, the more I build, the lower the costsm, because the expenses get broken down into smaller, per/guitar pieces.

Economy of scale at work.

Then there's the fact that the more I build, the more stuff I buy, the more stuff I buy, the more pricing leverage I have with the vendors. We've all seen the 6+ or 12+ price breaks, but there are even better price breaks by the gross. Again, the more I build, the lower my costs per guitar.

If I built one guitar per year, and added up all my operatring costs, and what I needed to live, it would be one rediculously priced guitar that would never, ever sell, at any quality level.

I undeerstand what you are saying, and I am sure you understand of what I speak; I just wish to clarify a few things for those who may not see it as clearly.

As for the marketing aspect, I'm in my tenth year now. I've had a minimum 6 month backlog since guitar #4. I haven't accepted a new order for over 2-1/2 years now, and have enough work to last to the end of this decade. My advertising and marketing budget has consisted of a new box of business cards each year. That's it. I place a handful of cards in the caswe when I ship a new instrument, and that instrument sells itself to others. It's a snowball. No hype, no adds, no guitars given away for fake endorsements(the pros who have them bought them, and if they endorse them, it's of their own free will).

Provide an above average product that the market wants, price it where the market is, and it sells itself.

Life is good...

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] Where text book MBA marketing convention may part from guitar building/marketing is when it comes to hand built guitars. Standard operating procedure when choosing a market is to choose the largest possible market with the thought that you may only capture a segment of that market. In acoustic guitars what sells the greatest numbers are cheap, entry level banana crate guitars. [/QUOTE]

Good post. I agree with everything in it except this. ... and I even think your Rolls Royce comments endorse my point. There is nothing wrong with going after a niche market. Even an MBA will be smart enough to recognize that.   

A friend of mine who owns an ad agency summed it up very well. "Branding is the art of sacrifice." What he means by that is figure out who you want to be -- then be it. Don't try to be everything to everybody. That just puts you in the herd.

Differentiation doesn't have to be rooted in a better mousetrap. Sometimes all it takes it is a **different** mousetrap.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com