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what I really wanted to focus on in this article is the
question, “what is it that makes something
collectable?” Two things came to mind immediately.
Scarcity and exceptional quality. When you stop for a
moment to consider the numbers, it is a bit overwhelming.
There is some debate over what is a “handmade”
guitar. One of the larger US factories that enjoys a
“handmade” reputation will produce 100 guitars
today. At 500 guitars per week this ads up to 26,000
guitars per year. Another well known factory producing
“handmade” guitars will produce over 76 guitars
today. This week they will build 380 guitars totaling
19,760 for the year. These numbers are a bit
staggering when compared to an individual builder who
will typically produce between 8 to 24 instruments per
year. I am currently producing about 20 custom
instruments per year. This equals 1.6 guitars per month
and 0.38 guitars per week and well we might as well not
even calculate how many guitars per day this is. There
are many guitar companies that will produce more guitars
in the next two weeks than I will produce in my entire
lifetime.
When you consider
these numbers from a collectors point of view, some
interesting things come into focus. What makes a
Stradivari Violin so expensive? First of all they were
very high quality handmade instruments. Second they are
so rare. His finest instruments were made between 1700
and 1725 when he was between 56 and 81 years old. Even
though he built instruments until relatively late in his
life, the sheer number of instruments an individual
builder can make is very small. Only several hundred of
his instruments survive. This pretty much rules out the
violin that we all have in our attic. Of course most of
us would prefer owning a Strad. ( one sold for $604,555
last year at Sotheby’s) rather than one of the
typical imports $150.
So what does
Antonio Stradivari have that I don’t have, besides
$604,555 per instrument and a very nice tombstone? Well
one might say “they had higher quality materials in
those days”. This is not necessarily so. The 1667
Stradivari violin mentioned above is described by
Sotheby’s as having a one piece back with a knot in
the upper treble corner. If he were alive today and was
getting paid $604,555 to build that violin; that piece of
material would have probably found its way into the
fireplace to keep his shop warm.
Andrea Guarneri
(1626-98) and Antonio Sradivari (1644-1737) both of these
men learned their craft in the shop of Nicolo Amati
(1596-1684). I would venture to say that all three of
these men would be very envious to look inside the
luthiers shop today. For example if they opened the door
to my shop they would find things like power tools of all
descriptions. Temperature and humidity control and a pile
of woods from all over the world. Various types of
spruces, cedars,(over 350 guitar sets), rosewoods,
ebonies. Exotic inlay material from all over the world,
thanks to my friend Chuck Erikson “The Duke of
Pearl”, supplier of shell inlay material.
The material I have
on hand should be enough for a lifetime except that I
have several personal problems. First I love wood, almost
as much as guitars. I also can’t seem to pass up a
good deal; so fortunately or unfortunately, at times I
wind up with empty pockets and my shelves full of wood.
The only trouble with this is at dinner time. These
materials make wonderful instruments but terrible
sandwiches. So little of the wood cut in the world is
instrument grade quality. For instance we live in the
Sierra Foothills of California. This is a heavily treed
area, pine, fir, oak and aromatic cedar. Millions of
board feet of lumber growing all around me, none of which
is suitable for building any part of my instruments. It
reminds me of that old saying, ”water water
everywhere and not a drop to drink”.
As it was in the
days of these great luthiers; the music of today is
really pushing the envelope. These are very exciting
times for the acoustic guitar and I’m grateful to
have a part in it. High quality and rarity are two items
that are always found in collectors items. And that is
why I believe we are “building tomorrow's
collectable instruments today”.
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