The Shark Posted August 26, 2018 Posted August 26, 2018 14 hours ago, gtrdaddy said: Not so. The first Electric / Acoustic hybrid guitars were from REAL BOUTIQUE builders The Guitar Factory in 1987 which consisted all of Doug Montgomery and Bill Fels. Jimmy Buffett used their guitars through late ‘80s through late ‘90s when Paul Reed Smith began paying Jimmy to use his guitars on stage. Bill and Doug couldn’t afford to give those guitars away, let alone give them away and pay him. Warren Hayneshad one built for him in ‘89, as well as Rick Derringer, Kirk Hammett and others. I have pics of some of these builds I’ll have to post later when I get to my computer. I built their website for them in the early/mid nineties. I threw them the keys to the site 20+ years ago and it’s pretty much falling apart with broken links, and code. Rick Nielsen even had them build one for him in ‘90 if I recall the year correctly.....perhaps this is where Hamer got the idea, because their preamps are almost identical to Guitar Factory’s. I’m certain Rick strolled over with a Guitar Factory EA and said “Hey whatcha think guys?” Because it wasn’t long after they built that guitar for Mr Nielsen that Hamer released theirs... things that make you go hmmm. I bet that Dave @The Shark remembers Billy and Doug. I do. But I always used my best friend Chris Lukasik for builds and repairs. He worked in my shop from 1988 to 1991. Doug and Billy built some great stuff including the acoustic-electrics. My buddy Terry Young still has one or two hanging around. Boutique to be sure!
LefThanDed Posted August 26, 2018 Posted August 26, 2018 What's "boutique" mean to you as it relates to guitars? Me: "If I have to ask I can't afford it"
bigolsparky Posted August 26, 2018 Posted August 26, 2018 I avoid that label like the plague. I am not much of an amp guy, but I have owned a guitar or so that I would consider boutique. One of them cost me a grand to get rid of, not because of depreciation, but because the neck developed a backbow and I had to spend a considerable amount of money to correct that. I couldn't pass on a defect just because it was passed to me. My latest epiphany is that what impresses someone else may not be what flips my switch. I have "sampled" a lot of guitars, but the ones I keep are few. PRS and Hamer are my favorite brands and I really don't consider either one " boutique". I now gravitate towards guitars that I know I will like based on experience. There are plenty of guitars I would love to try, but the oddballs that I consider boutique are usually a bit risky simply because of the depreciation factor.
DBraz Posted August 26, 2018 Posted August 26, 2018 To me boutique - for guitars - means very small numbers with a customer focussed interactive approach. Less than 100 per year. Very high quality and made by skilled luthiers.
rugby1970 Posted August 26, 2018 Posted August 26, 2018 On 8/25/2018 at 2:52 AM, gtrdaddy said: @sixesandsevens ^^^^^Winner Winner! Farm to table chicken dinner!^^^^^ Yeah, that and "Seed To Table" whose trucks I Have seen. Seed to table: no shit Sherlock! How the f*@# do think it got there? Flippin' morons. Sorry for that. On a lighter note, flashback to senior year in high school. There was a clothing boutique in the next town and all the long haired, cool, hip kids went there to shop. Being a jock wearing straight leg jeans, Chinos (remember them), penny loafers, button down shirts, etc., I was going to a party where the coolsters would be in the majority. So not wanting to stand out anymore than my short hair would I went to the clothing boutique to buy an "outfit" for the party. Too many dollars later, wearing bell bottoms and a flowered shirt of an unknown material I attended the party. Oh yeah, had to get shoes too. My point is that the clothing boutique was the place to get different, limited selection and stylish clothes. The local department stores didn't carry that stuff; this was 1970 mind you. So my impression of boutique is a place/store/venue where you can get something that is "different" and usually in limited quantities. I feel that way about small guitar builders, small amp builders, small CRAFTSPEOPLE of all stripes. Yes, I expect to pay a little more than I would for mass produced merchandise but that is part of the game and frankly I don't begrudge them. To buy merchandise from a small inventory or made to your specifications is what boutique is all about. I don't agree with "artisan" stuff though. Artisan coffee, artisan chocolate, artisan bread? Nonsense. It's usually not that unique, a commodity (think widget from Economics 101). I didn't ask for your recipe for coffee, I wasn't asked what I wanted, it wasn't made for just me or a few number of other people. No, this stuff doesn't butter the biscuit.
Montelovesco Posted August 29, 2018 Posted August 29, 2018 On 8/25/2018 at 9:35 AM, sixesandsevens said: I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that it's all marketing to me; If a company presents itself as small-batch and "detail-oriented", I'd call that boutique. This is often accompanied by either legit or optical wait lists, hip and modern web sites, etc. that come along with the impression of detail-oriented. (Edit) This is all done to increase the desirability of the product. In other industries I think they have other terms for it... it's "farm to table" for food, for example. I think it's best typified by this video: There are lots of other really useful semantic distinctions to be made (wide open custom options, single builder, years of experience) but in terms of the term "boutique", it reads as marketing to me. * Perhaps ironically, "artisanal firewood" is one way you could describe boutique guitars. You can top this:
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