Official Luthiers Forum!

I know there have been some problems, but is this outfit ever going to offer necks again.
Are there others that offer the same services-names please.
Thanks,

Yes, Bob, he's in the middle of a move. Cut the guy a little slack, it's not quick or easy to completely dismantle a shop of this caliber and move it. Not to mention that John and Liz have to do the same with their house as well. There was a thread last week about this.
He should be up and running around the middle of next month.
You mention that there have been some problems. What problems have there been? And have you talked to John directly about these "problems" or is you first step to go on a public forum and make him look bad? Uncool.

What Paul said...John Watkins rocks!!! It's comments like you have made, Bob, that can lead to harming a good person's reputation. A little kindness, patience and thoughtfulness is in order here.

He busted his ass to get any and all orders completed before the movers hauled his equipment out the door...literally minutes after pulling the plug. He has communicated his plans clearly and will be back in business soon.

I'm jumping in here to defend John as well since he's so busy with the move that he rarely even checks OLF posts anymore.

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

Yea I did not know the whole story for a long time. What he has accomplished over the pas several months while making the move is unbelievable. Once the move is over he will be gearing up to offer some unbelievable stock to choose from many more neck options than before and on the shelf ready to go.

The wait will be worth it in the long run.

There is others that offer the service but on batch orders with minimum runs and programming fees required.
Talk with Bob at Saint Lutherie if you can order in batches. He can help.

John if you listening. Man!!!you did spoil us

typing this on my phone...

Thank you, friends, for your support.

Bob is not a customer of mine, nor have I had any corresponence with
him, so i'm unclear as to what he's talking about.

Lot's of places sell necks, even more sell wood and chisels.

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John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

If you wanna neck - John is your man.

Wait a minute that did not sound right........

<groan> Hesh, you're too much...

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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."

I'm sure John will get back into production as soon as he can, since a move like that takes an enormous amount of time and energy. Bob Cefalu is going through the same thing, and he's also been pretty quiet. Have patience! He'll be back in full swing before you know it. As John mentioned, there are other places to get necks, but his stock laminated necks are a pretty good deal. Worth the wait I'm sure.

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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."

"The Day The CNC Stopped" A horror film of indescribably gruesome description, based on a tue story, whereas the entire hobby luthier's world collapsed when the Neanderthal Luthiers banded together to de-code all CNC routers and mills, via an ingeniously devised computer virus. This film has it all: bloodshed(from all the hobby luthiers having to learn to work hand tools for their very first time!), action(see the rush to the hardware stores for hand tools like you've never seen them rushing before!!!!), and yes, even romance and s*x, when two hobbiests meet at the UPS depot, while wistfully longing for the days when guitar parts "just arrived" there.

Opening at a theater near you! Sure to be this year's DO NOT MISS event!!!!






.

ROFLM*O

truth is you did not have to be a hobbyist to be caught up in this script. I had to dig out my spoke shave and tune it up

But to give kudos to John the deal on his laminated necks is so good that when you figure labor materials and all in. unless you have a large stock of woods at hand you can't come close to producing a equal neck for twice the price. But on the same token It has been some what fun carving again.

You know, this thread, as well as a couple of others, really bother me.
Why would someone get on a public forum and say, "what's going on with XXXX business?" when all they have to do is pick up a phone and call said business?
In a previous thread someone asked, "when will John's necks be available?" Why would we know that answer any better than John would? Why not drop him a line and ask him?
Bob, I'm still quite curious what the "problems" are with John. He has said that he hasn't had any correspondence with you so I'm not sure how he could have wronged you in any way. I think it's incredibly uncool and unwise to use the internet as a tool to libel someone's name.
And before some of you get all up in arms about me not having a thick skin, I'll say, let it rest. This isn't about my skin being thin and me being sensitive. This is about someone being wronged and not being able to defend himself (his stinking computer is packed up and on a truck headed down I94).

I love John dearly as a friend. But I insist on carving my own necks and spending twice as much (with my labor) as I could were I to buy from him. I consider it therapy and one of my favorite operations.

At the same time, there are quite a few pros who buy CNC'd necks...same as a lot of pros who send out their own guitars for finishing...so what!

Nonetheless...the movie could be hilarious!

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

What Paul Said.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

Paul,

I agree with you 100%. I'm afflicted with all of the syndromes - GAS, MAS, TAS, WAS, and now NAS.(guitars, mandolins, tools, woods, and necks). I'll be glad when all of the websites are back online and I'm as eager as anyone, but I did drop emails to Bob, Steve, and John asking when they would return. Each of them responded with an estimate and asked if I needed anything immediately.

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GregH
Fot Wuth

Mario,

When will your movie be released to theatres and on DVD? If you're looking for another source of income, I would gladly pay for a copy of "The Collected Wisdom of the Grumpy Luthier".

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GregH
Fot Wuth

Yeah can you imagine if there was suddenly no CNC........

Or, for that matter no routers, band saws, table saws, thickness sanders........

We would all have to go back to the old way, or current way for some, of doing things........

You're right. I don't know what bob meant by "problems". Anyway, we all know that John is a great guy that does impeccable work and offers service to match. We all can't wait for him to be back on line and to see his new offerings.

I think one of the biggest problems with online forums is that sometimes we choose our words poorly and what we write doesn't reflect what we acutally mean. Sometimes it's exactly what we mean. It's hard to know sometimes. Well, harder than hearing it in someone's voice. My point is that we need to be careful how we phrase things because not everyone is on the same page.

I'm not taking sides here. I just don't know if things like this are worth getting upset about. But I do think it's good to speak your mind.

   

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Don Sharp
Got Brazilian?
http://www.sharpguitars.com

Nice post Hesh. I would hate to go back to those days. I don't think I can find my giraffe femur/primary tool anymore.   

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Don Sharp
Got Brazilian?
http://www.sharpguitars.com

[QUOTE=sharp_custom]Nice post Hesh. I would hate to go back to those days. I don't think I can find my giraffe femur/primary tool anymore.    [/QUOTE]

  Don buddy I heard that giraffe bone makes killer nuts and saddles  Of course it may not have been lucky for the giraffe.....

I think that's why I can't find it anymore.

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Don Sharp
Got Brazilian?
http://www.sharpguitars.com

John is the best CNC guy I've ever dealt with and I've dealt with a half dozen
or so. Yeah he is really busy and sometimes it takes a while to get some
stuff due to that but if your patient, and have a clear idea of your goals John
does work as well or better than anyone imo. He is a first rate guy, and
really knows his stuff. His prices are more than fair, quality is superb, and
he is just a great all around guy.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

My comments are not aimed at anyone here or any vendor here. I have bought supplies from vendor here and they were all great and I will buy again. I want to learn to build my own guitars and i feel if i used any cnc parts including neck, bridges or any other part instead of making my own I would feel like I cheated. I just think hand made should just mean that. I find it funny that a bunch of guys who chastised me for wanting to use a power sharpener for grinding my chisel and planes has no problem with buying machine made body parts.

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

I was not one of those. In fact I did not hear anyone say anything but it would be cheaper to learn to hand sharpen and give their opinion on these machines. I noticed no chastising. but that is neither here nor there.

However on the cheating issue. We have discussed this a long time a go. If you telling you clients that you carve your own neck then are actually buying them, I would agree. Personally my self, I have carved my own neck but when John made his laminated necks available with the options of spec laminates I did the math. I could buy John's necks and cut 6-8 hours of labor just on the carving and then with the material cost and all it was way less expensive to use John's necks. So I took advantage of this. This was wise business. Then I designed my own bridge and personally fabricated them. I also had John quote them and again he saved me money.


I guess it gets down to the fact that you feel if you did not make all the parts you feel it is not a true hand crafted guitar and you may have some point. But let me ask this question. Do you resaw all your back, side and tops? Do you turn your own pins is there no pre-serviced purchased wood products on your guitars?

If you can answer no to all of this then I will bow down and admit to cheating. If you can't then explain to me why the fact that I buy pre carved neck means I cheat? If I am cheating at least I am in the company of some very finest and most renowned builders. So I don't feel to bad.