Official Luthiers Forum!

Will this be the long awaited upgrade to the Luthier's Gallery? Tell us about what you are thinking Lance. Oh, and is there any criteria for submission? Quantity? Quality, etc. etc..... an idea whose time has come...

That banner looks holographic almost

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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."

Hummmmm?

Brock shared the idea with me a few weeks back and I knew that he and Lance were working on it. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by their idea

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com

Sorry.. hate to leave everyone hanging.... my wife is down for the count with a migraine today so I am on Daddy Daycare...

I am working on a new web site (which will have a close association with the OLF) whose aim is to bring luthiers and guitar buyers together. I began exploring how luthiers market themselves and I didn't find much that many of the guitar makers I know could profitably invest in. That spawned the genesis for this idea.

Essentially, it will offer lutheirs a place to showcase a bio, pics of guitars, sound clips, and give the basic overview of how you work, pricing, etc. As well as create a classified area where you can list a few "spec" guitars for sale.

It will be designed in a very professional consumer friendly way, and have lots of features for both luthiers and buyers.

We will also offer optional services such as the creation of custom screen savers featuring your guitars, computer wall paper, articles about how to market your guitars, and possibly some printed materials to be mailed to guitar buyers on your behalf.

We plan on advertising this to the guitar buying public through the big print publications (AG, etc.), perhaps direct mail, and running contests to attract attention from buyers throughout the world.

This is NOT a site like Dream Guitars. We are not brokering your work. It is more like a marketing co-op where we help put you directly in touch with buyers.

In about a week I will have a power point presentation ready for whomever wants it explaining how the service works, what we are offering, pricing, etc.

Lance and I just thought to put up this banner to let everyone know that this is coming might generate a little enthusiasm, curiosity, and possibly suggestions.

I am interested on getting your feedback on this idea. I think it will be very helpful for much of the luthier community.

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

Man oh man, I need to build some guitars, so I can participate in this awesome idea. Way to go!

Jeff

That's a very interesting concept.

Will you be mailing out the powerpoint presentation? If so, sign me up to get a copy of it.

I might not be able to sign up right away but this is something I think I would be interested in.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Very cool!
I'm looking forward to it.
This place just keeps getting better!

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

Great idea! I think its particularly helpful that you'll be advertizing in print publications. If you get enough classical makers involved you might consider advertizing through the Guitar Foundation of America and their magazine "Soundboard" as well. http://www.guitarfoundation.org/

I'd be interested in your power point presenation please.

Best wishes,
Joshua French

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

Wade, this is Phase II of a III phase plan Brock and I have been working on to offer Guitar builders and buyers from around the world a centralized place to have all there needs met. From fellowshipping, marketing, selling and buying.


Its exciting indeed!

Lance

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Seems like I remember this being bantered about a while back. Well, there is nothing like success to breed success. Kudos guys.

Well this is large opportunity for those of us that build for sale in our off hours after our money making jobs. I have been building typically 3 commissions a year. That is not bad when you consider that I build only after hours and weekends. I have be fortunate considering the size of market I live in. I have been debating spending the money on a site for the past two years but have held off to be sure that I could sustain a quality product. I am by noways at the pentacle of my journey,but I am sure I build quality instruments, and it is time to venture out of my little cocoon of a market. For me and many like me this could be just the ticket.

This just reflects the dedication that both Brock and Lance has given to the bastion of shared knownage and devotion to the craft. With this they will be giving us Small shopper's the gift of a chance to shine

So now I call on the dedication to the craft in the heart of all of us. Let us make Brock and Lance proud. Let us show them our best.MichaelP38406.563287037

Bruce, your correct, back on the OLD OLF,

Here is the thread

Acoustic Guitar Palladium? yes--no?

Here is the full discussion - page down to Acoustic Guitar Palladium? yes--no?

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

In regards to this being something aimed "mostly" at the part time builder... I don't really see it that way. I see this being for virtually ANY guitar builder who is interested in selling their instruments.

AG costs $HUNDREDS (if not more) for a small ad in their publication. And general advertising rules tell you that it takes about 3 - 6 ads before anyone even NOTICES your ad, let alone to responds to it.... so you can see that to do any type of decent marketing you will have THOUSANDS invested before you even see very modest returns.

Additionally, doing a decent job at marketing (advertising, PR, direct mail, etc.) reqires a lot of effort, time, and some skill. It seems like this is outside the realm of reality for most guitarmakers given the fact that most work alone and working efficiently is critical to their income.

This is a program to do a lot of marketing for a small price. The power comes from pooling resources. A very professional product, something that will help DRIVE new prospects to your door, and give you a baseline for other marketing efforts.

Maybe if you have 5 years of backlog this won't make a lot of sense (other than keeping your branding "out there") but if you are looking for commissions I think this will be useful to any builder.

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

Brock I understood that this was not targeted specifically small shoppers, however it will give us a chance to show our wears at a reasonable rate when compared.

Sounds like a great idea! Keep up the good work!

Michael... now I gotcha... you are right... this will definitely be accessible to the part time builder.

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

I've got a year backlog (12 guitars), which i've been keeping pretty steadily, but when it comes down to it I intend to expand my tools, materials, profitability, etc - and maintaining a backlog and receiving new comissions is very helpful to everything I (and other makers) are trying to achieve. Such advertizing has enormous potential to reach new clients, as brock states - and if it comes in a way that does not exhaust the reasources of the little guy, nor the time, then it has the potential to be tremendously helpful.

best wishes,
Joshua French

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

I haven't absolutely got the pricing on this worked out yet, but comparing the value and exposure you will get in comparision to the cost I think it will be a fantastic deal.

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

[QUOTE=bpoling]
I haven't absolutely got the pricing on this worked out yet, but comparing the value and exposure you will get in comparision to the cost I think it will be a fantastic deal.[/QUOTE]

Sounds good Brock. Will it allow folks to search by region/locality?    

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Yes, by geography, by type of instrument, price, just about anything you can imagine.

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