Drooooool!!!

[hannaugh]

I want!  I want!  So freakin pretty! 

Many more pictures here: http://www.mykaguitars.com/instruments/066/default.htm

 

[kboman]

Mr M does some nifty stuff, I've been revisiting that gallery page once a month for a few years now :icon_biggrin:

 

[big bob]

Nice But for that price I would rather have one of these
http://www.andersenguitars.com/site/

 

[Mor Paul]

I'm liking this guy.

 

[exaN]

Why are they so expensive??

 

[bagman67]

Why are they so expensive??

Several reasons: 

1.  Higher quality materials and workmanship, and true custom building.  Of course, at some point the law of diminishing returns kick in on this, but still and all, there's some substance to this claim.

2.  Higher priced guitars mean more money for the builder (assuming constant volume, blah blah blah Econ 101 etc).  This guy is basically a one-man operation, so the only way to increase his income is to bump the price.  Increased volume cannot be easily achieved when you're a one-man custom shop, so if you want to survive as a builder, you charge prices that allow you to put food on your table.  Nobody's getting rich as a custom builder - the really successful ones are middle-class.  The rest starve.

3.  Exclusivity.  This guy's axes are not just instruments - they're luxury goods.  These prices are high enough to support the buyer's desire for the magical mystique of having a $15,000 super-ninja-galactic-custom built guitar.  A hand-built custom guitar that runs 1000 bucks will just not intrigue the folks who have that kinda dough to throw at an instrument.

4.  Scare away the tire-kickers.  The idle curious won't waste the builder's time with silly questions about cost when the price to even get into this market is at least three minimally-festooned Fender Custom Shop strats.

 

[big bob]

Why are they so expensive??

Play one ... I played an emerald city at elderly in lansing, WOW what a sound..

 

[dNA]

whoa whoa whoa.
what IS that?! I love it, minus the electronics being at the far edge of the body. but still... oh god

 

[line6man]

Needs a damn tremolo and some inlays, but otherwise, I'm kind of liking this one:

And I'm not normally a fan of Camphor Burl. :blob7:

 

[dNA]

whoa. for that base price i might prefer to buy 4 top-notch production models or two customs of some kind...

 

[mayfly]

wow - for that price I'd drive down to Toronto and have Linda Manzer whip something up for me.

 

[line6man]

wow - for that price I'd drive down to Toronto and have Linda Manzer whip something up for me.

She's the woman that makes the Picasso guitars Pat Metheny played, right?
Makes one a year, IIRC?

 

[mayfly]

wow - for that price I'd drive down to Toronto and have Linda Manzer whip something up for me.

She's the woman that makes the Picasso guitars Pat Metheny played, right?
Makes one a year, IIRC?

Yep, but she also makes flat top acoustics and archtop electrics as well.  Nice work.  Very expensive.

 

[DangerousR6]

Needs a damn tremolo and some inlays, but otherwise, I'm kind of liking this one:

And I'm not normally a fan of Camphor Burl. :blob7:

That ones deffinately one of the best. I kinda like this one, kinda old school Les Paul.... :dontknow:

 

[nathan a]

Custom archtops are so so sexy. Hannaugh, the one you posted is my fave in this thread so far.

 

[BigBeard]

Needs a damn tremolo and some inlays, but otherwise, I'm kind of liking this one:

And I'm not normally a fan of Camphor Burl. :blob7:

I really dig the abalone purfling on this.  I have been wanting to build a guitar with abalone purfling for some time now!!

 

[Dan025]

^ that guitar looks too busy.

i like the one hannah posted, very under stated.

 

[line6man]

Needs a damn tremolo and some inlays, but otherwise, I'm kind of liking this one:

And I'm not normally a fan of Camphor Burl. :blob7:

I really dig the abalone purfling on this.  I have been wanting to build a guitar with abalone purfling for some time now!!

Yeah, I thought it was a really classy touch.

Good bit of visual contrast between the wood too.

 

[Cagey]

That rear control cover is a real piece of craftsmanship. If you look at it closely, you'll see that's not just matching wood of the same type finished to blend, that's part of the original piece. The grain match is perfect. That had to be a bitch to cut out properly, and he only got one chance to do it right.

 

[mmarino92]

That rear control cover is a real piece of craftsmanship. If you look at it closely, you'll see that's not just matching wood of the same type finished to blend, that's part of the original piece. The grain match is perfect. That had to be a bitch to cut out properly, and he only got one chance to do it right.

Same with the pickup covers, phenomenal.

-Michael