He's back. Back Again....,

OilCityPickups

Funkfingers said:

The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.

Harlan Ellison

Well said

Philly_Q

OilCityPickups said:

My opinion is that his modifications are hideous and poorly executed and his eventual prices are optimistic in the extreme ... but people buy them and seem content with them ... so if genius is finding a gap in the market for your product and having happy customers ... he seems to have his own rather 'special' kind.  

His customers are happy, also B&Q love him because he buys all those little black and white plastic plugs to artfully conceal unwanted tuner holes.

earwighoney

This one IMO, seems to be his finest work

What's going on here? 


A section of the soundboard at the soundhole is missing.  Something seems to be stuck with gaffa tape as well. 


What has the bridge been plugged with?  Probably best not to know. 


There seems to be a gap between the neck and the fretboard


All for just £219.

A bargain.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wide-neck-acoustic-perfect-learner/192958998172?hash=item2ced40a69c:g:emsAAOSwNrNdDhSo

octatonic

I just don't get why he thinks he doing a good thing.
Actually not just a good thing... a thing worth doing.
Actually not even that.

I don't get why he doesn't understand that the things he does are a total waste of time, they make the guitar infinitely worse than before and appeal to no one other that idiots who don't know better.

earwighoney

octatonic said:

I just don't get why he thinks he doing a good thing.
Actually not just a good thing... a thing worth doing.
Actually not even that.

I present to you. 

MONKEY JESUS. 

boogieman

I can just about cope with some of his more idiosyncratic “modifications” but what really pisses me off is his total disregard for doing anything properly. 
Look at that bass.... odd finish screws in the scratchplate, different knobs, those tuners(!!) etc etc. He makes out he’s a luthier and it’s all about the care he takes but he obviously doesn’t give a toss... either that or he’s seriously shortsighted. 

boogieman

earwighoney said:

This one IMO, seems to be his finest work

What's going on here? 


A section of the soundboard at the soundhole is missing.  Something seems to be stuck with gaffa tape as well. 


What has the bridge been plugged with?  Probably best not to know. 


There seems to be a gap between the neck and the fretboard


All for just £219.

A bargain.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wide-neck-acoustic-perfect-learner/192958998172?hash=item2ced40a69c:g:emsAAOSwNrNdDhSo

Christ almighty, that’s one of his worst efforts. Presumably he sawed a lump of the sound hole to fit the new truss rod (and why did it need one?) There’s an awful lot of glue down the bass side of the fretboard where it sits on the body. Then what’s that lump of mismatched wood let in between the neck and the fretboard by the nut. “I also drilled several holes in the guitar to fit a pickup, then changed my mind and stuck some plastic grommets in, you’ll hardly notice them (as long as your name is David Blunkett)”.  That’s just firewood pretending to be a guitar. 

prlgmnr

boogieman said:

I can just about cope with some of his more idiosyncratic “modifications” but what really pisses me off is his total disregard for doing anything properly. 
Look at that bass.... odd finish screws in the scratchplate, different knobs, those tuners(!!) etc etc. He makes out he’s a luthier and it’s all about the care he takes but he obviously doesn’t give a toss... either that or he’s seriously shortsighted. 

Ah but it's always the same things that are wrong, there's a remarkable level of consistency achieved.

Sassafras

He carries out cheap mods on cheap guitars. If he carried out expensive mods on cheap guitars they'd no longer be cheap.
Not everyone can afford boutique custom made.
I don't admire his work but I've seen far worse.

boogieman

Sassafras said:

He carries out cheap mods on cheap guitars. If he carried out expensive mods on cheap guitars they'd no longer be cheap.
Not everyone can afford boutique custom made.
I don't admire his work but I've seen far worse.

He’s got a 12 string to 6 string “wide neck conversion” offered at over £200. It’s a gear4music sort of Ovation bowlback copy that cost about £100 new. You could probably buy a similar used one from crack converters for £40-50. His “improvements” include sawing the top of the headstock off (why? probably damaged is my guess), removing half the tuners, filling the spare bridge holes with something akin to earwax and buggering up the nut to his usual standards to make it work. 

Not everyone can afford boutique custom made, ok, but he’s not exactly giving his work away either. For £150 worth of work to a cheap guitar I’d still expect a hell of a lot better. 

Philtre

I like this business model.

Buy a cheap guitar. Fuck it up. Sell. Profit.

I might try it. I'm qualified.

Philly_Q

boogieman said:

He’s got a 12 string to 6 string “wide neck conversion” offered at over £200. It’s a gear4music sort of Ovation bowlback copy that cost about £100 new. You could probably buy a similar used one from crack converters for £40-50. His “improvements” include sawing the top of the headstock off (why? probably damaged is my guess), removing half the tuners, filling the spare bridge holes with something akin to earwax and buggering up the nut to his usual standards to make it work. 

Why?  There were holes for six extra tuners no-one will ever need again, of course.

Well five actually, he's kept a spare hole in case some plucky young guitar pioneer wants to turn it into a seven-string.

Sassafras

boogieman said:

Sassafras said:

He carries out cheap mods on cheap guitars. If he carried out expensive mods on cheap guitars they'd no longer be cheap.
Not everyone can afford boutique custom made.
I don't admire his work but I've seen far worse.

He’s got a 12 string to 6 string “wide neck conversion” offered at over £200. It’s a gear4music sort of Ovation bowlback copy that cost about £100 new. You could probably buy a similar used one from crack converters for £40-50. His “improvements” include sawing the top of the headstock off (why? probably damaged is my guess), removing half the tuners, filling the spare bridge holes with something akin to earwax and buggering up the nut to his usual standards to make it work. 

Not everyone can afford boutique custom made, ok, but he’s not exactly giving his work away either. For £150 worth of work to a cheap guitar I’d still expect a hell of a lot better. 

150 quid will just about get you a fret level by a pro.
I'm not defending his work, I just think people are unrealistic to expect custom shop quality at his prices.
Won't anyone please think of the poor sausage fingered with their gigantic deformed hands?

Iamnobody

He’s had plenty of criticism on here in the past and newer members might not be aware he signed up and tried to defend his work.

He received some kind and free advice from experienced professionals on here but didn’t take it onboard.

He’s not hoodwinking anyone - one thing he does do is photograph every detail of his monstrosities - anyone stupid enough to buy one deserves what they get which is a shit guitar. 

He’s deluded about what he’s producing but he probably can’t help that.

thermionic

There’s no doubt that people are buying his creations on a regular basis, and have been for years... but has anybody seen one being played in the wild? I suspect most of them are gathering dust, despite the super-light touch action set-up, and that they sound almost as good as a Fender.

Musicwolf

Having seen the bidding on the Gilmour black Strat go beyond my limit I’m thinking that one of these creations could be an affordable way to own a piece of guitar history.  Once his true genius is recognised prices will rocket.

OilCityPickups

Iamnobody said:

He’s had plenty of criticism on here in the past and newer members might not be aware he signed up and tried to defend his work.

He received some kind and free advice from experienced professionals on here but didn’t take it onboard.

He’s not hoodwinking anyone - one thing he does do is photograph every detail of his monstrosities - anyone stupid enough to buy one deserves what they get which is a shit guitar. 

He’s deluded about what he’s producing but he probably can’t help that.

Exactly ... have a wisdom 

Kittyfrisk

thermionic said:

There’s no doubt that people are buying his creations on a regular basis, and have been for years... but has anybody seen one being played in the wild? I suspect most of them are gathering dust, despite the super-light touch action set-up, and that they sound almost as good as a Fender.

No one would risk a one off custom by gigging it would they?
And if Harley Benton's are almost as good as R9's, why shouldn't an MDP be almost as good as a fender? 

TTony

Sassafras said:

I don't admire his work but I've seen far worse.

Prove it.


I can understand that he's deluded enough to believe that he's doing something worthwhile to those poor guitars.

What I'm having serious trouble believing is his eBay feedback.

I can think of 2 explanations;
1.  His alter-ego sets up new eBay accounts any buys everything that he lists.
2.  Anyone dumb enough to actually buy one of his things is also dumb enough to believe that they've got a guitar worthy of positive feedback.

Stuckfast

Musicwolf said:

Having seen the bidding on the Gilmour black Strat go beyond my limit I’m thinking that one of these creations could be an affordable way to own a piece of guitar history.  Once his true genius is recognised prices will rocket.

Do you think his work could be considered 'outsider art'?