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Comments
(formerly customkits)
However, to echo ArchtopDave's point, I left having bought a set of strings. I was very interested in leaving with some random miscellany, and there was barely anything to see. I would have bought a nice guitar bar stool if there was one, not a single one in sight, no nice guitar display cabinets, no decent guitar stands or hangers. It was a little confusing as this is usually the low-hanging fruit for shows like this.
And you'd have to be made to spend more than £500 on a guitar in there as it was impossible to play one properly and hear what it sounded like. That's not a criticism, at all, just a reflection the 3 of us who went together all made. I would have spoken to the seller and made an appointment to go and see whatever it was I was interested in on a different day when I could play it on my own, in a quiet environment.
Oh, and the quiet periods were great! Of course there were always people starting to crank the volume before the hooter went. Got to love human nature.
All in all, had a really great day out, can't wait for next year.
(formerly customkits)
Show stealers for me were Grainger guitars. I was drawn to the stand by the wild designs but then was absolutely blown away by the quality and details of the builds. Expertly crafted, intricate carving, various woods inlaid in other woods and resins and generally the kind of stuff you don't really see done well outside of the ESP Custom Shop and costing tens of thousands - I think anyone could have happily paid £4-5k for the quality of workmanship and attention to detail on the guitars they had with them if they had the brand power.
I was extremely tempted when they told me the show prices: they're trying to build their brand a bit so they were only £1800!
Their designs won't be to everyone's tastes - hell, they're not really to mine - but a small company hand-building guitars to that level for that money is insane.
Guitars were impressive - quality of parts and build was faultless and VFM was impressive too. I wasn't in the market for a new guitar at the time, and their designs aren't my usual thing, but still very tempted just based on the quality (and value). They deserve to be successful, but really need a higher profile.
They make a lot of their own parts too - I'd use their bridges, knobs, ferrule blocks, neck fixings (and more) on every build if I could. I went to the stand on Sunday to buy some, but none available
Thanks @TTony, we are pushing hard to re-stock on the hardtails and ferrule blocks which have been unavailable for a long time....the main engineering side of my business has been so busy for the last few years the guitar parts haven't been able to squeeze in to the schedules but things are easing up a bit so we are pushing to get stocks back in place. We're also working on headless tuners, tele bridges, and some other hardtail designs :-)
Keep up the stunning work, I honestly couldn't believe the intricacy and quality on show.
Realise that the guitar business is a bit of a side line for you - you just need to work 25 hrs a day to squeeze it in!!
Who needs sleep
Thanks Tim, did you give the Hade's a play? - I'm guess it was the brown burst one?
Reception was overwhelmingly positive with everyone who played it - and one group we hadn't thought much about were the many guitar techs who struggle with these guitars on a weekly or daily basis.
It was a truly special experience as the bridge's designer to enjoy players' first moments with the bridge, seeing the look in their eyes and hearing the disbelief in their voices that they just couldn't get this thing out of tune!
Had some fantastic and memorable chats with people at the show, particularly towards closing on Sunday; Karl of Karl Longbottom Guitars came by and we all had a really interesting and friendly chat - and then later on sent one of his show reps Tom over, and it was really a special moment for me as a Brian May fan because Tom seems to have practically the whole Queen back catalogue under his fingers! Karl is in the process of making him a guitar that was planned to have a Kahler locking/roller bridge mounted to it, but as soon as he played Sergeant Brown, he scrapped the idea and wants to put a Tuffset on it!
I also popped by the Fretboard booth, was very impressed with the 3D-printed pedal board (if in doubt, order with confidence!) and had a lovely long chat with the three chaps there, showed them the bridge and packaging, and demonstrated how to adjust the bridge. Also got some great contact info! I invited them to come and play the demo guitar, but they were swamped the whole weekend - probably as a result of the innovative pedalboard concept!
If you're on the Tuffset mailing list, expect an email tomorrow with a pre-order coupon for £40 off and a link to the pre-order page on the new website. Cheers!
Dan