[FortePenance]

they look interesting. In essence, couldn't you have done this before by orderirng a custom and just telling Doug that you were looking to keep prices down and didn't need all the fancy bobs?

[Nick]

funnily enough iv really warmed to it

id quite like one now!

[sakeido]

Originally Posted by FortePenance

they look interesting. In essence, couldn't you have done this before by orderirng a custom and just telling Doug that you were looking to keep prices down and didn't need all the fancy bobs?

He wasn't even taking custom orders before, since his waiting list has gotten so long, and I don't think it was an option to strip a B2 down this much.

[Crucified]

i emailed them like 2 months ago and still haven't even gotten a "we aren't taking new orders" or anything. so screw that company

[sakeido]

Originally Posted by Crucified

i emailed them like 2 months ago and still haven't even gotten a "we aren't taking new orders" or anything. so screw that company

March he says he will start taking new orders again but there will be a very limited number of spots because he doesn't want his backlog to get like this again. I'm pretty sure he is increasing his prices even more at the same time ahaha

[HighGain510]

Originally Posted by darren

I'm kinda back and forth on spalted maple. Sometimes it looks kinda cool, but those black "veins" in it are actually channels of rot in the wood. Not exactly a recipe for good tone, in my opinion. But it sure looks cool.

Not to mention all that yummy black epoxy that is slapped all over the top to seal it! Ron and I had a discussion about using spalted maple tops and he pretty much refuses to use it anymore because it deadens the tone. He built a few for people and after that it's "at your own risk" because he knew people would complain about it not sounding as good as it should. Maybe because his guitars are swamp ash or thin or whatever they might sound okay, I don't know? James said they sound badass even with the spalted maple top but I've heard from a couple luthiers in addition to Ron that they hate the stuff because it robs the instrument of tone and sustain. Think Dave and I had a similar conversation before as well.

[Stitch]

Originally Posted by 7 Dying Trees

Well done Doug! If you noticed, you have theChoice of Bareknuckle, DiMarzio, Haeussel or Lundgren. Now you guys know a set of bareknuckles/lundgrens will cost you 400-450$, so compare that to some crappy stock pickups...

It's still customisable as well, and how many production guitars can you get that are Swamp Idigbo? To be honest, I think that is more than reasonably priced for what is still a hand finished guitar, so I don't see why people are bitching.

The only reason people always bitch about blackmachine are:
a) The dollar is shit. Blame your economy, not a guy who lives in london and is try to make a living doing what he loves
b) You guys over in the states are too used to cheap gear. We pay through our noses, if amps were as cheap over here as they are over there I'd have a field day. As it stands, at around 5500$-6500$ a mesa roadking is unnatianable.
c) None of the people bitching have ever played one. Play one and you'll see the amount of effort and thought that goes into each one.

Honestly guys, it costs us 4000-4500$ STILL to buy a dual rectifier. A mesa cab costs 2000$ over here, basically a VHT UL, and a Diezel VH4 are in the same ballpark money wise as a Mesa Dual Rectifier.

Let me do this. I'll take a production model Ibanez, superstrat shape, fixed bridge:
Ibanez RGA321F (GAK)
Now I am going to add in 200£ of Bareknuckles pickups bringing it to 1100£

So a production model guitar, with the pickups you can have in the B6 is actually 50£ more expensive than A hand Finished, Hand assembled guitar, made from select woods with custom luthier touches like the headstock overlay, in woods you simply CANNOT get on a production instrument.

Now, to all the little whinging muppets out there, now do you think he is overpriced? Maybe overpriced for you, but I for one applaud that Doug is trying to make his instruments more accessible without sacrificing quality and his own pride in his guitars. Also, just remember, next time you walk into guitar centre, and get that killer deal on a mesa, that we, in europe, are paying AT LEAST twice as much.

So quit your whinging, because quite frankly, and I think a few others from this side of the pond, I really have had enough of people complaining about the price of an instrument they are never even going to buy. Hell, for us over here they aren't cheap, but after having played them and just been in love with them for years now, they are worth more than every penny, and over here you'd be stupid to buy a Jem over a blackmachine.

If another custom luthier will build you a guitar for half price, then go there.


Here's the specs:

A stripped down B2, this is what many people have asked for.
It is still a handbuilt guitar but with conventional woods and without embellishments. The main focus, as it has always been, is on tone and outright playability.
neck
Maple laminate with volute.

Two way trussrod.

Scale length 650mm(Fender) 24 frets

43mm nut.

Fingerboard and matching headstock overlay in Indian Rosewood.

Dunlop 6100 jumbo fretwire.

body
Swamp Idigbo 35mm thick.

One or two piece.

pickups
Choice of Bareknuckle, DiMarzio, Haeussel or Lundgren.

hardware
Top of the range Gotoh.

Cosmo black finish.

Exactly what I've been saying for years,

Maybe since you aren't an 18 year old Scottish teenager people will take what you say seriously, but its hardly news. The US is totally mollycoddled when it comes to gear. The world market sucks up the shocking prices they have to set to make it affordable for the sheer number of potential buyers. Same thing with ENGL or Orange. Foreign? Not easter? Its gonna cost you I am afraid.

Got a problem with it? Sort out that goddamn political mess you are in.

[Lozek]

Originally Posted by jammy

I'll have to arrange a visit to the workshop next time I'm in London. Anyone know exactly where he's located?

There's no workshop as such, he builds in a bedroom in his house in North London.

Originally Posted by FortePenance

they look interesting. In essence, couldn't you have done this before by orderirng a custom and just telling Doug that you were looking to keep prices down and didn't need all the fancy bobs?

Kinda but not really. The reason that these are coming down in price is because the absolute basics of the guitar (ie cutting/shaping & some jointing) are being put together by a luthier company, the first one that Doug has found who he trusts will work to his specs and ridiculously high quality standards.

Originally Posted by Crucified

i emailed them like 2 months ago and still haven't even gotten a "we aren't taking new orders" or anything. so screw that company

Just so you get the picture, it's one guy. There is no 'company' behind the name, no secretaries, no marketing department, no band saw operators, no tea boys. It's just one guy building at home on his own, so if you don't get a reply to your e-mail, it's because he is busy building guitars

Originally Posted by HighGain510

they hate the stuff because it robs the instrument of tone and sustain

I'm not sure what his secret would be (wood density/thickness/grain matching flow etc maybe?), but if there is something that affects the tone then Doug will not do it, period. Hence why there's no finish, no fancy tops, no whammy bars.

These things do sound absolutely stunning, I played a spalted through my own gear at our rehearsal space directly after we'd run through a song with Universes & S Series with Lundgrens, and the difference was just phenomenal. So much so that all of our guitars almost got burned on the spot.

[Stitch]

+1 on everything there. These things simple have to be played to be believed.

Throw away everything of what you thought made a good guitar, because these totally redefine it.

[John_Strychnine]

Originally Posted by Stitch

+1 on everything there. These things simple have to be played to be believed.

Throw away everything of what you thought made a good guitar, because these totally redefine it.

This is what blackmachine is about.

you think your custom shop Carvin is a good guitar?

Your custom shop carvin would be firewood next to these things.